Here's the scene. Friday night, a girl and her mother entered a local Winners store to peruse for some great scores. The girl approached the cosmetics section, as usual. She inspected the nail polish, only to find that something strange had arrived...
What you're looking at is either:
A) The most legit looking fake OPI polishes I have ever seen, or
B) Very extremely limited edition hard to find strange OPI polishes that no one knows of.
As soon as I saw the blue one on the shelf I was like "What the deuce? That's no OPI I've ever seen!"
Let's be real. I know too much about OPI. And yeah, I'm sure there are lots I've never seen, but they're usually like, mauve, and they're old school black label. And not bright blue with holo glitter. There was no fooling me.
I picked it up to check the label.
Blue Chips?!
Immediately I googled it on my phone and there's nothing. Nothing!! What?!
The label is kinda weird though. No barcode. Maybe it's a sample? Maybe it's super legit fake? Maybe it was never produced? Maybe it's all a dream?
Obvi I then checked for the telltale fake OPI signs like the bottle being slightly different in size, the glass at the bottom looking funny, the writing on the back, the gears in the cap, the pro-wide brush, the OPI on the brush stem... It's ALL legit. (Except for the somewhat strange label.)
So now I'm standing there with my jaw probably on the floor when I notice the other odd looking colors.
Golden Waves. Googled. Nada.
Tart Green Apple. This is way brighter than Who The Shrek Are You.
Bouquet of Violets. This looks like Funky Dunkey.
By now I was squirreling away all the bottles so the muggles couldn't get them and also so they would stop judging me and I could snap pictures in peace.
Cream in My Coffee. Kinda like a Skull and Glossbones mixed with My Boyfriend Scales Walls.
Just Shocking! This looks like Wing It! Both with exclamation marks!
I carried all six around the store for a while having a SERIOUS dilemma on if I should buy them because they're rare or forget them because they're worthless.
I even made my mom listen to me ranting about it and showed her all the reasons why they MUST be real but definitely CAN'T be real at the same time.
I eventually left them all behind. And I'm still iffy about my choice. But $8 each... Ugh.
Have you ever heard of any of these? Do you have ANY CLUE what they could be? Almighty polish wisdom, help me!!!
I wouldn't know but I hope someone else can help you out on this. How strange!
ReplyDeleteIt's possible they're fakes and some buyer for Winners just didn't know any better.
ReplyDeleteYou can always try and contact OPI directly for more information....btw, can't belive OPI polishes are 8$....In Europe they're 20$ per bottle....no joke
ReplyDeleteThere is a great possibility that it's fake. A lot of people already posted tips and tricks on how to identify fake OPIs so these people may have applied that to make it look legit. :( Kind of sad that there are people faking it, right? :( They should just make another brand name.
ReplyDeleteThe names don't sound very OPI-ish to me, to be honest. As for the funny label, while this does look like the second label, which is under the 'main' bottom label (with the 'peel here inscription'), there're also the address and the telephone number on my OPIs, which is the thing these OPIs are lacking. For these reasons, I assume that these OPIs are fake, albeit looking very, very convincing even to a nail enthusiast. The muggles (also, high five, I call 'normal people' muggles, too :D) will totally buy it, though, in all senses.
ReplyDeleteCould they be some of the random "exclusives" they ut out at Ulta in the US? I rarely see posts about them anymore but I seem to recall they always had lame names and tended to be suspiciously close to existing colours.
ReplyDeleteI might not be an OPI eperft, but these look pretty fake to me since the names are unheard of and the colors are just off... :X
ReplyDeleteI googled Cream in my Coffee and found sites selling them on ebay, New Zealand and Italy. If they are fakes, they are being sold there too or is it possible that they have some colors available in other countries or same colors but are named differently for other countries and maybe those made there way back to the US? I know some brands that do that sort of thing anyway. Good luck on your quest for the truth and let us know what you find. =)
ReplyDeleteI love your dotticure!
ReplyDeleteThese have to be fakes, tho why they'd go to all the trouble and not even use real OPI color names, I'm not sure...but once the details of how to spot fakes got shared enough, they were going to start fixing those things on the fakes....
They're not fakes! I'd say Jen is right! I own Bouquet of Violets and it is a complete dupe for Funky Dunkey (which I also own). It came in a double pack with a polish called Frog in My Throat which looks like it is an exact match for OPI's Just Spotted the Lizard. For a while OPIs were popping up in "collections" at Ulta and were the exact same colors as older polishes with new names. Then, later on people were spotting these same polishes at TJ Maxx or stores like that. So same polish, but because it's meant to be in a duo-pack the labels on the bottom of the bottles look like the ones you've shown - not originally meant for individual resale. If you google "OPI dupes at Ulta" (because I don't want to leave a link in your comment section), you'll see people have worked to compile lists of which polishes are really the same colors but with different names! It's frustrating that OPI did this for Ulta (and possibly other companies), because it makes it harder for people to tell which colors they already have. If you want a picture comparison of the two purples I can put it up on Instagram or Twitter so you can see they are the same (except for the labels and names of course). :)
ReplyDeleteI was about to say what Cyan said. I found some OPI at TJ Maxx in duo sets that looked like dupes for other OPI colors, just with different names. I think that's what those are there but just sold as singles.
ReplyDeleteJust backing up Cyan and Stella: I remember reading a post on a blog or forum about how when OPI goes to places like TJ Maxx or Marshall's they have to rename the bottles because it has something to do with selling at a non-authorized retailer or selling at discounted prices if I remember correctly! It does make me curious as to what the original names were and collections these colors were from!
