Ooooh! Lookit! Orly Breathable Nail Polish made for Quo! (It's actually called Quo by Orly Breathable Treatment + Color). That means here in Canada, it’s exclusive to Shoppers Drug Mart. It’s launching soon – word on the street is late July or early August 2016. You’re curious now, right? Let’s look and I’ll tell you what I know and what I don't.

quo by orly breathable polish swatches & review

Right now you're thinking (and rightly so) that nails don't breathe. And you're absolutely right. They ain't got lungs, so they don't breathe. 

But this isn't about that, this is about a nail polish that apparently allows air and hydration to get through the polish and to your natural nail plate. It's supposed to help heal damaged nails. 

This is billed as a “treatment + color” nail polish. Yes, treatment nail polish is now a big thing. 

The idea behind it is that companies jam oils or H2O or vitamins into their polish formulas and then market them as a way to healthify your nails while you wear your chosen colour. 

It’s kind of a great idea, right? Know how you choose a shampoo that has keratin and argan oil and feel like you’ve been good to your hair when you use it? Same thing with these types of treatment polishes.

Here, let me give you the exact wordage so you can see for yourself:

The Nails by the Numbers* part is interesting; 500 women is actually a decent sample size but I have to read between the lines. 

When I see things like “50% of the testers reported that the Breathable formula lasted longer on their nails” when tested against traditional nail polish, I kinda want to know what brand of “traditional nail polish” they used. And if they used a light shade or a dark shade, that matters too. And how long was that wear test? 

See what I’m saying?

But the idea behind it appeals to me greatly. If all these claims are supported, then it looks to me like this product might really be something other than regular ole polish.

Did I do a wear test? Nope. If I did that, I couldn’t swatch the other jillion bottles under my desk and we’d both be bored. But I did apply a whack of it and I can say it applies beautifully.

The handles are the usual grippy top we generally see from Quo by Orly, Orly and SpaRitual. The brushes themselves are wide, splayed paddles meant to be used as parallel to the nail as possible – you've gotta kind of lie them down. They're the perfect size for everything except my pinky. If you've got little nails, I'll bet you won't love it.

Instructions for Quo by Orly Breathable polish say to apply two coats on bare nails. 

If you’re ridgey and generally require a ridge-filling base coat, while this polish has great application, pigment, and level, it might not be enough. But if it’s going to healthify your nails while you wear it, maybe you can stand the ridges for a week?

Because you’re not using a base or top, dry time is pretty swell, and the finish is nicely plasticized. I was curious to see if adding top would make it more shiny so I slapped a coat of Revlon QDTC over one to see. Immediately after, I could barely tell the difference between the nails I topped and the ones I didn’t.

Removal is a cinch. You just use your regular remover and off it comes. If you’re already at Shoppers Drug Mart shopping for this new Breathable nail polish treatment, you might wanna pick up a bottle of one of these removers (above).

I’m in love with the pumpy ones. A single pumpy gets me through at least 50 swatches with ease. After it’s dead, I simply re-fill it with 100% pure acetone and go again.

On the whole, my experience with Quo by Orly Breathable polish has been a pleasure. I really like it when polish goes on fast, tidy, opaque, and shiny in two coats. But that’s all I require from a polish. 

If you require Argania Spinosa kernal oil (aka Argan Oil), Aspalathus Linearis leaf extract (aka Rooibos), Fucus Vesiculosus extract and other assorted nature squeezed into your polish to possibly help repair damage or healthify your nails, then this just might just be the stuff for you.

So there you go! A new treatment for your digits that's supposed to help heal damage. Because I'm no scientist, I don't know if that's possible. I do think you can stop further damage though and if this can help, maybe give it a whirl?

Here in Canada, this Quo by Orly Breathable Treatment + Color line is launching with 18 shades ($10.99 each) at your local Shoppers Drug Mart around the end of July 2016. 

I’m not sure if (or when) Orly Breathable is launching in the States but if it is, odds are the collection will have the same shades, but with different names. I trolled the interwebs looking for info for those of you Stateside, but so far all I’ve found is this link in Dubai.

We should talk now. I need to know what you think about this kind of nature/polish combo and if you think it’ll be a useful treatment tool in your polish Archives.

Manicures & Photographs Karen Falcon (yes, she knows healthify isn't a real word 😬).
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