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Fanatic Feedback – How Old Is Your Polish?

By on May 14, 2009
in Fanatic Feedback
I was going through my collection recently, sorting colors, weeding out dupes. It got me thinking about how old some of my polishes are and wondering… Am I the only one that hoards old colors, even if they’re a bit goopy, just because the color is so great? That brings me to my questions for you.

What age is your oldest bottle? What is it?

Or, if you’re the type to regularly purge, how long do you keep polishes for before giving them the heave ho?

My answer: I believe my bottles of OPI Rainforest are the oldest polishes I own. Since no one knows the exact release date and there is collection information dating back to the early 90s with no mention of Rainforest, I can only assume it’s from the 80s. Still applies like a dream though.

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There Are 41 Brilliant Comments

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  1. и¡†α says:

    I’ve a Revlon polish of 10 years ago, its a navy blue matte discontinued :(, it only has a tiny amount now because in my high school times I used to wear it a lot, I’d tried to find a dupe for it but I cant find anything similar :(

  2. ? says:

    I’ve a Revlon polish of 10 years ago, its a navy blue matte discontinued :(, it only has a tiny amount now because in my high school times I used to wear it a lot, I’d tried to find a dupe for it but I cant find anything similar :(

  3. Lorraine says:

    My oldest polish is probably one I got back in the late 70s from the BonMarche in Seattle. It was a Mary Quant shade called DawnPatrol. A purpley burgundy. I wonder if I put some nailpolish remover in the bottle if I could still get a full 10 finger coating ;)

  4. Anonymous says:

    I have colors that are about 10 years old… but I don’t use them any more just because they are so goopy. Since I can’t part with them, or polish with them… I paint my doorkeys all different colors!

  5. sage1 says:

    Oh, I surely do have old,old polishes! And I’m glad I do!

    Some of my favorites are from a line that was fantastic! And short lived!

    My favorite was the Sally Hansen Beyond Perfect line! The best, long lasting, and excellent.
    I was told by a neighbor who worked at the local Rite-Aid that the line was being discontinued, and i went in and bought every single bottle. Then I went down to the nearest CVS, and did the same. I still have them; if they get sticky or nasty, a few drops of thinner or Restore. I still wear them. Have only thrown out one bottle.

    some of my favorites have sentimental value.. like I wore them when my daughter was a baby.
    There were a few Avon standbys that were great.

    There’s such a great turnover of NP lines, and shades, and formulas, it’s a shame! YOu get accustomed to something.. and a year later (about the time it takes to use up a full bottle- yeah
    like that’s gonna happen!)…

    Too often I see a shade I’m doubtful about.. but when I make up my mind.. I go back, and find it either all sold out, or discontinued.

    And I’m still an OPI Old Formula devotee. I don’t know why they dumped a superior formula… oh, I understand they were going ‘green,’ and the big three may be harmful to pregant women.. but then why not start a new line of ‘green’ colors, and leave the old formula for us die hards?

  6. MoLo says:

    There’s a great post on Scrangie’s blog about how you can keep nail polish indefinitely: http://www.scrangie.com/2008/12/restoring-polish-quite-possibly-most.html

    I definitely have polishes that are over 10 years old, but most of them are just as good as ever :)

  7. The Asian Girl says:

    I “rescued” some old formula OPIs that I discarded when I was 20 and rarely wore polish to begin with. They’re like 4 years old (or even older; they were castaways from a Trade Secret). I really miss a lot of my old polish, especially the scented ones meant to mimic popular perfumes.

  8. Erika says:

    My oldest bottle is Chanel Vamp from 1993 or 1994– I can’t believe some of you have polishes from the 70s and 80s! Craziness :)

  9. ashleydanielle4 says:

    I’ve only been buying polish for about 2 years but my grandmother actually tried to tell me to stop buying so much polish because it only last a year!

  10. bargainbeautyblog says:

    I found some Revlon Street Wears from 97-98 in my stuff recently– they’re my faves! Plus, my high school best friend gave me her old bottles! yay!

  11. Michelin says:

    A few months ago I found a bottle of ‘Rainforest’ at my local HEB, and after reading your posts about it, I had to buy it. I felt like I’d found buried treasure. I can’t believe you think it might be that old!

  12. Stef says:

    I’ve got two bottles of Orly polish from about 1996. My husband bought them for me at a time where spending money on polish was a luxury we really couldn’t afford. I will never ever part with them! I don’t wear them, a pink and a blue, the names wore off years ago, but they will never be tossed!

  13. Stacey says:

    My oldest polish is OPI’s Los Angeles Latte from the 1997 Route 66 collection. I think I bought it in 1999. Even though I have well over 100 OPI’s now, it’s still one of my favorites. :)

  14. Ragrunzel says:

    The oldest polish I still own is some white polish from “colours for you”. I usually had only one bottle at the same time and used it up before I buy another one, but that’s different today.

  15. Susanna says:

    I have Dior polish I got from my mom that’s from the late ’70s or early ’80s. It still applies very well, although I think the colors are pretty hideous.

  16. Anonymous says:

    Sadly, I just started to collect nail polish (before my polish addiction I had pink drugstores). My oldest bottle is probably OPI Need Sunglasses? Which is probably about 2 years old.

  17. Anonymous says:

    My oldest polish is from MAC in 1997 called Haze. It’s an opalescent green blue color I’ve never seen duped that I wore on my wedding day. While I could still wear it – I never want to run out!

  18. Anonymous says:

    I actually bought nail polish thinner so that the goopyness won’t be there anymore. Works great! Super cheap at like sally’s beauty supply!

