We’re continuing on through my blog backlog, and slow but steady we’ll catch up to Spring 2026, I PROMISE.
But listen, for each of their seasonal collections, OPI has been releasing two different sets of polish, 12 regular lacquer shades and then 12 Infinite Shine shades. That’s 24 whole shades per season and it’s a lot!!! Anyways, I did already review the regular lacquer shades here, and now it’s time for the ✨Shine✨.
Summer 2025 was the time to ‘Make ‘Em Jelly’ according to OPI and for this collection, they go on to say, “Strike a pose with our ballroom-inspired summer collection of translucent, milky, and glitter jellies and solid opaque nail colors”. I don’t know if I would say ballroom, but we do have a wide range of shades here, and while the finish is highlighted, there is only 1true jelly finish.
If you haven’t seen my other posts about the OPI Infinite Shine line, here’s a quick little rundown. OPI advertises it as a long-wearing formula, claiming it’ll lock onto nails like gel and give you the same shine. I am constantly swatching, so I can’t attest to the longevity of it, and instead will instead comment on the initial formula and application and colors themselves. This line comes in the bottles with silver caps, and tend to range from $1-$2 more per bottle than their regular lacquer shades. Is that extra price bump worth it? Y’all will have to decide.
These shades are still available from Beyond Polish now! (Code: GingerlyPolished can get you 10% off your order if you want. This is an affiliate code, so I would make a tiny bit of money if you use it – if that makes you uncomfy, no pressure at all!)
Let’s finally get on into the swatches!
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We’re starting right out with ‘Drop to the Florchid’ and we’re seeing a more cool toned lighter purple pink shade. (Isn’t it interesting that orchids are flowers with a whole range of colors, but “orchid” itself tends to refer to this specific color).
Now jellies had some history of not being the best but give them a chance!! I was a jelly hater, but I’ve slowly come on over to the jelly side as their formulas have improved over the years. And I can say I was impressed with this specific polish, especially for a lighter more milky jelly. After 3 coats even on my ridged nails, yes there is still nail line, but the finish is smooth and even – which is all I’m asking for with jellies. It’s a delicate and soft nail look to give you an option outside of bright neons and other bolder summer shades.
Drop to the Florchid – Live Swatch
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‘Strawberry Slay’ really brings to mind more strawberry milk than the bright red fruit itself. This is a warmer, almost peachy pink cream shade, though I can see this one being different depending on your own undertones. I have cooler undertones therefore it’s pulling more peachy on me. In the end I can only show how a shade will look on my own nails, I’m only one person.
Now this finished color is gorgeous, but unfortunately I wasn’t a fan of the formula. I found it to be more finicky, and it just got more and more streaky the more you worked with it and tried to smooth it out. I was able to get it opaque with 3 coats and the most softly floating the polish on, but at this point in my swatching journey I’ve seen better cream formulas from OPI that don’t require as much babying.
With these 2 part releases from OPI, after I’ve swatched both sets, I like to show the closest “counterpart” in the lacquer formula. We have a pink cream in both finishes, but they have 2 very different undertones. ‘Baby, Pink Again’ is cool toned and more white based than “Strawberry Slay’.
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Along with jellies and creams, this collection also features these glitter formulas. To swatch them, I paired them up with a matching cream color as a base as they weren’t going to build up to full opacity on their own. This first glitter is ‘Servin’ Pink’ and it’s a clear base filled with delicate scattered rose gold shimmer as well as larger metallic rose gold glitter hexagon pieces.
I used this as 1 coat over ‘Strawberry Slay’ and as noted it’s a very scattered topper. It adds a sparkle to any base color, and with that clear jelly base it won’t change the color it’s layered over. I didn’t have issues picking up the hexagon glitters, and was able to place them a touch with the brush as I painted it on if needed.
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‘Beet for the Gawdz’ is a GORGEOUS, classic bright berry cream shade. It’s warm, it’s bold, and it’s just perfect on the nails for summer – or really any season of course.
And this has a stunning cream formula to match. It paints on smoothly and is easily opaque in just 2 coats. Short and sweet and to the point.
Beet for the Gawdz – Live Swatch
Again, this didn’t have a close counterpart, but I still wanted to show it next to ‘Make ‘Em Jelly’, the namesake of the regular lacquer release. Here you can really see how either shade can give you a bold look but with entirely different finishes, and you can really see the difference between cream and jelly finishes.
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Next up we’re going to ‘Drop It Like It’s Hawt’ (how do we feel about OPI trying to be cool with the kids and using ‘Hawt’ instead of Hot. Is it my millennial inside that’s making me cringe). This is a bright tomato red crelly shade and of course, this is another classic color for summer.
This one is very bright and pigmented overall, but you’ll see in the swatch that it’s a touch squishier than a full cream. I say crelly when it’s still more pigmented, but with just a touch of jelly to the base – I promise swatching one next to the other you’ll feel the difference. But overall the jelly in the formula just helps with the shine and juiciness on the nails. As mentioned, it’s very pigmented and is even and opaque with just 2 coats. I was also so glad to see it wasn’t staining or super messy especially around the cuticles, and it’s a win all around.
