YO GIRL HAS ANOTHER WINTER REVIEW FOR YA.

That’s right, I’m still making my way through these holiday collections, and we’re halfway through. I have another 12 bottle collection from China Glaze, and then Orly, and then we’ll finally be finished and begging for the spring and summer sun.

Since this is a 12 bottle collection, standard from OPI, it’s a long post, so I’ll stop rambling and just get on into it.

This winter collection is called ‘Love OPI, XOXO’, and as you might be able to tell, it’s a very glam, sparkly, girly collection. PERFECT FOR FEBRUARY, AM I RIGHT. Hey, I’m an advocate of wearing whatever color you want, no matter the season. So be blingy in February, when everything is dull and gray. So let’s get into the swatches already.

I tend to go from lightest to darkest (ish) when I’m swatching, so that’s how my notes are arranged, and that’s how I’ll set up this post.

So up very first we have this light pearly shade, ‘Snow Glad I Met You’. This frosty finish is not going to be for everyone, and can be described more of a “grandma” shade. But I don’t know why guys, I’m still into this.

This had a sheer first coat. With one coat you can almost get a “perfected nails” look, like your nails can look a little better and healthier, with a little shine instead of just plain unpolished nails. With a 2nd, more thick coat, you can get this pretty much opaque. You might see some nail line on some nails on 2, but I was good at 2. With a thicker coat I also found less brushstrokes on the overall dried look as well.

This is a definitely a winter shade for me, maybe a more “vintage” shade for most.

Up next is the pink version of the first one. This is ‘The Color that Keeps on Giving’. Now I already have a beef against this polish, as it was the one that was shattered in my first order, covering a couple of polishes in a layer of pink sparkly mess. You might be able to see it on a couple of bottles later.

I did my best to make sure that beef that didn’t come in the way of true review though.

‘The Color that Keeps on Giving’ is a frosty shimmery pink shade, like ‘Snow Glad I Met You’ above. It has the same finish and formula as the one above, with a sheer first coat, and a thicker 2nd coat finishing it off.

This is a little less harsh frosty shade than the other, with that pink tinge, so this was so soft and just felt delicate on the nails. I really ended up liking this color more than I thought I would. It just goes so well with my skin tone, that its a nice palette cleanser.

I’ll also warn that this one seemed to have a little stronger smell than normal nail polish. Just a note.

‘Gift of Gold Never Gets Old’ is your standard gold shade. This is more of a white gold finish, leaning more cool toned and lighter. It’s another that has a sheer first coat, and evens out in 2-3 coats. With a thicker 3rd coat, I found a lot more of the brushstrokes disappeared. It’s a metallic, so you’re still going to have some, so paint straight lines.

For me, this was a pretty standard gold shade. It didn’t blow me away, especially needed a 3rd coat on some nails, so not my favorite. Just another gold in my collection.

And of course if we have a gold shade, we need a silver. This is ‘Ornament to Be Together’, and why does that name and this polish remind me of Mariah Carey? Anyone else?

This isn’t your normal metallic chrome foil. This is a super shimmery bright silver finish. This was another with a pretty sheer first coat – but one that with 1 coat can give your nails a nice healthy glow look to the nail.

It pretty well covers in 2 coats. At certain angles looking at certain nails, there were some uneven patches that I needed a 3rd coat with. The shimmer and color also becomes smoother with a 3rd coats.

Definitely a super fun holiday polish – I can see this being perfect for the Christmas and New Years season, or even for a fun celebration. A nice different silver from your traditional chrome looks. That shimmer adds even more bling to the color, and it looks like it’s glowing off my nails.

Up next are the 3 reds of the collection. Now if there’s something OPI can always do well, it’s a cream red, so you know, even though I don’t tend to wear red polish too much, I was excited to try these.

There are 2 that are very similar to each other, with a slight shift in tone differentiating them.

The first is ‘My Wish List is You’. This is the slightly lighter, more orange toned red of the two. It has almost a crelly, more juicy formula. It was surprisingly almost good on 1 coat. There was some nail line a little visible, but 2 coats really covered it. The 2nd coat did really richen the color up, and it was just so squishy. This seems like it’ll be perfect in the summer heat as well.

The 2nd red is a tinge deeper and more cool toned than the other. This is ‘Adam Said, It’s New Years, Eve’. Look at that play on words.

This one was an absolutely stunning cream formula. This was opaque on 1 easy super smooth coat. 2 coats does deepen the color and make it a little more richer, and it’s just so beautiful and classy on the nails.

