ORLY Cosmic FX Collection Review, Photos, Swatches

Reviews
Contains: Sample

ORLY Cosmic Collection
Nail Lacquers: Out of This World, It’s Not Rocket Science, Haley’s Comet

Intergalactic, Planetary, Planetary, Intergalactic

This September, ORLY’s Cosmic FX Collection will launch.  According to ORLY, these polishes have a textured finish that have multi-dimensional flashes of shine as a result of “MINERAL FX” technology.  This technology uses a mix of natural rock minerals, crystals, and glass that give these shades an optical effect.  All six shades will retail for $10 each and are limited edition.

From ORLY…

The MINERALFX technology includes specialty mica, that allows for a clearer, vibrantly bright lustrous shimmer. Crystals allow for a multi-dimensional color transformation. Glass particles carefully controlled in shape and size create a luminous phenomenon. This combination infused with the Silica and specific colors selected create this exclusive technology that gives nails a unique optical effect that’s magnified as the lighting source intensifies or viewing angle changes.

Nail Lacquers

  • Out of This World is a deep purple base with shimmer flecks of violet purple and green gold.  Three coats.
  • It’s Not Rocket Science is an olive green base with darkened chartreuse and teal shimmer. It looks rather chartreuse-y at some angles, while in others, it almost looks emerald green as the teal comes into play.  Two coats.
  • Haley’s Comet is an aqua-blue color base with flecks of green, teal, and blue shimmer. It looks bluer at some angles, more mermaid-esque at other angles. I found that this one had the least powerful duochrome.  This felt like the least pigmented, so it definitely needed a full three coats.  This also bears a strong resemblance to Zoya’s Charla.
  • Space Cadet is one of the coolest shades of the six. It has a very strong duochrome finish/effect. It looks like a mauvey plum but then it glints a chartreuse-y green with strong gold undertones. I can’t think of anything I have that’s quite like this.  Two coats.
  • Galaxy Girl is a beautiful deep wine-purple base with red undertones. It has flecks of teal and darkened fuchsia-purple shimmer. It’s dark and a little vampy, but I absolutely love the subtle but noticeable duochrome effect.  Two coats.
  • Lunar Eclipse is a glowing indigo blue that flashes violet, electric blue, and inky blue. It’s incredible–it’s my personal favorite. This was the most pigmented shade of the six, and it only needed two coats.

ORLY completely hit a homerun here for me.  Not only was this the collection I was most anticipating personally, but it fulfilled all my expectations.  It did not disappoint at any point.  The formula was nicely pigmented and not too thick, easy to work with, and the shimmer and glass flecks distributed evenly. I didn’t have any issues with drying time when I used Zoya’s Color Lock System, including their quick drying drops–I was typing away just minutes after applying the Hurry Up drops.  I also love the rubber caps of ORLY’s polish, because it makes handling them foolproof.

There’s only one downside and that’s the price–these are more expensive than your usual ORLYs (which retail at $7.50).  Don’t get me wrong, considering I’ll happily fork over $23 for a Chanel shade, I think these are completely worth it.  They’re interesting and complex shades that apply well, which is what makes a polish worth it for me.

But in the end, there’s really only one word to sum up this collection: BADASS.

If you want to know more about how products are evaluated, read out Rating System FAQ! 🙂

  • Product: 30/30
  • Value: 7/10
  • Ease of Use: 4/5
  • Packaging: 5/5

RECOMMENDATION: If you love pops of color on your nails, ORLY’s Cosmic collection is NOT to be missed!

AVAILABILITY: September 2010 at orlybeauty.com, ULTA, and Sally Beauty

I want to warn you about the flash photos: I do not think they really accurately depict the shades, because the flash firing causes each shade to lose its duochrome nature.

