Yes, we’re DEEP into summer, we’re already seeing Fall collections, but I’m talking about spring, okay!! Sometimes you have off years! I should be smart and blame it on my upcoming wedding and honeymoon, like “yes that’s clearly why I’m too busy to keep up with consistent posting”. Never mind that we’ve had everything booked out for said wedding for almost 2 years, and I’m feeling comfortable with any last tasks coming up, no, THAT’S clearly still taking up ALL of my time, yes, yes that’s it.
Sorry, we have to pause again and let me have my existential moment where I think about how I started this blog the summer before my senior year of college, and now here I am at 30 years old, 2 weeks out from being married. I’ve enjoyed taking you along for every part of my life journey.
ENOUGH EXISTENTIALISM. Let’s talk about polish, that’s what you want. And yes, even with summer and fall collections sitting on my memory card and breathing down my neck, the title is not fooling you, I’m going to finish posting about spring first. I’ve posted about every seasonal OPI collection since 2017 and I won’t be breaking the order now, it’s about the principal. I have all these shades swatched up, so it’s better late than never.
So here we go, we’re pretending like I posted this months ago when I first swatched up these shades. I say to you “Today, we’re looking at the other half of OPI’s Spring release, called ‘OPI’m Dreaming’. As I’ve mentioned in posts about the collections of 2024, OPI seems to be in this trend of releasing both a regular nail lacquer line as well as a matching Infinite Shine collection for reach season. That Infinite Shine release spans from 9-12 polishes, so combined with the regular lacquer shades, we’ve been regularly getting 21-24 polishes per quarter. They just like to keep me busy. Today’s post is about the Infinite Shine polishes, but if you want the regular lacquer swatches, you can read my thoughts here: Regular Lacquer collection
OPI has described this half as 12 soft shimmery pastels, and I find that pretty accurate overall, you know, good work OPI on describing your own product. There are a few brighter pops of color throughout, but overall these colors will run lighter in pigment.
OPI thinks of their Infinite Shine line as the “next step up” from the regular lacquer formula, as indicated by its higher price. But it’s still just regular lacquer – not gel – and comes in the bottles with the silver metallic caps. OPI says it’s a longer lasting nail polish formula that “delivers up to 11 days of gel-like wear”. Again, not gel, no need to cure with a lamp. (For reference, any actual gel polish will be within an opaque bottle as it cures through UV light. Sunlight would mess with the formula. Anything within a clear bottle is absolutely not a gel formula). With my constant rate of swatching, I’m never keeping one shade on long enough so I can never speak to any sort of longevity claims from any polish brand.
But I will say, I often don’t notice really any huge difference in application between the lacquer and the Infinite Shine shades. Maaayyybe the Infinite Shine applies shinier, but I really think it’ll depend on the specific shade and finish. I would be applying a top coat for a full manicure anyways, so again that’s not swaying me. I always review both sets of shades now because they do feature different colors and finishes. It’s always about showing you what each color looks like and how it applies on my own nails and from there you can decide with your own preferences and budget. The whole ‘I tried it so you don’t have to’ idea.
We’re a few months and collections out from release, but you can still find these specific shades on the Beyond Polish website, along with plenty of other brands. If you do go ahead and purchase from Beyond Polish you can use code GingerlyPolished for 10% off individual items. It is affiliated so I would earn a tiny little commission – so I understand if you’re not comfortable using it. I fully support Beyond Polish and purchase from them myself, and I just want to get you some discounts! You can also find these shades on Polish Pick – another site I shop from constantly, I’ll only ever advertise places I’ve used and fully trust.
Now, let’s get on into these swatches!
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We’re starting out with the lightest, most beige of the shades (depending on your preferences, maybe it’s the most boring, or maybe it’s everything you’ve been looking for). This is ‘Slay a While’ and the slaying is obviously referring to the larger golden shimmer all throughout that soft sandy base.
Most of these polishes are more sheer, so they won’t be for everyone. For this first swatch, I used 3 thin coats, and you can definitely still see some nail line peeking through on some nails. For my ring finger, which is my video finger, I think I was floating the polish on more softly so it has a smoother and more opaque finish than the other nails. But it’s still getting caught on the ridges in my nails which in turn adds more uneven streaks to its final finish. With that more almost “flakey” finish, I wasn’t a huge fan of this one and would’ve preferred a smoother finish for an intentionally sheer shade. For those of you with smoother nails, you might like this one better than me.
With these 2 part collections, I also like to show any shades that are semi-similar between the two halves. Not every Infinite Shine shade has a regular lacquer counterpart, but if they’re even close to being cousins I’ll post them up.
