53 new OPI Intelli-Gel shades, every one of them HEMA free and TPO free
OPI put 53 Intelli-Gel colors on the C8 shelf on Thursday, which takes the line past 200 shades. Fall starts on 22 September, the color reports are all pointing at chocolate browns, and the first one in the box is called Chocolate Moose.
Why the label matters more this fall than the shade
The EU's ban on TPO in nail products took effect on 1 September 2025, and HEMA is the allergen dermatology reports name most often in gel nail reactions. There is no US rule yet. The brands are reformulating anyway, and the clients who read labels have started asking at the desk. OPI's answer is Intelli-Gel: a self-leveling gel nail polish that is HEMA free and TPO free on every bottle, with a high-viscosity formula that fills ridges without running into the cuticle. If you already run a HEMA free builder, the HEMA free builder gel round up from last month is the other half of that service.
Thursday's 53 include the shades people ask for by name. Chocolate Moose, Grunge Queen and Totally Red-ical are the fall three, and the rest fill in the nudes, the reds and the blues that were missing from the wall. Every one is $14.95, and the full line now sits at over 200 shades in the OPI Intelli-Gel collection, alongside over 800 OPI nail polish items in the wider shelf.
Soak off gel, 0.5oz, HEMA free, TPO free, single
$14.95
The brown every September report is naming, in the formula the label-readers are asking for. One coat covers, which is the whole argument for a $14.95 bottle on a busy Saturday.
Chocolate Moose $14.95
F035 Grunge Queen
F034 Totally Red-ical
F028 Penny Loafer Lane
F036 Baggy Jean Baby
Fall starts 22 September. Brown is the color it starts in.
The September color write ups this year land on chocolate, espresso and tortoiseshell over a neutral base, with a high gloss finish. That is a brown gel, a clear top coat and a magnetic or two, which is a short shopping list for a season that runs to Thanksgiving.
Over 150 fall 2026 items Build a fall set in 3 picksThe base coat that joined the Royal top coat
Royal's top coat landed on 5 September and the base coat followed it on Thursday, so the pair is complete. It comes in the 0.5oz bottle at $8 and a 16oz refill at $99, which is the format a salon running eight chairs actually wants, because a back bar refills brushes rather than buying bottles. There is also a bundle listing of the 16oz refill with 18 free 0.5oz bottles for $119, which works out to a refill plus a bottle for every station. If your base coat sits under a builder gel rather than color, check the cure time on your LED nail lamp before you switch, because a thicker base wants the full 60 seconds.
Soak off gel base, 0.5oz or 16oz refill, single
$8, 16oz refill $99
Same house as the Royal top coat that went up on 5 September, so the two are made to cure together. Buy the 0.5oz to test it on one chair and the 16oz once it earns the back bar.
Royal Base Coat $8The refill bundle. The 16oz refill with 18 free 0.5oz bottles is $119, listed on the same day. That is one refill for the back bar and a bottle at every station, with change left from what the 0.5oz bottles cost on their own.
Cre8tion: the holiday pedicure bomb, and the top coat that keeps the set clean
Two Cre8tion items round out the week. The first is the holiday edition of the pedicure soak bomb, listed Thursday: 60 tree shaped bombs in a jar for $39, which is 65 cents a bowl for a scented, fizzing first step that every chair does the same way. If you ran the Pumpkins and Leaves jar, this is the December version, on the shelf three months early on purpose, because the bowl is the first thing a client notices and December books fill before Thanksgiving. The second is not new, but it belongs next to the OPI: the Diamond no wipe top coat in the HEMA free, TPO free formula, at $6.95, so a clean gel service stays clean at the last step. Both sit in the Cre8tion range, over 3,000 items deep.
SKU 19621, 60 pieces per jar, single
$39
Drop one in the bowl and the water fizzes into a scented soak. Pre-portioned, so the step costs the same at every chair and nobody eyeballs the salts.
Holiday Soak Bomb, 60 pieces $39
Soak off gel top coat, 0.5oz, single
$6.95
The last coat on a HEMA free set should be HEMA free as well, or the label promise ends one step early. No wipe, high gloss, and half the price of the color underneath it.
Diamond Top Coat $6.95Questions we got on the floor this week
Is OPI Intelli-Gel really HEMA free and TPO free?
Yes. Every Intelli-Gel shade C8 lists carries both on the label, including the 53 added on 10 September. It is a different formula from the original OPI GelColor, so if a client reacted to the old bottle, this is the one to try. It still cures under a standard LED lamp.
Why does TPO matter if the ban is in Europe?
Because the same brands sell in both markets and reformulate once. The EU ban took effect on 1 September 2025, so the newer gels arriving this fall are mostly TPO free whether the US requires it or not. Stocking them now means you are not explaining a label change to clients later.
Are the 53 new shades in stock right now?
They were listed on 10 September and the product page is the honest answer on availability, because the Garden Grove showroom sells the same stock and the counter does not write back to the website in real time. For a case or a full color set, call 714-868-7088 and we will check the shelf before you pay.
Should I buy the 0.5oz Royal base coat or the 16oz refill first?
The 0.5oz. Test it under your color on one chair for a week. If it holds, the 16oz refill at $99 holds the same gel as 32 of the $8 bottles, and the bundle with 18 free bottles at $119 covers the whole floor in one order.