[Press Samples, affiliate links used]
Hey friends! Continuing with the mainstream summer 2023 releases, today’s blog post is for Orly’s nail polish collection! I will say this now, this collection is not what I expected. I will get into the why on that later though.
This collection is available now on the Orly website as well as on Amazon. It should be up on Beyond Polish shortly where you can use my affiliate code NicoleLovesNails to save an extra 10% on the Beyond Polish website. As always, I will have links to more places where you can purchase these polishes at the end of the post!
Live Swatch Video
Orly is a US based mainstream brand. Their polishes are in massive 18ml bottles, 12 free, cruelty free and vegan friendly.
Embrace Danger
Description: a fiery coral red shimmer
Embrace Danger I swatched this polish immediately after the uh, interesting experience with the OPI summer collection. While I still don’t really like this pearlized finish, the formula on Embrace Danger was fantastic.
If you go in for thick coats, coverage could be a passable one coater if you aren’t super picky. You do get a lot of brush strokes through the pearl finish but coverage is even and you can easily smooth the lines out before the polish dries.
My photos show Embrace Danger in 2 coats plus glossy top coat.
I immediately thought this polish would be a dupe for Essie’s U Wish (Essie Valentine’s Day 2023). U Wish is more red toned. Side by side, U Wish looks *a lot* redder next to Embrace Danger.
Follow The Map
Description: a coral pink shimmer
Follow The Map this was the most not for me color out of the release. Between being a pearl finish and a coral, I was pretty uninterested. It is pinkier than Embrace Danger.
Formula and application were fantastic for this polish. You do still get brush strokes through the shimmer due to the type of finish though.
My photos show Follow The Map in 2 coats plus glossy top coat.
On A Whim
Description: a citrus lime creme
On A Whim was one of the colors that I was most excited to try. This is a beautiful prugly green. My husband refers to this color as calf scour green. If you don’t know what that is, I do not recommend looking it up.
This seems to have more yellow/brown in it than what I think of as a lime green. Nonetheless, I love it and appreciate the addition to the collection.
The formula and application were both pretty good. It self leveled nicely but was slightly on the thicker side. It did seem to dry down a little bit sheerer than it applied as well as drying semi-matte. Coverage was ok but I had a few nails that had some dark spots after 2 coats.
My photos show On A Whim in 3 coats plus glossy top coat. I think this will be a 2-3 coater depending on application.
I wanted to compare this to one of my favorite “calf” colors, China Glaze Budding Romance. This is much darker than that polish. It is however, incredibly close to Sally Hansen’s Go Figures which is a newer release. It is slightly brighter but close enough that you probably don’t need both.
Close Call
Description: a teal shimmer
Close Call and back to the shimmers we go. I did like the color of this polish. It’s like an aqua or turquoise. The pearlescent finish still irks me though.
I found formula and application to be pretty nice. I noticed while I was doing my live swatches that this polish does not like to be overworked. You will create bald spots with it if you do that. I did still find that it applies evenly enough that you don’t really need to overwork it anyway.
My photos show Close Call in 2 coats plus glossy top coat.
Lost Treasure
Description: a medium blue shimmer
Lost Treasure out of all of the colors, I feel like this one is the least summer feeling to me. It feels so cool and frosty?
Again, formula and application were all good. This is a frosty almost dusty medium blue shade. Brush strokes aplenty through the shimmer.
My photos show Lost Treasure in 2 coats plus glossy top coat.
I thought it would be nice to compare Lost Treasure to Ascension, another frosty blue shade Orly recently released from the Futurism winter 2022 collection.
Off The Grid
Description: a cobalt creme
Off The Grid is love at first sight!! I feel like this polish is a tiny bit more white than my personal preferred shade of cobalt blue but it is beautiful nonetheless.
Formulation, application and coverage were all fantastic! Buttery smooth, decent coverage but not a one coater.
My photos show Off The Grid in 2 coats plus glossy top coat. This polish does dry down pretty flat so you will want top coat for a glossy finish
I knew folks would want to know how similar Off The Grid is to the famous Pacific Blue by Sally Hansen. Sadly, I do not own the original I only have the dupe In The Pacific from Moonshine Mani. They are very close but not exact dupes. Likely close enough that unless you are like me and are obsessed with cobalt blues, you don’t need both.
Final Thoughts
I was disappointed by this collection. I was hoping for some bright and fun colors for summer and I don’t feel like we quite got that from Orly this year. I don’t think this was a bad collection by any means, as a whole the collection just wasn’t for me.
I did however LOVE Off The Grid and On A Whim. While they weren’t the most unique colors to my collection, they are both colors I don’t mind owning dupes for.
Orly
18ml, 12 Free, Vegan & Cruelty-Free
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Sale Information
The Great Escape collection is available now on OrlyBeauty.com as well as all of the places where Orly is sold. Amazon currently has both the full collection as well as individual listings for each color.
The collection will also soon be available at one of my favorite online nail polish retailers, Beyond Polish. On top of the polishes already being down from MSRP you can save an extra 10% with my affiliate code, NicoleLovesNails.
Orly is also sold at Ulta, Target, Walmart and Sally Beauty.
