[Purchased, affiliate links used]
Hey friends! I am super duper excited to share this collection with you all. I am 100000% over summer at this point so I am pumped for Fall collection season! I just baked my last lemon dessert of the season (Lemon Bars in case anyone is curious) and I am ready to bring back all of my favorite apple and pumpkin recipes.
All of that way to say for Fall 2022 Orly is bringing us the Surrealist collection. This is a 6 piece collection featuring 4 cremes and 2 shimmers. According to Orly, this collection is inspired by “dreams and reality”. It is currently available in all of the places Orly is sold and of course, I will have links and sale information 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.
Ceci N’est Pas Blanc
Description: an eggshell creme
Ceci N’est Pas Blanc had a pretty good formula. In comparison to some of the other polishes in this release, the formula felt a little bit thicker but I didn’t have any issues with the application.
Colorwise, this polish was my least favorite from this release. I am not really a fan of white/off white cremes in general so this didn’t really od anything for me.
My photos show Ceci N’est Pas Blanc in 3 coats plus glossy top coat. I do think this polish will be a 2-3 coater depending on your application.
Dreamers Awake
Description: a light grey creme
Dreamers Awake had a pretty good formula. It was slightly on the thinner side but I found the application easy. I will note, that this will flood your cuticle crevice area if you go in heavy handed. And yes, I did in fact go in heavy handed on the first coat.
I love a good grey creme, and this is definitely that. While I do tend to prefer thicker formulas for cremes this had good opaque coverage in 2 coats so I really liked it.
My photos show Dreamers Awake in 2 coats plus glossy top coat.
Elysian Fields
Description: a moss green creme
Elysian Fields also had a really great formula. The base felt a little thin so the polish did seem to want to run down the stem of the brush quite a bit. However, I didn’t find that it made the application difficult.
If you dislike prugly (pretty + ugly) colors, I am sure you are hating this one. As someone who does like prugly shades, I really liked this color. I feel like it has a browner look to it than what I consider a moss green. It’s a very earthy greenish brownish color.
This polish had pretty good coverage in 2 coats. I had a tiny bit of VNL on the clear part of my nail at some angles. I think this will be a 2-3 coater depending on personal preference. My photos show Elysian Fields in 2 coats plus top coat.
Metamorphosis
Description: a teal polish featuring a copper shimmer finish.
Metamorphosis had a really nice formula. It starts off a little sheer but it builds up really well for full opacity. The shimmer in here is pretty strong. I thought at first it might have some color shifts (copper to gold) to it but I think that it was just lighting.
The shimmer does have a lot of brush strokes while the polish is wet but they all disappear as the polish dries. I will note, if you look really closely I feel like my camera picked up some brush strokes but my eyes weren’t seeing any in person.
I swatched Metamorphosis in 2 coats plus glossy top coat. I kinda thought this one might stain but I didn’t have any issues with staining.
Persistent Memory
Description: deep red creme
Persistent Memory had a really great formula. This polish was a little bit thicker than the previous polishes in this release but my personal preference on thickness for a creme.
I will also note, this one didn’t have that jelly formula that reds often had. It was also very opaque. I could potentially see shorter nail folks getting away with just 1 coat.
I swatched Persistent Memory in 2 coats plus glossy top coat. I didn’t experience any staining with this polish but I will say if you get this one in your cuticle area, it is going to look very gory.
Stop The Clock
Description: a chocolate metallic shimmer
Stop The Clock had a really fantastic formula. This was the most opaque polish from the release. Which is pretty impressive given that it is a shimmer. It is pretty much a 1 coat wonder!
The shimmer effect does show some brush strokes when the polish is wet but they mostly disappear as the polish dries. You will really have to search to see them once the polish is dry.
If I hadn’t read the description for this polish and saw that the brand describes it as a chocolate brown shade, I would have called this a very dark brick red with a copper shimmer.
My photos show Stop the Clock in 2 coats plus glossy top coat. I didn’t experience any staining but I would definitely recommend base coat with this polish as it is super pigmented!
Final Thoughts
Overall, I am very happy with this collection. I really liked the color story and the formulas were all pretty good.
My only complaint that isn’t really a complaint is that I don’t really like Ceci N’est Pas Blanc but that’s just because I find that color pretty boring.
My favorite polishes were Metamorphosis and Elysian Fields.
Color Pass Items
As I mentioned, I purchased this collection through the Orly Color Pass subscription. The Color Pass box also came with Orly’s nail polish remover called Genius Remover as well as their matte top coat.
So far I have tried the remover with cremes, shimmers, and one flakie polish. It works really well but I do not like the fragrance. It’s very strong and smells kinda floral to me. I was really hoping that it would smell better.
As far as the matte top coat goes. I do like the level of matte-ness it gets. However, I do find that about halfway through the bottle this does get those white chunks on the nail. So it’s ok but not great long term.
I got a bottle of this matte top coat from my 2020 Color Pass box (feel free to cringe at those photos, I sure do). I just grabbed this photo from that review because my dog decided the matte top coat was a toy and now I can’t find the bottle to take a new photo.
Orly
18ml, 12 Free, Vegan & Cruelty-Free
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Sale Information
The Surrealist collection is available right now in all of the places Orly is sold. I received mine through the Orly Color Pass subscription. The yearly Color Pass is the least expensive way to get all of the Orly collections
If you would like to sign up for Color Pass, just click here. Use code FIRSTBOXFREE or code SHARETHELOVE to save even more money.
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