  19. Melanie says:

    The oldest one I have is Zoya “Melanie”. I got a manicure the day before my wedding and my mom told me to pick out a color I wanted and we’d buy the bottle in case there was chippage. So I picked out this Zoya and didn’t pay attention to the name. Then I looked at it later and laughed! It was meant to be I guess.

  20. Anonymous says:

    I’ve been told that Rainforest came out in 1989, the first year OPI relased colors. My oldest polishes are from the same collection as Rainforest and from OPI’s first collection, Launch in 1989.

  21. Anonymous says:

    I have an old OPI nail polish that I bought for prom back in 1995. I won’t part with it. It is a dark red color. The name of polish has come off. It is a bit goopy n I need to buy some thinner.

  22. Anonymous says:

    Pro 10 Spectrum (medium purple with green sparkle). It must be from the 90s and I take it out maybe once a year. I just put it on today and it went on smoothly, but we’ll see how long it lasts.

  23. Leo Girl says:

    My oldest bottle is OPI’s Roman Flame, I know I bought it at a Trade Secret but I don’t remember the year.

  24. Lizzrd says:

    I have a number of bottles of Pro 10 H2O…a beautiful sheer sparkle. I'm guessing they're about 10+ years old. One coat makes your nails look wet, but not overly painted. Nicely subtle.

    What I wish is that I still had the first bottle of polish I ever purchased – in 1974. Maybelline's "Licorice Stick". A breathtaking silver-lavender for which I've never seen an accurate dupe. Had I known I could resurrect it, I'd never have tossed it.

  25. Alison says:

    I was google-ing “OPI Roman Flame” to see if I could find any swatches anywhere and this post came up. Roman Flame is my oldest polish as well and it will always be one of my faves. I’m pretty sure it was the first non-drugstore nail polish I ever bought. Glad to know there is someone else out there that still has it too!

  26. Arrianne says:

    Ahh to the girl who found Rainforest at HEB, what luck! I can’t find any old interesting colors at my HEB. I haven’t looked very well though. To answer the question, I’d say maybe 5 years is the oldest polish I have.

    • All Lacquered Up says:

      I know, right?? We don’t have HEB but randomly coming across a rare polish like that is amazing.

  27. Sandi says:

    My oldest polish is probably a Diane Von Furstenburg called ‘Wild Passion’, a medium pinky purple that says

  28. Jenn says:

    my oldest polish would be a NYC light pink, from about 10 years ago, when i was a flower girl in a wedding… (:

  29. ariella says:

    My oldest polish is a chanel color called golden ivory, and i bought it in 1996. It still applies like a dream.

  30. LadyMorrgian says:

    You will all hate me..but I still have every polish I ever owned. Even the crappy ones from when I was 6. The only one I dont have is the one my mother painted my nails with before she died. I moved away shortly after and never found it/

  31. Braye says:

    My oldest bottle of polish is Orly’s Satin Hope, from the Satin Hues collection, a gorgeous satin finish green with blue duochrome. I believe it dates 11-12 years old, since I purchased this back when I was in high school. I haven’t worn the shade in a long while, but am tempted to revisit it soon :)

  32. nancy says:

    in the year 1998 there was form lancome a collection, but i don’t know the name, wich have sets of nailpolish and one of the sets, was a duo, purple and a bottle of red shimmers, but not a kind you see these days. The meaning of it was to apply the purple one and than the red shimmer/glitter. (Sorry for the bad grammatical but i am from the Netherlands). Well it was soooo stunning and beautiful!!! Everyone also said than something about the nailpolish. I bougt a set more, but one day, it was empty ;-(( And it was limited edition. Too bad. And too bad too that i don’t know the name anymore, because i don’t know how to search it on google now. What i do know, is that in that collection they had also a perfume called: Now or Never!! Gosh what a fragrance!!! I loved it!!! And i want that nailpolish again! It did fot whit every outfit also! So so beautiful!!!

  33. nancy says:

    Oh something i forgot, a couple of months before that collection, or a couple of months after, i don’t know exactly, they had a collection of three sets nailpolish. All black with an pearly kind of topcoat. When you put on the black, and after drying the topcoat, it become beautiful bleu, purple or magnificent green!! They had it also in eyeshadow. Too bad i don’t know the namen anymore and too bad i did not kept the bottles :-((((

  34. Laura-Jane says:

    My oldest bottle is a barely-used edition of OPI’s Mauve-a-rita Por Favour, which I recused from a Girl Guide Nail Night ;) I’m pretty sure it’s about 8 or 9 years old…

  35. Veilweaver says:

    I have 6 year old doller store nail polish (yes I’m cheap) that’s actully really amazing and applies really well.

  36. vik says:

    i have two beautiful Dior red polishes that are in spherical bottles from probably 10 years ago. They are really thick, so i keep them only because the bottles are beautiful and the colors were superb.

  37. Jackie says:

    I have no idea where it came from but cleaning out my draws the other day I found a bottle of givenchy organza perfumed nail polish does any one know how old it will be? X

  38. Paula says:

    I have some old L’Orial polish. I’m pretty sure it is from the late 70′s, early 80′s. The color I didn’t use much is still in fine shape, the ones I did use are gloppy.
    Oldest to newest
    Sealily
    Whimsey Pink
    Velvet Rose
    This is from when their bottles were a curved (not the square of today)

  39. Sherri says:

    If anyone knows what year Opi came out with Roman Flame polish and lipcolor please let me know. I have Roman Flame and San Francisco Sparkler. I purchased the both of them around the same time. It has been awhile!

  40. Tobi says:

    I just found an old Sinful Colors polish called Blush Touch. I came online to see if anyone knew about vintage nail polishes. I know I still have some from the 70s that my brother gave me as a Christmas or birthday gift, gotta find them. The Blush Touch must be from the 80s, still in great condition, gonna wear it this week!

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