I knew I had been abandoning my blog but I didn’t fully realize for how long until I saw that the last published post was in AUGUST of last year. It’s been almost 6 months without a post, and in that time, I got married, went on my honeymoon, and then my husband and I bought a condo. I’m sure hitting through so many major life events was the main reason that this blog got pushed to the back-burner, and I’m sure you would say that’s understandable. But now we’re all fully settled into our new place, my desk is set up and I’ve just missed posting here.
Normally when I would suddenly pop up again after months of silence, I would start off the post with a long essay about how this is “a new chapter of the blog”, how I’ll be posting every single day and soon this blog will be comprehensive, covering every single collection from drugstore and mainstream brands. But this time, we won’t put official numbers or schedules on it, and I’ll just say I’m very motivated to get back to blogging. Even in the silence here, I’m always purchasing nail polish and makeup and I have so many pretty things I just want to talk about and share.
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In my little absence, OPI has gone through several seasons. I repeat this sentiment a lot here, but OPI is always the most popular category on my blog and so even though we’re seasons behind, I still want to post up and review these past collections. It feels a little dramatic to wax on about being behind for sets that are less than a year old, but we know the beauty world moves quickly (we are already seeing Spring 2026). In the end it’s my blog and my wants and it’ll just feel more satisfying to fully fill in timeline as we catch up.
SO let’s start with Summer.
Summer is quite something to be thinking about as I type this up in January, after we had days with windchills of -25°F and then a full day of constant snow. But these polishes are all still available to purchase currently and you never actually have to be limited by “seasonally appropriate” shades (and that whole thing of cleaning out the backlog). OPI’s release for Summer 2025 was called the ‘Make ‘Em Jelly’ collection, and we have 12 shades here in a bright rainbow of colors. Just like other collections of 2025, OPI technically gave us 2 collections, 12 polishes in the regular lacquer finish as well as 12 polishes in the Infinite Shine formula. They feature different colors, so I’ll review them both, starting with the regular lacquer polishes today.
We have some creams here in this first set, but of course with a collection name of ‘Make ‘Em Jelly’ we’re going to also have jelly and crelly finishes. I used to be a certified jelly hater, but that was when jelly polishes wouldn’t smooth over my ridged nails and just always gave a streaky, uneven finish. Luckily jellies have come a long way since then, and their squishy finishes have won me over. Sure, not all of them are winners, but I’m always here to test them out and find the gems – and we do have some gems in this collection.
As mentioned these polishes are all still available, and you can find them on Beyond Polish’s website. If you use the code ‘GingerlyPolished’, you can get 10% off individual items on that site. That code is affiliated, so I would make a small little commission if you use it – no pressure as always, I’m just here to save you money and it’s a site I fully trust!
It’s been long enough, let’s finally get on into these swatches.
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Let’s start right out with ‘Baby, Pink Again’, and as you might guess it’s a light baby pink cream shade.Lighter pinks like this will be a little bit shifty and they can pull a tiny bit differently depending on your own skintones and undertones, so there’s a chance you might find this looking a touch more warm and peachy on your own nails. In the end I can only show it on myself to at least give you an idea!
Such light, white-based shades like this can often be streaky, but I was able to get this one opaque with just 2 thicker coats. You can see in my video application I do make the mistake of not having enough polish on the brush, causing it to stick and skip a touch with the 2nd coat, which I then had to even out with a 3rd application. Even though it’s that nice, thicker formula, shades like this will just always be a touch more finicky so you do still need to give it the best chance for application, especially if you have ridged nails like mine. I recommend really floating on the polish, aka having the brush as parallel as possible to the nail with a good amount of polish loaded on there, as it’ll help minimize any grabbing of the previous coat with the brush.
Baby, Pink Again – Live Swatch
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With non-numbered collections, I like to go in rainbow order, so we’ll be bouncing back and forth between the cream and jelly finishes. ‘Cotton Candied Clawz’ is our first jellly of the set and it’s a brighter peachy pink shade.
