HG status. This shade flatters my skintone so perfectly! I put on two coats and it looks like I just had my nails manicured by a pro. This is sheer, but not so much so that I have to apply several layers for any color to show up. Nope, not all. Two coats is all I need. I will continue to repurchase this again and again. It looks clean and classy. Perfect for work and every day.

Love this nail polish! Its THE perfect nude color for me. It makes me feel so confident when I have it on. OPI polishes are always great quality.

skinnygal immediately below me is exactly right; however, I would like to add that this polish makes my nails SHINY, so shiny I can't stop looking at them. The color, shine, and moderately opaque finish (after 2 coats) make me look like a far more skilled manicurist than I actually am. This is my first bottle of OPI polish, and I am extremely impressed with the smooth application and fast drying (3 min. per coat, even on the third coat). All this said, the polish still chipped off both index fingers the first time I showered - typical for me but still disappointing. This has the ProWide brush, which I like for manicures. US$3.98 @ 8ty8beauty.com.

This makes my nails look natural but better. Love it. Looks like I've had them professionally done.

Samoan Sand is one of my go to colors. I like my nails on the nude side on my hands and often my feet too. This one is nude but not sheer. It looks nice with my deep skin tone.

It's a nice color, not my favorite though. It's too sheer even with 2 coats and I don't want to apply a 3rd coat because that would take forever to dry and the thicker the coat, the easier your polish will chip. Anyways, this color looks nice over OPI's "dulce de leche".

I really like this is. It is an opaque nude color and in my opinion, looks really classes. Although to get it to be opaque I need like 4 coats. I would NEVER EVER EVER! wear this sheer because it makes my nails look yellow...but yeah..when it is opaque it is very nice.

What Severine from "Belle de Jour" probably wore with her Yves St. Laurent. The perfect beige for pale neutral skin. Somehow both bourgeois and subversive.

UPDATE (07/2008): Still going strong and going on beautifully a year after purchase... back to this, as returning to the nude after a long time spent with the perfect pink.

Verily fab. Gorgeous sheer classy beige-nude.

Colour: pale milky beige with subtlest hints of peach and pink. Shiny in a healthy buffed way, and with no shimmer, pearl, or glitter.

Excellent on short nails - somehow makes nails look longer and tidier. Actually makes one's hands look well-maintained, with a minimum of effort; and I'm all into minimum of effort.

On pale skin, one coat is YNBB. The beige tone stops your fingertips looking too pink, but it's sheer enough for your own nail and nail-bed colour to come through (my lilac undertones turn the Samoan slightly pink and stop it being too yellow). Weirdly, it works well on a range of skin-tones, enhancing different qualities in each - could be the Orgasm of nail polishes (the O polish itself being sadly disappointing, IMHO).

Application: currently using Essie 3-Way Glaze as a base coat, then a single coat of the Samoan, then 3-Way as a top coat. Applying the Samoan is easy - good size of brush, smooth creamy but light consistency, and a very consistent colour - no streakiness. Do tap the brush a little before applying: too much will produce gloops. (Then again, that's true of any varnish.) As it's such a light colour, it's easy just to wipe off any excess on skin (no special tool used - I used the end of a pen). The Samoan dried fast when left to its own devices for about 15 mins.

Wear: stays on well and doesn't chip for 2-3 days. Can be retouched with clear varnish. Used with the Essie, I find this lasts a good week.

The bottle was fiendishly expensive here in Europe, but looks like it'll last for some time. (UPDATE: indeed it has - a year on and I'm about 0.5 cm into the bottle, admittedly not using it every day, and the formula and colour haven't changed. I've duly lowered the price to a 3.)

NB: OPI have laudably decided to follow the path of virtue and removed the possibly-nasty things from their formulae (e.g. toluene), but some older stock may include them, so if you're worried, check ingredients on bottom of container.

NBB: Revlon have some nudies that might work if you're looking for a cheaper alternative to OPI (i.e. if you're in Europe): Sheer Nude is very close to the Samoan, and they have a good range of YBB pinks, peaches, and coffees that would cover most of the naked-human spectrum. continued >>

This is a beautiful sheer nude for my NC45 skin. I wear it on my toes, and it just livens them up. As with all OPI sheer shades, it is slightly streaky, so I can't imagine that one coat would look nice. However, 2 coats (and perhaps 3) topped with OPI's quick dry nailpolish gives a neat professional look that I can wear in all facets of my life. The brush is overly big, which I like. I would ordinarily find an Orly dupe, and I may try that next time, but this color is perfect for me.