New OPI Designer Series Shades for Fall 2012: Indulgence and Luxurious Swatches and Review

OPI's two new 2012 Designer Series shades are being released soon and they are spectacular. Much better than last year's, if you ask me. Are they holographic like all the original Designer Series shades? No. They're not. But they are vividly colorful and packed with shiny, glittering, glowing gold foil shimmer. Observe:

OPI Designer Series Indulgence - OPI Designer Series Luxurious

OPI Designer Series Indulgence. This is a bright, rich cool red base with tons of warm gold foil shimmer. I don't know why my pictures make it look so pathetic, I'm actually wearing it right now and it's so much more amazing than it looks here. It's fiery and vibrant and the play between the slightly cooler red base and the much warmer gold shimmer is interesting and beautiful. Kinda makes me think of Christmas.


OPI Designer Series Luxurious. This one is so gorgeous I could weep. Look at it. Look. I can't even handle how awesome this color is. It's a bright jelly orange base with chunky, shiny gold foil shimmer. It flickers and flashes and glows like lava. If Indulgence is Christmas, this one is Halloween. It's too perfect. I'm buying a backup of this one for sure.

The formula on these was perfect. Thin, even texture. No dripping or pooling or dragging, no stringiness or bubbling. The brushes were perfect and provided a flawless application with no effort. I used three coats of each, but they really only needed two for opacity. The third coat just makes them more sparkly. Dry time is very fast and they dry shiny even without topcoat.

These are amazing. I can't help but act like a slobbering idiot over these colors, I just love them too much. The bright, fiery color combined with that crazy shiny foil flake shimmer makes me so happy. And not only are the colors stunning, the formula is flawless. I can't find a single thing wrong with either of these, unless you want to consider the price. OPI Designer Series polishes are $12.50 for 0.5oz compared to the regular line which is $8.50 for the same amount. I don't quite understand why they cost more when they're not holographic like the old Designer Series shades (holographic shades actually cost more to make). I mean, they do have diamond dust in them, but it's not like I can really tell it's in there. I think that these two particular colors are worth the price, though, and I plan on buying at least one backup of Luxurious.

OPI Designer Series Indulgence and Luxurious will be available starting in September.

(This was sent for review.)

New OPI Designer Series Shades for 2011 Swatches and Review

OPI has just released 2011's two new Designer Series additions; OPI Designer Series Bold and OPI Designer Series Temptation. Gone are the days when new Designer Series shades meant brand new holographic polishes to covet... These two new shades are pure glitter without a hint of holo.


OPI Designer Series Bold. This is a light red tinted base with medium sized light red and silver glitter. This polish looks very pink in some lights, and this is definitely a pink toned red. Not quite a coral, not really a pure red, either. The slightly tinted base looks really good mixed with the glitter as it adds depth without drowning the sparkle. The downside to this is that it's basically a duplicate of China Glaze Mrs. Claus from Holiday 2010.


OPI Designer Series Temptation. This is a total glitterbomb. There's so much glitter in here. Lots of different shapes and colors. Large purple and blue, tiny purple and blue microglitter, small sliver glitter, sometimes I think I spot some tiny pink glitter, too. The base is slightly colored purple, as if it wasn't purple enough already. The color is gorgeous and the glitter is very sparkly. It's similar in color to a few other shades, though no exact matches. Some examples of the purple/blue glitter combination are Jessica Funkytown, Sinful Colors Frenzy, Illamasqua Boo, and LA Girl Rockstar Overdose.


The formula on these was disappointing. OPI has released a lot of great glitters in the past few years, so I really hold them to a higher standard. Bold had a good formula despite being sheer. Temptation was thick as glue and extremely rough. I did three coats of each and both needed the third. If I had applied Temptation more carefully I could have gotten away with only two. Drying time is longer than average for OPI. Temptation dries extremely rough and gritty and when I wore it, it needed three coats of topcoat.

