Omg hiiiiii. Yes it’s me, finally publishing my first post of 2025, 28 days into the new year. I have all of these big goals and plans for the year ahead – not just for the blog – and I was sure that I would be hitting the ground and just absolutely running on them right on January 1st. After all, I had that whole day off, what more was there to do? But then I didn’t. And then one week passed, another, and another. And suddenly, here we are 1 month into the new year.
Yet, I don’t feel panicked or like I’m behind (yet). The goals are all still there, I haven’t scrapped them. We still have 11 more months ahead of us for 2025, and I have years and years of swatching and blogging still in my lifetime. It’s almost like this first month has been the “set up”, something which I think is essential for any sort of new resolution. I know it’s been quiet, but I’ve still been here in the background.
You’re probably saying to yourself, (if you’ve followed me for any sort of time) haven’t you had this blog for years now, how have you not figured it out yet? Listen, after almost 10 years of Gingerly Polished, I do ask myself the same thing. I’ve been ebbing and flowing for years, and 2024 was especially sporadic. But my life has gone through so many phases and changes in this decade, how could I ever expect my blog to not do the same?
I started posting to this blog in 2016, in the summer before my senior year of college, as a fresh 21 year old, juggling an on-campus minimum wage job and schoolwork. I was surviving off hot dogs and microwaved cheese quesadillas, and my blog was built on reviews of Sinful Colors collections, as I could buy full sets of 8 polishes for $16. I’ve since graduated, landed a full time job in my field, moved to Chicago, bounced to 4 different apartments and now here we are in 2025. I’m now 30 years old, living in a lovely apartment with my fiancé and our dog, planning our wedding for this year, and in a wildly different financial position. With that privilege, and from also receiving PR from brands now, I’ve been so lucky to be able to purchase and review a wider range of brands than I could ever have imagined back when I started, typing up at the coffee table in my college apartment.
I’ve had my matching Instagram that entire time as well, and I’ve watched as the platform has gone from single photos to 20-photo carousels, and as video has taken over. I remember when 30 likes on one photo felt like an insane number, and I wouldn’t post swatches onto my Instagram until I had the matching blog post published. But with the ever moving and changing algorithm and constant advice of posting every single day and just post more and more, that personal rule quickly fell by the wayside. Instagram has always been the priority, and as mentioned, this is all a hobby alongside my full time job, so one thing had to go, and that was the blog.
But I never fully got rid of it. The blog has always consistently had views – even as my posting floundered. Because the one thing the blog always will have against Instagram is its searchable properties. You can look through and find any brand I’ve posted, any year, and find that specific shade and collection you had seen before and are still thinking about. Instagram is just for scrolling and scrolling. And I think especially as social media platforms continue to change and we see how flimsy they truly are – we did see an entire platform go down and up in one weekend – I think blogging could have another moment. After all, we’re seeing a rise of Substack, a blogging platform, so it’s even more important to use
This is all to say gingerlypolished.com is going nowhere in 2025, and I only want to give it the love it deserves. I have BIG plans for the blog this year, and I thank all of you who’ve stuck around for those empty and quiet months. We’re going back to consistency and I want to reward you with so much content. There’s so much backlog, items that have been up on Instagram without their accompanying blog posts for far too long. I can’t promise that I’ll get every single polish that I’ve every swatched up here, but we’re going to make a true dent.
At the end of last year, I also published a makeup review, and that was only the start of bringing beauty content back into my posting routine. I love reviewing new makeup products almost as much as a new nail polish collection, and again I’m just sitting on a mountain of content that just needs its published moment. The goal is at least 3 posts a week: 2 nail related and 1 makeup related. I’m sure it’ll take a few more months to fully settle into that routine, but you definitely won’t have months of silence again.
AND THERE WE GO, I’M DONE. Listen, clearly I love to yap, that hasn’t changed over these 10 years. I just always love to give myself a little “set up” post, and talk about my thoughts and plans. After being gone for months I didn’t want to just suddenly post like normal. I like to write things down to hold myself accountable, and I’m just excited for the year ahead. I’ve missed this blog, so it’s time to give it the love it deserves. And if you read all of this, I thank you. Thank you for being on this journey with me.
Now for what you’re actually here to read, let’s get on into the swatches.
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It’s almost symbolic that with all of my yapping about a new year and a new start above, that 2025 posts are beginning with an OPI review. I’ve mentioned many a-time that OPI is the brand that consistently brings in views to this blog, no matter how long ago the collection was released (the Fall 2022 collection post is still at the top of stats this past year). It’s made me see that blogs will always continue on and why I could never fully part from mine.
