OPI Swatches

Alright, so I finally got around to starting to really swatch my colors. I'm going to sort by brand, then by color. I'll provide the item number, what collection it belongs to, how many coats I used, and of course pics. There will 2 pics of each color: one inside with a flash and one outside without. None of these are topcoated, since I wanted to show them out the bottle.


OPI

Pinks

Rosy Future- NL S79, Soft Shades, 3 coats. This color is perfect for French manis! It has a slight duochrome shimmer that, in my opinion, makes it more flattering than the traditional nudes that are used in Frenches.







Pink Friday- NL N16, Niki Minaj, 3 coats. Light pink creme that's surprisingly not real streaky.





I Think in Pink- NL H38, Breast Cancer Awareness 2012, 4 coats. This is def a jelly, in my opinion. I got my bottle as part of the BCA 2012 set, but I'm pretty sure is was also released in the same collex as Isn't That Precious?.







Pedal Faster, Suzi!- NL H60, Holland, 3 coats. This is a light, petal pink with a silver shimmer. It's also got that dewy, wet look to it that several of my OPI shimmers have, like Flower to Flower.





Sparrow me the Drama- NL P15, Pirates of the Carribean collection, 3 coats. I needed three coats for my reswatch of this color, mostly because I kept painting in bald spots >.> Otherwise, I normally only need 2 coats.





Hotter Than you Pink- NL N36, NEONS, 3 coats. Index and ring fingers are done over one coat of Put a Coat On!, the others are on bare nails. Put a Coat On! is a specially made white base coat release for the NEONS collection. Hotter Than you Pink is a hot pink shimmer with blue flashes. Dries matte like most neons do.





Suzi Has a Swede Tooth- NL N46, Nordic, 2 coats. Okay, this is gorgeous, strawberry pink creme. It's very pigmented and could almost be a one coater. It dries to a semi matte finish, I think because of it's pigmentation. I bet you could stamp with it, I haven't tried yet myself.






Shorts Story- NL B86, Bright Pair Collection, 2 coats. This was opaque in 2 coats.





DC Cherry Blossom- NL E13, Colorcopia collection, 2 coats. Again, opaque in 2 coats.





50 is the New Fabulous- SR F82, Sally Beauty 50th Anniversary, 2 coats. Bright, cool toned pink creme. Very saturated, very smooth, it's almost a one coater. I believe I have both stamped and water marbled with it.






Kiss me on my Tulips- NL H59, Holland, 2 coats. Pretty bright pink creme, not quite fuschia, though.






Santiago Sangria- NL A22, South American collection, 2 coats. Perhaps one of my all time fave colors, I truly wish OPI would re-release it.






Be a Dahlia Won't You?- NL S40, Nice Stems collection, 3 coats.






Do You Think I'm Tex-y?- NL T17, Texas collection, 3 coats. Beautiful, watermelon colored jelly polish. You can achieve opacity in three coats, or you could layer it over another pink, or make a jelly sammich :)





Ate Berries in the Canaries- NL E46, Spain collection, 2 coats. Very similiar to Dim Sum Plum in color.






Purple-opolis- NL E24, Greek collection, 2 coats. It's not purple to me, but a lovely pinky-purpley color.





Let Me Entertain You- HL B12, Burlesque collection, 3 coats. Best way to remove anything in this collection is to use acetone, and even that takes a few minutes. Otherwise, they're all beautiful colors, this one especially is my favorite.





Jewel of India- NL F09, Far East, 3 coats. This color is similiar to Purple-opolis, except is has more of a gold shimmer to it.






Over-exposed in South Beach- NL B73, South Beach collection, 3 coats. I think you could almost call this gorgeous magenta a duochrome, because you get flashes of blue in it.







The One That Got Away- NL K08. Katy Perry collection, 3 coats. I have had this stain my nails, both as a mani and as a pedi. All I've done is wait it out or applied a new color to cover it, I haven't tried anything to lighten the stains.







Reds

California Raspberry- NL L54, very first OPI collection, 2 coats. I question which collection this color belonged to because I can't find it. It's a beautiful lighter red that perfect for summer.







Peru-B-Ruby- NL A18, South American collection, 2 coats. Another gorgeous lighter red.