ORLY Cosmic Collection
Nail Lacquers: Out of This World, It’s Not Rocket Science, Haley’s Comet

ORLY Cosmic Collection
Nail Lacquers: Out of This World, It’s Not Rocket Science, Haley’s Comet

ORLY Cosmic Collection
Nail Lacquers: Out of This World, It’s Not Rocket Science, Haley’s Comet

ORLY Cosmic Collection
Nail Lacquers: Out of This World, It’s Not Rocket Science, Haley’s Comet

ORLY Cosmic Collection
Nail Lacquers: Space Cadet, Galaxy Girl, Lunar Eclipse

ORLY Cosmic Collection
Nail Lacquers: Space Cadet, Galaxy Girl, Lunar Eclipse

ORLY Cosmic Collection
Nail Lacquers: Space Cadet, Galaxy Girl, Lunar Eclipse

ORLY Cosmic Collection
Nail Lacquers: Space Cadet, Galaxy Girl, Lunar Eclipse

ORLY Cosmic Collection
Nail Lacquers: Space Cadet, Galaxy Girl, Lunar Eclipse

ORLY Cosmic Collection
ORLY Out of This World Nail Lacquer (Natural Light)

ORLY Cosmic Collection
ORLY Out of This World Nail Lacquer (Natural Light)

ORLY Cosmic Collection
ORLY Out of This World Nail Lacquer (Natural Light)

ORLY Cosmic Collection
ORLY Out of This World Nail Lacquer (Natural Light)

ORLY Cosmic Collection
ORLY Out of This World Nail Lacquer (Natural Light)

ORLY Cosmic Collection
ORLY Out of This World Nail Lacquer (Flash)

ORLY Cosmic Collection
ORLY It’s Not Rocket Science Nail Lacquer (Natural Light)

ORLY Cosmic Collection
ORLY It’s Not Rocket Science Nail Lacquer (Natural Light)

ORLY Cosmic Collection
ORLY It’s Not Rocket Science Nail Lacquer (Natural Light)

ORLY Cosmic Collection
ORLY It’s Not Rocket Science Nail Lacquer (Natural Light)

ORLY Cosmic Collection
ORLY It’s Not Rocket Science Nail Lacquer (Natural Light)

ORLY Cosmic Collection
ORLY It’s Not Rocket Science Nail Lacquer (Flash)

ORLY Cosmic Collection
ORLY Haley’s Comet Nail Lacquer (Natural Light)

ORLY Cosmic Collection
ORLY Haley’s Comet Nail Lacquer (Natural Light)

ORLY Cosmic Collection
ORLY Haley’s Comet Nail Lacquer (Natural Light)

ORLY Cosmic Collection
ORLY Haley’s Comet Nail Lacquer (Natural Light)

ORLY Cosmic Collection
ORLY Haley’s Comet Nail Lacquer (Natural Light)

ORLY Cosmic Collection
ORLY Haley’s Comet Nail Lacquer (Flash)

ORLY Cosmic Collection
ORLY Space Cadet Nail Lacquer (Natural Light)

ORLY Cosmic Collection
ORLY Space Cadet Nail Lacquer (Natural Light)

ORLY Cosmic Collection
ORLY Space Cadet Nail Lacquer (Natural Light)

ORLY Cosmic Collection
ORLY Space Cadet Nail Lacquer (Natural Light)

ORLY Cosmic Collection
ORLY Space Cadet Nail Lacquer (Natural Light)

ORLY Cosmic Collection
ORLY Space Cadet Nail Lacquer (Flash)

ORLY Cosmic Collection
ORLY Galaxy Girl Nail Lacquer (Natural Light)

ORLY Cosmic Collection
ORLY Galaxy Girl Nail Lacquer (Natural Light)

ORLY Cosmic Collection
ORLY Galaxy Girl Nail Lacquer (Natural Light)

ORLY Cosmic Collection
ORLY Galaxy Girl Nail Lacquer (Natural Light)

ORLY Cosmic Collection
ORLY Galaxy Girl Nail Lacquer (Natural Light)

ORLY Cosmic Collection
ORLY Galaxy Girl Nail Lacquer (Flash)

ORLY Cosmic Collection
ORLY Lunar Eclipse Nail Lacquer (Natural Light)

ORLY Cosmic Collection
ORLY Lunar Eclipse Nail Lacquer (Natural Light)

ORLY Cosmic Collection
ORLY Lunar Eclipse Nail Lacquer (Natural Light)

ORLY Cosmic Collection
ORLY Lunar Eclipse Nail Lacquer (Natural Light)

ORLY Cosmic Collection
ORLY Lunar Eclipse Nail Lacquer (Natural Light)

ORLY Cosmic Collection
ORLY Lunar Eclipse Nail Lacquer (Flash)

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About the Reviewer

Reviewer

Christine has normal-to-dry skin with areas of dryness (cheeks, nose, and under the eyes). She has a light-medium skintone with subtle, warmer yellow undertones. Her best foundation matches include: Tarte Rainforest of the Sea in Light-Medium Neutral (best match), Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay-in-Place Makeup in Desert Beige 2N1, Giorgio Armani Maestro Glow in 4.0, Hourglass Warm Ivory Vanish Seamless Finish, Laura Mercier Candleglow Soft Luminous in Dusk, MAC NC20/NC25, Make Up For Ever Ultra HD Liquid in Y305 (140). For more matches, please read our full Foundation FAQ. For more information on our review process, please read our Review FAQ.

