You think at one point or another I’d stop being in awe of OPI‘s nail polish collections… but honestly, I’m nowhere near that point yet. Their latest collection — Muse of Milan for Fall 2020 — is no exception. The collection features warm autumnal shades that are reminiscent of leaves changing colour, and yet there’s a whole whack of cooler shades in both pale, medium and deep tones to flush out the collection.

The first set of shades have some gorgeous pumpkin-esque shades alongside a super deep and rich blood-red wine shade (my favourite) and some slate colours.

The second half of the collection features the cooler tones of the collection with an even split between purple and blue shades.

On to the swatches! All polish shots were done with two coats of polish on my nails.

OPI Fall 2020 — Muse of Milan Swatches

What an interesting shade this turned out to be. Fall-ing for Milan is a dusty, burnished bronze. The “dust” aspect comes from a somewhat greyed out finish on top of the bronze – almost like there’s a layer of smoke on top of the polish. It’s a seriously unique shade as I’ve never seen anything like it with that “smoke” layer.

Oh this one is FUN! Have Your Panettone and Eat it Too is the quintessential pumpkin orange shade (and it’s the shade I’m currently sporting on my nails) that’s perfect for the Halloween season.

Oooo this one came out so much more spicy than I had thought from looking at the bottle. My Italian is a Little Rusty is like a gorgeous rust shade that looked more orange in the bottle, but came across a lot more russet in practice.

THIS ONE. Holy smokes. This is my absolute favourite. Not only is the name perfect (Complimentary Wine) but the shade is a gorgeous blood-red that is oh-so-vampy.

This one was an interesting choice to add to the collection. Suzi Talks with Her Hands is an everything slate colour – kind of like mildly damp cement. They had a similar (but deeper) grey collection in their fall collection last year and I have to say I really like the addition of greys in a fall collection. It’s far more flattering than I expected it to be.

This one was interesting in the bottle, but didn’t play out as well in practice. In the bottle, This Color Hits All the High Notes, had this shifting, prismatic blue and purple shift to it. On the nails… I don’t see it at all. It ended up being very sheer and just didn’t have the dimension I was expecting from looking at it in the bottle.

Addio Bad Nails, Ciao Great Nails has a bit of that smoke effect that I was referencing before – it’s a mid-tone shimmery lilac shade with this neat greyed out/smoke effect on top of it.

Galleria Vittorio Violet is a lovely lilac that looks like a creme finish at first glance, but if you catch the light at just the right angle you’ll see a deeper purple/pink shimmer reflect to it.

Another fun shimmery one! Leonardo’s Model Color is a purple base with gold, orange and lilac shimmers suspended in the formula.

This one surprised me. Since the previous polish looked to be about the same consistency as this one, I was taken aback at how sheer it was. The colour is fairly unique in the bottle – slate coloured with red and silver shimmers. However, on the nails OPI Nails the Runway comes across as a pale silver shimmer.

Another favourite! Drama at La Scala is the more green toned blue of the collection (the next shade is more of a true blue) and it’s GORGEOUS.

And lastly, Duomo Days, Isola Nights is more of a deep true blue.

Final Thoughts

I love you OPI, I really do. This collection got me pretty excited right from the get go with the promotional shots I saw online. There’s a few in this collection that aren’t quite my cup of tea (the more sheer, shimmery ones) but the bulk of the collection is right up my alley. I’m especially taken with Complimentary Wine – that’s a *stunning* shade and I wore it for a week straight and debated reapplying it right away. Both orange tones (Have Your Panettone and Eat it Too and My Italian is a Little Rusty) are solid winners in my book, and I looooove Drama at La Scala. 

How about you? What colours are you loving from this collection? Let me know!

The products featured in this post were sent to me for consideration.

For Spring 2020, OPI is taking us to Mexico City with a range of vibrant shades that make me smile just looking at them! OPI teamed up with Mexican artist, muralist and illustrator, Sofia Castellanos to develop 12 shades that represent colours from Mexico City’s vibrant art scene.

I personally love the mix of lighter turquoise shades mixed in with a bright yellow and some varying orange shades…

…alongside some seriously bright, loud tones!

What’s also massively impressive is that all swatches for this post were done in two coats. I really didn’t think the paler shades were going to be okay with two coats, but they absolutely were!

Let’s get into the shades!

OPI Spring 2020 Mexico Collection Swatches

Final Thoughts

What a fun set of shades! OPI‘s Mexico City collection took me by surprise, and I was really, really happy with a lot of these shades. I find myself particularly enamoured with Hue is the Artist?, Don’t Tell A Sol and Mexico City Move-Mint.

What’s your favourite shade in this collection?

The products featured in this post were sent to me for consideration.

New up from OPI! Their latest collection is for holidays 2019: Hello Kitty! Back for a second round due to popular demand, OPI has teamed up with HK to produce a second collection. But don’t worry – they’ve brought back their most searched for shade ever: Let’s Be Friends!