For ‘Slay a While’, I found that ‘Mirror Mirror on the Awe’ had practically the same base color, but in an entirely different finish. ‘Mirror’ is much smoother and pigmented, with a coppery orange shimmer. I do prefer the smooth application of ‘Mirror’ more, especially on my ridgey nails.
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Next up we have ‘Sneak a Pink’. This one is similar finish to ‘Slay a While’ above, instead being a super light ballet pink jelly base filled with pink shimmer and iridescent flakes.
This one is even more sheer than ‘Slay a While’, with 3 thin coats still showing a lot of nail line. BUT I enjoyed this one more because of that smoother overall finish. This base feels less “chunky” than the base of ‘Slay a While’ so it works great for a “your nails but better” look. Overall it felt more purposeful in its sheerness, and thus I enjoyed it more.
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‘Glossed in Your Thoughts’ gives us a pop of color amongst these sheer pastels. This one is a bright cooler toned fuchsia jelly base filled with flakey silver shimmers.
As it’s a much brighter color, it has a much more pigmented formula as well. This was easily opaque in just 2 coats, covering all nail line and giving a smooth and even finish. So if those sheer shades weren’t doing it for you above, this one covers any need for more opacity.
Glossed in Your Thoughts – Live Swatch
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‘Suzi’s Pedicure Throne’ then gives us that transition between the bright pink and the bright orange with a little peachy coral moment. It has those same iridescent flakes all throughout that we’ll see as a reoccurring theme throughout this set.
This one built up pretty well, being opaque in 3 coats and covering the nail line. But it’s something about those flakes and the shimmer in it that gives it a, well, not a chunky finish, but it just feels uneven and almost thick – again more like ‘Slay a While’ above (not to keep clowning on that specific shade). I’ll be honest, I wasn’t a fan of these two specific formulas, but I’m sure my ridged nails are making them look even worse so it’s just a personal preference. This shade could look better on those with smoother nails, but I’m always here to give you my own specific experience.
Suzi’s Pedicure Throne – Live Swatch
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Then we go back for some more COLOR yet again. We have ‘Dreamsicle’, which is a brighter orange base filled with flakey golden shimmer. This was pulling very bright in my swatch video, but it’s a touch toned down and just feels more wearable and softer than other almost neon oranges.
With that brighter color, we again get more pigment and an easy 2 coat formula, and this is where I like these flakey formulas. It’s when they’re more sheer like ‘Suzi’s Pedicure Throne’ that they’re not working, but with more pigment (or at least an even application)? Now that’s the winning combination. I did add a 3rd coat to further cover my ridges here but it still felt less thick than other formulas in this set. I think you can easily see why I put both this shade and ‘Glossed in Your Thoughts’ at the top of my rankings.
This was the next shade to have a comparison in the lacquer collection. In color, ‘Keep It Surreal’ almost slots right in between ‘Dreamsicle’ and ‘Suzi’s Pedicure Throne’, having more of those cooler pinky tones to it. It has the same amount of pigment as ‘Dreamsicle’ but again with that finer shimmer, and that’s going to be the main difference you’ll see when I’m comparing the two sets. The lacquer shades have a smaller smoother shimmer, while these Infinite Shines treat us to flakier shimmers. Both of these specific polishes have good formulas, so this duo will come down to a color and finish preference.
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‘Say Hello to Yellow’ is, can you believe it, a yellow. This one is a softer, buttercup yellow base filled with those same flakey golden shimmers. It takes us back to a more sheer formula so the color on the nails is going to be more muted than it’s showing in the bottle.
As mentioned, it’s a sheer jelly base, so after 3 coats there’s still a lot of visible nail line peeking through. I found this one to be more uneven again, and I don’t love the color on my skintone personally so it’s a pass for me – how are you feeling about this one?
Say Hello to Yellow – Live Swatch
The closest to this shade is ‘Beauty School Popout’. As you can see, that one is much more orange, falling right in between the color of ‘Dreamsicle’ and ‘Say Hello to Yellow’. I am glad that we don’t have any identical colors between collections, and it instead just continues to expand out the color selection for one season.
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This next shade calls itself ‘Teals Familiar’, which is a strange choice as it’s not giving teal at all. Instead, it’s a pastel minty green base filled with iridescent blue flakey shimmer. Maybe it’s because they already used the ‘Mint’ pun in the regular lacquer shades.
It’s another more sheer formula, though it does layer up more than ‘Say Hello to Yellow’. After 3 coats there is some nail line peeking through, and maybe a tiny bit of patchiness – but dare I say I would be willing to work for this one more? Listen, we all choose what shades we’ll put up with, and there’s just something about this minty sparkly tone.
