Review & Swatches: Katy Perry Collection by OPI

I promised, and here it is, The Katy Perry Collection by OPI! Katy scores her own four shades of nail polish, accompanied by OPI’s hottest new top-coat product, Black Shatter. I’ll tell you all about how that works in just a minute, but let’s get to the shade breakdown (shade descriptions from OPI):

Teenage Dream

A dreamy pink glitter that you’re sure to crush on!

Not Like the Movies

This sultry silver is the real deal.

Last Friday Night

T.G.I.F. = This Glittery-blue Is Fierce!

The One That Got Away

You always thought you’d marry this amazing deep berry.

I’m hoping this doesn’t kill the review for you before you even read it or see the swatches…

But, I’m going to disclose right away that I don’t have anything negative to say about the polishes themselves, or the new colors. (When it comes to me liking them on a personal level, I would have no problem buying them all.) I’ll try to accurately explain what exactly it is that I like about every single one of these shades—as they’re each very different! In the swatches, you’ll see I used the Black Shatter top coat over one nail in each photo so you could see what that polish would look like with the shatter effect. All swatches were done with two coats of polish, with the exception of Last Friday Night, I really wanted to amp up that blue for photos.

So here we go, check out the swatches!

Somewhere within my inner-child, I have to believe that Teenage Dream would be the result of Hello Kitty leaving her cute little house near London, to become best friends with a pixie (who has more than her daily quota of pixie dust on her). Holding hands, they would skip down the Yellow Brick Road, and jump in Katy Perry’s convertible somewhere along the way. After eating a vat of cotton candy, all three of the girls would sing California Gurls at the top of their lungs (okay, so Hello Kitty would be singing it from her heart). Then, they would pass out from the sugar-high. That would be after Katy pulled over, of course.

Honestly, that’s what Teenage Dream reminds me of! It takes on a transparent, sweet candy pink base with tons of light pink micro-glitter and larger holographic glitter pieces. It’s a real girlie-girl nail polish for sure.

I love ogling Last Friday Night, that blue just sets me in a trance. What kind of blue is that? I’m thinking a bright lapis/azure blue mix…but I’m curious to hear other descriptions! It has round iridescent particles, in various shades of blue and green suspended in it’s transparent, dreamy blue base. Based on what you’ve seen so far, can you see why I’ve had a hard time finding anything I didn’t like?

Not Like The Movies was the first shade I pulled out when I opened up the box, I can’t even tell you how many gasps I let out. Every way you hold the bottle, a new shade reveals itself. The best way I can describe this color is to compare it to the inside of an abalone shell. This polish reflects silvery, light purple, green, and blue tones in a pearly base. There’s also a little bit of silver micro-glitter thrown in, but not too much. It’s just enough to poke out and say “I’m here!” This one can still be just a tad on the sheer side with two coats, so a thin third coat might be best for full coverage.

The One That Got Away was almost the one that got away from having it’s photo taken! It’s a gorgeous berry color with brighter flecks that make it seem more magenta in various settings. You might see some images online of this one that look a lot brighter, and then some that look like an ordinary dark berry color. I encourage you to take a look at this one in-person before loving it or leaving it! It’s not a drab berry, it has a lot of bright shimmer-quality to it that gives it life. Even this photo doesn’t do it any justice and it was the closest I could get! I like the versatility of this one so much, that I’m wearing it with Black Shatter on all of my nails.

Now, about Black Shatter…

I know crackling/shatter polishes aren’t exactly new, but they are new to me! I have fallen for it—hook, line, and sinker! If you’re curious how it works, it’s super easy to apply. You want to allow your base color to dry for a few minutes, then apply a thin coat of Black Shatter on top. Don’t worry about it being perfect or try to go back over and add another layer. Within seconds, it starts to shrivel up—revealing peek-a-boos of your nail polish color underneath. In the few days I’ve been tinkering around with it, I’ve had great luck with waiting about a minute for it to dry, and then applying my top coat. Don’t forget, the OPI/Serena Williams Glam Slam Collection is also being promoted with the Black Shatter top coat, you’ll find my review for it here!

So…share your thoughts with me here girls! Anything you want to pick up?

Availability: January 2011; professional salons, ULTA, Regis, Trade Secret for $8.50 each.

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