While I do like these colors, I am let down by them. They are very pretty (you know how much I love glitter), but they're not Designer Series worthy. Designer Series used to mean something special- namely, it used to mean you were getting an amazing holographic polish. In recent years, they've abandoned that whole "Diamond Dust" holographic special color thing and just started releasing normal colors, calling them Designer Series and then charging more for them. I don't know why they even bother calling it Designer Series anymore if there's nothing to set the Designer Series polishes apart from regular OPI shades.

That being said, when taken at face value, they're great colors. They're beautiful and very fun, sparkly, interesting colors. I wish that Temptation had a better formula because the day I wore it, I got two unsolicited compliments. It really is a stunning shade. I may try thinning my bottle to improve application, but I don't think that will help the scratchy rough edges and the tendency to dry like sandpaper.


(These were sent to me for review.)

Quick skittle preview of OPI Fall 2010 (Swiss collection and new Designer Series)

I'll have 'real' swatches an a full review when I can, but for now.... super super quick sloppy skittles pictures!

Pinkie-to-index (or left to right): Glitzerland, Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous, Cuckoo For This Color, Yodel Me On My Cell

Index-to-pinkie (or left-to-right): Diva of Geneva, The Color To Watch, Ski Teal We Drop, William Tell Me About OPI

Pinkie-to-index (left-to-right): From A to Zurich, I'm Suzi & I'm A Chocoholic, Color So Hot It Berns, Just A Little Rosti At This


And the new Desiner Series shades:
Pinkie and ring: DS Radiance
Middle and index: DS Magic

Magic seems like a less-sheer version of Sally Hansen HD Laser!

And now I have to run because I swatched instead of starting dinner... ooops! The things we do for polish! XD

New OPI Designer Series Shades for Fall 2009

A little while ago, OPI released two new gorgeous shades to the Designer Series line. The OPI Designer Series is known for being holographic, so that's what I was expecting. I was surprised to see that these two shades were not holographic, but holo or not, they're beautiful.

Since I couldn't get one good picture of either of them, how about a bunch of crappy pictures of both?

Glow, outdoors, overcast.

Glow, with flash.

Glow, indoors, ambient light.

Glow, dim sunlight. OPI Designer Series Glow is a copper-gold-bronze metallic fusion. It's made up of lots of little metal platelets, all of different shades and they combine to make a super-sparkly warm-to-neutral light gold and copper shade. It can take on some orange tones depending on the light, as seen in these pictures. It can also look more neutral and golden. It all depends on how the light is reflecting off the metallic particles. Even though it's not holo, it's ridiculously beautiful. It sparkles like crazy. As a bonus, it behaves like a glitter but it's not a glitter so there's no difficult removal process.


Mystery, outdoors, overcast.

Mystery, with flash, blurred to enhance shimmer.


Mystery, indoors, ambient light.

Mystery, dim sunlight.

OPI Designer Series Mystery is a deep translucent or jelly-like purple base with tons of gold shimmer flakes. It's not glitter circles- they're tiny, super thin little flecks of gold. Irregular shapes. Smooth, not bumpy. On the first coat you can see that the base is a vibrant blue-toned purple with glistening gold dust. I like the way it looks with one coat, but I hate visible nail line so I do two. With two coats it becomes a deep vampy purple jelly with a large amount of gold flakes. This is unique in my collection and it's beautiful to behold.

The formula on both of these is consistent with previous Designer Series shades. Thin, smooth, very quick drying, easy to apply. These are very opaque, pictured above are two coats of polish. Some of the previous Designer Series shades needed three or more coats depending on the shade. There really don't need more than two but would probably look even better with more. I had zero application issues.

While I am a little disappointed that OPI didn't release two new holographic shades, I still love these. They're unique and sparkly and are both something I would actually wear. I think they would even look good together, either as a mani/pedi combo or with some nail art. In fact, I think I'm going to try that. Maybe a funky french.