Thanks So Muchness!- NL A58, Alice in Wonderland collection, 2 coats.







Ali's Big Break- NL B13, Burlesque collection, 2 coats. Definitely need to use acetone to remove this color. This is prolly one of the prettiest reds I own.








Hussy- MNL01 42101, Merle Norman exclusive Hussy line, 2 coats. Gorgeous red that's foil like. It's a mess to clean up, but so worth it!







I Don't Do Dishes!- NL W15, Whirlpool collection, 2 coats. This color, along with two or three others, were released in conjunction with Whirlpool to promote a contest Whirlpool was having. The name is pretty cute and funny, especially since I really don't do dishes. My husband and family laugh whenever I use it.






I'm Not Really a Waitress- NL H08, Classic collection, 2 coats. The quinessential, classic red that every woman can wear. No idea, though, what collection it originally belonged to.







Speak for Your-Elf!- HL C50, Deck Your Nails Ulta Exclusive, 3 coats.







Rose to the Ovation- SR 6S3, Rockettes collection, 2 coats. My absolutely, all time favorite red! I always get tons of compliments when I wear it, it's so beautiful.







Bogota Blackberry- NL F52, Far East, 2 coats. A not too dark blackberry shimmer.





Red Hot Rio- NL A70, Brazil, 2 coats. This is a vibrant red crelly that is just amazing. Very pin uppy. It's similar to Zoya Sooki, but not as neon as Sooki is.






Manicurist of Seville- NL E 49, Espana collection, 2 coats. Rich red creme that's completely opaque in in 2 coats with no streaking.








Diva of Geneva- NL Z17, Swiss collection, 2 coats. Lovely red-violet color.








Yes...I Can-Can!- NL F24, France, 3 coats. Gorgeous dark red shimmer that's surprisingly streaky for such a dark color.






Vamperstam- NL H63, Holland, 3 coats. The vampy color in this collection, it's a frosty, burgundy red that can be tricky to apply.







Every Month is Oktoberfest- NL G18, Germany, 2 coats. I love love love this vampy red. It really reminds me of a full sized, more opaque version Max Factor's Fantasy Fire :)





Black Cherry Chutney- NL I43, India collection, 2 coats. Beautiful, dark, vampy red.







Lincoln Park After Dark- NL W42, Chicago, 2 coats. This is most definitely a one coater, even though I did two. It's also pretty great for stamping.






Oranges

In My Back Pocket- NL B88, Bright Pair collection, 3 coats. Redid the swatch with 3 coats because I still had a bit of streaking at 2.








Flit a Bit- NL D31, Summer Flutter collection, 3 coats. Redid this swatch also with 3 coats, since I couldn't seem to get away from streaks >.> This color does stain a bit.







Ya'll Come Back Ya Hear?- NL T20, Texas collection, 4 coats. The only other Texas sorbet in my OPI collection. I did 4 coats of the beautiful sunset orange to really show what this color looks like. 








Yellows

I Just Can't Cope-cabana- NL A65, Brazil, 3 coats. Banana yellow creme, the formula for this yellow is much better than some I own. I've already used it several times this summer, I like it so much!







The "It" Color- NL B66, Brights 4 coats. Very jelly like golden yellow; it's not streaky like most yellows.





Greens

Hey! Get in Lime!- NL B53, Brighter by the Dozen, 4 coats over Color Club Milky White base. Light, lime green crelly that can be a hot streaky mess. The milky base helped alot, but I still needed 4 coats for opacity.







You are So Outta Lime!- NL N34, NEONS, 3 coats. Index and ring fingers are over a coat of Put a Coat On!, the other two are on bare nails. I love this lime, it's more blue leaning than most limes I've seen. It's dries semi matte instead of completely matte.





Mermaid's Tears- NL P18, Pirates of the Caribbean collection, 3 coats. Dusty seafoam green creme. Looks okay with 2 coats, better at 3.








Blues

Be warned, most if not all of these colors will stain your nails!

Blue Moon Lagoon- NL S35, Summer for Shore collection, 3 coats. Slight VNL at three coats, but tolerable for me. Pretty sea green linear holo.








Can't Find my Czechbook-  NL E75, Euro Centrale, 3 coats. Drabber, lighter, less vibrant version of Fly. Color is a bit more green than my pics show. Isn't a stainer.