The whole range  is available in their Nail Lacquer formula (my favourite), as well as Infinite Shine and GelColor.

With this collection, Hello Kitty is celebrating their 45th anniversary (I had NO idea that Hello Kitty had been around that long!). I’d say the bulk of the collection skews very pink, glittery and red, with a slight focus on some deeper cooler tones.

While the front half of the collection was quite pink/red, the back half of it focuses more on deeper purple and blues tones as well as a bunch of metallics to round it out.

And of course, what’s a holiday collection without some glitter??

OPI Hello Kitty Holiday 2019 Collection – Swatches

Let’s Be Friends! is the only shade I layered three times in this post (all others are layered twice). It looked quite patchy on the first and second coats, but by the time I got to the third it evened out really nicely. I can see why this shade is so popular. I’m not even someone who gravitates towards very pale, milky pinks, but this shade looks absolutely beautiful on my nails!

Glitter to My Heart is a fun silver and white speckled glitter polish. It reminds me of a snowglobe, and would look lovely layered on top of a white polish.

A Hush of Blush is a pearlescent pale pink shade. Even with two coats on there’s still a hint of translucency to the polish.

Let’s Celebrate! has a lightly tinted pink base (although it’s really quite sheer) with specks of red and pink glitter scattered throughout.

All About the Bows was *really* interesting. This shade had a bit of a jelly finish and ended up looking a lot more pink than I was expecting. Really loved this shade!

A Kiss on the Chic was also quite jelly-ish in application. A solid red shade.

Pile on the Sprinkles has a pale lavender base with pale pink and dark blurple glitter specs.

Hello Pretty – another jelly-like base. I was so surprised that most of what I thought were cream finishes in this collection ended up being a bit more translucent. Lovely dark blue – more teal than navy.

Let Love Sparkle is a pale silver that had a lot of translucency. Layer third 3 or 4 times to get opaque coverage.

My Favorite Gal Pal is a deep purple-blue. I swear OPI said this was a blue, but I see a lot more purple than I do blue in this colour.

Many Celebrations to Go! is a translucent pale gold. I like this one because there’s less yellow in the product, so it takes on more of a champagne twist.

Another translucent/sheer one (they layer just fine by the way – I just recommend doing more than two coats if you want full coverage). Isn’t She Iconic! is a gunmetal silver.

Glitter All the Way is a chunky yellow gold glitter with some yellow in the base.

Born to Sparkle has a clear base with large flecks of rose gold glitter.

Dream in Glitter has a pale red base with medium to small sized red glitter flecks.

Final Thoughts

It may come as a surprise, but I’m not a Hello Kitty fan. While I’m obsessed with cats, there’s just something about the branding of Hello Kitty that never drew me in, so this wasn’t a collection I was necessarily drawn to as a whole. However, if you’re someone that does love Hello Kitty, I think you’ll especially love this collection because the branding does seem to be bang on. Not only do they have the bottles capped with the Hello Kitty face, but I can also see a lot of the aesthetic of Hello Kitty wrapped up into the shades they’ve chosen.

For me, I have to take Hello Kitty out of the equation to evaluate the collection since it holds no weight for me. Overall, I prefer the chunkier glitters as they’re fun to layer on top of cream polishes (and cream polishes are hands down my favourite kind of finish for a polish). I’m less inclined to play with the glitters that have a coloured base just because I’m less drawn to the overall colours of them.

The standouts in this collection were definitely:

• Let’s Be Friends!: This one surprised the heck out of me – I had no idea I needed/wanted a milky pink my collection, but I LOVE the way this looks on my nails.
• All About The Bows: The magenta edge to this polish is freaking glorious. I thought it was going to be a regular ole red, but the pink flash in it really makes this a special polish to me.
• Glitter to my Heart: I love the snow globe like quality of this one. I cannot wait to layer it on top of a white polish for snow themed nails!
• Born to Sparkle: These large rose gold chunks are beautiful!

The OPI Hello Kitty collection can be purchased at nailpolishcanada.com or on ulta.com.

The products featured in this post were sent to me for consideration. Post contains affiliate links.

OPI‘s fall collection “Scotland” has launched, and I was super amped to see the shades in this collection because I’ve got a bit of an attachment to the country. It’s been a few years now, but when I visited Scotland I was taken aback by just how gorgeous the scenery was to me. We had driven up from England (Birmingham, to be precise) and I had just expected that Scotland would look identical to England since they’re attached to the same land mass.

Not so! My jaw practically fell to the floor when we crossed into Scotland from England. Everything was suddenly more beautiful. It’s hard to put into words, because it really doesn’t make sense – there is no great divide between the land of England and Scotland, but my lasting impression was that as soon as we drove into Scotland via the M6… the landscape was suddenly more luscious. I’ll never forget that – it’s a really special memory to me.

So when I hear OPI was launching a Scotland collection I was super into it. Not to mention that my paternal grandfather (who died before I was born) was born in Scotland just added to my desire to try out this collection.