Maybe OPI will do some more holos next year. OPI, if you're listening, I want the smooth linear holographic effect of the original Designer Series polishes, and this time I want darker shades. A dark purple, a bright yellow (not gold), a true red (not coral or pink), a dark green and possibly a true orange (also not coral or pink).

What? A little wishful thinking never hurt anyone ;-)

Reader request: Silver Holographic Comparisons

Ack! I've been meaning to post this for over a week, but my life has been crazytown and I just haven't gotten a chance.

Here's a couple of comparisons between some silver holographic polishes.


Index and middle: Color Club Magic Attraction
Ring and pinkie: OPI Paris Couture For Sure


Index and Middle: OPI Paris Couture For Sure
Ring and Pinkie: OPI Designer Series Coronation

The biggest difference between Paris Couture For Sure and Coronation is that Coronation is slightly darker and more grey with more scattered looking holo, while Paris Couture For Sure is more silvery with somewhat more uniform holo .



Index: OPI Designer Series Coronation
Middle: China Glaze OMG
Ring: Sally Hansen Magical Nail Makeup Crystal Ball
Pinkie: OPI Paris Couture For Sure.

Sally Hansen Crystal Ball is by far the most "holo" holo I own. I don't own Chanel Holographic, but I can see them being close in level of holographic awesomeness. I don't even know why I put the two OPIs in this picture because, as you can see, they don't even begin to compare.


Hope this is helpful! I have a lot of things I want to post this week. Let's hope I can actually be able to sit down and post them :)

Swatches: New OPI Designer Series shades!

They're finally here!! The nine new OPI Designer Series polishes are here at last and it's instant love. I'm a sucker for holographic polishes, and while these are different from your average holo, they're still beautiful and mesmerizing.

On to the swatches! As always, I leave these huge to show you the detail, so please click the images to enlarge them.


Classic. A warm gold holographic polish. As you can see, it's more of a 'scattered' type holo, as opposed to other holographic finishes like the China Glaze Kaleidoscope and OMG collections or previous OPI Designer Series polishes.


Coronation. A bright silver prismatic holo. It's similar to polishes like China Glaze Sexagon and OPI Paris Couture For Sure, but as you can see it's that scattered type of shimmer.



Extravagance. This one was so pretty it needed two pictures. One outside, one inside under fluorescent light A rich purple with incredible shimmer. Stunning, and a must-have for purple lovers like me!



Illuminate. A fascinating holographic brown with green duochrome! Holo and duochrome? I'm not sure if I can handle the awesomeness!


Limited. A warm coppery-pink sort of shade with holographic shimmer. These aren't glitter, for all of you who are wondering. They're perfectly smooth, silky, sparkly shimmer polishes and they're not the least bit gritty or chunky.



Opulence. Very flattering mauve-pink with holographic shimmer to keep it from being plain. It's a pink I would wear!


Reflection. Wow!! I'm not sure how to describe this color.... Hot pink coral with gold duochrome and holo? It's extremely eye-catching and just one hell of an excellent shade. This one was even opaque in one coat, but I did two anyway.


Reserve. Another pretty holographic pink- very feminine and flattering but not the least bit boring!


Tapestry. For some reason I want to call this shade 'russet' and I have no idea why. It's sort of a pink-red, more on the red side than the pink side. Loaded with holographic shimmer. Reminds me a little bit of OPI Crim-sun but not as holo.


These are so gorgeous. Maybe I'm biased, because anything holographic is a winner in my book, but still... They're HOT! And on top of the amazing colors, the formula is top notch. Perfect application, no three-free goo texture, dried *super* fast and smooth and shiny to boot. I have no complaints here other than they're not holographic enough. Okay, maybe one or two complaints. The names are stupid and impossible to remember and they cost twice as much as a regular OPI polish, but it's a price I'm willing to pay. I love a polish that will make me want to stare at my hands all day.