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely right - they do that because a lot of reps will still have old stock they are not done distributing yet stores that don't practice clearance were stuck with reports the shade was sold elsewhere cheaper. in yrs past there has been a lot of issue with the company dumping lot ends onto discount chains - was not an issue before we got the likes of TJMAX and the other similar stores - OPI was only sold in licensed beauty stores and the only place OPI dumped product was in small lots that were usually in 3rd world countries in the bigger cities where there is so much corruption no one blinks an eye.
DeleteI'm curious...when you find out let us know.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure Blue Chips is a dupe for The Flowers are Blue-Ming for the Ulta exclusive Too Huate to Handle Collection. Which might explain why it's been renamed for another retailer.
ReplyDeleteThey could be some of those OPI produced for ULTA or a few other chain stores they have done that with - they take the same shades often as main line and put different names on them - sometimes they have blended 2 colors together to come up with a new shade that is close to another - I have kept track of OPI since the very early 90s - these were not main line - I would think if they were a off named OPI made for a select sale in a chain store only, you would have found some mention of them somewhere - but it is getting harder to search Google sometimes - I have found some things 8 and 9 pages back when I had all but given up. But this many all together for sale is odd. It might be the supplier for the store you found them at got a good deal - sort of was not too sure they were real or not but had already signed on the line to take them and now passed them on to recoup. You always could buy a couple - then if they don't preform or smell really bad, return them with your discovery made known to the mgt that you found out they are most likely fake.
ReplyDeleteThe Tarte Green Apple looks just like the green Did It On Em from the Nicki Minaj collection.
DeleteThe Gold one might be Glitzerland from the Swiss collection.
DeleteI saw some of these at Marshall's during the Xmas season. I only bought them b/c they were 2 for $6.99 and much like you, when I Googled the names I found absolutely nothing.
ReplyDeletefake or no fake, I like the way you presented this serious problem to us. More detective tales please? :)
ReplyDeleteThere was another blogger who had a similar issue. It escapes me who it was. Anyhoo, the bottles she found were the OPI/Katy Perry collection, but had been renamed for resale. My guess would be that these are legit.
ReplyDeleteI had a similar issue with an Essie I bought from TJ Maxx, the Essie was originally part of a Ralph Lauren gift set. Perhaps something like that happened here? Also I saw on a New Zealanders trade page these were ousted for OPI trades.. http://www.trademe.co.nz/health-beauty/hand-foot-care/nail-polish/opi/auction-706854977.htm
ReplyDeleteI just saw Cream In My Coffee on eBay. So maybe an International release not available in North America or....a widespread fake?
ReplyDeleteYeah, the blue and gold ones look like Ulta-exclusive OPI polishes I bought a couple years ago (The Flowers are Blue-ming and Sand on Your Own Feet).
ReplyDeleteI don't know if this would be helpful but I read this post recently on a different blog.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.morenailpolish.com/2014/02/spotting-fake-opi-is-getting-really-hard.html
I bought Blue Chips at my local winners here in Newmarket, Ontario. I heard that BC (and there is a Red Chips as well) was made for some kind of Las Vegas Poker Tournament...?! At least, that's what someone in our FB group said. :)
ReplyDeletewhen I did my research after buying Blue Chips. I found and article stating that they are possible colors from limited collections, that can no longer be sold under that name(possibly because a collab with a celebrity ended), so they relabel them and basically deny any knowledge of them.
ReplyDeleteI've seen weird looking OPI at Winners before too! The ones I saw had no barcode and "peel here" in Spanish on the label. I just tagged you on my instagram photo if you want to take a look :) maybe try to contact OPI about it? Did you notice the polish smelling different than what OPI normally smells like? Really cheap or fake polish normally smells toxic because they aren't 3 free and who knows what's in them :/
ReplyDeleteI love Golden Waves.
ReplyDeleteThey are definitely legit OPI polishes made for Winners. Another blogger contacted OPI inquiring and received this reply:
ReplyDelete"Those were custom colors we did for Winner's in Canada. It is an exclusive for them." - Teri Truong, Technician Support - OPI Products Inc.
It seems these polishes are LE shades that are being sold under the radar with a new name to avoid contract breach. OPI will never confirm this obviously for legal reasons. The following article has a list of mystery shades and their real names (if known): http://imabeautygeek.com/2013/11/14/opi-mystery-polish-stainless-steel-and-i-like-boys-enberries/comment-page-1/#comment-390216
ReplyDeleteAs you can see on the list Blue Chips is really The Flowers are Blue-Ming, Bouquet of Violets is really Funky Dunkey (as you thought) and Just Shocking! is really Nicole by OPI's Scarlett.
They are real; OPI released 'exclusive to Winners' shades, that are overstocks from old OPI, NOPI, and SOPI collections. The Beauty Geeks site has a table showing which polish is really which.
ReplyDeleteI recently bought blue chips in the UK. Not sure if it's a fake but it's really pretty!
ReplyDeleteFajartoto is the Bandar Togel Online Terpercaya, Online Togel Agent, Trusted Online Togel & Situs Casino Online that has been proven to be a trusted place to place online lottery betting numbers for online lottery lovers and Judi Casino Online. Fajartoto as the Trusted Online Bandar Togel, Online Togel Agent and Trusted Togel Site that provides 9 official online lottery markets such as SGP pools, lottery pools, lottery pools, canadia pools, togel saigon pools, Siamese pools, khmer pools , lottery israel pools and toto macanese 4D pools. Please come to visit my website Syair Togel Hongkong and Prediksi Togel Hongkong
ReplyDelete