OPI Soft Shades Cirque de Femme Collection Review

Every summer, OPI releases a small collection of "soft shades".  These are usually milky pinks and whites in various levels of sheerness.  This year's offering is Cirque de Femme.  When I first got the PR info for this collection, I was intrigued, but also didn't expect much.  I mean... it's whites and pinks and sheers.  Zzzzzz.  :P

But then I tried them.  I've never really used many pale/sheer shades.  The main reason is streakiness.  I hate it when you apply a polish and you can see streaks.  I got NO streaks with these polishes.  NONE.  In fact, I've always thought that sheer/thin = streaky, but these polishes proved me wrong.  I think these are very pretty polishes and they do serve a purpose in the polish market as not everyone can, or wants to wear, bright blue holo.

Two of these can be worn semi-opaque if you so desire (I'll point those out in the review).  I did 3 coats on all colors, except I Juggle... Men, which is two.

In the Spot-Light Pink - Milky, pink sheer.  In the bottle, this one looks like it would be the deepest in tone, however, when you put it on, it's very sheer.  In fact, I don't think there is a way to get this polish opaque.  It's that sheer.  That said, this is a gorgeous polish.  It looks great at just one coat for a clean nail look.  If would also look nice with a french manicure.  The formula is nice, and it's actually thick for the polish being so sheer.  I had no problems with application and I think this may be my favorite of the bunch (check my head).

So Many Clowns... So Little Time - Milky, off-white semi-sheer.  I love the color on this one.  It's definitely an off-white, but there's also a faint whisper of pink.  Like I mentioned above, I did 3 coats on this one, but it looked very nice at one coat, for just a simple wash of color.  As you can tell, I was able to get this one semi-opaque in three coats, though can see a bit of pink coming through from my nail bed, as well as VNLs.  Also, I love the name.  It's my twenties all wrapped up in polish form.  :P  LOL.

Step Right Up! - Milky, shell pink creme.  This one was the most opaque of the bunch.  It's a lovely pale pink, and like So Many Clowns... So Little Time, this looked nice at simply one coat, though I did 3 in the picture.  The finish on this one was really nice.  It had the squishiness of a jelly... almost like OPI's new Sorbet finish... only in super pale pink.

I Juggle... Men - Purple and blue, microshimmer in a clear base.  This one reminded me of the Nubar glitter/shimmer topcoats we've been seeing of late.  It's a thicker clear base, with very fine, micro-shimmer suspended in the base.  It's hard to see the colors on my nails, but you can definitely see the sparkle in the bottle.  2 coats.

All in all, I really like these.  I know lately, I've been sporting a lot of naked nails because I just don't want to deal with the hassle.  These would be great to do as a simple, one-coat manicure for a little bit of color, when I'm in a hurry or polished-out.

These are available now at e-tailers.

These were sent to me for review.