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Hey friends! Today’s blog post is for a new-ish collection by Orly. For Spring 2021 Orly was inspired by the Impressionist era and is bringing us the Impressions collection.
Full disclosure, spring collections are usually my least favorite of all of the seasonal releases so I went into swatching this with pretty low expectations. But you know, it’s nail polish so obviously, I’m interested!
As always I will have links to where you can pick these up as well as some comparisons at the of the post. The collection is available now in all of the places where Orly is sold.
Live Swatch Video
Orly is a US based mainstream brand. Their polishes are in massive 18ml bottles, 12 free, cruelty free and vegan friendly.
Parcs & Parasols
Description: a soft rosy brown creme
Parcs & Parasols had a really nice formula. I have gotten used to thicker creme formulas so my first thought was that it was pretty thin but by the time I got to the second coat, I decided that it wasn’t really thin.
It had pretty good coverage for a lighter shade. I would say the description is fairly accurate. My photos are a bit lighter than the polish was in real life. I am still working on getting used to my new camera so things keep coming out a bit lighter than they should, sorry!
My photos show Parcs & Parasols in 2 coats plus top coat. For this swatch I used the Orly Shining Armor top coat that came with the Color Pass.
Danse With Me
Description: a pastel peachy pink creme
Danse With Me had an ok formula. I found it to be thin (not watery, just thin) and pretty streaky. The streaks weren’t that big of a surprise since it is very much a pastel. You will want to build this one up for opacity.
Depending on your application, this *might* have some uneven spots after 3 coats. I found on my middle nail, I can quite a few light spots that weren’t on my other nails. To get the best coverage, float the brush over the nail and do not drag it.
I found the color to be a warm peachy pink in person. It seems to dry down slightly darker than it applied. I think it will likely be a solid 3 coater on pretty much everyone. Like the previous polish, this is slightly lighter in color than what I was seeing in person.
My photos show Danse With Me in 3 coats plus top coat.
Golden Afternoon
Description: a buttercream creme
Golden Afternoon had a pretty good formula. It was a little streaky but with careful application, you can avoid uneven spots.
In person, I feel like the color of this was somewhere between a pastel yellow and light mustard. This is not the color I think of when I think buttercream but that might be because my brain is going straight to buttercream frosting.
My photos show Good Afternoon in 3 coats. This will be a 2-3 coater depending on your application. I had 1 nail that was good in 2 coats but all of the others needed 3 to cover light spots (and cat hair).
Artists Garden
Description: a pastel earthy green creme
Artists Garden had a beautiful formula. It applied really nicely and I just loved how buttery smooth this polish went on.
In person, this was a sagey green. Not like Fall sagey green more like a springtime sage green. Maybe even a pistachio green? While the color isn’t my personal favorite, it did look pretty nice in person.
My photos show Artists Garden in 2 coats. I think this will likely be a 2 coater on most people.
Bleu Iris
Description: a pastel cornflower blue
Bleu Iris had a beautiful formula. Like the previous polish, this applied buttery smooth. Out of all of the colors, I think I was most excited about this one. Like I really want to wear this for a pedicure.
In person, to my eye I thought this was a periwinkle leaning blue. I can *kinda* see cornflower but my original notes were calling it periwinkle.
My photos show Bleu Iris in 2 coats plus top coat.
Provence At Dusk
Description: a lilac creme
Provence At Dusk had a pretty good formula. It applied really nicely an I didn’t have any issues with it. This was another color that color wise, I tend to like.
I would call this a medium lilac shade in person. I particularly really liked how this looked in natural lighting.
My photos show Provence At Dusk in 2 coats. I think it will likely be a solid 2 coater.
Comparisons
I really thoughts Parcs & Parasols looked A LOT like Roam With Me from the Fall 2020 collection. In the bottle, they look pretty similar but swatched they’re different.
Immediately, I thought to compare this one with Holo Taco’s Laven-Duh (reviewed here Winter Shimmers).
Another lilac creme I wanted to compare this is this really fun one from Geekish Glitter Lacquer called Love Bug. It was recently released and I will have a review up later this week. Again not dupes despite both being “lilac”.
Next up for comparisons is Matcha Maker (review up over here Tea Cremes). Again, not dupes.
Final comparison is yet another Holo Taco from the Tea Cremes collection, Butterscotch Hop. Still note dupes.
Final Thoughts
To be perfectly honest, I wasn’t a huge fan of this collection. I was really hoping Orly was going to do some atypical Spring colors like last year. I like all of the colors together as a whole but pastel creme polishes don’t really do much for me. Formula and application wise, I had no real complaints though.
My favorite polish from the collection is going to be Bleu Iris.
The Orly Color Pass came with Orly’s new-ish top coat called the Shining Armor. I wasn’t a fan of it for swatching so other than trying it with Parcs & Parasols I haven’t tried it again, YET. I want to give it another shot before I completely write it off as I have heard some people really liking it. My thing is that for swatching I need things to dry *fast* and I didn’t find it dried as quickly as my go-to by KBShimmer so I haven’t picked it up again YET. I’m sure I will at some point.
Orly
18ml, 12 Free, Vegan & Cruelty-Free
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Sale Information
This collection is available right now in all of the places that Orly is sold in both regular polish and gel polish. Currently, I am seeing it for sale on the Orly website, Ulta, BeyondPolish (use my affiliate code NicoleLovesNails to save 10%), Head2ToeBeauty and Amazon.
If you signup now for the Orly Color Pass, the summer collection (review coming soon) is currently the one shipping.
Thanks so much for reading. I would love to hear your thoughts on this collection.