Also symbolic that this is for Winter 2024 and I’m only now publishing it. See again where I talk about this blog truly falling by the wayside. Yes, I’m yapping again.
So yes, okay, hi, this is OPI’s release for Winter 2024, and of course, it was a collaboration with the movie musical taking over everything at that time – Wicked. If y’all somehow didn’t know about Wicked, it’s the prequel to the Wizard of Oz, and is a famous long-running broadway play. We finally got the film adaptation, and it took over everything for a few weeks – including all new beauty releases.
For this collection, we got the traditional 12 piece lacquer release, as well as a 9 piece Infinite Shine release. That complementary Infinite Shine release started with the Fall 2024 collection, and I do wonder if it’ll be the norm for 2025 seasonal releases (we did get full 12 Infinite Shine shades for Spring 2025, making it 24 polishes I’ll be reviewing for one release, thanks OPI). I’ll be reviewing the Wicked Infinite Shine polishes in the next post after this, but for now we’re focusing on regular lacquer.
As mentioned we have 12 shades here, and they’re inspired by the movie, the characters and costumes, full of rich colors and so much sparkle. We of course have multiple shades of pink and green for our leading dynamic duo, as well as other vibrant shades to compliment them.
These shades are still available from Beyond Polish (code GingerlyPolished gets you 10% off individual items. It is an affiliate code, which means I would make a small commission, so no pressure to use it! I just always want to pass along some savings). They’re also available from PolishPick.com – I regularly shop from and recommend both stores.
Whew, let’s float on into the swatches now.
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(If these photos at all look different than others, this was right when my current camera broke. I was using my iPhone for swatches in the interim until I got a new one, and while they worked to keep swatches coming, they weren’t fully up to my standards. But of course I’m sure no one will actually notice).
We start right out with ‘Ga-linda’ and of course, it’s the most fitting of shades for GA-linda, being a soft pink shimmer. It’s a soft, warm pink jelly base filled with a pink shimmer and scattered silver sparkles. It’s just truly evoking a flowy tulle skirt.
This has that jelly base that allows those sparkles to softly peek through, so it is a touch more sheer and requires building up. I did use 3 thin coats and was able to get it fully opaque. But it’s smooth, and you can wear it with less coats for more of a “your nails but better” look. It’s just a fun little polish and perfect for any good witch in your life.
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Glinda is not limited to just one shade of pink, so of course we’re not limited to one pink polish in this set. This next one is ‘Glinda the Good!’ and as you can see it’s for BOLD Glinda, one that’s going out late night dancing, one might say. This is a bright saturated fuchsia pink shimmer. It also almost has a purple flash to it, giving it a lovely glow.
This one had a much squishier finish than I was expecting, being an almost jelly-crelly situation instead of a full metallic shimmer formula. But I was also pleasantly surprised at how well it layered up with a 2nd coat. That pigment comes in and it’s fully opaque and just lovely on the nails.
Glinda the Good! – Live Swatch
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Continuing on, we get to ‘Nessa-ist Rose’, and listen, there might not be red shoes in this movie, but there is a Nessa Rose. And this is a rich candy apple red cream shade, perfect for her character.
Anytime I see a red in an OPI collection I’m excited. I feel like each brand has a color that they’ve absolutely perfected, and for OPI it’s red. They just know how to make a red cream, and this one is no exception. This painted on so smoothly, with just the tiniest amount of nail line peeking out after the 1st coat. The 2nd coat comes in and makes it all fully opaque and just so rich and juicy on the nails. I will say with any sort of red polish, it can get a touch messy and stain. So I recommend just painting as cleanly as possible, and being careful upon removal.
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‘Oz-mazing’ is next up, and it’s a softer golden shimmer shade. It’s more of a “cooler toned” gold shade, leaning towards a platinum on the gold spectrum. It has both a dense golden shimmer to it as well as some larger scattered golden flakes.
As you can see in the video, that first coat is a touch sheer, and it’s that dense shimmer in a clear base. But as you can see it does build up well with a 2nd coat, and depending on your application and preferences you can leave it here. I did decide to add a 3rd coat to further build up the sparkle and shimmer. With those flakes and shimmer, it can look a little textured when it dries, but a coat of top coat will smooth it all out and really bring out that glitter.
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The 2nd yellow of the set is that one that’ll give you more of those yellow brick road vibes that I’m sure you were all expecting. This one is called ‘Love You So Munchkin’ (but we all know okay) and it’s a super bright yellow metallic shimmer shade. There are some larger metallic shimmer flakes in there too, just like ‘Oz-mazing’, which also gives it some golden tones.