Azure for Sure- NL B25, Brights collection, 2 coats. You could layer it, but you don't have to. Looks very nice after 2 coats.







Fly- NL N14, Niki Minaj, 2 coats. True turquoise creme. Doesn't stain.







AmazOn...AmazOff- NL A64, Brazil 3 coats. Teal green creme that stains like a mofo lol. It does stamp well, though.







Suzi Says Feng Shui- NL H46, Hong Kong collection, 2 coats. Next to no streaks after 2 coats.









Austin-tacious Turqouise- NL T14, Texas collection, 3 coats. Even though it's not a jelly, it is jelly-like. Takes about 3 thin coats to look nice, another that's also easy to get streaks and bald spots with.








The Sky's my Limit- NL F71, Mustang 50th Anniversary, 2 coats. The Sky's my Limit is similar to the much sought after Catch me in You Net!, though TSML is more blue leaning instead of green. The formula is much better on this also.






Swimsuit... Nailed It!- NL U04, Miss Universe, 2 coats. Sparkly teal blue that stains like a mofo.





Unfor-greta-bly Blue- NL G24, Germany, 2 coats. Very similiar to SNI but without the sparkle and the staining. Greta is more of a shimmer.





Yodel me on My Cell!- NL Z20, Swiss collection, 3 coats. This, also, can be patchy, but the color is worth it.






Incognito in Sausalito- NL F58, San Francisco, 2 coats. Lovely, dark teal blue creme. Very pigmented, which makes it great to stamp with. Perfectly opaque with 2 coats.






I Vant to be A-Lone Star- NL T16, Texas collection, 3 coats. Frosty, silvery blue, this one definitely needs three coats, as it can be streaky with two, unless you do thicker coats.






Sahara Sapphire- NL E25, Painted Desert collection, 2 coats. Iris colored, frosty blue, you WILL have brushstrokes. I don't know how to avoid that, to be honest, but it really doesn't bother me.






No Room for the Blues- NL B83, Bright Pair, 2 coats. Surprisingly pigmented, bright light blue creme, and opaque in two coats.






Blue My Mind- NL B24, Brights collection, 2 coats. My most favorite blue out of all my blues, and I have alot lol.







OPI Eurso Euro- NL E72, Euro Centrale, 2 coats. Gorgeous, gorgeous bright royal blue. This one is a no stainer!! I've also included swatches with Polka.com with this :)








Into the Night- NL M34, The Amazing Spiderman, 3 coats. There was never any question of me getting this blue. It's not quite navy blue, but not royal blue either.





Yoga-ta Get This Blue!- NL I47, India collection, 2 coats. One of my favorite blues, this one has a turquoise shimmer to it.







Road House Blues- NL T32, Touring America, 2 coats. This is what I call a blurple (cross between blue and purple) creme. Nicely pigmented, I think I've stamped with it, but I'm not sure.






Russian Navy- NL R54, Russian, 2 coats. The original version, it's a navy blue shimmer that appears to be purple in the bottle.





Light My Sapphire- NL B60, Night Brights, 2 coats. The deepest, darkest blue I own; this is midnight blue. Perfect for ruining my jeans >.>







Purples

You're Such a Budapest- NL E74, Euro Centrale, 3 coats. Very thin, subtle shimmer. Love the color, hate the formula.





Planks A Lot- NL P16, Pirates of the Carribean, 2 coats. Completely opaque in two coats.






Pamploma Purple- NL E50, Espana, 2 coats. Definitely a one coater, did two for my swatch. You can stamp with this too.








Louvre Me, Louvre Me Not- NL F13, France, 3 coats. Gorgeous, sparkly, dark red violet.






Miss You-niverse- NL U10, Miss Universe 2014, 2 coats. This is a dark, almost dusty blurple that's extremely pigmented. It's almost a one coater, which makes it great for stamping as well.






Play 'Til Midnight- NL 811, Holiday in Toyland collection, 2 coats. This is a gorgeous color. In the bottle, it's a dark purple with red flashes. On the nail and in both my pics, it looks more navy blue with purple and red flashes.








Greys/Silvers

Birthday Babe- NL A35, 25th Anniversary collection, 2 coats. Pretty, frosty silver. Will show brush strokes because of said frostiness.








