Nicole by OPI Spring 2010 New Releases

Believe it or not, I've never tried Nicole polishes before.  I think it's always been a combination of the price being almost $7 for a drugstore polish and the weird bottle (I know... shallow).  However, I recently had the opportunity to review the new spring releases for Nicole, so I was pretty excited to try my first Nicoles, and these did not disappoint. 

I Stop for Nicole is a bright cherry red, glass-flecked shimmer.  This is such a cheerful color.  It really reminds me of ChG Raspberry Festival (comp to come soon).  This took 3 coats to reach opacity and in brightl light, VNLs are still visible. 

Yellow it's Me is a bright yellow shimmer.  This one is probably the most unique of the collection and the most unique yellow I've seen.  You can barely see it in the picture, but the shimmer in this one is orange and red (it's most visible on my index finger).  Unfortunately, as much as it's different, it's also disappointing.  This was four coats and you can still see VNLs.  I tried it over white and it just made the base color too bright.  That said, I plan on trying it over ChG Happy Go Lucky, because it's just too pretty to not make it work, dammit.  :P  Also, I know yellows are notorious for being streaky.  While this one was sheer, it was not streaky and a pretty easy formula to work with.

You're an Angel is a strawberry pink, glass-flecked shimmer and probably my personal favorite of the collection.  The color reminds me of ChG Strawberry Fields without the golden shimmer that just looked nasty on me.  This one was very flattering on my skintone.  This is 4 very thin coats. 

Make Mine Lime is a bright, fresh, lime green shimmer.  It also is the most metallic of the 5 polishes.  It's a beautiful true lime green in that it doesn't lean either too yellow or too blue.  Pic is 4 thin coats.

Fresh Squeezed is a juicy orange shimmer.  Sorry for the nubbins in this picture.  I'd taken the other pictures on Friday and I just realized I'd forgotten to include a picture of Fresh Squeezed in my review.  Unfortunately, I had to chop my nails down today, due to a couple cracks in my L middle fingernail, so that's why this picture looks so much different than the other 4.  Though this is not a color I would wear, due to my skintone, it's a beautiful orange and would be perfect as a summer pedi color or with a tan.  Pic is 3 coats.

All in all, I like these colors very much.  The most frustrating was probably Yellow it's Me, even though it was the most unique and the only one of the 5 that had me "oooh'ing" as I took it out of the box.  You're an Angel is probably my favorite favorite of the collection, followed by I Stop for Nicole.  These reminded me of polishes from ChG's Summer Days collection, but unlike Strawberry Fields, You're An Angel is very wearable for me.

Plus, this has introduced me to a new brand ("grooooooooooan" - that's my wallet.  LOL).  I've never really paid much attention to Nicole in the past, but now I've already found a couple more I want to try out next time I see them (one of them is Peas N Q's, but I think it will look like crap on my skin as it seems dupey for OPI Hey! Get in Lime).

Anyway, these are available at drugstores and big boxes and at Ulta.com.  One thing I will say is that I was able to find the yellow, lime, and orange at Walmart, but not the pink and red.  Same thing w/ Target.  I've also seen them on Amazon and through eBay sellers.  Retail is around $7.

These were sent to me for review