This also had a similar formula, being a dense shimmer in a jelly base. It’s even and smooth on that 1st coat with just some nail line still peeking through. The 2nd coat comes in and really builds up that color and formula, making it fully opaque. It’s smooth – again it can look a touch textured because of that shimmer, but a top coat will smooth anything out.
Love You So Munchkin – Live Swatch
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We leave the yellow sparkles of the brick road into the other essential color of Wicked: green. We start out with a bright green cream, truly the color of Elphaba’s skin, and appropriately called ‘Witch O’Clock’. It’s a warm toned, rich saturated forest green cream.
This one was a touch squishier than I was expecting, having a few drops of jelly to that cream formula, so that first coat was a little uneven and patchy. But the 2nd coat comes in and really builds up that color and smooths it all out and makes it fully opaque.
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And now for your fancy witchy looks, we have ‘Ozitively Elphaba’. This one is that same deep forest green base but instead it’s also filled with a golden shimmer. It’s Elphaba, but in the city of Oz.
This shade had an absolutely gorgeous formula, and was practically opaque in just 1 coat. I always do 2 coats for each swatch, so that 2nd one comes in and just layers up that shimmer and color even more.
Ozitively Elphaba – Live Swatch
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ALRIGHT, enough pink and green, there are other colors too. We come to ‘Fiyero’s My Mani’ (I do love Jonathan Bailey) and this one is a RICH, SATURATED cobalt blue cream shade.
Just like ‘Witch O’Clock’, this one isn’t quite a true cream, having just a few drops of jelly to it. So even with this deep color, that first coat was squishy and uneven. But it comes to life with that 2nd coat as the color builds up and works to match the color in the bottle. Depending on your preferences you could stop at 2, it is opaque, or add another coat to further build up that color and formula.
Fiyero’s My Mani – Live Swatch
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‘I’m the Wonderfullest’ keeps us in the blues, but of course as a sparkly counterpart. It’s more of a rich blueberry jelly base filled with multicolored sparkles all throughout, giving it so much dimension.
With that jelly base, it is again a touch sheer on the 1st coat. Once again, the 2nd coat comes in and layers up the color and sparkle really well making it fully opaque. It is also another where you could decide to add a 3rd coat to further build up that color and sparkle, but it’s not necessary.
I’m the Wonderfullest – Live Swatch
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‘Let’s Rejoicify’ gives us more of that “Wicked speak” in its name and listen, I loved all of the silly words, I’m here to officially adopt them into English as well. This polish is a warm toned deep purple jelly base filled multicolored sparkles – the purple version of ‘I’m the Wonderfullest’ above.
Once again it’s that more sheer formula that lets those sparkles peek out, so it’s uneven after the 1st coat. But a 2nd coat builds up that color again and makes it all fully opaque. Yes, I’ll say the same things, you can add a 3rd coat to further build up the color and sparkle even more.
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And now for the black version, to match your witch hat and cloak. This is ‘Deflying Gravity’ – no that’s not a typo, it’s fun pun, okay – and it’s a black jelly base filled with a silver scattered sparkle.
Being the same formula as the previous 2 polishes, we have all the same notes on the formula. So a more sheer and uneven 1st coat, but it truly comes to life and is fully opaque after a 2nd coat. It’s smooth, and I just love that contrasting sparkle, I’ll always take any sort of sparkly black.
Deflying Gravity – Live Swatch
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Last but certainly not least we have ‘Oh for Oz sake’. This one stands as its own sort of shade, being a gorgeous pearly white shimmer with the brightest aqua blue flash. It feels magical and whimsical, like the magic running all throughout the world.
Being a light, white-based shimmer, this is a touch more sheer and takes more building up. I ended up using 3 thin coats for full opacity and nail coverage. I do recommend floating the polish onto the nail as much as you can, where you get the blush as parallel with the nail as you can and just use the lightest touch to deposit the color on. If you keep swiping and playing with each coat, you can pull that polish off and make it more uneven. It’s definitely a touch finicky overall, and not the most fun to apply – but that final effect is ethereal. It’ll depend on your own preferences all around.
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And that’s the set! Are you feeling Wicked with these shades?
Overall I loved the different finishes and formulas we got here – it’s only fitting that OPI does a little something different to match a movie set in a wonderful and strange land. There were more jellies in this set than I was expecting, but I was able to get them opaque in just 2-3 coats. The only shade that was a little more work was ‘Oh for Oz Sake’ and I think it could be beautiful on top of other shades as well.
Thank you for being here and I’m excited for 2025!
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Upcoming Posts
Glam Polish Paint it Pink Shades • Orly Après Ski Winter 2024 • Holo Taco Birthstone collection • Pleasing x Fantasia collections • OPI Wicked Infinite Shine Winter 2024
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