I'm Not Really A Waitress...

Photo from here.

Back in college, I took a creative writing course as one of my electives.  One of our assignments was to create a project on something that we thought was creative - outside of the realm of literature.  I decided to do my project on OPI because I love the fun names it comes up with for its polish colors.  While researching, I actually learned some pretty cool things about the company and the polish-naming process.  Check it out below!:

OPI is a family owned business.  It started out as a dental supply company until nail salons began ordering acrylic products originally used to make dentures.  The polishes are currently made in New Jersey because it's illegal to manufacture highly flammable products in California.  Then, they ship the products to San Diego, CA.  After that, the polishes are distributed to almost 80 countries.

OPI has created over 220 different shades of nail polish.  The polishes go on sale for only about 6 months unless they become "classics".  One thing I really liked about the company is that it donates to many charities.  For example, the polish "Red-y to Help" benefits the American Red Cross. 

Photo from here.

Not only is OPI famous for its amazing colors, but it also has some pretty cool polish names.  Here are a few examples:

The Lifeguard Makes Me Blush

Big Apple Red

Blushingham Palace

Boris and Natasha

Catherine the Grape

Dancing in the Isles

Dress to Empress

St. Petersburgundy

You're a Pisa Word

Don't Socra-tease Me!

Not So Bora-Bora-ing Pink

Chocolate Shake-speare

How fun, right?!  I'm not going to lie, whenever I get a manicure or buy polishes I always check the name (it might even be a deciding factor between two similar colors).  Ever wonder how they come up with such neat names?

Photo from here.

First, they pick a geographic location as the theme for their main 12-bottle collection.  (This happens twice a year.)  Just for those 12 bottles, the team usually comes up with about 600 names!  The team does this in a conference room while having a themed party and eating inspiring foods.  For example, while naming the Japanese line, the team ate sushi!  They also study atlases, music, cookbooks and life experiences to help them name the 12 polishes.  For example, OPI's number one seller, "I'm Not Really A Waitress..." was named after a server at a wedding spilled champagne on OPI Executive Vice President, Suzi Weiss-Ficshmann.  The server apologized by saying, "I'm not really a waitress..." ;o)

Photo from here.

Think that's cool?  Here are some other neat facts:

-  Barbara Streisand supposedly had her Ford Expedition painted "Bogota Blackberry". 

-  An entertainment journalist actually ordered 25 gallons of "Kyoto Pearl"to paint her dining room!

-  OPI employees went to a celebrity's pet party and gave "pet-i-cures" with their line of "Paw-lishes"

- A mechanic named Vito wrote a letter to the company thanking them for naming a color after him - "Hey Vito, is my car red-y?".  He bought over 100 bottles to give to customers!

Isn't OPI such an awesome company?  My favorite color would have to be "You Don't Know Jacques!".  It's perfect for the fall/winter.  I really want to buy "Koala Bear-y" for summer from the Australian line.  Let me know what your favorite OPI color is in the comments below!

"You Don't Know Jacques"
Photo from here.

Koala Bear-y
Photo from here.

Information from here and here. (As I mentioned this project was done previous to 2009, so information might have changed a little.) 

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