Tag Archives: OPI

OPI Alice Through the Looking Glass Collection Swatches

OPI Alice through the Looking Glass Collection Swatches

Yesterday, in my Twitter poll, I asked which of three nail-polish collections you wanted me to swatch first.

The majority (39%) chose the OPI Alice Through the Looking Glass Collection, although the Zoya Seashells Collection came in at a very close second (38%).

Taking your request into account, here are all nine colours in the OPI Alice Through the Looking Glass Collection (aka the Brights 2016 Collection) swatched!

(If you’re interested in seeing the official press release with the colour story, click the link to see it in a blog post I published previously.)

Which one’s your favourite?

The red and plum had a jelly-like finish, which was very shiny and on the sheer, watery side. However, they could be built up with multiple coats.

The gold has a little silver thrown in, and it’s a textured glitter nail polish. (On me, I think it looks wonky and the texture looked clumpy because the base colour is metallic. It wasn’t my favourite, even though I am a fan of textures.)

My heart raced faster when I tried on the special-edition colour, What Time Isn’t It?, which is a pigmented grey with bar glitter. I don’t have anything exactly like it.

The light and dark blues were my favourite cremes because they pop on your nails!

Overall, the formulas on these were great and easy to apply with most needing just two coats.

Continue reading

Share

OPI Retro Summer 2016 Collection

OPI Retro Summer 2016 Collection

Hit the beach with confidence when you’re wearing sunny colours from the OPI Retro Summer 2016 Collection, which officially launches on June 1st!

The six colours take inspiration from candy-floss skies, smouldering destinations, teeny bikinis, and tropical beverages.

Slide on your flip flops, tie a bow in your string bikini, and let’s go check out the shades in the OPI Retro Summer 2016 Collection!

Edit (May 27, 2016): They’re up! Click here to see my OPI Retro Summer 2016 Collection swatches, and let me know which one’s your favourite!

Continue reading

Share

OPI Infinite Shine Olive for Green Swatches & Review

OPI Infinite Shine Olive for Green Swatch Review

OPI Infinite Shine Olive for Green has my name written all over it. Okay, not literally, but the second I first saw it in the Spring 2016 Collection, angels played harps and fluttered their wings. Pretty much the same thing, right? 😉

OPI Infinite Shine Olive for Green pulls out all the stops! Go, go, go!

It took all my willpower to not wear this one right away. Sometimes exercising self-restraint makes it that much more rewarding when you finally wear a colour you’re been lusting over!

I think Mother Nature was jealous, though, because when I decided to photograph my manicure, it was a cloudy, dark, rainy day. (You’d think that the sunshine would want to come out for this, wouldn’t you?)

Continue reading

Share

OPI Alice Through the Looking Glass Collection (OPI Brights 2016 Collection)

OPI Alice Through the Looking Glass Collection OPI Brights 2016

Circle your calendars for May, and celebrate your ‘unbirthday’ with the Mad Hatter of nail polish!

Things are getting curiouser and curiouser, as we tumble down the rabbit hole towards the OPI Alice Through the Looking Glass Collection (the OPI Brights 2016 Collection)!

Whether you want to paint the roses (err…nails) red, blue, or another colour, there’s a shade in the OPI Alice Through the Looking Glass Collection that’ll be your cup of tea.

Which colours are you most looking forward to?

I’m excited to see the nail polishes I put in the top row of my collage because they remind me the most of Alice and her dress.

Also, yes, this OPI Brights 2016 Collection is a tie-in to the Disney movie with the same name.

I’ll probably end up watching it just because the late-and-great Alan Rickman plays the Caterpillar. I highly respect Alan Rickman as an actor and as a person. On a superficial level, I love his voice so much, and I know that I’m not alone. (He could literally just read the names of all the nail polishes in my Helmers, and my heart would beat three times faster!)

P.S. The special-edition black polish with silver, What Time Isn’t It?, reminds me of a book I had when I was a child. It was called What Time Is It When It Isn’t?, and I remember loving the title. (The book never gave any answers, which made it more interesting.) After reading that book, whenever anyone asked me for the time, I secretly always wanted them to ask me, “Excuse me, but what time is it when it isn’t?” Even to this day, I have a strong urge to ask or get asked that question! It stuck with me all these years.

Edit (May 18, 2016): I published a blog post featuring swatches of the entire OPI Alice Through the Looking Glass Collection.

Continue reading

Share

OPI This Cost Me a Mint Swatches & Review

OPI This Cost Me a Mint Swatches Review

Enjoy a refreshing manicure that’s as cool as a cucumber with OPI This Cost Me a Mint from the SoftShades 2016 Collection!

