Sheer, white, grey, and black nail polish swatch sticks

It’s time for part four of my nail polish series! If you’d like to see the previous ones, I’m collecting all the links from the nail polish swatch series on my Project Swatch Roundup page (scroll to the bottom).

As before, I’ve included pictures that have the handle of the swatch stick, so you can more easily see the name of the polish. I also have a close-up of the polished tips only. In every set, the close-up of the tips is more color accurate.  The number at the end of the stick is the number of coats, and no number means two coats.  None of the swatch sticks in this post have topcoat. Again, I’ve left these pictures larger than usual – click to enlarge.

First – sheers. This is mostly the OPI Ballet Collection, but a Wet n Wild Megalast polish fit in with the colors as well.  I bought the whole Ballet Collection and love it – My Pointe Exactly is my favorite off the collection, and one of my favorite polishes.

OPI You Calling Me a Lyre?, OPI Care to Danse?, OPI Barre My Soul, Wet n Wild 2% Milk, OPI My Pointe Exactly

Here are my sheer whites and shimmery whites.  Although OPI Don’t Touch My Tutu and Essie Marshmallow look similar, the OPI is much more sheer – three coats of it is about the same opacity as the Essie at one coat.

OPI Don’t Touch My Tutu, Essie Marshmallow, Wet n Wild Break The Ice, Revlon Aloof

Next up is whites – I did one swatch of each white so I could evaluate the polish better. It’s hard to see the differences in the formulas, but the Milani performed best, and the Wet n Wild worst.  I also included OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls in this photo so you can see that it’s actually the lightest gray possible – if I photograph it with my gray polishes, where it belongs, it just looks white.

Milani White On The Spot, Zoya Purity, Wet n Wild French White, Sally Hansen Timeless White, OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls

Gray is probably my favorite color for polish, so these next two sets include lots of favorites!  China Glaze Pelican Gray is one of my favorite polishes of all time.

Zoya Dove, China Glaze Pelican Gray, Sinful Colors Jungle Trail, Sinful Colors Slate, China Glaze Immortal

Darker grays plus blacks with shimmer- Sinful Colors Smokin’ is my favorite out of these, and a pretty good dupe for NARS Stormbird. When I swatched these, I realized that Essence Movie Star is identical to Smokin’, and thus also a dupe for Stormbird.

Essence Movie Star, Sinful Colors Smokin, Color Club Status Update, OPI Nein! Nein! OK Fine!, Essence Fabuless, China Glaze Stone Cold, China Glaze Smoke and Ashes

And here are all my blacks! Like the whites, I swatched all the blacks at one coat (except the matte black, which was super sheer) in order to evaluate the polish better.  You can more clearly see the differences in the polishes here vs. the whites. Hassid is completely opaque in one thin coat, but a satin finish.  Black Taxi definitely needs two coats for opacity.  Illamasqua Boosh and Wet n Wild Black Creme are my favorite blacks – Boosh is glossier, but the Wet n Wild, at only 99 cents, is perfect for layering.

LA Girl Matte Black, American Apparel Hassid, Nails, Inc. Black Taxi, Illamasqua Boosh, Wet n Wild Black Creme

I hope this post wasn’t too boring – I know these aren’t the most exciting colors.  Next up will be more fun – duochromes! And of course, please let me know if you have questions about any of the polishes.