This is a big ol’ collection to talk about today, so I’m not even going to ramble like I normally do! (Don’t get used to it, it’ll come back for more posts).

Today we’re talking about the first holiday collection of the year on the blog! Wild to think we’re already zooming into the holidays, but IT’S TIME. And we’re starting it with an exciting one!

This is the OPI holiday 2019 collection and it’s in collaboration with Hello Kitty! If you didn’t know, their first collaboration with Hello Kitty was for Spring 2016. That was before I was really into polish and collecting, so I only grabbed a few that I found in clearance bins after they came out. They had white wrappers with Hello Kitty’s face printed all over them. These ones this year have black wrappers with white bows printed all over.

There are 12 polishes in the core release, and then 3 exclusive glitter toppers. And of course I bought them all! I picked all of these up from polishpick.com, where I get all of my OPI polishes – they have the best prices and quickest shipping!

There’s a lot of polishes and I went a little ham with photos, so we got a lot to look at! Let’s get right into it!

Up first, the most exciting shade! This is ‘Let’s Be Friends’ and it’s the one shade they brought up from the original Hello Kitty collection release. Apparently this shade was the most popular of the original release and by popular demand it was brought back. It’s an almost white shade with just a touch of peachy-pink to it. The formula was definitely still a little tricky – just like the 1st one. It had a very streaky and uneven 1st coat. I was able to get it almost opaque by floating on a 2nd thicker coat, though I did still see some of my ridges. I ended up doing a 3rd coat to smooth it out fully. I definitely recommend floating the polish on, or else over-manipulating it can make it more uneven.

So not the greatest, but I do love the color. She takes a little bit more work, but nothing extreme!

I’ll of course be comparing it to the original Let’s Be Friends as I have both, so stay tuned for that comparison post!

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Up next we have ‘A Hush of Blush’. This is a soft, pearly light pink shade. This was definitely a little more sheer. It was pretty well good after 2 coats, though I did have a touch of nail line, and some of my ridges showing through, so I did a 3rd coat to fully smooth everything out.

I didn’t think I would like this shade as much as I did until I got it on my nails! There’s something so soft and delicate about it, and it’s perfect for winter. There are a few brushstrokes, but as you can see, they’re very subtle and easy to paint on straight. I can see this being a more divisive finish, but I love it.

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‘Many Celebrations to Go!’ is a soft champagne gold shimmer. This one was also a little more sheer, but the coats were smooth and even. I again had a touch of nail line and ridges peeking through after 2 coats, so I did end up doing a 3rd. A 3rd coat smoothes and evens the shade out even more.

This is another good shade for winter and the holidays coming up!

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This next shade is definitely more interesting. This is ‘Let Love Sparkle’ and it’s a frosty blue shade with larger silver sparkles. This had a similar formula to the 2 before it as well. It was a little more sheer, and was pretty well opaque in 2 coats, though I did use a 3rd to even everything out more.

I know this one definitely won’t be a favorite of everyone’s. The larger sparkles do give it a bumpier texture, and I know not everyone loves frosty finishes. But there was just something about it once I got it on my nails. It almost glows on the nails, and just reminds me of fresh fallen snow! It’s just very “winter” to me, and surprised me with how much I liked it!

If you don’t love the bumpier texture, I would definitely recommend a good thick top coat over it!

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‘Isn’t She Iconic!’ is a shimmer steel gray shade. This was easily opaque with just 2 coats and was so smooth on the nails.

I know at certain angles it can look a little more uneven, but outside of my bright lights it’s very smooth and shimmery.

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Now we have the two red shades! These can look very similar, so I’m not sure if you quite need both. But of course, they are subtly different.

Up first we have ‘All About the Bows’. This is a traditional cool-toned cherry red cream. If there’s one thing OPI can do extremely well, it’s red creams. This as usual had a fantastic formula and was easily opaque in just 2 coats. It was so smooth and just floated onto the nails.

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And the other red of the collection! This is ‘Kiss on the Chic’ and it’s more warm-toned than ‘All About the Bows’. Another beautiful formula of course. This had a lovely squishy formula – it was pretty well opaque with 1 coat, but a 2nd coat deepened up the color and made it even squishier on the nails.

So overall two beautiful reds, but I do think they’re similar enough that you don’t necessarily need both. It’ll just depend whether you want a more cool-toned or warm-toned red shade.

