Today I have swatches of Pepe’s Purple Passion, another polish from OPI’s Holiday 2011 Muppets Collection.  Despite the name I would call it a purplish red rather than an actual purple.

I’ve really liked the other two polishes I reviewed from this collection (Warm & Fozzie and Animal-istic), and this polish is so pretty in the bottle that I had high hopes.  It’s a muted, purplish red with jagged red glitter chunks.  I have to say, though, that this polish has been a big disappointment for me.

The problems start with the formula – it’s thick and oddly goopy, so it went on streaky and had shrinkage problems at tip and cuticle.  I only had to use two coats, but it dries to a very dull and gritty finish.  It’s kind of driving me crazy to wear it, it’s so gritty and textured that it has a bumpy, pockmarked look.  As it was drying I thought it might be problematic, and I used an extra thick layer of topcoat on top, but the topcoat was still totally swallowed up by the grit.

I also don’t like the balance between base color and glitter here – the base is so dark and opaque that the glitter is covered up and just looks like sort of faded spots, and doesn’t sparkle at all in normal wear.  The whole thing is kind of creeping me out.  I can’t recommend this color.

I even ended up with tip wear or chipped-off spots at the ends of my nails, although this picture was taken after just half a day of wear.  Grrr.

Here’s a shadier picture – take a look at that texture.  This polish seems somehow messy and unkempt – I hate the way the glitter just looks like dust or dirt.

If you’re looking for this color anyway, it should be popping up in the normal OPI retail outlets.