OPI Holiday 2010 Burlesque Collection Glitter Swatches & Review
OPI partnered with the upcoming film Burlesque, starring Cher & Christina Aguilera, to create a set of blingtastic Holiday shades and six of the twelve polishes are all glitters.
No doubt the madness that the Alice In Wonderland glitters caused played a role in this collection’s creation. To this day I still get emails from readers trying to locate Mad As A Hatter and Absolutely Alice. Hopefully their needs will be satisfied with the OPI Burlesque Collection. I don’t know how many of you are movie musical fans but I am a proud fan so I’m definitely excited to see Burlesque. The mere fact that ALU Mom ingrained a love for Cher into me from birth is enough to get me in the theater regardless of who else is billed though I do think Christina Aguilera is extremely talented. I am sure the film’s music style will suit her voice quite well. |
Formula and Application: OPI is a 3-Free brand. They made the switch to 3-Free in 2008. You can identify an OPI with the 3-Free formula by the green lettering on the label. Bottles with black lettering have the old formula. Always check the labels to be sure. The OPI Pro Wide brush is flat, wide and medium in length. It’s of average stiffness and easily spreads out on the nail when pressed. The only downside to the Pro Wide brush is that it can be too wide for slim fingers or little toes.
This half of the collection is all glitters so they are all made up of a clear base filled with multi-colored micro hexagonal glitter. They all take three coats to become opaque though that all depends on your application technique. The thicker your layers, the less coats you’ll need though that can lead to chipping.
Because these polishes are formulated like the Alice glitters, you should refer to my Mad As A Hatter Wear Test if you have issues with chipping. Your fellow Fanatics gave some great advice as to which products work best with the OPI glitters.
The glitter particles are all metallic and highly reflective so in person the polishes really glow. Because there is no pigment in the base they are great for layering over other colors, wearing opaque or mixing to create a frankenpolish.
Removal: The downside of glitters is most definitely the removal. I always feel like I need to take a shower after removing a glitter because I end up with chunks of glitter all over my skin, on my face and sometimes even in my hair. It’s the price you pay to sparkle. Patience is key with removing glitter. Soak a pad in remover and hold it in place for a few minutes. You can always wrap the pad in aluminum foil or plastic wrap to keep it on the nail and allow you to soak multiple nails at once.
About The Swatches: All swatches are shown with top coat to avoid a bumpy finish. You may need two coats to get the finish completely smooth unless you use a thicker top coat like Seche Vite. I applied one coat to the pinkie nail, two coats to the ring nail and three coats to the middle nail so you can see how the glitter builds to opaque.
All the polishes contain a multi-colored glitter blend with one or two dominant colors. It has a very confetti-esque feel.
Bring On The Bling is a yellow gold glitter. It’s a pale blonde but it’s rich enough to look gold and not yellow.
Extra-va-vaganza is an coppery orange. The blue glitter really stand out against the orange even though it’s not the primary color in this polish.
Glow Up Already! looks very green in the bottle but on the nail it’s more mellow. It falls somewhere between meadow green and gold.
Shimmer & Simmer is a mix of turquoise and electric blue glitter. The overall effect creates a more subdued blue than Absolutely Alice. AA was almost entirely electric blue glitter with sprinkles of gold and in S&S the multi-colored glitter tones down the overall punch of the color.
Show It & Glow It! is a fuchsia pink glitter with a lot of silver pieces that the other colors lack. All of the polishes have some gold glitter in the mix but it takes a back seat in this one.
Sparkle-iscious would look like Mardi Gras on the nail if only there was green instead of blue in the mixture. This is the lone color in the collection with only three colors in it; purple, gold and blue. The purple & gold stand out as the key colors while the blue is more of a highlight.
Bottom Line: What surprises me is that OPI didn’t create the collection to be layered, with six matching opaque polishes. I know they’ve done that in the past. The thing with glitter is, it’s a love/hate thing. People who love glitters and don’t care about the hassle with removal will love these. Everyone who died over the Alice glitters will die over these as well. My personal faves are Shimmer & Simmer, Sparkle-iscious and Show It & Glow It! What, the green didn’t make the list? As much as I love green, this one didn’t do it for me.
The OPI Holiday 2010 Burlesque Collection is slated to launch November 2, 2010 however I’m hearing that salons already have it out in some cities so the release date may have been pushed up. You can find OPI at professional salons including Beauty Brands, Beauty First, Chatters, Dillard’s, JCPenney, Pure Beauty, Regis, Trade Secret, and Ulta. OPI nail polishes retail for $8.50/ea for a .5oz bottle.
Also, OPI Axxium fans, OPI is releasing these glitters for a limited time in the Axxium range so you can get your bling on with an extended manicure as well. Ask your local salon if they have the Showstoppers Collection.
Okay glitter girls, are you over the moon or what? How many of you are scooping these up? Which colors are your faves? Do you think these will cause a craze like the Alice glitters? Maybe we should start a pool as to high they’ll go for on eBay once the collection sells out.
If you missed it make sure you view my swatches & review of the other half of the Burlesque Collection.
Disclosure: Product samples were provided by OPI. For more info view my Disclosure Policy.
Lisa N.
Ms Meatballhead
Birdie
Spa pediccure chairs
From the glitters I only chose Sparkle-Icious, Simmer and Shimmer, Show it and Glow it and Glow up already. Wow those names are a mouth full… Anywho I’m so happy with my choices. All these colors are magnificent.
Oh no. I am not a glitter person, but I kind of love all of these. There will be some tough decisions to be made here.
I’m a huge glitter heaux, but I don’t really…love these. I don’t know what it is, but they aren’t as good as MaaH.
I do want Sparkle-licious (bleh at the name) and Bring on the Bling.
Ill take a sparklelicious please! What a unique color (: I was also really pleasantly surprised by bring on the bling and extravaganza.
I’m just getting two – Simmer and Shimmer and Show It And Glow it. I don’t like warm tones on my skin, so there’s only 4 polishes I want out of the whole collection! Good for my wallet, but sadface for me.
I really like Show It & Glow It and Sparkle-iscious, but I’m not enough of a glitter person to deal with the removal. The only glitters I am willing to suffer for are deborah lippmann’s. I also feel like they’re so unhealthy for my nails when I’m removing them. I have really thin nails. Do you think glitters can be damaging?
Its removing them that really causes the damage since you’re either having to soak them in remover for several minutes or you’re having the rub like mad with your usual cotton pad and remover which is never good.
I agree though I definitely prefer flakies or hexagonal sequins as opposed to pure gritty glitter.
I think I’ll be skipping this collection. Some of them caught my eye but I hate, hate, hate the process of removing glitter polishes!
Got all 6! Came in the mail today! They’re all stunning! I’m such a sucker for anything shiny and glittery! I also ordered Tease-y Does It right after seeing your swatches. I needed to order a bottle of Orly Cutique anyway so I caved and got Tease-y Does It and Orly Galaxy Girl too. CG Four Leaf Clover majorly stained my nails and no amount of acetone (which I hate and save only for emergencies/glitters, sometimes Zoya Remove just doesn’t do it) will get it off so I’m praying Cutique will save them!
For some reason when I first read the orange one was named Extra-Va-Vaganza! I was instantly reminded of Oprah and her god awful word “Va-jay-jay”. Not really what I want to think of when looking at my nails lol.
Don’t get me wrong I LOVE Simmer and Shimmer, but I have to admit I am disappointed just because when I saw your bottle pics from Cosmoprof months ago I thought it would be more of a gunmetal grey glitter. The blue is stunning, but I hope one day they will also make that stormy gunmetal grey glitter of my dreams!
I want Sparkle-iscious. I’m kind of bummed that it’s available in some places, but my local stores don’t have them yet.
yeah, iam glad i got the whole collection! i thought sparkle-icious was a dupe to MAAH at first, until i got the collection in and notice their not at all the same! sparkle-icious has bigger glitter and only 3 colors, while MAAH has smaller size glitter pieces and more colors!
sooooo….I want all of them (plus the previous 6). *wallet shrivels in agony!* I’ve been anxiously awaiting these for months now. Show me glitter and I’ll show you enthusiasm I always say. Thanks Michelle! You’re the enabler to my nail polish addiction!
I love you for posting these (and the others from this collection). I haven’t bought any of them yet as I was waiting for your swatches (I know you weren’t allowed to post them until OPI gave you the go-ahead). I actually haven’t made my choices yet, as I’m a little fuzzy-headed today, head cold, errr! Which stinks because we’re having a super-heat-wave in Southern California right now, so I’ve got the air conditioner running 24/7, which isn’t the greatest feeling when you’re sick, but it’s either that or cook. Sorry about the tangent, like I said, I’m a bit out of it. But your swatches did cheer me up a bit!
I am absolutely loving these glitters. I want to get them all as they would work great for layering but somehow I feel my wallet will disagree.
I saw them in a store today and I was so excited! They are absolutely dazzling in person! I wished I grabbed them but I wanted to wait until some discounted retails have them in.
I dislike all of these. I guess glitters really just aren’t my thing.
I loved that you swatched one, two and three coats! It really helps to see how it builds up. I bought Sparkle-Icious & Simmer and Shimmer. Haven’t tried them yet. I still have some other colors to try first. Thanks for the great post _ as usual_! Xoxoxo
Show it and Glow it is the only glitter that I’m considering. Which surprises me as I am usually all over glitters. But I definitely can’t wait for the movie. I’m a huge musical theatre and movie addict. And my mom instilled a love of Cher in me early on as well.
Not sure why there’s a mans face next to my post
it’s not mine lol x
Oh I almost died this morning when I saw these swatches finally! Have been lemming MAAH for the longest ever time wishing that beauty would be mine! I’m hoping to get sparkle-icious, show it and glow it and bring on the bling. Also if possible ( know your busy with fb and this, plus life lol) how do MAAH and these compare colour wise? I’m watching MAAH on bay and feeling like I’m about to cave in to the scalpers! Eeekkkk!
I don’t like any of these!
Ever since I got my bottle of Chanel Illusion D’or, my OPI glitters like MAAH feel so unsophisticated in comparison, like my 6-year old cousin just painted my nails or something… damn it Peter Philips, how you spoil me!
Also, you’ve grown out your nails! I know they’re your hands and you can do what you like, but please don’t grow them any more because I love that you’re the only nail polish blogger who doesn’t have giant talons on the end of their hands!
Hahaha, THANK YOU for confirming what was in my head. I meant to file my nails before swatching all of these & pure laziness won out. As soon as I posted the pics online I was like, are my nails getting too long? Yes, yes they are. Time to file!
Oh and I get what you mean about the Chanel feeling more sophistictaed. Its the same as my love affair with the Lippmann Holiday glitters. They’re fantastic for layering and not as in your face. More like subtle bling.
I agree… Deborah Lippmann does glitters in such a balanced, elegant way, they are the only ones that seem consistently worth the removal pain. These do seem a bit cheap looking. I’m only getting Teasy Does It from this collection.
I concur! I was totally thinking the same thing. I like them short.
Ugh, I don’t like any of these. Did they ALL have to be multi-color glitters, OPI? I find multi-color glitter just looks tacky and childish, like you got caught playing in kindergartener craft supplies.
Weird. I love glitter nail polishes but the only one here that interests me now is Extra-va-vaganza. That color really is beautiful!
I love glitters even though their removal is totally from hell.
Shimmer & Simmer really does it for me.
Gorgeous! I ordered all of these but Bring on the Bling today, and I can’t wait for them to arrive…I wish I had the money for BotB too, but I don’t right now.
Maybe later? If they’re not sold out? *remembers MAAH and AA madness* Yeah, they’ll be sold out.
LOVE. I think I could do without Extra-va-vaganza and Shimmer & Simmer, but I want the rest!
I work the desk at a nail salon, and it’s very irritating that the glitter Axxium will only be limited edition. We won’t get it in simply for that reason. Also I refuse to showcase the Axxium on myself because it eats away at your nails over time, but I would really enjoy a glitter gel manicure or even pedicure for the holidays. I think OPI is missing out on a big part of the ‘Rockstar’ gel market, because we operate on a strict time schedule it would be much simpler with the premade glitter gels.
I think I’m gonna skip these too. Although I did get Teasy does it from the first part of this collection, I think I can do without the rest of them.
just to let everyone know, the easiest quickiest way to remove glitter polishes is using 100% pure acetone polish remover. Trust me, when i say this is the trick for it! I been using it for sometime now and never had any problems now with removing the micro-glitter or shimmery foil polishes! and its especially good for this collection..
I wanted to get Sparkleicious but I think I’ll pass on that one. But I do want to get Simmer and Shimmer and Show it and Glow it. And just a tip for glitter polishes… I got MAAH when it came out and I’ve been trying to use it very sparingly b/c i love it so much… anyway, I use 2 coats of a normal silver glitter polish and then 1 or 2 coats of MAAH on top and 1 coat of the OPI top coat and my nails didn’t start chipping at all until the 4th day! The MAAH polish looked really opaque! Try it out!
Has anyone else done this tip too?
I’m going to buy all six glitters for sure and possible a few from the non-glitters. I’m overjoyed by this collection. I love the chunky glitters and I can’t wait to get my hands on them!
I don’t have difficulty removing glitters because I find that when I use a thick base coat, they just peel off when I’m ready to remove them. I’ve heard peeling is bad for your nails, but oh well. I’m way too lazy to fight with nail polish remover and elbow greece.
Good swatches! Loved the one coat, two coat, three coat, for reference, idea! Really helpful.
OMG THESE SWATCHES ARE AWESOME!! I can’t wait to get Show it & Glow it because I always wanted a pink glitter polish. I’m a lil disappointed with Sparkle-icious. I thought it’s gonna be like Mad As a Hatter, but it only has 3 colors of glitter…so yeah. I am sooooooo over the moon~!
I think the only one I want is rising star from this collection I might think about Extra-va-vaganza
but my nail polish stash is about to break my drawer.
I am dyyyyying over these. I’ve decided that I have to pick 3 because I know I won’t wear all of them. I’m definitely getting Sparkle-icious, Bring on the Bling, and Shimmer and Simmer. I’m going to call Ulta to find out when they’re getting them. I really don’t want to miss out on these.
Too many colors in each polish, it just looks junior high. I much prefer the Zoya Sparkles.
Wow! I love these! I just picked up the set of minis from trans design. I can’t wait to get them in the mail!
These colors are AMAZING… But, my Alice glitters thickened up in the bottle very fast and I did have chipping problems. I might have to splurge on the Axxium to be able to offer these colors to my clients. I am IN LOVE with the other six of this collection! Good Job OPI!!
Hmm, I have a love hate relationship with glitters, I personally prefer glitters that have a colored base. Even so I may be needing to pick up Shimmer & Simmer as I do like the look of it. Oddly event though I feel about purple the way you do green the “purple” version is just blah to me.
I have show it and glow it… I layered it over Funky Dunky and received so many comments… my new fav…
I squealed when I saw this post. OPI does glitters like no other (I feel). I won’t make the same mistake I made with the Alice in Wonderland collection. I ordered Show it & Glow it and Sparkilicious. Two words: So. Happy.
I like all of these but only three of them really scream pick me up. I have a long list from china glazes holiday line as well that I want… oh my poor poor pocket book.
I tend to avoid glitters, but I have a pair of shoes that are coated in the same glitter used in Bring on the Bling, so I think I need that. The others I can do without.
Hi, i just wanted to know, what u use on ur cuticles? because with all that swacthing, ur cuticles really looks healty and ur nails looks strong! Oh, also i didnt try my glitter polishes yet, and was curious to know how long do it wears? because my alice glitters didnt wear as long, especially AA its already clumped up in the bottle after one usage!
I don’t know if its just me but these all seem like MAAH with different colored bases.
although I have to say, I do like sparkle-liscious.
How do these compare with the RBL glitters? Are any of these OPIs dupes for Locavore, Look Rich Be Cheap, & Frugalista?
These seem eh. Maybe they look better in person? I actually found alice in a random salon in a backwoods town last month lol. Is show it and glow it like sally hansen rockstar pink? Is sparkleicious like sinful colors frenzy plus gold glitter? I like the new nicole glitters over these!! Bought all of those haha
I am going to reply to my own comment haha. Show it and glow it is very similar but not dupe to rockstar pink and also wet and wild spectacle. Show it and glow it is made of tiny fushia glitter, and big baby blue, orange, yellow gold, green, and silver glitter. Rockstar pink has tiny fushia and gold glitter, and big red and blue glitter. Spectacle has just a hint of tiny gold glitter, with big fushia, baby pink and baby blue glitter. If you are not like me you don’t need all three.
I like Show It & Glow It and Sparkle-iscious, but I am always hesitant to buy glitter polishes. I just hate the removal process.
this is the first OPI collection that I actually don’t want any of them. Although I should’ve bought those damn Alice colors when I saw them in John Roberts.
Bring On The Bling and Sparkle-iscious look really amazing on you! I might have to get over my avoidance of glitter polishes and get these. Thank you so much for the swatches!
Stopped in my local Ricky’s last night and what did I find but a full display of the entire burlesque collection! I picked up Teasey Does It, Glow Up Already and Sparkle-iscious. I am so NOT a glitter person, but I love them. I’m already plotting for an occasion to wear them.
BRB dying and going to HEAVEN!!!! these are so sick!
oh but on a serious note i think mad as a hatter really messed up my pinky nail… i applied and it took it off about 3 days later and my pinky nail was really sore and had a huge white spot that never went away until my nail finally grew out (took about two months) i was wondering if maybe the glitter polishes don’t allow the nail to breath as much?
Nails don’t actually need to breath, that is a myth
You probably rubbed the nail really hard and irritated it when you were removing it.
I want them all but Shimmer & Simmmer!
I’ve just received my bottles of Take The Stage, Extra-Va-Vaganza and Tease-Y Does It… I strongly recommend layering Extra-Va-Vaganza over Take The Stage… looks fantastic!
