Swatches of the OPI Celebration collection (Holiday 2021)

Here it is, the OPI Celebration 2021 collection! I am extremely excited about this holiday/winter collection! If you are looking for a great holiday gift for yourself or a nail polish-loving friend, this collection is great. If you are not convinced (yet), then maybe my swatches will convince you that this collection is a must-have.

So a little recap in case you don’t know about this collection yet. The collection consists of 15 new shades. 3 glitter toppers, 6 holographic shades, 5 cremes, and one pearl. You can find them over here on Amazon (affiliate link). Also, different gift sets are available including an advent calendar (over here, affiliate link).

As an Amazon affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

I am going to show you the entire collection, except for the three glitter toppers, which I didn’t buy.

Before we start, let’s talk a bit about the formula of the holographic shades. The six holographic shades all have the same formula. They consist of holographic shimmer and some silver holographic flakes. Nevertheless, they dry completely smooth. I would call the holographic effect ‘linear’ but it is more scattered than some other indie polishes that I own. I personally find the holographic effect very elegant and pretty, but it is still very noticeable and not subtle at all. All the holographic shades are already quite opaque on the first coat, but I definitely needed two coats to make them completely opaque.

This post is quite long. To easily skip to the color you want to see, use these links:

• OPI Maraschino Cheery-y (red jelly)
• OPI Ring in the blue year (blue crème)
• OPI Paint the tinseltown red (holographic red)
• OPI Turn bright after sunset (holographic black)
• OPI All is berry & bright (blue-purple creme)
• OPI My color wheel is spinning (holographic purple)
• OPI Mylar dreams (holographic pink)
• OPI OPI (heart) to party (dark purple crème)
• OPI Snow day in LA (pearl white)
• OPI LED Marquee (holographic blue)
• OPI Ready, fête, go (holographic teal)
• OPI Big bow energy (pink creme)
• Conclusion

Maraschino Cheer-y

OPI just calls ‘Maraschino Cheer-y‘ a bold red nail polish. For me, it is much more than that. This polish is a blue-toned jelly red. It reminds me a lot of candy apples. You can wear this one with two coats, but I’m wearing three coats and it makes the polish slightly deeper. The finish of this polish is very shiny and juicy, I don’t think you will really need a topcoat. It is not the most original color in the world, and chances are that if you have a large collection, you already have a similar shade. Still I personally really like this shade.

I just pulled out some random shades to give you an impression. The recently released OPI Art walk in Suzi’s shoes has the same type of jelly formula as Maraschino Cheer-y, but is much lighter. Essie Bordeaux is another red with a jelly formula but is much darker and a bit brown. OPI All I want for Christmas is the closest, but the formula is more a creme.

You can find Maraschino Cheer-y over here on Amazon (affiliate link).

Ring in the blue year

‘Ring in the blue year‘ is a vibrant cobalt blue. This shade is extremely bright considering it is from a Holiday collection. I definitely like it, and it is unique in my collection. However, again I’m pretty sure that OPI already has released some similar blue shades before. The shade covered in two coats. My brush had a few crooked bristles, making it a bit challenging to apply, but I assume this is just a problem with my bottle.

I don’t own the famous bright blue nail polishes such as Sally Hansen’s Pacific blue and Essie’s Butler Please. I did immediately have to think of OPI Tile art to warm your heart. Tile art is a lot lighter than ring in the blue year. Both Essie’s Mezmerised and Feelin’ amped are much darker than ring in the blue year.

You can find Ring in the blue year over here on Amazon (affiliate link).

Paint the tinseltown red

OPI’s description of ‘Paint the tinseltown red‘ is just a holographic red. To me, this red leans a bit pink. The holographic effect is not as strong as some indie polishes that I own, but it is still noticeable and very pretty! In the bottle, you can see some silver swirls, but on the nail, the color is very vibrant. The polish covered in two coats.

According to one of OPI’s instagram posts, ‘Paint the tinseltown red’ is a remixed/updated version of ‘Big apple red’. If you spot this collection in a store, you will find that ‘Big apple red’ is also added to the display.

Of course, I wanted to know how this Paint the tinseltown red compared to OPI I’m really an actress from this year’s spring collection. OPI I’m really an actress is more jelly with scattered holographic pieces and is a few shades deeper than paint the tinseltown red. The effect on the nail is actually quite different. I also added OPI Ds Reflection into the mix, it is closer to OPI Paint the tinseltown red, but it also has more scattered holographic pieces and is a completely different shade of red.

