OPI INFINITE SHINE ICONIC COLLECTION SWATCHES/REVIEW

Hello fellow nail friends! Today I’m pleased to bring you a bunch of swatches from the upcoming Fall 2016 OPI Infinite Shine Iconic Collection that launches September 1st. What’s the Iconic Collection? It’s the familiar OPI Classics – except in the “lasts-up-to-10-days” Infinite Shine formula.

opi infinite shine iconic 2016 swatches

Fall 2016 will bring us a total of 60 Iconic Infinite Shine shades with the first 30 landing in September and the rest in December. Right now, some swatches of the first launch! Wheeee!!!

OPI Infinite Shine Funny Bunny (above). Oooh! I do love me a somewhat-transparent marshmallow white! That’s three coats and it’s exactly what I expected it to be: soft and pretty. No harsh here.

OPI Infinite Shine Bubble Bath (above). She’s unquestionably a classic. That’s two coats with no top. Beautiful and somewhat sheer, there’s a reason Bubble Bath has been around for a good 14 years.

OPI Infinite Shine Dulce De Leche (above). My brush had a slight twist in the bristles so I had a little trouble getting this on evenly. It’s two coats and I had to wait a bit for it to level before I shot it. Along the sidewalls closest to you, you can actually see it didn’t level all the way, but from arm’s length, it’s okay. It’ll do.

Know what? Let’s pretend for a moment that I haven’t ever seen these shades before. Let’s pretend I know nothing about OPI. Then… Wow! What a great launch! All these perfectly created shades that are engineered to go with a specific base and top coat to give me up to 10 days of wear? How great is that! The fact that most of them apply so flawlessly is even better! And the eye-catching silver cap is nice too.

OPI Infinite Shine You Don’t Know Jacques (above). Again, that’s two really simple coats and with the magic of internet image compression, you probably can’t see the teeny tiny bubbles on my middle nail. But they’re there. Both my middle finger and thumb bubbled, but this was the only polish that happened for. It could be the excessive humidity here in Toronto, so your results may vary. Perfect shade for Fall though, right?

OPI Infinite Shine Strawberry Margarita (above). This formula… so good! You’re lookin’ at two coats and I did them both with one eye closed. Okay, not really with one eye closed, but you get what I’m saying – it’s so easy to use! The formula, the brush, the level – all great.

OPI Infinite Shine Cajun Shrimp (above). Yes, lobster hands. Yes, two coats. Yes, perfect summer or late Fall coral-y red. It’s an icon of a shade.

And Pyper America Smith is the Brand Ambassador? Squeeee!! Here’s what Pyper has to say: “OPI was my go-to brand long before this partnership… I love the intensity of the colour with just one or two coats and the quality of the finish.”

OPI Infinite Shine Big Apple Red (above). She’s an OCW!!! Yep, one coat. You’re not surprised though because reds like these are generally a treat to use. And look how shiny it is even without top coat!

OPI Infinite Shine I’m Not Really A Waitress (above). When you say “classic OPI”, this is what you must be talking about. You can do this in one easy coat, but to achieve the depth of colour you see there, two is better. And it requires top coat to really pop a glimmer and a shine. Did I top coat here? Nope.

OPI Infinite Shine Malaga Wine (above). That’s two coats of OPI perfection. There’s no question the formulas here are spectacular.

OPI Infinite Shine Lincoln Park After Dark (above). I know, right? It looks black. But it isn’t. What it is is very, very blackened eggplant in two painless coats.

And that’s all the shades I have to show you of this 30-shade September 2016 launch. For a complete list, here’s a handy lazy-link. You should keep reading though – I have more thoughts...

Availability: $16.95 Canadian/$12.50 US each at professional salons, tradesecrets.ca beautybrands.com, ulta.com and a whole bunch of other places. 

Remember friends, “OPI is only guaranteed when purchased through authorized professional beauty outlets and prestige stores, not from a drugstore, supermarket, mass outlet or other unauthorized source,” like let’s say sparklecanada.com, nailpolishcanada.com, ebay or amazon.com.

As a nail blogger and nail polish nerd, I think I fell asleep somewhere around the time I saw the word “iconic.” I mean sure, I like the Infinite Shine line, but really, most of us already know by now that the longer-wear-magic is in the top coat, don't we?

I gotta say I’m kind of confused as to why OPI would think I’m going to fork out an extra $5 Canadian per bottle for shades I already have access to in the regular (less-expensive) formula (that I can still use with the Infinite Shine base & top coats). Maybe it’s because they’ve tapped 19-year old Pyper America Smith to be the brand ambassador for it? I don’t know about you, but a 19-year old pushing classic OPI shades (Malaga Wine was first released around 27 years ago) is to me, somewhat mind boggling.

But hey, everything old somehow has to get new again, right? I guess? Maybe? 

All I know is that this launch does absolutely nothing for me. Sure, the formulas are good, but so are the older ones. That said, I’m just one person and this is only my opinion. You’re definitely allowed to share your opinion here at Beautygeeks and you know we’d love to hear it! Bring on the opinions! 

Manicures & photos Karen Falcon (she's strangely addicted to the Pokémons)
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