Starrily ‘Noble Gas Neons’ Collection – Swatches & Review

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PR SAMPLE

Two things about me and this blog:

1. Starrily is a brand that’s always hovering around in the edge of my brain, as I keep up with their newer releases, hoping for a collection to grab my eye. (Although their recent Love Spell set was INSANELY GORGEOUS and also sold out SO fast).

And, 2. for the longest time, after I first started wearing nail polish consistently, I just plain avoided neons. I just couldn’t be bothered with swatching them over a white base, they were streaky, they were sheer, and they just didn’t feel worth it to me.

BUT with that point, we have been so blessed as neons have continually improved over the years, and we’ve been getting more and more opaque formulas. We no longer need white bases to get that intense brightness, and so my interests have changed. I’m a new person, with new nails, and these nails understand the beauty of a neon nail in the summer sun.

And so when Starrily reached out to send over their newest set of 6 new neon shades, both of those scratches above were wonderfully itched, and I couldn’t be more excited.

Said collection is the ‘Noble Gas Neons’ collection from Starrily. As you can tell, it features 6 more squishy, yet still bright neon shades. We’ve got the more “typical” neon shades, from the bright pink and orange, to a highlighter yellow and green, so these could be a fantastic neon foundation for anyone’s collection.

These are of course available on the Starrily nails website (along with 3 other neon shades filled with holographic sparkle). Time to jump on into the swatches!

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China Glaze ‘What’s the Scoop?’ Summer 2023 Collection – Swatches & Review

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And now for the last mainstream summer collection that I have to show y’all on the blog for this year! (Obviously there were many more, but I can only buy and post so many). Summer is just zooming right on by. (We’ll be getting into fall collections before we know it! Sorry I had to say it). (Do I have enough parenthesis yet).

Today on this summery day, we’re looking at China Glaze’s newest seasonal release. This is the ‘What’s the Scoop?’ collection for Summer 2023. This features 6 saturated shades, all with fun ice cream names. To me summer always includes ice cream on a warm evening, so I’m already a fan of the theme. Most of these shades have a more squishy, jelly-like finish, with more sheer formulas and shiny finishes. Some of these jellies were gorgeous, giving a true melted popsicle look to the nails – while others were a bit more streaky – spoiler alert.

As always I purchased these from polishpick.com. They’re still my favorite place to pick up China Glaze from, as they have the best prices and shipping! They’re also available from BeyondPolish.com as well though they don’t seem to have the two pink shades any longer. (The pinks are still at Polish Pick). Y’all know the drill that I do have an affiliate code for BeyondPolish for 10% off individual items (GINGERLYPOLISHED)! Feel free to use it or not, up to you!

That’s all I have, let’s get on into the swatches!

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Mooncat ‘Pretty Prehistoric’ Collection – Swatches & Review

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PURCHASED

Have you ever thought to yourself, “Hey I need some nail polishes inspired by dinosaurs?” If so, well, Mooncat has a new release for you! (Who hasn’t had that thought, really).

Listen, Mooncat has quickly made it’s way right into my heart, and I’m just always on the lookout now for their newest releases. They fully have a hold on me, I shall buy whatever they put out, and that’s just even more true after how much I loved this set of polishes. I mean, COME ON, DINOSAURS.

This is the ‘Pretty Prehistoric’ collection, and as you might guess, it features 8 gorgeous shades all inspired by the colors of the prehistoric age of the that we’ve all seen in textbooks and museums for years now. We’ve got some blues, greens and purples, and a gorgeous orange-red. Very Jurassic. There’s lots and LOTS of flakies and shimmers and shiftiness here, and the color palette and finishes just feel prehistoric somehow. Don’t ask me why, it just does.

All of these shades dry with a more matte finish, and of course, a top coat can be added on for another look and to bring out that shimmer even more. These are available on the Mooncat website, both in a discounted bundle, or individually.

Let’s get on into the swatches!

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Orly ‘Great Escape’ Summer 2023 Collection – Swatches & Review

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My boyfriend and I are pretty active people – traveling a lot and constantly doing things (more like he’s very active and keeps me continually leaving the apartment, which I appreciate). With that and all of our previous planning, we ended up being busy/traveling 3 weekends in a row – with a Taylor Swift concert, a bachelorette party and then a visit to Washington D.C. Now. I do love being busy and I love all of these things. BUT I was also so excited when we had a free weekend finally. And I had big plans of being cozy on the couch and finally catching up on blog posts, as that was the thing to fall by the wayside over the busy month.

