For centuries, people around the globe have been enamored with lush fabrics, rare stones and extravagant finishes. ORLY celebrates the refined glamour of porcelain, the vibrant sheen of silk, and the lush sparkle of priceless gems with Precious. Lend a sense of romance and richness to every spring ensemble by sporting lavish shades on fingertips and toes. The six lacquers in the Precious collection signal a fresh approach to spring fashion and a renewed appreciation for the exotic workmanship, ornamental engravings, and sumptuous fabrics known to accompany the luxe life. 

Doesn’t that sound just dreamy? As I’ve mentioned, I’ve been lucky enough to get a sneak preview of the new ORLY Spring 2011 nail polish collection, called Precious. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside that ORLY Australia is so ready to get behind the ‘cottage industry’ bloggers and tweeters out there. This romance-inspired collection comprises of six new nail polish shades, which borrow from a rich and varied colour palette ranging from a creamy porcelain to a shimmery peacock purple-blue.

The Precious collection was my first experience with ORLY nail polishes. I’m not sure how much these nail polishes will retail for, but their permanent shades retail for $18.95 AUD. I was pleased to learn that the polishes are ‘Three Free’ and was even more pleased when I applied them.

I really do like the ‘Gripper Cap’, which makes application easier for a nail novice like me. The brush was unremarkable yet completely functional. The formula itself is smooth and creamy, and I managed to apply it without too many streaks and splodges (for a newbie!). As you can see, my nails are really short and I don’t often wear a lot of nail polish, so please be gentle about my messy swatches!

I would actually wear any of these nail polishes, but my favourite shade was Ancient Jade, which reminded me a little of a slightly darker Chanel Jade. I also quite liked Sapphire Silk and Royal Velvet. I would say the collection is wearable by most skin-tones, but it does lean slightly cool. It’s also important to note that only two of the nail polishes are shimmery (and none are glittery) and the remaining are cremes – so if you are a die-hard glitter whore you might be disappointed here.

Pure Porcelain is described by ORLY as a beige creme. I would say that Pure Porcelain is a neutral lightened beige creme. It is sheer and wasn’t quite opaque with three coats, but was getting close to it.

Gilded Coral is described by ORLY as a coral gold shimmer. I would say that Gilded Coral is a warm metallic golden peach. It was reasonably opaque in two coats.

Fancy Fuchsia is described by ORLY as a pink creme. I would describe Fancy Fuchsia as a brightened hot pink creme. It is reasonably opaque in three coats.

Ancient Jade is described by ORLY as a green creme. I would describe Ancient Jade as a neutral jade green creme. It is reasonably opaque in two coats, this picture shows three coats.

Sapphire Silk is described by ORLY a a deep teal creme. I would say that Sapphire Silk is a cool, darkened teal creme. It is reasonably opaque in three coats.

Royal Velvet is described by ORLY as a purple blue shimmer. I would say Royal Velvet is a darkened, neutral grape purple that flashes fine blue shimmer. It is more purple than it looks in this picture, but the sunlight was picking up so much of the blue shimmer. It is sheer and was reasonably opaque with four coats.