Rinse Charming- NL W17, Whirlpool Contest, 2 coats. This prolly my absolute favorite silver. Done right, this can be a one coater, and even without topcoat, it's very shiny and sparkly.







It's Totally Fort Worth It!- NL T15, Texas collection, 3 coats. Lovely light grey shimmer with flashes of red. Is a little sheer.







Not Like the Movies- NL K09, Katy Perry collection, 3 coats. This is the only color I did that I didn't use a flash indoors. My version of NLTM is a very unique duochrome. If you're familiar with gemstones, you will know what  I'm talking about when I say that this color reminds me of Alexandrite. In some lighting it looks pink; in others, green. It's a beautiful color.







Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous- NL Z18, Swiss collection, 3 coats. This color requires some patience, since it's really easy to paint in bald spots and patches.








Baby, It's "Coal" Outside!- HL 810, Holiday in Toyland collection, 2 coats. Love, love, LOVE this grey. It's such a dark charcoal grey, it's almost black. One of my personal favorites.







Black/White

Kyoto Pearl- NL L03, Soft Shades collection, 3 coats. Frosty, pearl white. Still some VNL after three coats.







Alpine Snow- NL L00, Soft Shades collection, 3 coats. Another that requires patience so you don't end up with a hot, streaky mess. Pure white creme.







My Boyfriend Scales Walls- NL M37, The Amazing Spiderman, 2 coats. I can not say enough good things about this color! I love it so much, I've used four times since I bought 2 weeks ago, AND I bought a back up. The formula on this blue-toned white is just amazing. Unlike Alpine Snow, I can get opacity in two coats with few, if any, streaks.





Black Onyx- NL T02, Tuxedo collection, 2 coats. Pure black creme.









Shimmery/Glittery Topcoats

Call my Cell-ery- NL B49, Brights collection, 4 coats. You will definitely want to layer this over another polish, since even at 4 coats it's very translucent.






Can't You Sea?- NL B50, Brights collection, 4 coats. Same as Cell-ery: Layer it!






Midnight Blue Glitter- NL T01, Tuxedo collection, 3 coats. Now thi one you can wear either alone or layered; it's pretty either way.






Happy Anniversary!- NL A36, 25th Anniversary collection, 2 coats over 2 coats of Birthday Babe. Shimmery silver polish that can be worn alone or layered over another color. I personally prefer it layered.







My Voice is a Little Norse- NL N42, Nordic, 1 coat over 2 of Black Onyx. Silver holo glitter jam packed into a greyish base. Can be worn alone or layered.






Glitters
Unless otherwise stated, you will most likely need to use acetone to remove any of the glitter polishes I have swatched below.

Teenage Dream- NL K07, Katy Perry collection, 3 coats. Large holo and small silver glitter in a light pink base.






You Glitter be Good to Me- SR DC4, Breast Cancer Awareness 2012, 3 coats. A mix of large and small pink and rose gold glitter in a clear base. Came paired with I Think in Pink.




I Lily Love You- NL S60, Nice Stems collection, 3 coats.  A flakie topcoat!







Show it and Glow it!- NL B07, Burlesque collection, 2 coats.





Sparkle-icious- NL B08, Burlesque collection, 2 coats.






Simmer and Shimmer- NL B06, Burlesque collection, 2 coats.






Last Friday Night- NL K10, Katy Perry collection, 3 coats.






Absolutely Alice- NL A56, Alice in Wonderland collection, 2 coats.






Polka.com- NL E71, Euro Centrale, 2 coats. Blue/purple/fuschia glitter in a clear base with finer blue glitter. I swatched this alone as well as over You're Such a Budapest and Can't Find my Czechbook.













In True Stefani Fashion- NL G 31, Gwen Stefani, 1 coat of 3 coats of 4 in the Morning and 1 coat over 2 coats of Push and Shove. This is a silver holo glitter of mixed sizes in hexes and squares. You could definitely wear alone as a glitter bomb or layered.









Servin' up Sparkle- NL S98, Glam Slam UK, 1 coat over 3 coats of Grape...Set...Match!. A mix of large and small holo hexes in a clear base.







