Listen, of course I’m intrigued by every single collection that comes out in a year because I’m mildly obsessed with nail polish, but holiday and winter collections are always exciting when they come out, okay. There’s glitter and shimmer everywhere. And listen, I always say I’m not a person to be held back from wearing certain polishes that are out of season, but there’s just something about wearing some holiday shades when the weather outside gets colder. Some shades just feel more like the holidays, and I think that’s the case with a lot of the polishes in this collection!

OPI is a brand that always makes collections that just feel like the holidays and this one is no exception! This is the ‘Shine Bright’ collection for Winter 2020. It features a ton of shimmer and glitter, and only one cream shade, a classic red. One half of the collection is a lot of pink tones, and then we have some glittery purples, golds, silvers and blacks. There’s a lot of finishes here, and lots to talk about!

We have the 12 polishes of the “core” collection and then 3 exclusive glitters. I picked up all 15 shades from my fave, PolishPick.com. All are still in stock and will be fore quite a while if any happen to catch your eye!

Well there’s a lot of polishes to talk about here, so let’s get right into it!

Up first is ‘Naughty or Ice?’. This is a soft shimmery white polish with silver glitters all throughout. This had a sheer 1st coat, which was smooth so it can be a lovely 1 coat nail look. But it does start to build up well in 2 coats, and is fully opaque in 3. Overall it’ll depend on your preferences and how much of a sheer look you like for how many coats you need.

It’s one of those shades that can look a little patchy at certain angles in my bright lights, but it is fully opaque in 3 thin coats.

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‘Snowfalling for You’ is a soft, warm-toned light pink pearl. This had a streaky 1st coat, with nail line peeking through. It builds up well in 2 coats and is pretty well opaque. I did find adding a 3rd helped to smooth out the ridges in my nails even more, so it’ll depend on your nails whether you need 2 or 3.

There is definitely some brushstrokes showing in this one, which happens with brighter pearl shades like this.

I did show it with a final coat sponged on, if you want a fully smooth look without brushstrokes. This does bring out the glitter more, and I do love the look of it! As always, it’ll depend on your preferences on how you want to wear it!

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‘This Shade is Ornamental’ is a frosty deeper pink shade with silver glitter. This had a super smooth 1st coat, though a little nail line was peeking through. But a 2nd coat easily made it fully opaque.

This one had a touch of brushstrokes like the previous shade, but they are a little more subtle. You can see a little bit of my ridges showing as well, so you can add a 3rd to smooth it out more.

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‘Merry in Cranberry’ is a shimmery bright fuchsia pink shade. This had a gorgeous formula, and is pretty well opaque in just 1 smooth coat. I did 2 here for the photo as I do for every shade.

I loved the finish of this shade, as it felt almost glass-like on the nails! Super shimmery and perfect for the holidays!

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‘Dressed to the Wines’ is a deep berry wine shade with berry shimmer all throughout. Another super smooth formula that’s pretty well opaque in just 1 thicker coat. If you’re using thinner coats, it’ll be 2, and I did notice the color deepening up with the 2nd. But overall super easy to paint on and another lovely color for the holidays.

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Our only straight up cream of the collection, ‘Red-y for the Holidays’ is a lovely cool-toned cherry red. And if there’s a formula that OPI absolutely knows how to nail, it’s a red cream. This had an amazing formula and is opaque in just 1 coat. It’s incredibly smooth and just glides onto the nail. So beautiful, and great to add to a collection if you’re missing a more cool-toned holiday red!

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Shifting over to the non-red and pink part of the collection, we have ‘This Gold Sleighs Me’. This is a shimmery yellow-gold shade. I did have some ridges and nail line peeking through after the 1st coat, but a 2nd fully covered and made it opaque.

I love that this is different from a traditional gold shade, and it just glows on the nails.

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‘Gingerbread Man Can’ is a cool-toned brown base with blue-silver glitter all throughout and scattered pink glitters. Another more sheer 1st coat, but it builds up well with a 2nd coat. It can be pretty well opaque here, but depending on your nails and application, you might want a 3rd to fully smooth everything out.

I ended up loving this shade just because of the more unique combination! I love a nice milk chocolate brown shade, and the shimmer gives it an almost icy look that I found super unique.

