Today, I’m going to show you the difference between a real OPI and a FAKE! the color i’m going to use to show you is FLY from OPI Nicki Minaj Collection.. the real/authenic OPI i have here was purchased from Mei Mei’s Signature at a promotional price! GOOD BUY!! Rest assure that polish from Mei Mei is definitely authentic!

And the fake OPI i got here is from a shop in Far East Plaza. #$%^&*( Actually, I got to know this color from that shop in FEP.. This shop is located at Lv3, or was it Lv4? Escalator up (escalator near Watson) and u can see it der alr..Can’t recall the name but the shop’s concept is those boxes (cubicle) rental whereby u rent a box and display watever u wana sell.. the retail assistant will not promote for u. their job is only cashiering and replenish stock..  They are selling OPI at S$6! hell cheap! but HELL it’s fake! u don need to be an expert to know that.. based on my point of view i think u can tell by the following

How to tell:

1. See bottom! those without label are most probably gona be fake! Well, at least the fake one i bought doesn’t comes with the round label!

In the pic, the one with label is real OPI purchased from Mei Mei’s Signature. The one without, FAKE!

2. Wording on the cap. real OPI’s wording are more protruding / more embrossed (In mandarin we call it 比较凸出!)… Fake OPI’s wording really looks fake itself and is less protruding and fonts is thinner (or maybe in some other cases, bigger?)!

In the pic, the left bottle is real OPI purchased from Mei Mei’s Signature. The one on the right, FAKE!

3. The cap’s texture.. this one i’m not too sure if u r able to tell bef ur purchase. when i purchased my OPI at FEP, the cap was wrapped with “OPI” printed seal.. so i can’t really feel it until i purchase it and unwrapped it. The moment my hand laid on the cap, i knew it was fake! The cap feels so hollow and cheap. Real OPI’s cap feel more dense! And the open/close process is so much smoother! the fake one is just too JAMMED!

4. Wording Printed on the bottle. real OPI words are straight and neat. Fake one are at times faded, slanded, or even MIS-SPELLED!! I recall i passed by this manicure shop, at FEP also, they displayed this brand “B.O.”.. it lookes EXACTLY like OPI.. LOL! everything the same, only the O.P.I became B.O. hahahaha!! how obvious!

In the pic, the left bottle is real OPI purchased from Mei Mei’s Signature. The one on the right, FAKE!

5. Smell it!! if u got the chance to open it (secretly, oops!), do it! i know it’s bad to smell nail polish! but.. From the smell u can know if it’s realy OPI! the fake OPI i got here smells like Cotton On’s Rubi nail polish! *stinks* it has got this processed/burnt plastic smell.. *YUKESS* Real OPI smells (probably im a psycho) better! it has this alcohol smell.. which i like it alot! (oops!)

Below are some simple swatch on real and fake FLY.. are you able to tell which is which..? and the difference? ^_^

FAKE: Middle and Little Pinkie

REAL: Index and Ring finger

If you looked at it again, you will notice that real Fly is brighter and the shade is more towards green. The fake one looks darker and blue-er.. One more thing that i’m not able to show u here is the application.. Application of the fake one wasn’t as smooth as the real OPI and it gets harden/sticky easily. sigh.. Now that i’ve got my real Fly, SAY BYE BYE to my FAKE FLY!!! *wave goodbye*

Last but not least.. Hopefully this post helps you to identity OPI better.. DO NOT buy from sites that you don’t trust and always read reviews!! Don’t be lazy.. Do some homework before u purchase online for good deal! ^_^ Few sites that i would recommend from authenic branded polish would be Mei Mei’s Signature, Wow! Pretty Nails and Smoochiezz.

P.S.: to keep colour as true as possible, no photoshop (of the bottles) had been done. Thus kindly pardon the not very bright pictures of OPI bottles! >_<