In case you missed it, I swatched the rest of my Designer Series collection (not 100% complete, but close!) back in May. You can check out the posts here:

Designer Series Part 1

Designer Series Part 2

And if that's not enough OPI holographic goodness for you, I also swatched the It's Summer For Shore collection here:

OPI It's Summer For Shore Collection

Enjoy, and embrace the holo.

Nine New OPI Designer Series Shades!

I'm a huge fan of the OPI Designer Series polishes, and I just saw a huge ad for the new shades! WOOHOO!!

They are:

Coronation: Silvery platinum crowned with diamond dazzle.

Extravagance: Glittering, glamourous magenta.

Reserve: A shimmer of vintage pink.

Opulence: Magnificent mauve drenched in diamonds.

Tapestry: Dazzling deep rose.

Reflection: Rich, glowing ruby.

Classic: An elegant shimmer of golden beige.

Limited: Glistening, glimmering warm peach.

Illuminate: A brilliant sparkle of rich, burnished gold.

I don't have a scanner, so I'll have to look for some pics of these to post. From the picture, none of them look that interesting, but that seemed to be the case with the rest of the Designer Series polishes also. I'll have to wait until I see these in person to pass judgment. I can't wait. You can never have enough holo!

I hate the names of these. I can't tell them apart! Half of these already sound like existing DS colors, but I can never remember the names of them to tell if they are new or old. *sigh* Confusing!

This ad also featured close-up bottle pics of OPI Holiday In Toyland and there appear to be some GLITTERS! It seems like Glamour Game and Brand New Skates are fine glitters, and Baby It's "Coal" Outside! and Play 'Til Midnight look pretty sparkly as well. A Ruby for Rudolph and Don't Toy With Me look pretty sparkly, but maybe it's just these pictures? The texture of the polish in the bottles reminds me of the old OPI Glitter Topcoats, but I won't know for sure until I see them in person.

One more exciting note: PUMPKIN BUTTER JUICIE. OMGGGGGG

Silver Swatches, Part 2.

Here's a few more silvers. Some are glitters, if silver glitter counts as silver! There's still a few stragglers I haven't photographed, but I'll get to them eventually.


Cover Girl Boundless Color Disco Dazzle. These topcoats come in all different colors. This one is the silver and it has lots of holographic glitter. I actually really like this, despite not usually being a Cover Girl fan.


China Glaze Drenched In Diamonds. Very delicate light silver with microshimmer. This is three coats, it's pretty sheer.


Finger Paints Easel Come, Easel Go.


MAC $$$$ Yes. I love the satiny-smooth shiny metallic finish on this. Silver version of Metalist.



New York Summer Alpha Jewel Glitter. This is nice, inexpensive holographic glitter.


Sation Grey Opal. It looks silvery, but it's white with flashes of other colors- blue, green, purple... Very pretty and costs $1!


Nubar Holographic Glitter. Gorgeous and smooth as glass. This is very similar to Piggy Polish Sunshine on Snowflakes.


OPI Designer Series Shimmer. Holographic silver.


OPI Give Me The Moon. Grey with purple/blue flash. Looks silver, does it count?


OPI Gone Platinum In 60 Seconds. Looks slightly more shimmery and metallic in real life. It's a platinum silver that leans blue/grey.


OPI How To Jamaica Million. Metallic silver with purple duochrome.


OPI Mystic Moonshine. Metallic silver with smooth silver glitter.


OPI Paris Couture For Sure. It's described as a top coat, but the glitter is very dense. Dense, smooth and holographic. Perfect.


OPI Rinse Charming.


OPI SRO (Standing Room Only) Silver. More subtle than Designer Series Shimmer.


OPI Stars In My Eyes. Kind of a purple silver with shimmer.


OPI What's Dune. Looks silver indoors, when the sun hits it it's crazy shimmery. Love this one, but it's extremely sheer.


Orly Dazzle. Metallic silver with a touch of glitter!


New York Summer Party Time. Metallic silver with silvery glitter and purple duochrome.




Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear in Showtime. Another holographic silver. I can never get enough holo!

That's all for now. Hope this helps!