Compare Any Two Swatches

Curious how two shades compare to each other? Type in the shades below to get instant side-by-side swatches!

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128 Comments

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Comments on this post are closed.
Rusty

Those are awesome colours! I want them all and I’m not a big fan of nail polishes. That means something! Haha. Great job capturing all the colours girl! 🙂 and thanks for them.

Christine
Light-Medium, Neutral, slight yellow undertones. Normal-to-Dry skin. »

I don’t know if I’d classify myself as a fan, since I haven’t exactly heard their entire repertoire, but of that particular song, yes. 🙂

christine

Oh my gosh these nail polishes are so gorgeous! i love love love love all the colours! too bad they’re not available in australia ):

Zenaida

I looooove theses… My Ulta (Columbia, SC) already has them in and they are already in on some e-tailers too… I know transdesign has them.

raquel

LOVE the fact that you quoted Beastie Boys for your review title! And I also LOVE the colors! And I have to agree with you, I think Lunar Eclipse is absolutely amazing! 🙂

maryelle

i went to ULTA yesterday, and space cadet was SOLD OUT! it was the one color i was looking forward to get. i shall wait until it is restocked… hopefully.

jessica

omg!! lunar eclipse is out of the world!! I think I like them all..can’t wait till they come out! I am a sally’s club memeber..maybe I will get some type of discount..which nailpolish dd u keep on for the day christine??

jglovesit

I just bought Galaxy Girl the other day and I can’t wait to wear it, I didn’t know it cost me $10, WOW, this better be some good polish by Orly! I don’t mind paying $23 for Chanel polish, but remember we are paying for the name and this is Orly for crying out-loud! Oh well, guess I’ll go put it on now!

Ester

I want Space Cadet and Galaxy Girl for sure. I don’t think I’ve seen these polishes sold anywhere I’ve gone though. Where are these normally sold?

Rebecca

I think this is the first polish collection that I feel I NEED every single bottle. 🙂 Ive been waiting specifically for Haley’s Comet tho, Im going to be at ULTA like every day waiting for them to set up the display!

Lingping

oops, that was fast… 4 out of the 6 ordered 🙂 thanks for great swatches. I only left out Out of this world and Haley’s comet since they seem to have twins or near twins in the summer Zoyas.

Caitlin

I was so close to buying Space Cadet when I was at Ulta the other day. It is a uniquely amazing nail polish. I’ll have to take a closer look at Galaxy Girl, too. It didn’t catch my eye before, but it looks very cool in the swatch.

Stacey M

Ahhh!! I was totally hoping to avoid this collection because of it’s price, BUT since I’m a Sally Beauty employee… I’ll be getting a couple of these.

Haley

LOVE the colours!! Will deffinately be getting Haley’s comet… becuase well come on!! It’s my name!! And also loving space cadet alot, so cool looking, I can’t wait to see these for myself and see how cool they really are.

Rachel

Lunar Eclipse, Space Cadet, and Haley’s Comet are on my “to eye” list next time I go into Sally’s. I love how dramatic the duochrome in Space Cadet is, but I’m not sure I love the colors.

Also, since when do Orly’s polishes retail at $7.50? I pay around $5 at the Sally’s near me. Is that just a weird, I’m in the middle-of-nowhere pricing? I don’t care. I’ll take it. Orly’s quickly becoming one of my favorites.

Helena

I want them all. But I can’t have them. GRR. Need…job. Know of any places in Santa Monica that’ll hire a sixteen-year-old for four weeks? ha ha
Strange how OPI, Zoya, and Orly have all released the EXACT same shade at around the same time (Catch Me In Your Net/Charla/Halley’s Comet)…hmm.

