Movie Tie-Ins: Awesome or Gimmick?

So, with the advent of movie tie-in sets for cosmetics, and more specifically nail polish, I wanted to take a moment to look at some of the recent sets and put my thoughts on how well they embody a movie's themes while still releasing a quality product. I've found that when shopping for nail polish especially, this is a difficult task. Some companies put together an amazing set overall that really fits the themes and some only partially do it with some off the wall colors. Luckily, I have yet to see a set that entirely misses the mark. This relieves me because a lot of these tie-ins are movies or general subject matter that I love.


From L to R: Steady As She Rose, Mermaid's Tears, and Stranger Tides.

One of the first movie tie-ins that I bought polishes from was the Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides set from OPI. This set comprised of true pastels (a hue with both white and black  mixed in) and ended up to be some great subtle shades. I use this a lot for zombie themed nails where I put the Silver Shatter on top. The reason I still love this collection? I have yet to see the colors duplicated which is something that OPI is infamous for doing.


From L to R: Gettin' Piggy With It, Excuse' Moi, Divine Swine, Fresh Frog of Bel Air, Gone Gonzo, Rainbow Connection.

From L to R: Wocka Wocka, Meep Meep Meep, Designer... De Better, Warm and Fozzie, Pepe's Purple Passion.

The Muppets collection is one that I fell head over heels for. There is only one thing that I found out later that has me a little irked that I hurried out to buy it. One of the more popular colors, Rainbow Connection, is available in the Nicole by OPI set Kardashian Kolor under the name Rainbow in the S-Kylie. You can find swatches here at Polish-A-Holic's blog.

Even then, it's nice to know when a polish can possibly be replaced but there should be a line drawn. These collections weren't even released 6 months apart. I also just purchased most of the colors out of the Amazing Spider-Man collection and I am very happy with them so far. Now the color Your Web or Mine? doesn't necessarily fit the theme, but I think the color is a great one when not associated with Spider-Man (more to come in my upcoming review).

From L to R: Metallic 4 Life, Fly, Pink Friday, and Save Me

Some of these thoughts not only apply to the movie tie-ins but to pop culture tie-ins in general. There was one color of the Nicki Minaj set (pictured above except Superbass Shatter and Did It On 'Em) that was too close to one of the Shrek Forever After colors for comfort. Comparison shots show differences between the two but it also was a strange color for me (Fiercely Fiona being a yellow and Did It On 'Em being a warm yellow-green). Yukie has done some awesome side-by-sides here.

China Glaze's Capitol Colours set was probably one of the only ones where I haven't found myself disappointed and finding dupes. I personally own Fast Track, Stone Cold, Agro, Harvest Moon, Riveting, Electrify, and Luxe and Lush. Even after the change in marketing, names, and inspiration, I felt that most of the colors were spot on and the set itself was balance between bright, glittery, cremes, mattes, and neutrals.

All in all, I think it is wise to do as much research on colors as possible before you rush out and buy a limited edition collection. Also, buying partial sets is something that everyone can and should do. With my blog being so focused on geek oriented items, it's so hard to figure out what's worth my money going toward. How do you feel about movie tie-in sets? Do you love them? Hate them? Let me know!