OPI 'I'm Really an Actress' - OPI Hollywood Collection for Spring 2021

2021 marks the 40th anniversary of OPI's 1981 inception in California, USA. To celebrate this milestone, the company has created a Hollywood collection for Spring 2021. This is actually the second Hollywood collection that OPI has released. The first was for Fall/Winter 1999, the 10th anniversary of their 1989 nail lacquer launch collection. Even though they started running the company in 1981, they only expanded their products to include nail polishes in 1989. They are now one of the most popular brands of nail polish in the world!

That first Hollywood collection introduced one of OPI's most iconic polishes, 'I'm Not Really a Waitress',  which has since become part of their permanent line. The polish has also become one of their best sellers. As a nod to this renowned polish, the 2021 Hollywood collection includes the equally cheekily named 'I'm Really an Actress'. When I first heard about this collection and saw that this polish was part of it, I instantly knew that I had to have it! And so we have the subject of today's post!:

OPI is known for it's red polishes being some of the best in the industry, so it's only fitting that the marquee polish of the Spring 2021 40th Anniversary 'Hollywood' collection would also be a red! 

'I'm really an Actress' is a bright red holographic polish, with slightly cool undertones. This red has a somewhat translucent consistency, which is the perfect base to showcase the fine holographic shimmer particles mixed into the formula. It really does embody the glitz and glamour of Hollywood actresses and red carpets. It also has an excellent formula, and looks quite lovely on the nail.

Now, you may be wondering how 'I'm Really an Actress' compares to it's sister polish 'I'm Not Really a Waitress'. Well, I've got you covered with a handy-dandy comparison swatch below!:

As you can see, both polishes have completely different finishes, and are different shades of red. 'I'm Not Really a Waitress' is a stunning deep red metallic perfectly befitting the Fall/Winter collection that it was originally released in, while 'I'm Really an Actress' is a gorgeous brighter red holo, more suitable for Spring.

As someone who not only loves polish, but also appreciates the nostalgia element of certain polishes, I'm super excited to have 'I'm Really an Actress' in my collection. 

As a side note, I also own another polish that was initially released in the original 1989 Hollywood collection. It is a deep red creme shade called 'Chick Flick Cherry'.  I used this polish in an earlier post on this blog, which you can see here.

'A Little Guilt Under the Kilt' - OPI Scotland Collection for Fall 2019

Today I have a swatch of a new polish I recently purchased. It's from OPI's 'Scotland' collection for fall 2019. The shade is called 'A Little Guilt Under the Kilt' and it is a gorgeous metallic red with slightly warm, rusty undertones. This shade was the standout for me from this fall's OPI collection, mainly because lately I've developed a penchant for red polishes, and metallic red is my favourite way to wear red nails. It's also a truly stunning shade of blood red, that is perfect for fall!

This polish has a wonderful formula. It was easy to apply, self-leveling, and dried reasonably fast. It also applied smoothly, with no brush-strokes. However, I noticed that similar to many other metallic polishes, since the formula does apply so smoothly, it does not cover the the slight ridges and imperfections in my nail as much as a creme polish would. This is pretty insignificant in most real life situations, but becomes just barely noticeable when viewing your nails in close-up photos! It's also pretty easy to fix by remembering to lightly buff my nails before applying metallic polishes. Truthfully though, I'm generally not really concerned about it, so I usually don't take the time to buff before applying metallics.

Below, I've included a comparison photo in which I've selected 12 metallic red polishes from my collection (including 'A Little Guilt Under the Kilt') and placed swatches of them in a line-up (you should be able to click on the photo to enlarge it). I don't have any exact matches for 'A Little Guilt Under the Kilt' in my collection, as it is a lot lighter than most of my warm metallic reds, but putting these subtle variations in undertones aside, as you can see, I do have some polishes that are somewhat similar in hue.

The names of the polishes in the comparison line-up photo above are:

1) China Glaze - Mommy Kissing Santa

2) OPI - I'm Not Really a Waitress

3) Zoya - Isla

4) China Glaze - Long Kiss

5) Cover Girl - Forever Festive

6) Orly – Torrid

7) A England - Perceval

8) OPI - An Affair in Red Square

9) OPI - A Little Guilt Under the Kilt

10) China Glaze  - Cranberry Splash

11) China Glaze  - Just Be-Claws

12) Sinful Colors - Sugar Sugar

All in all, I really love this nail polish, and I'm happy to have it in my collection!