First off, some information about Orly -as a company. ORLY is a nail polish brand that was established in the 1970's in Los Angeles by Jeff Pink, and boasts catwalk influences, featuring changing seasonal collections in lots of trendy colours.

Today, Orly offers a breathable range which is among the more affordable non-toxic nail polishes I have looked at. Retailing at just £12.75 a bottle from Lookfantastic.com, it is a lot of value compared to the benefits the ‘breathable’ range boasts.

So let’s look at the range in more detail ‘Orly breathable treatment and + colour and shine’ boasts being Vegan and the only 13 free out there on the market currently. It claims to be breathable by permeating moisture into the nail, as opposed to traditional nail polishes which prevent oxygen from getting into the nail bed, often causing staining after removal. This supposedly prevents chipping and therefore allows for a more long lasting mani.

It also claims to be a base and top coat in one, removing he need to use a base and top coat, therefore speeding up your mani. To top it off, it’s treatment properties include the very popular Argan Oil, Vitamin C & Pro Vitamin B5 so it also claims to condition your nail while you wear it. Double whammy therefore, in a quick one step process, I liked these claims! Who wouldn’t ? In terms of ingredients, according to the company’s website, 13 free for Orly breathable means no Toluene, Formaldehyde, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP), Formaldehyde Resin, Camphor, Ethyl Tosylamide, Xylene, Triphenyl Phosphate (TPP), MEHQ/HQ, MIT, Parabens, Animal Derived Ingredients or Gluten.

Now lets’s move onto how it went for me. I tried the colour, ‘The Antidote’ which is a dark opaque burgundy red. The brush is quite big meaning you can coat your nails in one single stroke. I needed two coats to get a perfect application. I found the formula a good consistency, thick but not gloopy at all, and dried nicely in the same amount of time a regular nail polish would. Now it might make sense here to explain to you why I started out on my quest to find the perfect, clean, ‘non-toxic’ nail polish. So apart from wanting to consciously reduce the amount of harmful ingredients I place on my body, I also developed an increasing distain with the smell of typical nail polish, to the point where I couldn’t stand polishing my nails, which was annoying since I love the feeling of nicely painted nails. Hence my non-toxic nail polish journey began. Now, back to Orly Breathable. Did this meet my main ‘please don’t wreak of chemicals’ criterion? Not really. Ok, so the smell wasn’t 100% the same as a regular nail polish, it was a tad less harsh, but all in all very similar. So let’s say it took the edge off that horrid nail polish smell, but it was still mostly there. Meaning I had to open windows while applying it, like I do with regular nail polishes. So if you’re in search for an odourless non-toxic nail polish, I am afraid it doesn’t do exactly that. There is still a nail polish odour, be it not as pungent let’s say. However if the harsh smell of nail polishes isn’t the reason you’re searching for non-toxic nail polish, then this might work just well for you. Removing the smell factor, knowing that it is free of 13 nasties, some of those being known or probable carcinogens and just generally harmful or irritating, did instill confidence in me that I was doing something good for my body by using it rather than regular nail polish, so I did get that feel good ‘clean’ factor! In terms of the finish, I can definitely say that this formula puts many regular nail polishes to shame. It gives an even finish and it is high shine (very similar to semi-permanent gel manicures I’ve had in the past!). As the colour used was Opaque, other less dark colours may or may not need more applications. Lastly, it was easily removable, and I removed it using Kure Bazaar’s eau dissolvante!

All in all, if you remove the smell factor, a good contender in the non-toxic category at a less premium price, definitely worth trying if you want a less toxic formula such as 13 free but don’t mind the smell!