Orly
Orly Gems Collection for Fall 2008
They say diamonds are a girl’s best friend. Not for this gal. Oh no, it’s all about gemstones for me. Emeralds, Sapphires, Rubies, Amethysts, Tanzanites; I heart them all!
Being a May baby, emerald is obviously my favorite stone and do you think that has anything to do with my love of green? Nah! But it is a point of contention for me with the Orly Gems collection. No emerald green!! Orly is one of the few brands that has yet to put out jewel toned green these past few years. So what’s the holdup people? Lets make that happen.
So back to the Gems collection. I have to say that without the gumball machine plastic rings on each bottle, I wouldn’t have pegged this as a gemstone themed lineup. It’s pretty and rich and filled with vivid colors but doesn’t scream jewelry to me. On the plus side, the colors are well pigmented, Golden Jubilee being the only three coater.
Star of Bombay is a deep blue-black with shimmer that really pops in the sunlight and adds depth indoors. 
Golden Jubilee looks much more orange than golden (i.e. gold) to me. It’s as if Heat Wave from the High Voltage collection lost its tan.
Golden Maharaja is a luscious red based chocolate shimmer. I’m always looking for a great brown to wear in support of my Cleveland Browns and this one fits the bill.
Mandalay Ruby is the lone creme in the bunch. This crimson hue has a slightly dusty tone that keeps it from going the fire engine holiday red route.
Midnight Star is a metallic deep violet and while I love the color, the application is no bueno. The look of metallic polishes, when applied well, is amazing. I just don’t have the skill or patience.
Sea of the Light is a deep rosy pink shimmer. In the gem world, it reminds me of a pink tourmaline. A pretty pink but it’s not really a fall shade.
The Orly Gems collection is on sale now and can be purchased online at 8ty8Beauty.com and Head2ToeBeauty.com and in stores at ULTA and Sally Beauty.
Isn’t Sheeee, Pretty In Pink (Creme)
I’m not a girly pink loving kind of girl. I give that title to my girl Nikki who is pink personified. However, this summer in addition to my major orange fetish, I’m all about a glossy pink nail. But I’m not talking about baby pinks or sheers here. No it’s all about bright, bold, hot pink cremes. Creme finishes give these vibrant hues a chic spin that keeps them from being too garish.
And I’m not the only one feeling this trend. Celebs like Lindsay Lohan, Vanessa Mannillo and Miley Cyrus have all been caught rocking the pink. And even though the hamsters on Big Brother 10 have only been streaming live for a couple days now, one of the contestants, Keesha, has already delved into the nail polish stash to pinkify her nails.
If you want to join the Pretty In Pink-ness here are the shades I recommend. For a slightly softer pink that still makes a splash try: Wet N Wild Dreamy Poppy, Essie Movers & Shakers, OPI Elephantastic Pink, Essie Guilty Pleasures, Orly Butterflies, Nubar Camelot Blossom
And if you want to go for full-on bright, in-your-face fuchsia look for CND Hot Pop Pink, Zoya Jewell, OPI That’s Hot Pink, NARS Schiap, Lippmann Angel Eyes and Nubar Geisha Blaze. (Note: Geisha Blaze & Angel Eyes have extremely subtle shimmer but it doesn’t show on the nail)
Now the trick in pulling this look off is perfect application. Any bubbles, dents or ridges will only be magnified with a creme so prep is the most important step. If you aren’t going to a salon (I don’t) make sure you buff out any flaws and use a great ridge filling base coat, like Seche, to give the lacquer a smooth application surface.
It’s A Neon, Neon World With Essie & Orly
As my favorite nail color queen, Rihanna, has already shown us, bright, bold, in-your-face shades are what’s hot right now. She’s been spotted wearing orange, teal, purple, etc. and even though she’s driving the bandwagon other young celebs are jumping on board. Take Lindsay Lohan for example. She wore a hot pink to match her prom-tastic dress at her 22nd birthday party and was caught lighting up (don’t do it!) with glowing orange tips.
To feed your need for neon, Essie and Orly have hit us with a one-two punch of bright, four color collections for Summer.
The Essie Neons are quite a departure for the usually subdued brand. They tend to target the conservative, classic nail fanatic. I give Essie two thumbs up for addressing the trend. Unfortunately I have to give a thumbs up/thumbs down to the formula. While half the shades (Mini Shorts & Short Shorts) were OK, the others (Bermuda Shorts & Shorty Pants) were pretty nightmarish. As expected, the neon pigments cause these polishes to dry matte but for some reason they don’t smooth out easily. You have to put in some work to avoid an uneven texture. But the colors, love them! Mini Shorts is definitely my favorite.
Orly High Voltage is a mixture of saucy shimmers and punchy cremes. The gold shimmer in Heat Wave is captivating. As soon as I picked up the bottle, I had to have it on my tips. It’s really a stand out lacquer for me. Charged Up is a nice grape but it’s also the only polish I had application issues with. I needed three coats to get even, full coverage. And if I were picking a hot reddish pink, Hot Shot would be my choice. It’s way more vibrant in person, somewhat shocking.
The polishes pictured are shown with a top coat since the majority dry matte. I chose images for each lacquer that best represented the color so they aren’t all shown in sunlight.
The Essie Neons and Orly High Voltage collections are available now online and in stores including hair and nail salons, Trade Secret, ULTA, Sally Beauty Supply and Regis. Contact your local retailer to check availability.
Orly Neue Neutrals
Unlike all the other brands that are giving us bold and unusual colors for fall, Orly went down a different path. The Neue Neutrals collection will definitely appeal to the general buying public with it’s range of “neutral” pinks, berries and plums.
Let’s face it, while it seems like there are a ton of us who LOVE greens, blues, holo shimmer and glitter, we are seriously in the minority. Orly realizes this and addresses the need for color basics with this collection. That’s not to say all the colors are boring or unoriginal but they probably won’t be the next Chanel Black Satin.
One thing I’ve always loved about Orly polishes is the rubberized black cap. It’s so comfortable and easy to grip. I feel that it really helps with application. Now maybe I just got an odd bottle but for some reason the brush in Plum Noir was thinner than the rest. I hope it was just a fluke. Ok, on to the colors.
Too Much Bubbly is a hard one to describe. It’s a champagne but with silver shimmer and can look a bit pink in the right light. It’s not a color I’d choose but it’s unique. My mother will undoubtedly love this. She loves gold, silver and metallics. This is two coats and as you can see, it’s still a bit sheer. Due to it’s metallic nature I expected brush strokes to be an issue but they weren’t.
Not So Dusty Rose is a pretty silvery pink. The subtle silver shimmer keeps this one from falling flat. I’ll have to do a side by side comparison but this may be similar to OPI Rosey Posey. The application on this one was flawless. I was extremely impressed.
Quite Contrary Berry did nothing for my skin tone. It looks like a browned raspberry creme, applied well, only needed two coats and left a high gloss shine but just isn’t my color.
Not Your Mama’s Mauve is deeper than the typical “pukey mauve” as coined on the nail board. In my opinion this shade is best suited to darker skin tones. Like the cremes in this collection, Not Your Mama’s Mauve applied extremely well. Now as much as I expected to hate it, when I saw this color on my hands, I couldn’t stop staring. It’s not like this is some mesmerizing shade but for me it’s completely out of my comfort zone. Tell me in the comments if Not Your Mama’s Mauve is a “keeper or crap” on me.
Vanguard Violet looks more berry than purple to me but hey, I’m not in charge of the names. It has a pretty metallic shimmer, similar to the finish on Too Much Bubbly and just as nice to apply. The shade definitely leans to the purple side of berry but I’m still not calling it a purple.
Plum Noir is a glossy vampy plum and is sure to be a favorite of dark polish lovers. I’ve seen a few comments saying this is a twin to Zoya Lael or a as Shammy so eloquently put it, “sisters from another mister.” I still need to investigate for myself.
The Neue Neutrals collection is in stores and online now. I recently saw it at Sally Beauty Supply but supplies are limited.
Anyone bought these yet? Thoughts?
Orly Divorcee Collection
OMG you guys, this collection is totally cracking me up. It’s obvious that Orly has a great sense of humor with this new Divorcee collection. The color names and tag line are priceless.
“Some romances don’t last forever” No kidding! It’s about time someone said it. Over a year ago a good friend of mine had a “Divorce Party” to celebrate her re-entry into the dating scene. It puzzled some people but I loved the idea and the party was an absolute blast. It was a celebration for her and for all the people that stood by her during that really rough period.
Even if you’re not going through a divorce (knock on wood), I’m sure you know someone that is or has. I’ll bet they get a kick out receiving one of these totally fun colors, if only for the names alone.
Lisa N.
Ms Meatballhead
Birdie
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