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Hi friends! Today I am sharing the newest collection from Orly’s Breathable line. For Fall/Winter 2023 we have the Spice It Up collection, although to be honest this collection feels more Fall-ish than Winter-ish.
The Breathable line is billed to be a 1 step nail polish, so you don’t have to wear base or top coat with the polishes. I did use base and top coat for all of my swatches as I treat this line as normal nail polish.
Spice It Up is available right now on the Orly website. It is currently also up on Amazon and should be up on Beyond Polish shortly. As always, more sale deets can be found at the end of the post and if you would like to see these in natural lighting do check out my live swatch video!
P.S I cracked my nail halfway through swatching this collection so if you notice a chunk missing, that is what happened. I wanted to finish swatching these in one day so I just painted over the crack.
Live Swatch Video
Orly is a US based mainstream brand. Their polishes are in massive 18ml bottles, 12 free, cruelty free and vegan friendly.
Back For S’more
Description: the darkest olive
Back For S’more why a super dark green is called Back For S’more is beyond me. This polish is incredibly dark, so dark it will appear black in low lighting.
The formula on this was very much on the thicker side, I didn’t need to add any thinner nor did I experience any application issues but it is very thick. It was pretty streaky on the first coat but built up perfectly in two coats.
I am not the biggest fan of colors this dark but I did like how Back For S’more looks on me.
My photos show Back For S’more in 2 coats plus glossy top coat. Removal will be very easy but I will caution against staining.
Caught Off Gourd
Description: orange-yellow creme
Caught Off Gourd is one of the colors that I was really looking forward to. I love yellow oranges especially ones that are kinda mustardy.
On the first coat, this is a little streaky but not terribly so for a yellow. On the second coat, it was still pretty uneven and patchy. The third coat for the most part everything evens out but only with careful application.
I love this shade of yellow but I don’t really love the formula. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t really all that good either, even for a yellow.
My photos show Caught Off Gourd in 3 coats plus glossy top coat. It does dry pretty flat so you will need top coat for a glossy finish.
Look At The Thyme
Description: a rich green creme
Look At The Thyme I have been really loving colors like this lately. I didn’t like colors like this until I started this blog 3 years ago so it is still a surprise to me when I go head over heels about them.
Formula and application were both fantastic. If you go in for very thick coats, you could get it opaque in two coats. I opted to use 2 thinner coats for my swatches.
My photos show Look At The Thyme in 2 coats plus glossy top coat.
Since Essie also came out with a camo green color in their fall collection, I just wanted to show the two side by side. Not dupes but you also probably don’t need both.
No Fig Deal
Description: a purple dark creme
No Fig Deal first off, this is NOT a dark purple. This is a very dark brick red, dark enough that it will look black in low lighting.
The formula on this was pretty good and it applied nicely. I reached full opacity with two coats.
I am a little surprised that we have two polishes in this release that look black in low lighting. Much like the last darker color, it’s not for me but that doesn’t make it bad.
My photos show No Fig Deal in 2 coats plus glossy top coat. I didn’t personally experience any staining but I would still wear base coat just in case.
Rooting For You
Description: a earthy brown creme
Rooting For You had a fantastic formula that leans a little crelly like. It’s sheer on the first coat but built up nicely for me in two coats. Looking at my photos, I feel like I can see some uneveness in the base that I don’t recall seeing in person.
This a very red toned brown, think burnt sienna type of red toned brown. Despite being a warm brown, I didn’t find this gave me the dreaded lobster hands.
My photos show Rooting For You in 2 coats plus glossy top coat. This might be a potentional three coater depending on personal preference and application style.
Yam It Up
Description: the orange that’s got everyone talking
Yam It Up my first impression of this polish was ‘holy moly is this one thick!’. I have never experienced an Orly creme as thick as this one. It self leveled nicely, applied pretty well too but it was just shy of needing a dash of thinner.
Other than the thickness, I loved this polish. Orly’s description leaves a lot to be desired so I will describe it as a warm yam or sweet potato orange that leans a little brown.
Coverage was pretty fantastic on this polish, not quite a one coater but really close.
My photos show Yam It Up in 2 coats plus glossy top coat. This does dry down pretty dull so you will want top coat for a glossy finish.
I didn’t think to compare the Yam It Up to In Conservatory (Plot Twist) until I was making the collage for this collection. The two aren’t dupes or super comparable but they’re both warm oranges so I wanted to just do a side by side in case anyone was curious since they’re both newer releases.
Final Thoughts
For a Fall collection, I. thought this was fantastic. For a holiday collection, the color story wasn’t giving me holiday vibes. Overall I do like the color story a lot.
My only real disappointment from the release was Caught Off Gourd which was also going to be my top pick from the release. I just didn’t love the formula even if it wasn’t the worst yellow ever. Although I do also wish we didn’t have two polishes that looked black in low lighting but that’s mainly because I don’t like colors that dark.
My top picks from this release are going to be Yam it Up and Look At The Thyme.
Orly
18ml, 12 Free, Vegan & Cruelty-Free
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Sale Information
Spice It Up is available now in places where Orly is sold. The collection is available on the Orly website, Amazon and Beyond Polish.