OKay, I’m getting Extra-va-vaganza and Sparkle-iscious. The other colors look great, but I already own some polishes that kind of somewhat look like them.
The thing with glitters is that you just have to sit down in a nice comfortable chair and just take your time to remove the polish, just takes a little tiny bit of patience. I LOVE glitters! Anything that looks like JEWELRY for the nails is GREAT! I never even wear bracelets or rings, but I ADORE glitter on my nails.
And I can’t wait to see the movie Burlesque. Christina’s voice in a movie theater will sound very ridiculously epic.
Ricky’s in NYC has both Burlesque collections…I’m wearing 3 coats of Simmer and Shimmer over 2 coats of Essie Fill the Gap and under Seche Vite.
Looking very blue and glittery and fun! Love it!
Sparkleicious looks like the only must have for me from the entire collection, I will say the Alice glitters are fabulous so these will be too I would imagine. Don’t care much for orangey red or red shimmers… snore
My Burlesque Collection order from Transdesign has just arrived today!
I got: Simmer & Shimmer, Tease-y Does It, Sparkle-icious, Show It & Glow It!, and Glow Up Already!
Currently I’m wearing Sparkle-icious as French tip (over Essie Lapis of Luxury), the OPI formula is nice and easy to apply. It is so sparkly as well, loving it so far!!
OPI offical release of the collection is 1st October from what I read in the OPI Facebook page. But here is Singapore it was out in September (very very early Sep)…
I have to say that none of these glitters are doing it for me….possibly because I have Absolutely Alice and Mad as a Hatter, and these shades just aren’t as pretty, in my opinion. I did however get The Show Must Go On and Teasey Does It, since they are really gorgeous.
I got Bring On The Bling the other day (I pretty much died of excitement when I saw the collection at a salon in the mall, the saleslady was rather unimpressed…) and I love it! I’m definitely getting more colours once I can afford them. I’m wondering if they might have improved the formula, as I painted my nails the night before last and so far, no chips. I recall that with the Alice ones I was getting chips the very next day. Maybe it’s because I have a different base & top coat now. I’ve got Sally Hansen Continuous Growth Treatment Hardening Formula as my base and OPI Rapidry top coat (which I actually hate, it usually sucks). Who knows!
Hi, try using Seche Vite dry fast top coat, its the best out their and especially for glitter polishes.. ur polish wont chip, smooth hard glassy finish is the results u get within 5 min of applying this top coat!
I know I’m one of the very few but I’m not an OPI fan but I did love MAAH and I just heard RBL Locavore is no more. Please let me know if any of these are a dupe for Locavore, Look Rich,Be Cheap & Frugalista. Thanks!
I was in love with “Mad as a Hatter”, and sadly I have used it so much that there is not a lot left and it has been going dry and chunky. NOW they has these wonderful glitters I AM SO EXCITIED!!! I have “Shimmer Shimmer” and “Glow Up Already” at the moment and I love them, I can’t wait to get the rest of them. Although they will never replace my precious “Mad as a Hatter” they are great, and just as fun. SO for anyone mourning the loss of “Mad as a Hatter” and “Absolutely Alice” I suggest you get some of there colours they will ease the pain a bit
I loved the way Sparkle-iscious went on, great coverage on my acrylic nails, but OMG I was almost in tears trying to get it off!! it took me 1.5hrs to remove and I ended up buffing most of it of because the polish remover was doing nothing.
As soon as I got my Ulta catalog in the mail I spotted the OPI Burlesque set and I ran into the store. I’ll tell you…it was a tough decision, I wanted to buy all of them but I decided on Sparkle-iscious. I LOVE it. I’m wearing it right now
i got the extra-va-vaganza polish today and I love it. It
I actually just bought Mad as a hatter thinking it was part of the burlesque line until I read the label when I got in the car.
I ADORE this glitter nail polish and plan on buying all the sets!
I received “Show it and glow it” opi nail polish for Christmas and I loooooooove it! The only thing that erks me is that when you feel the nail polish its all gritty!
But these are perfect for new years!
i FINALLY got “simmer & shimmer”, and it looked great over “whats with the cattitude” & “Ogre the top blue” as my new years eve mani. thanks for your swatches!
Do you know how the Simmer and Shimmer compares to the new Blue one coming out with the Katy Perry collection I think it is call “Last Friday Night. I have Simmer and Shimmer and love it is Last Friday Night different enough to get both. Thanks
I plan on purchasing the OPI clear base since my burlesque polishes tend to chip in HUGE pieces, but what’s a good top coat to use??
TIA