Review & Swatches: OPI More Than A Glimmer (from the BCA 2013 Pink of Hearts Set)

Purchased by Me

Last week when I was at a local beauty supply store, I noticed that they had the OPI BCA 2013 polishes already out for sale. I don't think you can get these at retailers like Ulta, etc. just yet, but I suspect you'll find them at national retailers quite soon, since October is National BCA Awareness Month.

The OPI 2013 Pink of Hearts set contains two polishes: Pink-ing of You (a repromote from the Soft Shades Collection) and More Than A Glimmer. You can see what the set looks like here--it also contains some nail decals and crystals. I don't know the suggested retail price for the Pink of Hearts set, but last year's set was $14.95, so I suspect it will be around that price again this year.

 OPI More Than A Glimmer

This polish contains silver, gold, pink, blue and green hex glitter (small, medium and large). The base is a sheer, milky-ish pink.

Two coats of More Than A Glimmer (no top coat):

This polish dries to a matte finish, which I love! After seeing this one on the nail, I would actually not classify it as a milky glitter. The pink base color is pretty sheer (think "nonfat milk" instead of "regular milk"). Also, the glitters are all very metallic, so it's quite different from China Glaze It's a Trap-eze, for example.

Application wasn't bad, but I did find this formula to be on the thick side, and it required some dabbing in order to get the glitter exactly where I wanted it (the glitter tends to migrate toward the cuticle if you try to apply it like a regular polish, so I do suggest the dabbing technique to avoid glitter clusters). Dry time was excellent for both coats.

Here's what this polish looks like with clear top coat:

 Two coats of More Than A Glimmer + one coat of clear top coat

As you can see, adding a clear top coat gives this polish a lot of extra sparkle (so much so, that my camera didn't know where to focus!).

I also want to show you what this one looks like as a topper. For this photo, I applied one coat over China Glaze Laced Up on my index and ring finger:

One coat of More Than A Shimmer over China Glaze Laced Up

I actually prefer this polish on its own, vs. over a base color. The main reason is that, since I have to dab the glitters on with my brush, I have to be careful to not "muck up" the base color by dabbing too much. In the pic above, you can see that I was left with some holes because I was afraid to keep dabbing and ruin my base color.

The moment I first saw More Than A Glimmer, I immediately thought of the lavender milky glitter in the Holiday 2012 Blue Cross Holiday Lights Collection. I thought that these two polishes might be similar judging from the bottles alone:

OPI More Than A Glimmer

Blue Cross Holiday Lights Nail Color

 Blue Cross 2012 Holiday Lights vs. OPI More Than A Glimmer

(two coats of both)

Not even close! In fact, I think that the Blue Cross Holiday Lights polish is more in the vein of China Glaze It's a Trap-eze, if anything.

FINAL VERDICT: If you like metallic glitter parties on your nails, I think you might love this one. It's perfect for the holidays due to its festive vibe, and I think it looks beautiful after two coats. I don't love it as a topper, but your mileage may vary there. I do love that this polish dries to a matte finish, but you can easily give it some extra shine with a coat or two of clear top coat, if that's more your style. You'll probably need to dab this one on in order to get the glitter exactly where you want it and, due to the abundance of glitter in this formula, it doesn't feel completely smooth to the touch without a few coats of top coat. I also want to add that I didn't have any issues at all with stray glitter poking up from the surface--all of the glitter in this polish tends to lay flatly on the nail, which is great considering just how much glitter is in this formula.

So, what do you think of More Than A Glimmer? Do you think you'll pick this one up when it hits Ulta, JC Penney, etc.? 

The products featured in this post were purchased with personal funds. For more information, click here.