Turn brigh after sunset

OPI Turn bright after sunset is a ‘dark cosmic holographic nail polish‘ according to OPI. See how they carefully avoid the word ‘black’? I’ve talked about this before, but a true black holographic polish is very difficult to make. This shade leans indeed a bit grey, but I’m actually very happy with it. The shade covered in two coats, so it also has a very decent formula!

This is the comparison I was looking forward to the most myself. I quite have a few OPI Black holos, and of course, I have Holo taco’s Electrostatic. With Electrostatic, Holo taco tried to create a true black holo. Cristine (simplynailogical, the founder of holo taco), talks in one of her podcasts that it is very difficult. Electrostatic is less grey and the holo in Electrostatic is also a bit stronger.

OPI My private jet is also a bit of a special story. Back in the ’00s, My private jet used to be a holo. They reformulated it a couple of times and now if you purchase the regular nail lacquer formula, you will just get a brown shimmer. However, if you purchase the infinite shine version, you will get a linear holographic dark brown polish. On the nail, you can indeed see that my private jet leans more brown.

Finally, we have OPI heart and coal from last year’s holiday collection. It contains more holographic glitter instead of shimmer and the polish is textured. So although it is a black holo, it has an entirely different look on the nail.

You can find Turn bright after sunset over here on Amazon (affiliate link).

All is berry & bright

All is berry & bright is a ‘rich berry’. I had no clue what that meant when I picked the shade up, but what OPI probably means is that this shade is a blurple (blue+purple). It reminds me a lot of blueberries. I personally really enjoy it, it is a bit mysterious, and probably unique in my collection. The shade is very difficult to capture for cameras, you might notice that it isn’t consistent throughout my pictures. The shade above is the closest what I could get to real life. The shade has again an excellent formula, two coats were sufficient.

I couldn’t get OPI All is berry & bright to show up correctly in this picture. Sadly, my bottle of OPI Lost my bikini in Molokini also changed color. I’m 99% sure that my bottle of lost my bikini in Molokini used to have a similar color as ‘All is berry & bright’, but it faded over time and became more purple. I always stored this bottle in a dark closet, so I’m really surprised and hope this won’t happen with All is berry & bright.

OPI Violet Visionary (fall 2021) and OPI Grandma kissed a gaucho (fall 2018) are both too purple to be dupes. I also tried to match Essie toned down and OPI Less is norse, but they are both too blue to be dupes.

You can find All is berry & bright over here on Amazon (affiliate link).

My color wheel is spinning

I instantly fell in love with ‘My color wheel is spinning’. This violet holographic shade is so pretty! I couldn’t stop staring at my nails. Like all other holographic shades in this collection, ‘My color wheel is spinning’ also covers in two coats, and has a great formula. I also got lucky and was able to capture this shade in the sunlight. All other holographic shades in this collection look the same way. I would still call this type of holographic ‘linear’ but it is more dispersed than for example the holographic effect of Holo taco shades.

This is the only shade from the collection that I have worn as a full manicure. The shade did stain my nails sadly. After removal, they were a weird color of orange and pink. I do have to mention that my nails are very prone to staining.

Again another Holo taco comparison. The closest shade I own is Holo Taco Magenta Jelly. Magenta jelly contains a bit pinker and is more of a jelly formula. It also has a stronger holographic effect. To be honest, I really like both shades and they are different enough to own both!

You can find OPI my color wheel is spinning over here on Amazon (affiliate link).

Mylar dreams

OPI describes ‘Mylar dreams‘ as a holographic fuchsia. It is indeed a bit of a cool-toned pink. I don’t really associate this color with Christmas or the holidays, but I still really enjoy this color. Again, these were two coats.

Of course, I just had to compare the shade again to another Holo taco. Holo taco Hot-wire pink is a bit lighter than Mylar dreams. The holo in Hot-wire pink is much stronger, it even shows up in lower light!

OPI Mylar dreams is available over here on Amazon (affiliate link).

OPI (heart) to party

OPI ‘OPI (heart) to party’ is the only dark creme in this collection. OPI calls it a rich burgundy crème. I associate this color definitely with the holidays, and I’m not surprised that it is in this collection. I think it will look great with the glitter toppers (that I didn’t pick up). It is of course always a bit tricky to apply such a dark shade, but it covered in two coats.

I compared OPI (Heart) to party to Lincoln park after dark and Essie kimono-over. Lincoln park after dark is much darker, and has a bit of a red undertone. Essie Kimono over is cooler than OPI heart to party and a bit lighter.

You can find OPI (heart) to part over here on Amazon (affiliate link).