Then I fell asleep and watched YouTube videos and TikToks all day. Listen, sometimes the productivity is just doing absolute nothing.

But now I’m here, I’m rested, and it’s time I finally get all these summer collection reviews posted on up. (They’re always swatched on Instagram first, so be sure to follow me there, but I know it’s easier to reference and search later on the blog). This review is just the first of lots of catch-up posts on the way so if y’all subscribe you’ll get all of those updates sent right to you. Or just keep coming on back to see what’s new.

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Now for this next summer collection! This is ‘Great Escape’ and it’s Orly’s summer release. Just like Essie’s release, we get a “non-traditional” summer color palette with this one, and I’m always here to encourage that. We’ve got some oranges and some blues, and one lovely little chartreuse. This set features 2 cream shades, and then 4 more frosty shimmer shades.

Just like any other release, they’re available on the Orly website individually or in nice little bundles. You could also receive this currently when signing up for the Orly Color Pass – which I had for years before I was so lucky to receive PR from the brand. I absolutely loved the Color Pass when I had it – it’s where you pay upfront and then receive the 4 seasonal collections throughout the year, along with other goodies in every single box. Super nice if you’re planning on buying all the sets anyways. You can also just buy each collection box individually as well. We love the options!

Alright, enough with the purchasing options, I know you want to see what the shades look like before even deciding. Onto the swatches!

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Essie ‘Push Play’ Summer 2023 Collection – Swatches & Review

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AFFILIATE CODE

Well hello there! We’re looking at another summer collection today, buddies! Who doesn’t love that. I’m working on catching up on lots of blog posts so we’re keeping this intro short and sweet and getting right into the polishes.

Today as the title says, we’re looking at Essie’s newest seasonal release, and it’s the ‘Push Play’ collection for Summer 2023. It features 6 rich and saturated cream shades all in a more primary color palette. Essie says to “embrace your inner kidult with six joyfully saturated shades”. So yes, it’s inspired by those bright summer toys of our childhoods all around. I think it matches the theme so well, and they’re perfect “base” colors to add to a collection.

I purchased these from Beyond Polish. As always I do have an affiliate link/code for Beyond Polish that gives you 10% off individual items (it won’t work on the full collection bundle) – GINGERLYPOLISHED. I do make a small commission from this, but I’m only here to promote shops I love, and I purchase every Essie collection I can from them for the discounted prices. So no pressure to use that, but if you want a discount and want to send a lil love my way, I appreciate it!

Now let’s get into the swatches!

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OPI ‘Summer Makes the Rules’ Summer 2023 Collection – Swatches & Review

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OPI collection reviews are always the most popular posts for this blog. They’re always topping the stats, and clearly everyone else is just as interested in the newest OPI release as I am. After all, it was a couple of random OPI bottles hidden away in the corner of a drawer that truly started my nail polish collection, so I’ll always feel an emotional connection to my “roots”.

Which makes a bad collection from OPI hurt so much more.

Sorry, I’m jumping ahead here. Let’s start off by introducing this newest collection. Yes, it’s SUMMER here in nail world. (And maybe wherever you live too, it’s FINALLY getting consistently warmer over here in the windy city). And I always dive into the new seasons with the OPI release. For Summer 2023, OPI’s release is the ‘Summer Make the Rules’ collection. As always it features 12 shades that as OPI says “let your nails be as bright, bold and carefree as you feel this summer”. We’ve got names themed around laying around the beach, lounging in the sun, and just living your best summer life.

These shades range in a rainbow of pastel, yet bright shades, from bright pinks, to corals, teals and lilacs. We have 8 cream shades and 4 shades in a frosty, pearly shimmery finish. They were a little something different to normal shimmers, and I always love something new in a collection.

As always, these are available from my favorite polishpick.com, or also at beyondpolish.com (affiliate link). Now, as I hinted to up above, the colors are just so pretty, while the formulas for a majority just … aren’t pretty. I struggled with quite a few streaky creams here, and that’s so unusual for OPI. Things lift up a touch in the back half of the set, but it was quite the journey to get there. I’ll let the individual swatch photos and videos speak for themselves now, but I wanted to make sure you were starting this post with the right expectations. Let’s dive in.

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Mooncat ‘Kaleidoscope Haze’ Collection – Swatches & Review

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Now this collection today is an example of one that was swatched up on my Instagram much earlier, but then got lost in the blog shuffle, and was just never posted here! But these shades are still available and absolutely gorgeous, so I didn’t want them to go to waste. (There will be many more of these on the way as I work through my monstrous blog backlog).