Chromes

Push and Shove- NL G30, Gwen Stefani, 1 on index and middle, 2 coats on ring and pinky, over a coat of Lay Down That Base base coat. This another new finish for OPI in 2014: chrome. Meant to be worn without a topcoat and for a much shorter time, it has the look of shiny chrome. Very different from foils.







Mattes

La Paz-itively Hot Pink Matte- NM A20, Mattes, 2 coats. Definitely a matte version of the original.




Gargantuan Green Grape Matte- NM B44, Mattes, 3 coats. 







Russian Navy Matte- NM R54, Mattes, 2 coats. NOT a matte version of the original, it doesn't have the shimmer in it all.






Alpine Snow Matte- NM Loo, Mattes, 4 coats. I find the formula of the matte AS a little trickier to work with than the original, but still doable.







Satins

This Gown Needs a Crown- NL U11, Miss Universe 2014, 3 coats. This a pretty, sparkly silver that's not quite matte, not quite shiny. It was one of three colors that OPI has released in 2014 that has the satin finish.







Love.Angel.Music.Baby- NL G28, Gwen Stefani, 3 coats. Satiny, pale gold.







4 in the Morning- NL G29, Gwen Stefani, 3 coats. I'm not sure if this is supposed to be shimmery black or charcoal. The finish is a little different for this one, more matte to me than satin.







Suedes

We'll Always Have Paris Suede- NN A20, Suedes, 2 coats. This color was originally part  of the France collection, then was made into a Suede and put into that collection. I don't have the original, but I do love this version. It chips rather quickly, though.





OPI Ink Suede- NN B61, Suedes, 2 coats.







Liquid Sands

Solitaire- NL M49, Bond Girls, 2 coats. Love love love this dazzling, sparkly white Sand!! This one is more foil like with matching glitters.







Tiffany Case- NL M 51, Bond Girls, 2 coats. Same formula as Solitaire, this  one also has silver glitter as well. Gorgeous bright aqua, just love it.






Got Your Number- NL M46, Mariah Carey, 3 coats. This one is different from the other two. Instead of matching glitter, Got Your Number has mixed sizes of holo glitter. The base is also more jelly like as opposed to foil like.








Alcatraz...Rocks- NL F67, San Francisco, 2 coats. Greyish blue color with golden sparkles.







Sheer Tints

Be Magentale With Me- NT S02
I'm Not Amber-assed- NT S01
I can Teal You Like Me- NT S04
Don't Violet Me Down- NT S03

All four were layered over 3 coats of Alpine snow, at two coats each. These are more topcoats than actual polishes. These are good for the "leadlight" technique that's become popular .





7 comments:

  1. Yes, Wreathed in Red was a JCPenny exclusive from holiday 2007 - there was only the 1 shade - not a full collection. California Raspberry was in the first group of polishes released by OPI in 1989. It was an extremely popular shade for years and years - when OPI was going to discontinue it, there was a HUGE outcry from professionals and customers a like not to pull it from the classic line. I think that was around 2002 as I recall. I will look at each entry more carefully and come back and post more - I just found your blog. I have collected polishes since he 60's but I have purged a lot of times - however I do have a lot of the lae 80's and 90's OPI shades.

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  2. Thank you! I appreciate any info offered up in my endeavor :)

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  3. I'm Not Really A Waitress was in the 1999 Hollywood collection. :) Check TimTam's OPI pages - loads of info there. http://timtam00.blogspot.ca/

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  4. WOW! That must have taken you weeks to swatch all of those colors! Thanks so much! I really appreciate seeing the colors on someone's nails rather than in the bottle!

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  5. It really did take me a long time, and then I had the bright idea to redo the pics last summer, lol....... Needless to say, I haven't finished yet, since I picked up more hours at work, and I've also gotten more polish that needs to be added. It's never ending, but like you, I'd rather see what a color looks like on real fingers than swatch wheels or just in the bottle.

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  6. These are beautiful, wow lots of hardwork. I am looking for an OPI color that is an older polish color, it's a redish pink with a shimmer. I loved this color but the bottle had no name on it. Please help

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    1. The only reddish pink, or pinkish red, that I'm familiar with is Peru-B-Ruby. It is an older color, from the South American collection. Another possibility is California Raspberry, or maybe Jewel of India.

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