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‘My Favorite Gal Pal’ is a deep navy blue cream shade. I found this to have a more crelly-like formula so it was definitely a little more sheer than a normal cream. It’s smooth on the 1st coat, but fully opaque with a 2nd. The color deepens up with a 2nd coat. No complaints here with the formula!

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The last cream shade we have ‘Hello Pretty’, a cool-toned grape purple. This also had a squishier, more crelly-like formula like ‘My Favorite Gal Pal’. It was definitely a little more uneven on the 1st coat, but had a stunning 2nd coat that evened it out and made it fully opaque. I was pleasantly surprised at the 2nd coat, based on how sheer and uneven the 1st coat was. But it was smooth and so easy on the nails!

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Then we have 2 more shimmery glitter shades! I built these up with 3 coats to show that they can be worn on their own. But they are definitely more sheer, and I like them more as toppers – which I’ve also shown!

First up, the more pink toned of the two is ‘Let’s Celebrate’. As you can see it’s a pink shimmery base with larger metallic pink hexagons and bigger iridescent hexagons. This was 3 coats built up and you can see there’s still some nail line showing through.

It is still a fun look if you don’t mind a little nail line peeking through!

And there here it is as a topper! This is 1 coat over ‘All About the Bows’.

It adds that pink shimmer to any shade, while still allowing some of the base color to peek through. Like I mentioned, I do like this one as a topper a little bit more!

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And now the purple version, ‘Pile on the Sprinkles’! As you can see, this has the same formula as ‘Let’s Celebrate’, but with a purple coloring. This is 3 coats built up, but the nail line on this one is a little more pronounced.

And here it is as 1 coat over ‘Hello Pretty’. I love this one as a topper, as it just elevates any cream shade that you put it over! So fun!

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And now we’re talking about all the toppers! We got a lot of photos here, I wanted to show them all in various different combos and bases! So buckle up and look at all the sparkle. Firstly, we have to look at the last shade from the “core” 12 piece release. This is ‘Glitter to My Heart’ and it’s a clear base with silver metallic pieces and matte white pieces.

(It’s got a little bit of different lighting. I realized I didn’t have a photo of this topper on its own and wanted to show it and my lightbox was already packed up for a friend visiting) But here’s a quick look of 1 coat over ‘My Favorite Gal Pal’.

And here are the toppers all together! You have ‘Glitter to My Heart’ from the “core” collection and then the 3 exclusive glitter toppers: ‘Glitter All the Way’, a shimmery gold base with lots of different sized metallic gold pieces; ‘Dream in Glitter’, a clear base with various sizes of metallic cranberry pieces; and ‘Born to Sparkle’ (why couldn’t they thought of one more name with “glitter” in it), a clear base with small, medium and large metallic rose gold pieces.

And all of the toppers over ‘Let’s Be Friends’.

And then topper over ‘My Favorite Gal Pal’. As you can see ‘Glitter All the Way’ is the only one with shimmer all throughout its base that covers the base color a little more. All of the others are clear jelly bases.

Here is 1 coat of ‘Glitter All the Way’ over ‘Kiss on the Chic’.

1 coat of ‘Born to Sparkle’ over ‘A Hush of Blush’.

Are you all sparkled out yet? I enjoyed all of these toppers – they all picked up easily and distributed well on the nails. They’re all great toppers, and perfect for the holidays coming up, so it’ll depend on your color preference and what you’re looking for in a topper!

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And that’s the full collection! Whew! Lots of polishes and lots of fun. All of the creams in this collection were stunning and an easy two coats. I also loved that they did more unique finishes in this as well! We had a couple toppers, as well as some more frosty shades. I know those aren’t for everyone, so overall it’ll depend on what shades and finishes you like to wear!

But I did like this collection, and it’s a bright fun holiday collection to celebrate Hello Kitty! Are you interested in any of these shades?

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See the full post of comparisons here now!
OPI Hello Kitty Holiday 2019 – COMPARISONS

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Upcoming Posts!
Nails: Essie Game Theory Collection • Orly Winter 2019 • China Glaze x Sesame Street Holiday 2019 • Sista Chic Holiday 2019

Makeup: BH Cosmetics Fairy Lights Palette • Colourpop California Love Palette • Revolution Pro All That Glistens Palette • Elf New Classics Palette

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Previous Posts:
Orosa Beauty Fall 2019 Collection
Essie Fall 2019 Collection
Color Club Matte-ified Metallics Collection