(Yup – according to OPI, it’s officially called ‘SoftShades’ and not ‘Soft Shades’, even though I’ve been seeing both one-word and two-word versions all over the internet.)

Being a green nail-polish lover, you know that I had to dip into OPI This Cost Me a Mint right off the bat!

Spring, mint ice cream, and mojitos are stamped all over this baby.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering how it compares to OPI That’s Hula-rious! (from the Hawaii Collection), scroll further down this post for my comparison swatches.

Continue reading

Share

OPI Infinite Shine Spring 2016 Collection Swatches

OPI Infinite Shine Spring 2016 Collection Swatches

The OPI Infinite Shine Spring 2016 Collection officially launches in April, which is just a wink away, but today, I have some quick swatches to whet your appetite! (For the full colour story, check out the official press release I published earlier.)

Hey, is it just me, or is time zipping by? I can’t believe that it’s already going to be Easter tomorrow!

Will you be doing any fun and festive Easter nail art? I have some ideas, but I’m not sure if I’ll have enough time to sit down and execute any. We’ll see!

If I’m unable to blog on Sunday, I want to wish you all a Happy Easter now! Whether you celebrate the holiday for religious reasons or for the yummy chocolate bunnies and candies, I hope that you have a great time.

HEYYYYYY!

That’s Odin the Owl, and he’s flying off with my nail polishes!

Catch him – quick!

OPI Infinite Shine Spring 2016 Collection

Thanks so much for convincing Odin the Owl to return them!

We sat down, and he apologized. Life for owls is rough these days. He said, “Nobody gives a hoot about us!” 😉

After I consoled him and told him that there are lots of people (myself included) who love owls, we ended up talking about nail polish. One thing led to another, and I ended up painting his talons with a few flattering shades. Odin’s now sporting a spiffy pedicure!

And now…onto the rest of the post where I share with you swatches of all eight colours and some bottle shots!

Stay tuned for a detailed review on at least one colour from this collection in a future post.

In general, these polishes applied easily and were smooth and shiny (even without a top coat). I used three coats for all these swatches, however, the darker shades (Olive for Green, Don’t Provoke the Plum!, and In Familiar Terra-tory only required two coats).

My favourites from the OPI Infinite Shine Spring 2016 Collection are Olive for Green (obviously!), Reach for the Sky, and In Familiar Terra-tory.

Which colours are you itching to try first? Or will you be skipping them completely?

Although OPI suggests that you use their special Infinite Shine Primer (base coat) and Infinite Shine Gloss (top coat) in conjunction with the Infinite Shine colours, I’ve found that I still get great wear when I use my usual base and top coats. So, don’t think that you have to commit to a whole new polishing system.

If you do decide to get the matching set, know also that you can use the Infinite Shine base and top coats with your other regular polishes. (I’ve tried it, and it works fine. Of course, manicure results vary based on your unique nail chemistry.)

Continue reading

Share

OPI SoftShades 2016 Collection Swatches

OPI SoftShades 2016 Collection Swatches

With Easter just a bunny hop, skip, and a jump away, it’s only fitting to share OPI SoftShades 2016 Collection swatches!

Start dreaming up fun spring manicures and pedicures because the OPI SoftShades 2016 Collection officially launches in April, according to the press release I posted earlier this month. (For the colour story, click that link to get all the juicy details.)

As the name would suggest, the colours are pastel, and I found that they were heavily white-based. However, they still had just enough saturation to keep them from looking washed out.

A lot of lighter shades like these tend to require three coats to reach full opacity, and these were no exception.

The formula on all of them were consistent in that they were smooth and easy to apply. The first coat was streaky, but the coverage builds up effortlessly with the second and third coat.

Based on my quick swatches, my favourites are the green (This Cost Me a Mint) and yellow (One Chic Chick). However, I’ll wait to reserve final judgement when I wear them as full manicures. (Later, I’ll do at least one in-depth review on here with multiple photos of a single shade, as per usual.)

A special mention needs to be given to It’s in the Clouds because I was expecting a stark white, but it’s a bit softer…hehe, like a cloud. 😉 Usually I’m not crazy about white nail polish, but I liked the way this one looked. I think it’s because it’s ever-so-slightly off-white, yet it still looks clean and fresh.

Overall, my first impression is that these colours are a nice change of pace from OPI’s SoftShades collections from previous years. Instead of sheers, we have cremes that can be built up for full coverage, which is what I prefer. Also, all the colours make me think of cute Easter eggs!

Edit (March 25, 2016): Scroll to the bottom of this post to see comparison swatches of OPI It’s a Boy! and OPI What’s with the Cattitude?. It was requested by Jessica, one of my awesome readers.

Continue reading

Share