The green counterpart from the lacquer is entirely different, but of course, I’m still showing you the two green moods you could choose from. Wild that this one is called ‘AppointMINT Confirmed’ when our Infinite Shine shade the much cooler and more minty of the two, but I wasn’t invited to the naming conferences. ‘AppointMINT’ also has a finer golden shimmer to it with ‘Teals Familiar’ giving us flakey blue.
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Next up we get into two similar blues. Maybe this one could’ve been an actual teal to differentiate the shades even MORE, but that’s me nitpicking now. ‘Living the Fanta-sea’ is the warmer of the two, being an aqua blue base with flakey silver shimmers all throughout.
There is no consistency on the level of pigment for all of these shades, so this one is more opaque after 3 coats with only the teeniest amount of nail line still peeking through. It’s smoother so of course I love the shade more, and it’s a perfect shade for any time of year.
Living the Fanta-sea – Live Swatch
‘Happy Play-ce’ fits right in between the two blues of this set color-wise, so don’t worry I’ll show it next to both. When I put it next to ‘Living the Fanta-sea’, the Infinite Shine shade really pulls warmer and more green, and it makes my skintone look warmer in general. The power of color theory here.
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‘From Head to Doze’ is much more icy than ‘Living the Fanta-Sea’ and maybe you just hold onto this shade for winter at this rate. In the bottle you can see some more minty green tones, but on the nails the multicolored iridescent flakes pull it back over to neutral or even cooler blue.
This one is the same level of opaque as ‘Fanta-sea’ above, but maybe because of its cooler color, it just feels more sheer. But after 3 coats most of the nail line is fully covered and it’s smooth and even. I was surprised at how much I ended up liking this shade!
From Head to Doze – Live Swatch
Now when comparing it to ‘Happy Play-ce’ the warmer tones of ‘Play-ce’ are coming out instead and my skin is looking warmer on the left! It’s so interesting, and this is showing that every tone of medium blue is just about covered here.
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‘When Time Stuns Still’ – what a NAME – is our purple of the set and it’s such an interesting little shade. When you’re first applying this shade, or if you leave it at 1 coat, it feels warmer and more pink toned. But as you continue to apply and build up the color, it shifts on over to a cooler, dustier purple filled with an iridescent pink flakey shimmer.
This one leans into the more opaque side of the formula spectrum and it’s pretty well opaque with 3 thin coats. Maybe if you have prominent nail edges, they might peek through more, but it’ll still be smooth and even in application.
When Time Stuns Still – Live Swatch
Comparing it to the one purple in the lacquer collection, one again they both have similar base colors but with entirely different finishes. ‘Grape Escape’ is a more sheer base filled with a fine blue shimmer.
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‘Time Will Pastel’ is a very sheer lilac purple jelly base filled with iridescent shimmery flakes. This is one of the most sheer formulas, with a lot of nail line still showing after 3 coats. But it surprised me with how much I ended up liking it! As you can see, even with the sheer formula, it’s a completely smooth finish on my ridged nails, and it’s just a step right above “your nails but better”. It really perfected my nails for a super neutral look on my skintone and I love that little bit of shimmer. Look at me liking sheer shades! It’s called growth.
Time Will Pastel – Live Swatch
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And then we end up even more beige, to give us 2 beige bookends of the collection. This is ‘From Dusk To Salon’ and it’s much more putty beigey brown toned than ‘Slay a While’ that started us out. So if that one is just too neutral, this one gives you just a little bit more, with that same golden shimmer running throughout it.
This also ends us on a more pigmented formula and it’s opaque with 3 coats. It’s smooth overall, and it’s another that I was surprised at how much I liked it. It’s a unique shade to my collection, and those are always impressive to find at this stage of swatching.
From Dusk to Salon – Live Swatch
For a comparison, I’m showing you ‘Reoccurrin’ Gleam’, the cooler cousin of ‘Mirror Mirror on the Awe’, the first lacquer shade I compared in this post. These two polishes aren’t as close in color, but give somewhat of the same vibe. ‘Dusk’ is much more brown and sandy overall, and you can really see that different in formulas and finish between the two collections.
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And that’s the set! Overall it’s an interesting mix of shades for me personally, with the differences in opacity, but the flakey shimmers in each connecting them all together. Some shades I liked, some I didn’t, so as I mentioned it’ll really come down to your own personal preferences and nails, especially for those more sheer finishes.
What do you think of these? What do you think of the Infinite Shine line?
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Holo Taco Off the Deep End collection • Girlcult Peach Festival collection • OPI x Hello Kitty collection • Mooncat Fallen collection • Glam Polish Experiment 626 collection
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