Jelly polishes are meant to be sheer and squishy on the nails so there will still be visible nail line after 3 coats – especially on my longer nails. BUT for me, it’s important that the overall finish is still smooth and even on my ridgey nails. I want that sheerness to look intentional and just delicious on the nails and I’m happy to say this shade passes that test. It’s a perfect way to wear some color without committing to a bright cream, and it just really make your nails look so healthy. Clearly I’m a fan, and I’m glad to have another to add to my jelly arsenal.
Cotton Candied Clawz – Live Swatch
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Okay fine, maybe you’re not quite yet sold on the jellies. That’s okay, and this next polish is BRIGHT and BOLD and a FULL CREAM called ‘Drive ‘Em Magenta’. This is a searing neon coral-pinky red and I’m a little confused because Blues Clues taught us magenta has a lot more purple to it, but I won’t go on about that. This one is a bright watermelon color right instead in between pink and red, and truly how much more summer can you get with a polish.
I said it’s a cream, but I did find this shade to be a touch squishier than a true cream, making that first coat more sheer than you might be expecting. But the 2nd coat comes in and really builds up that color and makes it pop. I did end up adding a 3rd to further smooth out the ridges of my nails, but most will be set with just 2 coats. That touch of jelly to the formula just helps it dry so shiny on the nails even without a top coat – I never use top coat on my swatches as I like to show exactly how they’ll dry out of the bottle. That shine is all this polish.
Drive ‘Em Magenta – Live Swatch
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Okay, now you say you’re looking for that same shiny formula, but less pink and more red. This next shade has you covered. ‘Blushin’ Pride’ is truly the tomato red cousin of ‘Drive ‘Em Magenta’ above, and it’s so warm and orangey and fiery on the nails. Again, absolutely screaming summer and biting into fresh tomatoes from the farmers’ market (that might just be me, where are my fellow tomato fiends).
This one has less squish than ‘Drive ‘Em Magenta’ above so it’s very pigmented on the 1st coat. I did still add a 2nd and then 3rd coat after to even it out fully. Even with that pigment, I was having some streaks, but again that comes from my very ridged nails. If you’re blessed with smoother nails, you’ll be set with just 2 coats.
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Next request. Maybe now you say ‘Hey I want to combine the colors of ‘Drive ‘Em Magenta’ and ‘Blushin’ Pride’ and make it a jelly finish”. And then I say “oh, so you’re saying you want to ‘Make ‘Em Jelly'” and you immediately stop reading and unfollow this blog because that was terrible, and you can tell I’m not sorry about it (That joke was typed out months ago and sat in a draft and I’m still keeping it). But if that didn’t drive you away, we can look at the namesake of this collection which is a bright cherry red shade. It has some pinky tones to it, which make it a cooler, blue-toned red overall.
It only makes sense that a shade with ‘jelly’ in the name would in fact be a jelly finish, so of course you will still have nail line still showing through after 3 coats. But as I mentioned with ‘Cotton Candied Clawz’, I’m here for the jellies as long as they’re smooth and even. Luckily you can see from the swatch photo that we hit those requirements with ‘Make ‘Em Jelly’.
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This next one calls itself ‘Prideful Peach’, and listen, I was just about to go on and say “I’m not sure I would call this peach”, but that’s because I’m used to a beauty product’s definition of peach, which is that more pinky coral color (aka the color of peaches from Animal Crossing). But this does match the inside of a fresh summer peach so we’ll let it be peach (me telling nature it can continue doing what it’s a doing. ANYWAYS. This is a color that can look more cooler-toned inside the bottle, but on my pinky undertones it’s pulling much warmer and more true yellow orange. So it may vary for how peach or peach this will look on your nails.
This continues with the jelly formulas so there’s still nail line peeking after the 3rd coat. But it’s smooth and even and it’s just stunning! Especially when my nails are longer, I’ll be pulling these out.