Drop It Like It’s Hawt – Live Swatch
Now this is one that has a closer pair in the regular lacquer finish. ‘Blushin’ Pride’ is much more pinky coral toned, with ‘Drop It Like It’s Hawt’ being that more orange red.
If you want even more of a pink toned shade than ‘Drop It Like It’s Hawt’, there is ‘Drive ‘Em Magenta’ from the regular lacquer line as well.
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‘Vogue Into the Sunset’ is a bright yellow orange cream shade. It’s truly that cheese powder orange that just pops off of the nails.
And with such a bright, fun color, I wish I loved this formula more. Just like ‘Strawberry Slay’ above I found this one to just be more finicky, even while feeling like a thicker formula – which you can see around my cuticles. I was able to get it fully opaque but with 2 thicker coats and really floating it onto the nails. But especially with Infinite Shine’s higher price point, it’s too much work and I know there are better oranges than this one. I’m picky because I’ve experience better from OPI.
Vogue Into the Sunset – Live Swatch
Comparing the two oranges, we do have two different finishes again. ‘Prideful Peach’ is less of that cheesy orange and brings some peachiness in and you can see it just feels nicer on the nails than ‘Vogue Into the Sunset’.
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‘Keep Up Buttercup’ is a brighter, cooler toned yellow cream shade. And truly keep up, buttercup, I promise better formulas are ahead. Again, this was just a more difficult formula to work with and I found I was layering on some thicker coats at the end to really try to smooth everything out. Yellows are notoriously finicky, and it’s not the worst one I’ve ever worked with, but at this point I’ve seen better. In 2026 we’re not putting up with disappointing yellow nail polish.
Keep Up Buttercup – Live Swatch
And this is the shade that had the closest pair from the regular lacquer line – which also unfortunately included the formula!!! ‘Daffodil Duck Walk’ is a tiny bit brighter and lighter than ‘Keep Up Buttercup’. And I found ‘DDD’ to also be streaky and harder to work with, and just whiffing on TWO yellows in one release is a choice.
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We take a pause from disappointing cremes with another glitter topper and this one is called ‘Your OPIness’. It’s a clear base, this time filled with a scattered golden shimmer and larger scattered golden glitter pieces. Just like the other glitter above, it’s got a clear base making it a lovely little topper shade – one that’ll definitely help cover up and smooth out the streaks of the yellow base you put it on top of.
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Alright, I told you it would get better, and ‘Jelly Green with Envy’ does just that. This is a bright, cooler toned green shade. Though it’s such a pigmented, bold shade on the nails, it does almost still have a more muted dustiness to it that makes it feel even more wearable.
And YES, this is a lovely and easy 2 coat cream formula!! That first coat is a touch streaky, but the 2nd coat comes in and smooths it all out, without having to glob on a thicker finish. A beautiful sigh of relief really, see they can make a cream formula.
Jelly Green with Envy – Live Swatch
We have a green in each set, but they’re very different both in finish and color. ‘Pose-In Ivy’ is a jelly finish while also being much a more cool toned forest green shade.
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And to pair with ‘Jelly Green with Envy’ we have it’s matching glitter topper. This is ‘Celebrate That’ and this one follows the same formula of a clear bases filled with scattered metallic green shimmer and larger metallic green hexagon glitter pieces. One coat picks up the larger pieces well and distributes them well on the nails and it’s another easy topper.
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We continue down the rainbow and we’re finishing out the set with a pair of blues, maybe you can say a pair of jeans? I tried, maybe there’s something there, but yes I’m trying because this polish is called ‘It’s in Your Jeans’. This is another shade I love wearing in the summer – there’s something about a bright medium blue in the sunlight.
Luckily this finishes out the cream formulas with another easy 2 coat formula. It’s very smooth and I didn’t have issues with staining overall.
It’s in Your Jeans – Live Swatch
If ‘It’s in Your Jeans’ feels too deep and BOLD overall, ‘Blue Them All Away’ in the lacquer finish is lighter and warmer overall.
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And now we finish out these glitter toppers and the whole set itself. ‘Dust the Competition’ – which I love that phrase – is the same clear base filled with this time a metallic blue shimmer and larger metallic blue glitter pieces. Just like all the others, it’s a gorgeous little topper and adds sparkle to any shade.
Dust the Competition – Live Swatch
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And that’s the set!
There were a few cream shades in this one that I would skip: ‘Strawberry Slay’, ‘Vogue Into the Sunset’ and ‘Keep Up Buttercup’. I just found that they were too finicky and a lot of work for “common” colors that we’ve definitely already seen in OPI’s catalog. But to balance it out, we had some gorgeous cream formulas in ‘Drop It Like It’s Hawt’ and ‘Beet for the Gawdz’. I love the addition of another lovely little jelly shade, and the glitter toppers add a fun little moment.
Have you picked up any of these shades?
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Upcoming Posts
OPI What’s Your Mani-tude Fall 2025 • OPI Good Enough to Treat Winter 2025 • Wet N Wild Chameleon Chrome collection • GirlCult Peach Festival collection • Holo Taco Holo-ween collection
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