Orly MegaPixel FX Collection - My Picks!

Hi everyone! I have swatches of a few polishes from the Orly MegaPixel FX collection to share with you. In case you haven't heard of it, this is Orly's response to the texture polish fad. The collection is made up of six metallic shades that contain shimmer, glitter, and of course texture. For some reason this collection kind of slipped under my radar. I picked one up out of curiosity at Sally Beauty Supply about three weeks ago, and it wasn't until I got home that I realized it was a new collection of texture polishes. I then went back and got two more that caught my eye.

Orly MegaPixel FX: Plum Pixel, Aqua Pixel, and Pink Pixel

I picked out three polishes from the collection: Aqua Pixel, Pink Pixel, and Plum Pixel. The other polishes that I passed on are Silver Pixel (a silver glitter texture polish), Rose Pixel (a very light pink glitter texture polish, a tad lighter than Plum Pixel), and Black Pixel (a black texture polish, some shimmer but not as much as the others).

I'll offer my thoughts on the collection after the swatches...

Aqua Pixel is a vivid aqua blue glitter texture polish. It has lots of tiny micro-glitter and some very small hex glitter in a matching colour. This really is a gorgeous colour, and it was the first one I picked up. The application was really easy, it went on smoothly and minimal clean-up was needed. This was two coats.

Orly MegaPixel FX Aqua Pixel

Note: Aqua Pixel is an exact dupe for Julie G Rock Candy from the Frosted Gum Drops Collection. You really don't need both, unless you're me and can't get enough of this colour. ;)

Orly MegaPixel FX Aqua Pixel

Orly Pink Pixel is a very vivid rose-pink metallic texture. Like Aqua Pixel is has very fine micro-glitter and texture with very small hexes in a matching colour. This was two coats and the application was great. It went on very smooth and had a perfect consistency.

Orly MegaPixel FX Pink Pixel

Orly MegaPixel FX Pink Pixel

Orly Plum Pixel is more of a pewter metallic texture, with micro-glitter and small hexes that match colour-wise. This was also two coats and the formula was the exact same as the others. In the store, I found this very similar in colour to Silver Pixel, and I kind of wish this was more of a real plum colour.

Orly MegaPixel FX Plum Pixel

Orly MegaPixel FX Plum Pixel

The pros, the cons, and everything in between: If you like metallics and textures, this collection is great. I really love the shimmer in these polishes, however, I found the texture to be on the smooth side. Not that you want to be wearing rough grit sandpaper, but it was less texture than I experienced with Zoya's Pixie Dust and OPI's Liquid Sand. I also wish that there was more variation in the colours. The silver, plum, and pink ones are very close in colour, so maybe a gold, or a deep plum metallic would be nice additions to the collection.

Another thing I like about this collection is the formula. