OPI Suede Collection Fall 2009

Just when you thought we were done with mattes for the year....

OPI is releasing Suede, a collection of six classic OPI shades in a suede finish. Not as strange as it sounds, as you'll see below.

As always, click to enlarge if you so desire.


OPI Ink Suede. Originally from the Night Brights collection (spring/summer 2007). Please imagine that this is purple. It's purple in real life and I've never been able to get a good picture of OPI Ink- cameras turn it blue. Okay. OPI Ink is probably my favorite OPI polish and I was thrilled to hear that it was made into a matte. Oddly, this looks almost nothing like the original OPI Ink. This is the case with all the polishes in this collection. More on that later.


Lincoln Park After Dark Suede. Originally from the Chicago collection (fall/winter 2005) Again, this looks really nothing like the original Lincoln Park After Dark... but that's not to say it isn't cool! Just look at it- it's gorgeous. A matte eggplant with outrageous shimmer.


Russian Navy Suede. Originally from the Russian collection (fall/winter 2007) Very beautiful navy blue matte with shimmer... But also... not much of a resemblance to the original! I've actually been wearing this one since the weekend to test the wear.

Suzi Skis In The Pyrenees Suede. Originally from La Coleccion de Espana (fall/winter 2009) This one became a matte charcoal grey instead of a smoky blue like the original. This shade looks especially nice matte- though it's not quite like ManGlaze Fuggen Ugly. I bet the men will dig this one.


We'll Always Have Paris Suede. Originally from La Collection de France (fall/winter 2008) I like the way this one translated into Suede. It's kind of a soft purple rose with lots of shimmer, I like the contrast between a traditional shade and a non-traditional finish. In case you don't have the original, this looks nothing like it. Observe:

OPI We'll Always Have Paris from OPI La Collection De France (fall/winter 2008).

You Don't Know Jacques Suede. Originally from La Collection De France (fall/winter 2008). Wow, two matte versions of this. I love You Don't Know Jacques a whole lot, but I'm ready for some *new* colors. This one looks less grey and more golden brown than the original.


And how cruel would I be to have these shimmery mattes and not do pictures with topcoat? In my opinion, this is where they shine (no pun intended).

OPI Ink Suede with topcoat. Again, pretend this is purple.

Lincoln Park After Dark Suede with topcoat.

Russian Navy Suede with topcoat.



Suzi Skis In The Pyrenees Suede with topcoat.

We'll Always Have Paris Suede with topcoat.

You Don't Know Jacques Suede with topcoat.

Okay, aren't those just the most gorgeous thing ever with topcoat? They are ridiculously sparkly. They aren't glitter- they're a really dense metallic silver shimmer. I think I'd call these matte foils- they have that foil sparkle look that, for example, Zoya Trixie or Hard Candy Scam have. Dense, metallic, fine flaky shimmer in an opaque colored base. A couple of the shades are almost iridescent once you put topcoat on them.

As I mentioned in several of the descriptions, these really don't look anything like their namesake polishes. I really think that OPI should have just come up with new names for these for two reasons. One, it's pretty confusing to see 'OPI Ink Suede' and it looks nothing like OPI Ink (original)- people who don't look at swatches before buying might be disappointed to find that the suede version isn't what they expected. Two, they're different enough that they really could have just been new colors- the resemblance to the originals isn't strong enough that you would have even expected that's what they were if you didn't look at the name.

I had a couple of the originals handy when I was swatching and I did a quick comparison to show you what I mean:

Index: OPI Ink
Middle: OPI Ink with Essie Matte About You Matte Finisher
Ring: OPI Ink Suede
Pinkie: OPI Ink Suede with topcoat

I'm not expecting the suede finish ones to have a similar finish to the original, but the shade is just so different than the original. It's not really as obvious in the OPI Ink comparison because my camera warps the color too much, but have a look at this:

Index: Lincoln Park After Dark
Middle: Lincoln Park After Dark with Essie Matte About You Matte Finisher
Ring: Lincoln Park After Dark Suede
Pinkie: Lincoln Park After Dark Suede with topcoat.

See what I mean? It's not even remotely the same color. So if you're worried about having too many duplicates if you buy these- don't be! The naming of these is silly.

Formula-wise, these are great. The formula is thin and smooth, slightly slower drying than the other mattes. Having a slower-drying matte formula is a plus because it gives you more time to work and it's more forgiving. These are faster than the Nubars but not as fast as the Zoyas. They still dry completely in around five minutes. The wear is average for mattes- I made it two days without any major chipping but on day three I got a few large chips. The matte finish becomes more satiny the longer you wear it.

They say not to use mattes with a basecoat, but you can just ignore that warning. As long as the basecoat is *fully* (I do mean fully, completely, absolutely) dry before you apply the polish, there are no negative effects whatsoever. If your basecoat is still wet when you apply these, it'll cause the matte polish to crackle as it dries.

Also, mattes say not to use them with hand lotion- ignore that also. Of course, if you apply hand lotion it will make the matte finish shiny. That's obvious. The solution? Wipe it off your nails or wash your hands. Simple! The matte finish isn't meant to last for a week, but hand lotion won't ruin it any faster.

Overall, I really like these. The suede finish is nice as-is, but with topcoat applied it's gorgeous. Super sparkly and I like all of the shades- can't go wrong with grey, blue and purple! I do think they should have just given these new names, but other than that I have no complaints about these. They're pretty and versatile and there aren't any duds in the collection.

These will be available in September.