The collection  is an interesting mix of shades – the first six lean heavily into the reds and oranges, popping in a dark green as well as deep, blackened purples.

The second half learn far more cool toned with a bunch of deeps blues and purples, as well as a few nudes to round out the collection.

OPI Fall 2019 Scotland Collection Swatches

A Little Guilt Under The Kilt is a luminescent jewel-toned red.

Red Heads Ahead is warm-toned red with a creme finish.

Suzi Needs A Loch-Smith is  a darkened orange. (Reminds me of pumpkins!)

Things I’ve Seen in Aber-Green is a SUPER deep dirty green. It comes across close to black, but not quite there.

Good Girls Gone Plaid is another super deep shade. This one is more plum, but it’s very deep, so the purple doesn’t show up as much unless it’s in REALLY bright lighting.

Boys Be Thistle-ing At Me is slightly like the previous shade, just a touch paler and with a metallic finish.

Oh wow did I ever love this shade! Rub-a-pub-pub is the PERFECT creme finish charcoal grey.

What’s a Scotland collection without a little poke at the Loch Ness monster? Nessie Plays Hide & Sea-k is a metallic finish deep teal with gold shimmers.

OPI Grabs The Unicorn By The Horns is a beautiful darkened teal, although I did find this one went on a bit more translucent than I had expected. I’d do three coats of this one to be safe.

Nice Set of Pipes is another “almost black” shade. There’s a hint of purple in the base, but it definitely comes across more vampy than I had expected.

I’m not sure I’ve ever put a nude on my nails, but I was SOLD as soon as I put You’ve Got That Glas-glow on my nails. Holy smokes is this ever a sophisticated look!

If you want a bit more of a warmer nude, grab Edinburgh-er & Tatties. There’s a bit of caramel kiss to this shade!

Final Thoughts

I was initially surprised at just how dark the OPI Scotland collection was… and this is primarily because I see Scotland as luscious and green, with twinges of plaid. However, given the season… this collection actually works out beautifully. OPI somehow manages to tie in the feeling of Scotland combined with the deeper tones of the autumn months. AND, there are so many shades in this collection that work *perfectly* for Halloween! The orange, the charcoal grey and the deeper plums are all perfect for this time of year! Heck, I even like the nudes, and that’s not something I thought I’d ever say about nail polish. I’m especially taken with Rub-a-pub-pub (wore it last week) and I’ve got Suzi Needs a Loch-Smith on my nails right now.

All summed up, I think the OPI Scotland collection is beautiful and oh so seasonally appropriate.

The products featured in this post were sent to me for consideration.

Rainbows… and neon. I mean… before I even start typing up this post, you basically already know that I’m in love with this colour scheme that OPI has developed for their Summer 2019 collection!

With the Summer Neons collection, you’re getting the full rainbow spectrum (I’m classifying the pink as red really) and while they’re neon, there’s also a hint of softness to the shades which makes them very enticing.

As all the shades have a neon edge to them, they do require a little more layering than I usually have to do with OPI’s polishes. There’s a translucency to the base, but thankfully they do actually layer without any issues. For all of the nail swatch photos below I have three polish layers on without a base or top coat. In practice, I found I actually preferred to wear 4 or 5 layers of the polish (and it STILL layered nicely then) with a shiny top coat on top. The texture of the polishes is occasionally slightly matte, so adding the top coat bumped up the shine factor which is how I prefer to wear my polishes.

V.I.Pink Passes is a luminescent medium pink that definitely dries down a bit of a satin-matte finish.

Orange You A Rockstar is a bright shiny coral-orange – I absolutely LOVE this shade!

PUMP Up The Volume is a bright sunshine yellow that has a bit more sheerness to it. When I wore this for a full week I ended up putting five layers on to achieve complete opacity.

Dance Party Teal Dawn is another one with a bit more of a translucent base – so layering it is a must. The colour screams seafoam to me.

Music Is My Muse was very difficult to capture on camera because it’s so, so vibrant in real life and I feel like all of my camera settings were muting it down. This colour is BEAUTIFUL!

Positive Vibes Only which is a bright, vibrant purple.

Final Thoughts

The OPI Summer Neons collection is fulfilling my need for vibrant rainbow neons this summer. When I initially saw the collection online I just about gasped with shock because they were so, so beautiful. I do find they need to be layered quite a bit so that my nail bed doesn’t show through, but I’m happy to do it since it results in such a vibrant colour. It’s also really nice that they layer so easily without disturbing the layers underneath, so that makes layering a non-issue in my eyes (just a bit more time consuming is all).

My favourites are PUMP Up The Volume (I can’t get enough of yellow lately), Orange You A Rockstar, and  Positive Vibes Only. Which do you like the most?

The OPI Summer Neons can be purchased on nailpolishcanada.com for $10.99 CAD each.

The products featured in this post were sent to me for consideration.