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‘Let’s Take an Elfie’ is a STUNNING royal purple base with purple and pink shimmer all throughout. It had some streaks and a more uneven application on the 1st coat, which can happen with a deeper shade like this. But the color deepens up to match the bottle with a 2nd, and is fully opaque.

This is such a rich shade, and that shimmer is just so gorgeous. Definitely a favorite of the collection.

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‘Tinsel, Tinsel Little Star’ is somewhat similar to ‘Naughty or Ice?’ at the beginning of the post, but with more cool-toned, almost gray-silver shimmer instead. This had a more sheer formula as well, that can be worn as a 1 coat nail look. It builds up well in 2 coats, and is fully opaque in 3 coats. Again, it’ll depend on your preferences how many coats you choose to wear.

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‘To All a Good Night’ is a deep black-gray base with larger silver flakes and glitter. This will need a 2nd coat as the 1st one is definitely sheer and streaky. But it’s an easy two coats and fully opaque.

It can look a little more uneven in my bright lights, so you might want to add a 3rd, but again, you own preferences and all that jazz.

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The last shade of the core collection is ‘Heart and Coal’. This is a black base with tons of silver shimmer as well as holographic scattered glitter. This is a thicker formula, as there’s a ton of larger glitter all throughout. The 1st coat had a few streaks to it, but a 2nd easily covers.

It is a little textured when it dries because of all of the glitter, so I did do a 2nd thicker coat to fully cover it all. If you don’t like the bumpy finish, you can add a thicker coat of top coat to smooth it out.

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And now we have the 3 exclusive glitters! OPI does like to do this with their holiday collections, releasing 12 normal shades plus 3 additional ones. These are available on PolishPick as well along with the full collection.

These 1st two shades are definitely more .. interesting. And they won’t be for everyone, which of course applies to every polish. So just look at em and see if they’re something you would wear!

Up first is ‘Puttin’ on the Glitz’. This is a deep gray jelly base with tons of larger iridescent flakes. This is 3 coats built up, and the base is pretty well opaque and the shards do build up. It can definitely get a little chunky when built up.

Listen, I always say that I love when mainstream brands experiment with different formulas and finishes, and I always encourage it. But alright I’ll just say it, I didn’t love this one. As you can see it’s definitely more chunky and uneven. And the base is more opaque so it’s harder to use as a topper without fully obscuring the polish underneath.

So this was a pass for me, but well OPI, you tried.

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‘Bling it On!’ is along the same lines, with a shimmery blue base with the larger iridescent flakes. This is 3 coats built up and again, it’s fully opaque but can be a chunkier look. Again, not my favorite, but it’s an option for wearing it. I will say the base is more sheer, so it can be used more easily as a topper than the previous one.

I mean maybe a good coat of top coat will smooth this out and make it look more interesting, but again, a little bit of a pass for me and I don’t think I’ll keep it.

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The last shade, ‘All A’twitter in Glitter’ is a more traditional topper. It’s a clear base with tons of iridescent hexagon pieces and glitter. This is 3 coats built up and you can see the nail is still clearly showing through so it works better as topper. But of course I do still like to show this in case you’re wondering how opaque it is!

And last up, I showed all 3 shades as 1 coat toppers over a black base. ‘All A’twitter in Glitter’ ended up being my favorite, and it really just pops over a deeper base! I love the colors and it can add a fun touch to any shade without covering up the base color.

‘Bling it On!’ will add a shimmer to any base underneath, and you can see ‘Puttin’ on the Glitz’ will add that black jelly layer. Overall, I do like them more over a black base, but they’re less versatile than ‘All A’twitter in Glitter’. If you want to grab just 1 of the 3, make it ‘All A’twitter’.

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Whew! We made it through! These collections are always a lot of polishes and a lot to talk about, but I do love a good holiday collection! There are some lovely holiday shades in there, and I enjoyed that they experimented with different finishes besides straight up creams.

I will say the exclusive glitters weren’t my favorite except for ‘All A’twitter in Glitter’, so I think the other 2 can be passed up.

Which shades are you interested in?

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Upcoming Posts
Orly Metropolis Winter 2020 • Color Club Halo Jewels Collection • Zoya Intriguing Winter 2020 • Holo Taco Frosted Metals Collection • China Glaze Jollywood Winter 2020 • Essie Winter 2020

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