Snow day in LA

OPI ‘Snow day in LA‘ is a pearl white. It is very hard to see but this white really contains a pearl shimmer. In dim light, it looks like a white crème, but the shimmer gives it some extra ‘depth’. If you walk into brighter lights, you can indeed see the shimmer. I would say that this shade has probably the worst formula in the entire collection, however, it doesn’t say a lot since the other shades all have incredible formulas. For me, Snow day in LA covered in three coats and was a bit more difficult to work with, but definitely not impossible. It is unique in my collection, and I don’t have any shades to compare it with!

You can find Snow day in LA over here on Amazon (affiliate link).

LED Marquee

LED Marquee is a vibrant holographic blue. Again, this is not the first color that I think of when I’m thinking about holiday shades, but I’m not complaining since I love this blue. The holographic effect seems to be a little bit less strong in this polish, but it is still pretty. Again covered in two coats. Also, I don’t anything to compare it with. Most of my ILNP holographics are too dark, and I do not own ‘Blue freezie’ from Holo taco.

You can find LED Marquee over here on Amazon (affiliate link).

Ready, fête, go

OPI ‘ready, fête, go‘ is one of the shades that really surprised me. On OPI’s website and promo pictures, this seems to be a mint holographic, but in real life, it is a deep holographic teal. I love wearing these types of shades during the winter months. If you consider picking this one up: please ignore the pictures you see on most websites, and only look at swatches of the shades, because in this case, it is really more accurate. Like all other holographic shades, this required two coats for opacity. Again, I don’t have any shades to compare it with.

You can find Ready fete go over here on Amazon (affiliate link).

Big bow energy

‘Big bow energy‘ is a pink crème. If you already own some OPI pinks, chances are that you already own a similar shade. Big bow energy is extremely bright, especially if you consider this is the holiday collection. I really like the shade, but I probably will be wearing it more often in spring and summer than during the holidays. I used two coats in the picture.

I personally found this the least interesting shade to do comparisons for, however, on Instagram I got a lot of comparison requests for this shade! Essie Mod square is a little bit warmer toned than OPI Big bow energy and has a more jelly formula. OPI No turning back from pink street is extremely similar to Big bow energy. Big bow energy is probably a bit warmer and slightly darker, but it is almost impossible to tell. You definitely don’t need both, but if I would have to pick one, I would pick Big bow energy. Essie All dolled up is the lightest of these shades and is not a dupe of OPI Big bow energy, but it is definitely ‘family’.

I added a second comparison for Big bow energy. I am probably still forgetting shades that could be close because there are so many pinks! OPI strawberry margarita and Essie Lovie Dovie are no dupes for Big bow energy. Strawberry Margarita is much warmer and Lovie Dovie is much lighter.

You can find OPI Big bow energy over here on Amazon (affiliate link).

Conclusion

Wow! I am incredibly surprised by this collection. It is even better than I expected. Of course, the stars of this collection are the holographic shades. If you are looking for a Holiday gift for a nail polish-loving friend (or yourself) these would be amazing! I know I would definitely be thrilled if someone bought these for me. The cremes in this collection are also really nice, they are just a little bit less special.

I honestly like all of these shades, but if I had to pick favorites I would pick ‘Ready, fête, go‘, ‘Paint the tinseltown red‘, and ‘My color wheel is spinning‘.

Availability

The collection is already available on Amazon US over here (affiliate link). If you don’t want to spend that much money on an entire collection, be sure to also check out the advent 2021 calendar (over here on Amazon, affiliate link). It contains mini versions of this collection and some other shades. (It would also make a great gift). There is also a mini set available over here containing ‘Paint the tinseltown red’, ‘Big bow energy’, ‘Ring in the blue year’, and ‘My color wheel is spinning’. Also, this mini set has really cute packaging, so it would make the perfect gift!

Beyond Polish also already has these shades over here (affiliate link). Use the code NOAENAILS for a 5% discount on regular-priced items.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, meaning that if you buy a product through one of these links, I might receive compensation at no additional cost to you. I label all affiliate links with the label “affiliate link”. As an Amazon affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

If you live in Europe: Nailpolishdirect already has these shades, but I expect stores will stock them in the coming weeks (or the 1st of November). I ordered the collection myself from Polishpick. They are usually a lot cheaper there than in Europe, even with import taxes. If you want to order there and you’re not living in the US; no problem. Just fill out the contact form!

There are some rumors that this collection is going to be part of OPI’s permanent line. I don’t think this is confirmed by OPI yet, but I would be very happy if they did!

Just a quick sidenote: The gel color version of these shades is quite different. Before buying the gel polish version, I would recommend googling how those look!