O.P.I Alcatraz... Rocks Swatch & Review

Happy Sunday! I'm currently sitting and enjoying doing absolutely nothing, So I figured, why not share some swatches of an awesome polish I recently purchased! I bought this polish during my shopping spree to Ulta (Post about it here), and I just love it.
I bought O.P.I Alcatraz... Rocks, which is my first ever liquid sand textured polish, and I'm glad to add it to my collection.

Alcatraz... Rocks - $8

Alcatraz... Rocks has a deep purple gel-like base, with holographic glitter flecks of gold, copper, green, blue, and pink.
The formula applies smoothly and super glossy. The texture is not visible at first, but as it dries the polish slowly turns both matte and gritty.
The first coat is a bit sheer, but the second coat immediately darkens and brings the color to almost full opacity. I applied three coats to get complete coverage.
I love that it looks like a plain old holo-glitter until it dries, then it really does look and feel like bedazzled sand.
The only issue I had was that as the previous coats begin to dry and change texture, it makes the next coat a bit harder to apply, so the application is not as smooth as with the first coat. But that is to be expected. You just have to take your time a bit more, to make sure you don't leave any bare spots.

Close up of Alcatraz... Rocks.

This polish comes with a large, pliable, super workable brush that I was very happy with.

O.P.I Alcatraz... Rocks under lamp.

O.P.I Alcatraz... Rocks in sunlight.

O.P.I Alcatraz... Rocks with flash.

Now, well I know this is hard to do, you have to skip the top coat with this polish. Otherwise, you will ruin the matte finish and smooth out the texture. But, if your a top coat junkie, I added a coat of Revlon Quick Dry top coat so you could see the effect it has on the texture.

O.P.I Alcatraz... Rocks with top coat.

While the top coat does bring out the richness of the purple base, and brighten the glitter flecks. It also glosses over -No pun intended.- the matte finish, and smooths over most of the sand texture.
If your fine with that, I would suggest just buying a normal holo-glitter polish. Otherwise, skip the top coat and show off that awesome sandy texture.

So, to sum it up, I love this shade. I love the luxe deep purple color, the mix of matte finish and multicolored glitter, and the interesting texture. I think the texture gives the look more interest, without going overboard.

The mix of dark color, strong glitter, and texture could have gone to the land of tacky, but O.P.I really made it work, and made it look pretty, edgy, and a bit sophisticated.
I also love the name, it makes me think of Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage.

Thanks for reading! To check out my previous Swatch & Reviews click here.
-xo Brittany

Would you add Alcatraz... Rocks to your collection? What do you think of textured polishes? Let me know in the comments!