OPI – Serena Williams ‘Grand Slam! England’ (swatches & review)
Game on! Once more, tennis superstar Serena Williams has teamed up with OPI to bring us this third instalment, ‘Grand Slam! England’ to coincide with the British Open. This collection features two duo packs, the first with ‘Grape…Set…Match’ – a vivid shimmery purple along with ‘Serving Up Sparkle’ – a stunning topcoat filled with silver & holographic glitter, and the second set which consists of ‘Your Royal Shine-ness’ – a gleaming silver foil along with the the same ‘Serving Up sparkle’. Something about these hues totally brings royalty to mind, and the combinations compliment each other beautifully. All swatches are with OPI Natural Nails base coat, three thin coats of lacquer and OPI’s Start to Finish top coat.
‘Grape…Set…Match’ is shimmery purple done absolutely right. The bottle shade shows it to have a slight duochrome look, but in reality it’s the masses of incredibly fine light purple and blue shimmer that give off this iridescent effect, nestled among a deep true purple base. The formula isn’t too thick which means you can apply three thinner coats for the most luxurious finish. I love how even in shaded light (bottom photo) the depth of the hue stays so vibrant.
The combination of ‘Serving Up Sparkle’ layered over ‘Grape…Set…Match’ is nothing short of…cosmic! Giving off the effect of stars twinkling in a purple-y twilight sky, one coat of this brilliant polish is all you need for a totally unique look. ’Serving Up Sparkle’ is a sheer lacquer filled with tiny silver glitter and larger hexagonal holographic glitter pieces. The formula is of the thicker suspension variety, but I find that it helps in the placement of the larger glitter. Dry time was quite fast, although I would recommend between 1-2 layers of top coat for a perfectly smooth finish.
‘Your Royal Shine-ness’ is an extraordinary silver metallic foil, incredibly rich and super pigmented. Unlike many silvers that lean rather on the cool side, the microscopic gold flecks embedded deep within this base give it a warmth that makes this hue wearable by all skin tones. Even though you can achieve full opacity with two coats, I layered three for swatching purposes. As this is a metallic, it dries super fast and I was pleased to see that it left zero brush strokes behind. Note how flash (bottom photo) just seems to enhance that insane mirror like finish…the closest to a “minx” nail look you’ll get in a regular polish!
You might think that layering ‘Serving Up Sparkle’ over ‘Your Royal Shine-Ness’ would be a bit redundant, but I find that this combination has a certain understated elegance. I know…you’re asking yourself how a silver foil combined with an über-blingy polish can possibly be understated, but it’s almost as if the addition of ‘Serving Up Sparkle’ tones down some of the mirror-like effect of ‘Your Royal Shine-ness’, yet when viewed in full sun, you catch these sudden glimpses of the holographic glitter which give off these prismatic flashes, and voilà…you’re mesmerized! Once more, top coat is definitely needed to achieve a smooth finish.
Final thoughts: At first I was wondering why OPI would double up on one of the shades with each duo pack, but it makes sense if you’re only interested in one of the sets; if you happen to like both, well, then resign yourself to owning two bottles of ‘Serving Up Sparkle’. Not necessarily a bad thing, since this is a unique limited edition polish that can be layered over basically anything, but still somewhat frustrating to a consumer who may not want two of the same. The formula was excellent with all, with no application issues, flowing easily and with a super fast dry time, most particularly with ‘Your Royal Shine-ness’. The Grand Slam! England duo packs will retail for CAD $20.95 and will be available beginning of June wherever OPI products are sold.
*Disclaimer: product samples were provided by the company/PR for my unbiased consideration
Oh…I’ve just seen your answer about OPI ink in the comments section!!
Do you know what? I was sure to buy the set with “Grape…Set…Match” but finally I will buy the other with “Your Royal Shine-ness”! I like the mirror effect in this polish more than the purple of Grape set!
I’ve got a question for you.
Is “Grape…Set…Match” close to “OPI Ink”? and “Your Royal Shine-ness” close to China Glaze “Millenium”?
OPI are doing nice special top coat recently. I love “I juggle men” and this one seems really pretty!
Thank you for your review!!
Glad you liked the review…thanks so much! I’m not sure about the CG ‘Millenium’ as I don’t have that polish, so I can’t comment on it – sorry! And I agree with you about OPI’s unique topcoats….they’re fun and add a whole new dimension to layering!
These look amazing! Great photos
‘Grape…Set…Match’ (annoying name!) reminds me of OPI’s ‘Ink’ but with more duochrome-iness. I am very pleased to hear that ‘Your Royal Shine-ness’ is more wearable for all skin tones, because I typically steer clear of silver altogether – normally clashes on me big-time. The stand-out to me is certainly ‘Serving Up Sparkle’, it really does add a little something special. Thanks for the pics!!
You’re welcome…glad you liked them! Grape…Set…Match while close to Ink, is actually lighter and more purple-y. I think the fact that Your Royal Shine-ness bears fine gold throughout will definitely make it wearable for darker/warmer skin tones. Serving Up Sparkle is really cool…I can’t wait to layer it over other shades and will also try a few coats of it on its own as well!
I love Serena’s polishes, she makes my nail polish dreams come true
Oh I love Your Royal Shineness and Serving Up Sparkle, it looks absolutely rich. Here’s a dumb question, how hard was it to get off Your Royal Shineness?
Not a dumb question at all…we all know how notoriously difficult glitter polishes can be, right?! I’m assuming it’s the glitter polish you’re referring to; if so, maybe because I only layered on coat of ‘Serving Up Sparkle’, it was surprisingly easy (for a glitter!)..just make sure to have plenty of cotton pads around, thoroughly soak them in remover and once applied to your nail, let it sit for about 30 seconds – 1 minute before attempting to remove. If you wanted to know only about the silver foil finish of ‘Your Royal Shine-ness’, then that one was a breeze to remove, with zero staining. Hope this helps!
Thanks so much. Glitter can be such a diva to get off. And that’s great that it doesn’t stain. I tell you the things us girls go through.
Lol….ain’t that the truth!!!
Great review as always! They’re pretty but not enough for me to run out and buy them. I’m kind of drowning in nail polish at the moment and really need to become pickier again.
Off-topic but how do you store your nail polish? Do you have a system for keeping track? (Going to search your archive in case you already posted on that.
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Thanks Liz!” Drowning in nail polish”…lol!! So am I, but I am committed to this addiction!! As to how I store my polishes, right now they’re by colour and in clear plastic containers but I will have something REALLY exciting to post very soon…a totally innovative and fab looking storage solution!
Wow! These look fun!
They are! They’re also so much more vibrant and impressive when you view them live!
Gorgeous swatches always!!
Yeah I rather they sold it by a trio
Thanks Shona! I don’t mind the sets either, but I would have preferred something different in each….either that, or to have them sold individually. They are gorgeous, though!