OPI Brights 2015 Swatches & Review

I remember when the first OPI Brights collection launched in 2005. I ran to my local Trade Secret to snag as many of the bold, summer shades as possible. I still have at least half of them in my collection, and the same goes for the Brights that have come out since; Bright Pair, Brighter By The Dozen, Mod About Brights etc. It’s one of the recurring collections I most look forward to and the OPI Brights 2015 collection is no exception. Keep reading to see if it lived up to my expectations.

Formula & Application

OPI nail polish is 3-free (Formaldehyde, Toluene, DBP) though it’s been brought to my attention that some colors contain Formaldehyde Resin, but not all. Since my sample bottles don’t come with retail labels, I have no idea of which shades may contain the allergen. It’s best to check the label in store before purchasing.

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.

There’s too much of a difference between the polishes to give an overall statement about the application so I’ll address that individually below.

OPI Can’t Hear Myself Pink is a semi-sheer strawberry shake foil shimmer. The tiny metallic flecks give it a very reflective finish. It has a nice, thin texture but it needs a good three coats to become opaque, and even then, it’s not quite as bright as the bottle infers. I don’t own anything quite like it so I’m showing it next to some other OPI pink shimmers for comparison.

OPI I Sea You Wear OPI is a medium blue with a similar feel and finish as Can’t Hear Myself Pink. What makes this one unique is the purple flash. You can see it in the bottle shot (below), and it appears on the nail at the right angle, in indirect light. I also used three coats with this one.

OPI I STOP for Red is a bright tomato red creme. A tomato at peak ripeness, so it’s got a bit of orange to its undertone, but not overwhelmingly so. The formula has a squishy, jelly-ish feel and the pigmentation follows suit, so I needed three coats to avoid VNL (visible nail line). You can also use an opaque white base (aka undies) and only use two coats.

Between OPI and Essie I have a ton of reds in my collection, and while I don’t own a dead-on dupe for this one, it fall close enough between Essie Hip-Anema and Snap Happy to make it unnecessary to own if you have the other two.

When I review a collection, I normally save my fave color for last because I will want to wear it when I’m done swatching. That was the case with OPI My Car Has Navy-gation and I regret it. It looks beautiful, right? This bold navy creme is deceiving because the formula is a giant PITA! I seriously wanted to throw the bottle against the wall when I was done. After three attempts of three coats I finally got the lumpy, streaky, gummy formula to look somewhat decent, but only with top coat. It doesn’t self level, it dries satin, and if applied too thick it bubbles. Big fat nope!

OPI On Pinks & Needles is a clear-based hot pink glitter with hexagonal pieces of varying size. The base dries a bit satin on the nail, so you’ll want to seal it in with a glossy top coat. I applied one coat using my dab, dip, glide technique to get a good smattering of glitter over Navy-gation. The odd thing is I noticed some of the pieces in my bottle had white spots, like the color was bleeding off.

OPI The Berry Thought of You is a Barney-esque fuchsia creme. Like I STOP for Red, it has a squishy, jelly-like feel and flows smoothly on the nail. It’s a bit more pigmented than ISfR so I only needed two coats with this one. While it’s not an exact dupe for OPI Dim Sum Plum, Berry is brighter, they’re close enough.

Bottom Line: Oddly enough, it’s the red and fuchsia cremes that I like best in this collection. The two shimmers have a muddled, muted vibe that doesn’t exactly scream, “Brights!” That being said, I Sea You Wear OPI is very pretty with its purple flash. It’s just not what I think of as a bright. Kind of like the sheer, shimmers, Call My Cell-ery and Can’t You Sea? from the 2006 Brights collection. Yes, those were meant to be layered, but these aren’t. And, not to beat a dead horse but… My Car Has Navy-gation deserves a public shaming.

The OPI Brights 2015 collection officially launches in May 2015. You can find OPI at beauty retailers nationwide including LoxaBeauty.com, SallyBeauty.com and ULTA.com. For more info, visit OPI.com.

Note: The collection also includes three re-promoted neon shades from last year’s Brights; Down to the Core-al, Hotter Than You Pink, Life Gave Me Lemons.

Are you liking this year’s Brights? Do you plan to pick up any of these shades? What is your favorite OPI Brights collection? Mine is either Mod About Brights or Night Brights. I mean, how can you deny the amazingness of the original, holographic My Private Jet?

Disclosure: Product samples were provided by reps for OPI. Affiliate links appear in this post. When you purchase through an affiliate link, you help support this site. For more info view my Disclosure Policy.