I am sure you angels studied The Polish Addict's Lacquer Lexicon post religiously and can recite all the jargon by heart, right? ;) Of course.
So you know all about HTFs; "Hard To Find" colors that nail polish hunters search high and low for. We'll talk about the best way to go about tracking down HTFs at a later date. In the meantime, allow me to boastfully show you pictures of my current manicure.
Meet: OPI My Private Jet Holo. And this isn't just an HTF... it's actually regarded as a VHTF.
Let's talk about the murky history of OPI My Private Jet. MPJ was released in 2007 and quickly became adored for its deep, smoky, somewhat translucent base loaded with teeny, tiny holographic sparkles. Is it a sheer? Is it a jelly? Is it a glitter? It's hard to say what genre My Private Jet falls under... but it sure is easy to love.
And then, so help us all, OPI pulled what is basically one of the most perfect polishes in existence from the shelves. And that's fine, I guess. Maybe, for some bizarre reason, it was more expensive to produce than other shades... or maybe there was something sinister and toxic about it, something we'll never know... or maybe it was just too awesome and was cannibalizing the sales of their other colors and so, in a cold, calculating, utilitarian move, they killed it.
This is merely speculation. We will never know why OPI made this poor decision, but what we do know is this — OPI never actually killed My Private Jet. OPI replaced the original color with a similar (but hardly the same) shade and dared to keep the name "My Private Jet." As if we wouldn't notice. As if we couldn't tell.
You know what this is like? It's exactly like falling in love with a great girl who's popular and gorgeous and a really great student, whose favorite color is blue. And then she mysteriously vanishes, and you panic, fearing the worst. Accident... abduction... murder? And then she is found and you want to rejoice! Except something's just not right. She's not as... special. She's coarse. She's dull. She loves the color red, and you're like, "What the hell. This isn't like you. I know you said you're 'you,' but something's different. And your leg is missing. I am starting to believe that you're not really who you say you are."
And so now, true nail polish aficianados know that there are two* versions of My Private Jet floating around: The "Original" My Private Jet, to which we add the suffix "holo," and then The Imposter; a warm bronzey brown with small pewter pieces of microglitter. To be fair, I have never tried it, but my neighbor owns it, so maybe one of these weeks I'll get around to giving the less attractive twin a fair shot. (*I should note that rumors swirl of a THIRD version — or more! — but I have never seen one in real life. Here's a link if you want to learn more.)
Back to MPJ Holo. The formula is a dream. I've had mine for years and it applies just like the day it was opened. The sparkleocity we've got going on here is incredibly multifaceted. In dull fluorescent office environments, MPJ puts on a professional demeanor and her prism-like glitter tones down to a subtle shimmer. But take MPJ outside on your lunch break and HOT DAMN does she sparkle and shine. Mini rainbows on every nail.
This is one of those polishes that's a distraction while you drive because it just keeps twinkling at you, "Look at me, look at me!" And so you begin to turn your finger this way and that, watching the sunlit sparkles dance... and then the next thing you know, someone is giving you a finger of an entirely different kind.
Lovely in Lacquer has some gorgeous swatches of MPJ Holo that are simply fun to look at. Enjoy!
xxo, GLOSS
P.S. Thank you to Katia, who gave MPJ to me as a gift so many moons ago. <3
UPDATE, dated 07/19/12
I mentioned above that my neighbor had the newer MPJ. I took a picture of the bottom of my MPJ Holo bottle and she took a picture of her bottle. Observe.
