Morning! Today I have OPI's New York City Ballet Collection to show you! This serves as OPI's Soft Shades Collection for 2012. It brings us 5 new soft sheer polishes and one seriously awesome glitter. Usually I am not a fan of sheer polishes, before these I owned maybe 2....possibly only 1 actually. I don't really care for how my nails look naked so sheers are just not something I've ever gravitated towards. I always envy girls with pretty smile lines who can make sheer polish look amazing, I wish they looked like that on me! Surprisingly even though I don't love sheer polishes I really like this collection...go figure! I may be a fan of sheers after these (omg who the heck am I right now, wow lol)!
Click the read more button below for more photos and reviews of each shade!
All 5 of the sheer shades in this collection were pretty consistent formula wise. They were all easy to work with and not streaky, which I was surprised about. Since they are sheers if you want more opaque coverage you might need to do a lot of coats, I was comfortable with 3-4 medium/thick coats for each polish. I'll let you know which ones below were 3 coats and which were 4. I feel like these were all much easier to apply in thicker coats and with a very light touch when applying the polish, I tried doing one in thin coats and it was a streaky nightmare.
Barre My Soul is a sheer beige. This was one of my favorites of the collection and definitely one I feel like I will wear again. I feel like with 1 more coat this could be a good mannequin hands polish for me! I used 3 coats for the photos below.
 |
| Sun |
 |
| Shade |
Care To Danse? is a sheer lilac. It does look lilac in the bottle but on the nail it looks more beige-y/pink, maybe it's just my skin tone that isn't bringing the lilac out more. This was one of the most sheer in the collection, I used 4 coats for the photos below.
 |
| Sun |
 |
| Shade |
Don't Touch My Tutu! is a sheer white. This is the only one I have anything similar to, it reminds me a lot of Essie Marshmallow. If you like Marshmallow but don't care for the formula you will probably like this a lot better, it's much more user friendly. I used 3 coats for the photos below.
 |
| Sun |
 |
| Shade |
My Pointe Exactly is a sheer grey. Hands down this is my favorite of the collection, aside from the glitter, it's leans a little to the brown side of grey. This was so flattering and soft looking on, I never thought I would like a sheer polish as much as I like this one. I used 3 coats for the photos below.
 |
| Sun |
 |
| Shade |
You Callin' Me A Lyre? is a sheer pink. This one is pretty, I don't really have much to say about it haha. I used 4 coats for the photos below.
 |
| Sun |
 |
| Shade |
Pirouette My Whistle is an awesome glitter packed with super fine silver glitter and sheer white hex glitter in a clear base. In the bottle I was kind of meh about this, until I put it on...then I was kind of in love. It's so soft and delicate looking, if you like glitter it's a must have. Formula wise, it was on the thick side but since I'll only ever layer it over other things the formula doesn't matter much to me. I used 1 coat over My Pointe Exactly for the photos below.
 |
| Sun |
 |
| Shade |
I've seen a lot of people talking about how Pirouette My Whistle might be a dupe of Nubar's White Polka Dots. Good news, no dupes here. They are similar, but the small glitter in these polishes is quite different. Pirouette My Whistle has very tiny silver glitter and White Polka Dots has larger more iridescent glitter. It's most obvious over dark shades and in the bottle, over the soft shades in this collection I couldn't tell a difference between the Nubar & the OPI on the nail unless I looked really closely.
For this first photo I have 1 coat of each of the glitters over Care To Danse? Photo is in the shade.
Here are the bottles next to each other, they look so much different side by side like this. The silver of the OPI is much more noticeable next to the very white overall look of the Nubar. Photo is in the shade.
Below is 1 coat of each over black, photo is in the shade.
Overall I like this collection much more than I thought I would. A lot of the shades do sort of look the same once they are on the nail so unless you really really love sheer polishes I don't think you need all of them. My picks are Pirouette My Whistle and My Pointe Exactly!
New York City Ballet by OPI will be available April 2012, at Professional Salons, including Beauty Brands, Beauty First, Chatters, Dillard’s, JCPenney, Pure Beauty, Regis, Trade Secret, and ULTA, for $8.50 ($9.95 CAN) suggested retail for each Nail Lacquer.
Blog Gadgets
Thanks so much for the great swatches and esp the side by side of OPI and Nubar. First side by side I have seen but like you, heard lots of talk. I guess I never realized how much sparkle was in my Nubar white polka dots.
ReplyDeleteI don't usually care for soft shades either but I'm really digging Pirouette My Whistle! Looks so pretty!!
ReplyDeleteI'm not usually a sheer polish girl either, but I totally agree with your picks! I am definitely picking up Pirouette My Whistle and My Pointe Exactly. I also am looking for a new color for a french mani and it looks like I will like Care to Dance? best... not sure maybe Barre My Soul. I definitely like Care to Dance? with you skin tone and mine is pretty close. As always, thanks for the great swatches!
ReplyDeleteWow on another blogger they were really streaky, amazing what you can achieve with polish! Your nails are so gorgeous! One small personal observation if I may: In the pictures, Barre my Soul makes your nails look rather yellow and dull... Care to danse is the prettiest one on your nails, it looks fresh, clean and beautiful. Just my 2 cents, feel free to totally disregard my comment.:)
ReplyDeletePirouette my Whistle is so pretty! That's definitely something I would wear!
