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Oh hi there, it’s me! With my 2nd post of this week!! Of the year even!! Look at me go!
If you missed my previous post – in fact my first post of 2025 – it had a nice little novel to start it (you all know how much I like to yap). As the author of said post, I do recommend reading the whole thing, but I’ll give a little quick summary here. First I go over how many life changes I’ve gone through while keeping this blog, and it’s all very sentimental. But I also talk about how this blog was the item to get pushed to the back burner this past year, and how I truly want to remedy that in 2025. We’re going to work to get to a ‘3 posts a week’ schedule, and there’s just so much nail polish and makeup content on the way (yes more makeup review!!). This blog has been kicking for this long, there’s no way I’m abandoning it before my true 10 year anniversary.
In my time of not writing here, I did build up a nice little backlog of swatches and photos and little thoughts. I’ve been posting away on Instagram still, (if you want to follow me there too, that would be nice), yet those collections didn’t receive their complimenting blog. Instagram is fun for the moment, but the blog comes in for the archive. I see you all searching up OPI’s Fall 2022 collection in our year of 2025, I know how much you all like an archive. So in the work of filling in the gaps, we’re looking at recent mainstream brand releases first.
A mainstream brand like Orly!! That’s right, today we’re looking at Orly’s winter collection, from this past winter 2024 (I know that doesn’t seem too far off, after all it is still winter, but I have plenty of other much older collections to get up here).
This is their ‘Après Ski’ collection – yes add that little accent mark in there, be fancy, pretend you’re on a posh ski vacation as you wear these shades. Orly says to “embrace the magic of winter with crisp cremes and luxe glitters that capture the essence of the season”, and that’s a great little summary for this color palette. We have their normal 6 piece release, with 4 cremes and 2 gorgeous glitter shades in a variety of neutrals accompanied by a few rich pops of color. The names are all themed after the idea of hitting the slopes and then cozying up at the fireplace after. It’s the fantasy we all need to make it through these long cold months.
As always this collection is available on Orly’s website. Now let’s dive on into the swatches!
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We start right out with ‘Last Run’, and yes, Last is first here. This is a rich and pigmented deep navy creme s. It does have some muted, dustiness, almost “winterizing” it down from the bright cobalt blues we often see in summer.
With this rich color, it was easily opaque in just 2 coats. There was some squish to the first coat making it a touch sheer, with some nail line peeking through. But the 2nd coat comes in and covers any last patches. Overall it was a smooth formula, and a great start to our run (run, like skiing, get it).
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Now we get into one of our two SPARKLY shades. This is ‘Double Diamond’, and it’s a perfect name for this shade, as it’s a dense silvery shimmer. There’s also some aqua blue glitters scattered all throughout, giving it an icy tone.
Since this is a dense shimmer in a clear base, it does take more building up and layering. But I was able to get it opaque with just 3 thinner coats. It painted on smoothly overall and just look at that finish! It has enough base in between the sparkles, so it’s not really textured, but a top coat will gloss it up and really amp up that glitter even more.
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We’re back with the cremes with ‘Snow Bunny’ and this is truly a perfect neutral for my skintone. It’s a soft rosy shade, an almost dusty pink and it’s a shade that’ll pull differently depending on your own undertones.
And I’m so happy to say this has a lovely formula. There were just a few patches after the 1st coat, but a 2nd coat easily comes in and makes it fully opaque. It’s just a perfect little neutral to compliment a rich navy blue or a bright silver glitter.
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‘Fresh Powder’ is a light, soft blue shade. There are definite green tones to it – the video doesn’t love to pick that up, but I always adjust any swatch photo to give the most accurate real life color. Those warmer green tones do make it more aqua blue, and almost minty on the nails. It keeps it from looking super stark on the nails, and gives some coziness back.
I was impressed by the formula on this one, as I always expect more streaks and patches with such white-based colors. But it was pretty well opaque in just 2 coats! On my super ridged nails, I did end up adding a 3rd coat as I had some patches peeking through, but for those with smoother nails, you can count on those 2 coats.
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Now for our round of sparkles. This is ‘Twinkling Lights’ and again, it’s such a fitting name for the shade. This is a warmer toned rose gold dense glitter shade, and yes I would in fact describe it as twinkly.
Again we have a dense glitter in a clear base, so like ‘Double Diamond’ above it could be used as a 1 coat topper. Otherwise I was able to build it up to this full opacity with 3 coats. The glitter picks up easily and paints on smoothly and this shade is just so fun. It does have a tiny bit more texture since the glitters are a touch larger, but again a top coat will smooth it out and really bring out that sparkle.
Twinkling Lights – Live Swatch
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Last but certainly not least, we end our trip to the slopes with another gorgeous creme. This is ‘Chalet Getaway’ and it does just feel like a cozy chalet moment on the nails. Like I’m a fancy lady with one of those fur hats. Maybe a vest. Why yes, I am painting a whole visual for you. Anyways, this shade is a warmer toned milk chocolate brown.
And this had another easy 2 coat formula. It painted on so smoothly and I had no issues with it! It’s a great neutral shade, and a great shade to round out the collection.
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That’s the set! I do really love Orly’s polishes and formulas at this point, and this was another solid and reliable release from them. We have some gorgeous cremes here as well as some pops of sparkle, perfect to cover any sort of winter mood you might be feeling. All of the shades were opaque in 2-3 coats and I simply have no complaints!
What do you think of this winter release? Are you interested in any of these shades?
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Upcoming Posts
Holo Taco Birthstone collection • Pleasing x Fantasia collections • Mooncat Fallen collection • ILNP Eternal collection • Glam Polish Rainbow Pop collection
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PR Disclosure: Though the shades in this post were sent to me, I was under no obligation to post from the brand. I never guarantee positive reviews, and all thoughts and opinions are my own. I review these shades thoroughly and in the same manner as I would with any polishes purchased with my own money.
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