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Say those bright creams are way too bright. Say even the jellies are too much for you. Maybe you just want no color on your nails. Don’t worry, do I have a shade for you. (I was hearing “go girl, give us nothing” in my head as I swatched this shade). This polish is ‘Pearl-Clutching Behavior’ and it’s for those who were clutching their pearls at those bright neons above. It’s simply a very, VERY sheer beige jelly shade.
You can see even after 3 coats, there’s truly not much pigment on the nails. This is a “your nails but better” shade and I can see myself using it just to even out my nails, or to keep a protective layer in between swatching. It’s a polish for a specific use and I think you’ll be able to know immediately if it’s something you would use.
Pearl-Clutching Behavior – Live Swatch
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Next up we get to ‘Daffodil Duck Walk’ and this is in fact a daffodil yellow. It’s a true primary yellow, not leaning too green, or too orange, just fully yellow
This is another cream finish, and man, do I wish this had the same cream formulas as others above. I’m always wanting to add another yellow to my “good” column, but this one didn’t quite make the cut. Sure, it looks good in my swatch photo but my swatch video tells the truth. It was very streaky overall and it still didn’t feel even after 3 coats. Yellows are always notoriously tricky, but at this point I have plenty others that I like more. This is a pass.
Daffodil Duck Walk – Live Swatch
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‘Pose-in Ivy’ is our next shade and it’s a sultry green jelly. It’s a cooler toned, forest green jelly shade, and I’m finding I like a deeper jelly shade a lot. I have lots of creams in this color, but no jellies.
Like the others this has nail line after 3 coats but it’s smooth and even overall. It was very sheer on that 1st coat – I was almost worried – but the 2nd and 3rd coats are really when the color start to appear and build up. My bright lights are picking up microscopic streaks, but they’re unnoticeable in normal daylight, and it’ll just look rich and delicious overall. Deeper jellies like this offer a softer way to wear a bold shade like this, while still offering color.
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Now to bounce back to a full cream finish. This is ‘Blue Them All Away’ and it’s a bright, yet cooler toned blue shade. I want to call it a blueberry shade even though it’s absolutely not the color of blueberries and I already made a whole thing of peach above. I feel like it’s the color of “blueberry” flavor, do you know what I mean? There might even be some periwinkle tones to it, but that’s me trying to be too art school.
This had a wonderful cream formula to match and was easily opaque in just 2 coats. It painted on so smoothly, and a blue like this is essential for the summertime, in my humble opinion.
Blue Them All Away – Live Swatch
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And now, for the final jelly. Do you like them yet? Have you been converted? If not, ONE MORE CHANCE. This next shade is called ‘Indigo Off’, but I’m not seeing those purple tones come through at all (I will not stop getting pedantic about color names, I went to art school). It’s a deep blue and in some lights it even has some green tones peeking through.
That same jelly formula here, so after 3 coats it does still show nail line but with an even finish overall. There’s so much shine to it and it covered over my ridges just fine, so I have no complaints.
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We had the final jelly above, and now we have our final cream. This is ‘Vogue in Violet’ and it’s a warmer toned purple shade. There’s some definite tones of pink to it and it almost feels cozy (I’m probably saying that from being in a blanket cocoon on my couch).
And it helps send us off with another beautiful and easy 2 coat formula. This was so smooth and you can see another polish that just dries so shiny. Gorgeous!
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And that’s the collection! Overall I felt that this was a solid little summer collection. They’re trying something different with those jelly finishes, and I was really pleased with how all of them swatched on. ‘Pearl-Clutching Behavior’ and ‘Daffodil Duck Walk’ would be the two shades I would pass on, though I can probably use the first one for naked nails looks.
Are they colors we’ve never seen before? No, but it is a mainstream brand and these are great little shades to add to a core collection. Will you be picking any up for this upcoming summer? Or just to feel warm during these winter months?
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Upcoming Posts
Holo Taco ‘Bon Voyage’ collection • OPI Make ‘Em Jelly Infinite Shine collection • Glam Polish All Hallow’s Eve collection • Mooncat Remedy collection • ILNP Overcast collection
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