CeeBee

Wow! Those are AWESOME. Badass indeed! $7.50? Orly are $23 here in NZ… (sigh…)

I will have to pick up Out of This World and Space Cadet though and I do love how Lunar Eclipse seems to *glow!*

Sharon M

These are seriously beautiful… I went to my local Sally’s last night looking for them, and they didn’t have them yet. Considering I couldn’t get Catch Me In Your Net (OPI) Halley’s Comet is definitely on my list, as are Lunar Eclipse, Space Cadet and Galaxy Girl!

Thank you for the swatches!

kfm

i need to find a place in canada that sells these!! they’re mind blowing and i absolutely need galaxy girl and space cadet!!! thanks for the detailed swatches, christine.

Sharon M

Sally Beauty Supply sells Orly — I’m in Kingston, ON, do you live near a decent-sized city? If you can’t find them locally, you could also try spaboutique.ca as they sell Orly too (but they’re not in stock at either place yet, so you might want to check periodically to see when they’ve arrived).

lia

the glitter in these looks really similar to the Zoya Sparkle collection – any chance you’d be able to a comparison? Esp. between Haley’s Comet and Zoya’s Charla?

Starlight

Wow! I didn’t think I was going to like any of these! I can see myself wearing all but Haley’s Comet. Lunar Eclipse is well “out of this world”.(lol) I love the glass flecks too!

Dana

I saw these in Ulta today and they looked just as gorgeous in person as your photos! One question though – Are they easy to remove? Sometimes glitter polishes are a PIA to take off LOL! thanks 🙂

Dana

Thanks! I will definitely go back and get a few of them 🙂 I am loving the new fall polish collections out now, I got 3 from the OPI Swiss collection today (although I wanted all 12!)

Christine
Light-Medium, Neutral, slight yellow undertones. Normal-to-Dry skin. »

Most of them have crazy-cool duochrome even in real life, but Out of This World & Haley’s Comet were less duo-chromey!

Rosie

I totally want the two dupes of the Maleficent shades! Now I can save $8 and use that towards another product since the Maleficent items are totally drool worthy! Thanks for the comparisons!

Marcela

These definitely are AMAZING!!! Today I picked up Space Cadet and Galaxy Girl… I fell in love with these 2 shades after seeing the MAC Venomous Villains swatches and then got so excited to find out ORLY had cheaper dupes and that I wouldn’t have to wait another month. Thanks for the swatches, Christine!

Rosie

I picked up Galaxy Girl and Space Cadet 8.99 a piece :)! I’m wearing Space Cadet and love looking at my nails at different angles with the light and sun :).

sandra

These are great, you have to see them in person. In my area I bought them for under 5.00 dollar piece, please note I had coupon.

In my area (three different stores) they sold out in one day. I wasn’t able to get a Space Cadet.

You will love these in person

Emma

I have galaxy girl i bought it and i tried it, and honestly it looked cooler in the bottle than it did on my nails. you would think that for all the fuss made about the line, it would have been slightly cooler…

Dana

Hey Christine,
Where can you buy these? Does Sally’s Beauty supply carry them? I want the Galaxy Girl one since it’s an exact dupe of MAC’s Formidable! which is already sold out!!

SueH

Do you ladies think these colors are too wild for women in their 40’s? I love these but I’m not sure if people think they’re a little young-ish.

Christine
Light-Medium, Neutral, slight yellow undertones. Normal-to-Dry skin. »

NO!!! One of my law professors always has on some pretty polish (always tempted to ask her), and she works as a professor at a law school and she’s probably in her late 30s or early 40s (she looks mid-30s, but from what she’s said about her family, kids, etc., I think she’s probably a bit older).

MJ

I have been looking for Galaxy Girl but cannot find it. I was able to cheat and get a similar look by using two coats of ORLY: Out of This World with one coat of Pure Ice: Oh Baby! which I got at Walmart. Still gave me the purplely blueish shimmer effect I wanted just not the red wine undertones.

Karla

Two of these are dupes from the new Mac Venomous Villains nail polishes! my friend at Mac told me (halley`s commet and galaxy girl) I got It`s not rocket science at cvs for $6.99 and Lunar eclipse at sally`s for $7.99 and they are stunningly beautiful, i can`t stop looking at my nails, lol.

Christine
Light-Medium, Neutral, slight yellow undertones. Normal-to-Dry skin. »

Haley’s Comet if I had to pick, but I don’t really like the term least favorite if I don’t have one – which I don’t. I loved all of these.

Naz

I don’t know about Canada, but my local Ulta still has some in stock. If you can’t find any in your area maybe somebody from MUA would be willing to swap with you?

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