OPI Nail Polish Collections Review: Ger-minis and Nicki Minaj Minis

My little sister just turned the not so little age of 20 yesterday, and was lucky enough to receive quite an impressive haul of presents. Among other things, she received SIXTEEN OPI nail polishes! As you can probably tell I’m quite happy that we agreed to share our nail polishes with each other...

So I thought it would be fun to show you guys two of the OPI nail polish collections she received- the Germany Collection: Ger-minis, and the Nicki Minaj Minis collection.

The Germany collection is filled with cooler muted, more autumn/winter shades, whereas the Nicki Minaj collection is comprised of more vibrant, colourful spring/summertime shades.

Also I feel it is important to stress here how enormously cute OPI mini nail polishes are! Somehow mini things are so much better!

So my sister got all excited and wanted to paint each of the colours on her nails to see what they looked like. Here is the result:

From left to right:
Fly, Pink Friday, Did It On Em, Mint Candy Apple (ignore, not part of the collections), Don't Pretzel My Buttons, Metallic 4 Life (over Mint Candy Apple), Unfor Greta Bly Blue, Don't Pretzel My Buttons (again), Nein! Nein! Nein! OK Fine!, Suzi and the 7 Dusseldorfs.
[The four on right are Germany collection, the rest are Nicki Minaj (but ignore Essie's Mint Candy Apple)]

Review of Germany Collection:
I tend to veer towards brighter colours ordinarily; pinks and pastels are my current favourites. In the Germany Collection, I like all of the shades on first glance. Something different to what I usually choose.

Unfor Greta Bly Blue: I probably wouldn’t get much wear out of this navy blue, as I feel dark shimmery blues look a bit garish on my fingers. Although it is a beautiful blue. Maybe a toe colour for me.

Suzi and the 7 Dusseldorfs: I thought the same about this magenta colour at first, but after putting it on I fell in love! It's shimmery and bold, looks gorgeous on and especially stands out against the darker colours of a winter wardrobe. It looks really glamorous and stylish, and feel it is a good twist on the usual pink polishes I wear.

Don't Pretzel My Buttons: Lately I have gotten right into more neutral, creamy shades of beige and pinks. They look very tasteful and subtle on the nail, and if you pick the right colour they can be immensely flattering. This creamy nude is gorgeous, and throws more beige than pink, which is a good change to the pinky neutrals I usually wear.

Nein! Nein! Nein! OK Fine!: This dark olive greeny grey would be a perfect alternative to a black nail, and just as stylish. I love green and I think this colour is stunning on.

Review of Nicki Minaj Collection:
I’m a pastel nail addict, and the minty green on the fourth and sixth fingers to the left of the above picture is my current favourite- Essie Mint Candy Apple (*these two nails are not part of the OPI collections I’m reviewing).

On first glance all of the colours in the Nicki Minaj collection I love.

Metallic 4 Life: I probably wouldn’t get much wear out of this glitter polish, but might occasionally wear it over a pastel shade in warmer months, or on my toes. I like glitter, but since working full time I steer away from it more as it’s not as office appropriate.
This glitter is nice but I prefer rainbow circled glitter. This one has tiny silver circles scattered with a few rainbow strips. I like the rainbow strips, but they are mostly obscured by the silver tiny circles, which means it’s essentially a silver glitter. Not as rainbow as I would like. When I go glitter, I want to go 100s and 1000s type glitter!

Pink Friday: This pastel bubblegum pink is gorgeous, I’ll get a lot of wear out of it for sure. I have a lot of pale pinks and this one is a goodie. Fun, girly, cute. Enough said.

 
Did It On Em: This lime green is so pretty and such a lovely spring/summer colour. It’s fresh and playful, and green is my favourite colour anyway, so I think it’s a no brainer I like this colour.
 
Fly: This aqua/turquoise is an unusual nail shade, unlike anything I’ve owned before. But I quite like it. It’s the darkest colour of this collection, and I think it will be a nice change for warmer months from the pastels I favour, whilst still being vibrant and playful.

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Collections such as these are a great way to sample colours, and if you love them, you can then buy the full bottles. The minis actually last long enough for me to be satisfied with, I don’t think I’ve actually ever finished one. But I do have a lot of nail polishes and spread out my wearing of them all a lot.

In Australia, they each retail for $24.95. You can buy all of these in larger bottles too, so if you like one of these colours go snap it up!

Either way, I feel the sheer cuteness of them is worth the money! I guess which one you buy will predominantly depend on the season, as the Germany collection suits cooler months, and the Nicki Minaj collection warmer months.

What’s your favourite colour out of both collections? Which collection would you buy? As a general rule, do you prefer brights and colours, or muted, cooler shades of polish?