ReplyDeleteI'm really surprised these are so sheer! From the promo pictures and what I had been reading around, I was expecting them to be sheer, but not THAT sheer. I was expecting sheer in the three coat opaque sense. It's a shame - I would've been a HUGE fan if they weren't so sheer. Perhaps I could still make them work with a good base coat/ridge filler type thing? They look great on you though!!
Such a pretty collection!! Thanks for the comparison with the glitters.
ReplyDeleteo_O I must have them. NOW.
ReplyDeleteAwesome swatches! I passed on these when i saw them but I think I'm going to need to pick them up now!
ReplyDeleteHmm...I'm sort of on the fence about these. I love them in the bottle, but I didn't realize they were all sheer. I loathe a visible nail line, so I don't think I'll be picking any of these up. Kind of a bummer because I was wanting to love them.
ReplyDeleteI love the way these look! I feel like I have to have them all! Thanks for the application tips!
ReplyDeleteSorry... But for me is the collection boring. I love the ballet but this is very uncreative. Thanks for swatching.
ReplyDeletethank you! Hope you love them when you get them!
ReplyDeleteOPI's Soft Shades Collection are usually along the lines of this, not exciting colors but they are great classic shades!
ReplyDeleteyou might like them better in person! In real life the nail line wasn't as visible...macro is a bish lol
ReplyDeleteThank you!!
ReplyDeleteyay! I'm glad you like them!
ReplyDeleteGlad you like it! Happy to do that comparison, I've seen a lot of people asking for it!
ReplyDeleteTypically OPI's soft shades collection is all sheers...which is why I've never bought any in the past lol! I think a ridge filler would help a lot with getting them more opaque,I didn't think of that while swatching...I wish I had!
ReplyDeleteHope you love them! I think if I was going for a french mani color I'd probably pick Care to Danse? out of the 2 you mentioned..Barre My Soul was very flesh toned on me!
ReplyDeletePirouette My Whistle is gorgeous! It's so soft and perfect looking over these shades!
ReplyDeleteI never realized that about the Nubar either, I guess it's only noticeable when you have it next to something that isn't as sparkly!
ReplyDeleteStill not a fan of sheers... I think most of these make the whites of the nails look yellowed, so no good on their own... they'd need to be a French manicure.
ReplyDeleteI do like the smaller particles inbête OPI glitter better than those in the Nubar one, but I wish there were more of the large hexes. I wouldn't want to do multiple coats in order to get more of the hexes, because then there would be to much of the smaller glitters, IMO.
So maybe I am biased as I am wearing hot neon lime green nails, but these types of collections are very pretty, but just don't do it for me. I only need so many pretty sheer pinks, though these do offer something a bit different.
ReplyDeletei'll prolly grab one of them to wear as 'undies' under lynnderella's love, lace, lilacs :D
ReplyDeleteI'm really not a fan of this collection. I do see the appeal of some of the colours, but unless I wanted to do mannequin hands, I'd probably never wear them.
ReplyDeleteThough I do really like the glitter and My Pointe Exactly is a very interesting take on a sheer.
I waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaant pirouet my whistle. But they don't sell it yet in Holland :(
ReplyDeleteI bet that will look gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteThey definitely aren't for everyone...even me. these are polishes I usually wouldn't look twice at. I agree about My Pointe Exactly!
ReplyDeleteaww I'm sorry :(
ReplyDeletePirouette My Whistle looks AMAZING! I don't mind the odd sheer nail polish actually, but I prefer greys over pinks. Now, anyway. Maybe it's because I have too many sheer pink shades in my collection.
ReplyDeleteOh, and on a side note... I'm perennially in awe of your cuticles.
Oh yes I love sheer greys! so need My Pointe Exactly & Pirouette!
ReplyDeleteSome of these might make pretty French mani shades, but to wear alone? Eh...too sheer for my liking. That glitter is pretty though.
ReplyDeleteI think they look awful
ReplyDeletedifferent strokes for different folks :)
ReplyDeleteI love the gray-toned soft shades, but I'm actually really obsessed with the Nubar glitter over the black. Can you buy it anywhere in stores?
ReplyDeleteThose 2 are so lovely, especially together!
ReplyDeletethank you!! My cuticles and I have a love hate relationship lol!
ReplyDeleteI'm not a huge fan of sheer polishes , myself either. But the grey one and the glitter are fab!! Thanks for posting these!! I'm Rachael btw, first time posting here, but I LOVE your blog! I've been poking around for quite a while now, though.
ReplyDeleteThese sheer nudes/pales are lovely. I've always thought they were chic and sophisticated!
ReplyDeleteYour swatches are great. Thanks for taking the time to show these polishes so beautifully :)
ReplyDeletethank you <3
ReplyDeleteI agree!
ReplyDeleteThanks Rachael! <3
ReplyDeleteISaw these and thought they were beautiful, soft and so lady-like. I had to have them.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete