As a follow-up to last year’s Cosmic FX collection, Orly has released Mineral FX for Fall 2011. These also carry the higher price point ($7.99 at Sally Beauty, $10 everywhere else), but they also have some extra-special finishes that makes them worth it. Think of the FX series as Orly’s version of OPI’s DS series. You pay a little more, but it’s worth it! Or is it…??
While last year’s FX collection was mostly unique, or was the cheaper option if there was a dupe, this year it seems that there are a couple of dupes and you will be paying the same or more for the Orly, depending on where you get it. I did not purchase Rock The World or Rococo A-Go-Go for this reason. While not an exact dupe to either, Rock The World is VERY similar to Zoya’s Faye and OPI’s Rally Pretty Pink, just a bit darker. Rococo A-Go-Go is pretty much a dead-on dupe to Zoya’s Valerie (which is almost dead-on to Zoya’s Jem too). The PolishAholic has done great comps on these – you can see Rock The World here and Rococo A-Go-Go here.
So let’s move on to the ones I did buy, the non-dupes! :D
Emberstone is a glowy, orange-leaning sparkly red with tiny gold and purple flecks. I’m not sure if you can see them, but they are there and that’s what makes this one unique. Great formula too – two coats to perfection!
I’m not so sure it’s a fall color, but I do love it! Too bad it wasn’t around this summer, I would have worn it half to death. The shimmer is a larger particle, smaller than a normal flakey, but it is more like little flakes than your typical shimmer.
For a sparkly red, it’s actually pretty unique. I have seen it mentioned to be dupey to Hard Candy – Lava (ring) and Zoya – Kimmy (index), but as you can see, they are a little different. First off, Lava is a glitter, while the other two are shimmers. Lava’s glitter is much less dense than the shimmer in Emberstone and Kimmy, so it looks kinda patchy by comparison. Kimmy is similar in its base color and density of shimmer, but it’s the shape, size, and color of that shimmer that sets Emberstone apart. Kimmy has the standard shimmer, straight gold, while Emberstone’s is larger, more flake-like, and it is purple and orangey-gold. You can decide for yourself if you need all three, but I’m not sure I can part with one!
Rock It is a deep wine shimmer with a bit of gold in it as well. The sparkle and glow on this one is intense. I absolutely love it and will be wearing it a lot this fall!
It’s close to a foil, but not quite. Intense, densely-packed shimmer with a great formula – this could be a one-coater if you were careful.
Yes, Rock It has something quite similar… OPI’s The One That Got Away (on ring and index, Rock It on middle). They are a bit different though. For one, Rock It is a bit deeper in color, and a tad warmer. For two, the shimmer in Rock It is more densely-packed than TOTGA. While TOTGA looks super shimmery on its own, almost foil-like, compared to Rock It, it just looks like a regular shimmer. See below!
See? The Orly looks crazy-glowy compared to the OPI! I love them both, but if I had to choose, I would choose Rock It. Thankfully, no one is making me! :D
Stone Cold seems to be the fan favorite of the bunch. A rich blue with larger blue flakes – it just barely misses the mark of being called a flakey. The flakes are larger than the ones in Emberstone, but still not quite as large as a true flakey (flakie?) polish’s would be.
The flakes give it such an amazing depth – I don’t see too many polishes like that. It’s like the light glinting off of ocean waves. Two coats, and it’s kinda thick. I’ll add a bit of thinner next time.
Extra pic because… well, to be honest, I’m trying to love it, but I’m just not sure I do. I don’t wear a lot of blue polish to begin with, and this color of blue least of all. I guess I wish it leaned a little more green, a little more purple, or it was darker overall. I really appreciate and respect it – I mean, the flakes are gorgeous, it really does remind me of the ocean, and I can see why everyone loves it. I just don’t love it on me. I’m going to try it at least one more time before I swap it though, the flakes are beautiful and I would hate to have regret!
I thought it looked awfully similar to last year’s Lunar Eclipse (ring) when I bought it, but when I compared the bottles, I realized LE leans much more purple, besides that whole flake difference thing. I have seen a lot of questions asking if OPI’s Swimsuit… Nailed It! is dupe – as you can see, it isn’t. A little greener, plus totally different finishes – the OPI is a foil. SNI entered my top 20 (maybe even my top 10!) the first time I wore it and is by far my favorite blue, so you can figure out what I would pick if told to choose!
Another pic… because I am still trying to convince myself. Am I crazy? I totally prefer SNI here! Then LE… and then Stone Cold. Gahh!
Last up I have Rock Solid, a foily gunmetal with larger holographic glitter. I haven’t ever seen a polish quite like this one! The texture of the foily base is unique on it’s own (at least I don’t have anything similar), and to toss the holo glitter in with it? Unheard of!
Rock Solid is also getting a lot of love, and again, I can see why. It’s different and it’s really pretty. However, again, I’m not totally sold. If the holo glitter wasn’t in there, I would be all over this one. “Like a duck on a beetle”, as Robert Jordan has said in Wheel of Time so many times (have I ever mentioned I was obsessed with this series?!). While I love holographic polishes, I don’t find myself loving holo GLITTER polishes, especially not ones with such large glitter as this. I’m keeping it though, as it is really unique and I might change my mind – it is quite pretty and sparkly!
I tried to find some similar polishes in my collection and came up short. The closest I got was $OPI’s If You’ve Got it, Haunt It (from last year’s Halloween collection), and LA Girl’s Heavy Metal (from the Rock Star collection). Maybe if you mixed the two together, it would be similar to Rock Solid? IYGHI is a DENSE black and silver glitter with a sparser amount of… is that holo glitter in there?! If it is, it primarily flashes blue or green with an orange flash every once in awhile. It was a limited edition from Sephora last year and is quite HTF these days. I haven’t seen it up for swap, on eBay, or in a blog sale… so maybe Rock Solid will be close enough to squash the lemming? Heavy Metal is a much deeper base with multi-colored shimmer. It isn’t a foil, but once applied, it kinda looks like one.
So, what do you think? Have you picked up any Mineral FXs? Are you planning on it? Which is your favorite? Am I cray-cray for not being head over heels for Stone Cold?!?
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