AND. Mooncat is having one of their 2 annual sales on Friday, May 5th. (If you’re reading this after that date, just look up when the lunar eclipse is, that’s when they always coordinate their sales – next one is in October). Or maybe you’re just curious about this collection and want to purchase it anyways without any sale! All great options!

So why don’t I just tell you what collection we’re talking about already? (Yes I know you can read the title). This is the ‘Kaleidoscope Haze’ collection from Mooncat! And yes, we love Mooncat around here. After trying out one to two previous collections, now I’m just hooked. I just love all of their different finishes and colors, they’re so lovely. So this specific release features 8 shades all with a jelly finish filled with iridescent flakes. It’ll be perfect for the upcoming warm weather. Just imagine wearing these in the sun while sitting next to a pool, what else could you need?

These did originally release last year, but they’re still available on the website! (The full bundle is currently sold out at the moment of writing, but the individual shades are there, and there’s been no mention of it going away, so I’m sure it’ll restock).

Now let’s get into the swatches!

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Color Club ‘Out of the Box’ Collection – Swatches & Review

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It’s been a while since I’ve showed Color Club some love on this blog! I have a couple other collections of theirs in a lost drawer, just waiting to see the light, and I’ll have to push them into my busy polish schedule so soon. I do love their polishes, and I’m always watching out for their newest releases.

Now, I’ve purchased all of my previous Color Club polishes, but this time they were so kind to send over this set to me! So let’s dive in already.

This is the ‘Out of the Box’ set, and if you can’t tell by the name and the shades involved, and the timing overall, this is inspired by everyone’s favorite childhood doll (perfect to wear to the upcoming movie release as well, I will absolutely be THERE). We’ve got 6 polishes here all in various shades of pink: 3 creams, 1 jelly glitter polish and 2 toppers. And we got a nice little range of finishes here, but don’t worry, they’re still all pink.

These are of course available on the Color Club website. So let’s get on into the swatches!

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Glam Polish ‘Pastel Galaxy’ Collection – Swatches & Review

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Another month, another Glam Polish release here! Listen, they’re just making sure your every single polish want ever is covered. And I’m here to swatch up some shades so you can narrow on down that cart. (Unless you’re financially able and want to buy every collection, then who am I to stop you). We’re here together, let’s look at some pretty polishes.

Today’s collection is the ‘Pastel Galaxy’ set. It features 6 polishes in a range of soft and delicate crelly bases, aka the “pastel”. We have some orchid pinks, some mint greens, and lovely lilac purples, as well as others that compliment oh so well. They’re also all filled with holographic shimmer as well as scattered holographic hexagon glitters which gives us the “galaxy” part.

As always these are available on the Glam Polish website, both in a little bundle and individually! Enough talking, let’s get on into the swatches!

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Orly Breathable ‘Sweet Retreat’ Spring/Summer 2023 Collection – Swatches & Review

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Being lucky enough to receive PR from a brand means I’m able to try products that I normally wouldn’t purchase on my own – I’m already trying so many other products, some shades are just outside my budget, so they were outside of the blog scope. And that includes this lovely little candy-coated and inspired set of shades from Orly!

This is the ‘Sweet Retreat’ collection, and it’s the Breathable release for Spring/Summer. It seems instead of 4 seasonal releases, the Breathable line doesn’t release as often, and just goes with 2 collections a year. And this newest release features 6 lovely cream shades, all in bright and warm colors! Perfect for the sweet candy theme.

As mentioned, this collection is within the Orly ‘Breathable’ line. For what the difference is between the Breathable line, and their regular lacquer line, Orly says “our Breathable formula is a 1-step nail color, no base or top coat needed! It prevents chipping and peeling for and is infused with Argan Oil, Pro Vitamin B5 and Vitamin C longer lasting manicures and stronger, healthier looking nails.” So you’ve got some more nourishing nail ingredients there, as well as the idea of a “1-step nail color”. With these “extra” ingredients, these retail for 50 cents more a bottle on the Orly website.

Now, I never wear my polishes more than a couple days with all of the swatching I do, so I can’t speak to any of the claims on longevity or nail health. Today, I’ll just be speaking to the formula and application of the shades themselves. Though I’m curious if anyone else has tried these for longer and can comment on the claims!

These are available on the Orly website – both in a nice little bundle or individually.

Let’s get right on into the swatches!

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