Now, OPI has come out with lots of reds over the years – this is right up there with all of the others, so if you don’t have a classic red in your collection, this is a good one to pick up. But of course, I will be honest and say this is nothing new in the way of OPI red creams – even with a stunning formula.

The last red is more shimmery and metallic, and more “holiday”. This is ‘Sending You Holiday Hugs”. I’m not hiding my feelings about this one – this is absolutely gorgeous. I have a big crush on this polish.

It has a good 1st coat, with a few uneven patches. But on the 2nd coat, the color really deepens, and you get that beautiful shimmer, and it’s opaque. I love this more dimensional style of red, and it’s more smooth than a more metallic shade. This is perfect, I’m sorry I’m in love.

We have a deep purple cream up next. ‘Wanna Wrap?’ is an almost black, super deep purple shade. As you can see around my cuticles, this is going to be a little more messy shade. It’s a red based purple, so it’s going to be messy – just a warning.

This had a very streaky first coat. I was able to get it opaque in 2 thicker coats. This is one of the ones that you need to make sure you have enough polish on the brush, or it can skip across the nail on application, but with a thicker coat, it can flood the cuticles. So maybe 3 thinner coats.

This one is a little more of a tougher formula to work with, and can get everywhere as you’re applying. It’s a super deep purple, but doesn’t seem like anything new to me. With all of the easier formulas in this bunch, this was lower on the list for me.

Now is the one everyone has been waiting for.

‘Feel the Chemis-tree’. Be still my beating heart. This is OPI taking ‘Turn on the Northern Lights’ from the fall collection and just amping it up. This is a darker purple base with that stunning red-orange shimmer. It’s so vibrant and visible on the nails and unf, I love this so goddamn much. Just look at that color. BUT LOOK AT IT.

This was an easy 2 coat formula. The 2nd coat deepens the base, and the shimmer is more vibrant and more red and just look at it. Drool over the pictures with me.

Like, just, I can’t. No more words, only silence for these photos.

Next is another surprising favorite for me. This is ‘Coalmates’, and it’s a blue-gray base with so much shimmer. It seems to have some multicolored shimmer, and its so thickly packed into it and gorgeous.

It has a more sheer first coat, but the glitter and base builds up to opaque with a 2nd thicker coat. This was another that can look a little more uneven at certain angles, so you might need 3 coats. But with it being glittery, it does dry pretty fast, and is super easy to control thicker coats on the nail.

This does dry a tiny bit textured, and is a little more difficult to remove with the glitter. But it’s so pretty, and I love that OPI is doing something a little different outside of creams and shimmers. Like yes, please keep giving me something different.

This picture below is with flash, so you can really seem the shimmer and glitter coming alive.

‘Top the Package with a Beau’ is another little different combination. This is a more brown-gray toned base with shimmer and smaller gold flakies. Another sheer first coat that builds to opaque in 2 easy coats. The gold flakes are apparent on the nails, without being bumpy and ugly when dried.

Another different combo from OPI and I love it!

Last but not least. Now, yo may ask, why does this picture suddenly have different lighting? IT’S BECAUSE THIS POLISH WAS A PAIN IN THE ASS TO PHOTOGRAPH.

Sorry for yelling, but because its so deep and shiny, took so long to get an in focus, not blown out photo. I went through 2 separate rounds of photo taking and finally, my god, I got something.

This is a suuuuuuper dark blue. That’s right, it’s a blue. It looks black, because it’s so vampy. This did have a fabulous formula, with it being absolutely opaque and even on just one coat. That’s right, one coater. Luckily that make up for it being so difficult to photograph.

It can get a little messy because it’s so opaque and pigmented, so be careful with your application.

So there’s the OPI Winter 2017 collection! We’re halfway through the winter posts, as all of the spring posts are taking over. We just got a foot of snow here in Chicago, so these are all still so appropriate.

There are definitely holiday angled colors in here, from the shimmery reds, to the metallic gold. There are also some beautiful shimmers and glitters thrown in there, as well as some beautiful blinged out manicures. There were only a few that took up to 3 coats, overall most of the formulas were very easy to work with.

My favorites are definitely ‘Feel the Chemis-tree’, ‘Sending you Holiday Hugs’, and ‘Coalmates’. But overall, nothing absolutely terrible or things that you need to stay away with. I like that they changed it up a little for this collection, and I feel like they experimented a little more, which I loved. It’s a glitz and glam collection that all seems to really go well together in my book.

More reviews to come! I have the Sinful Colors Valentine’s Day collection coming up soon!

 

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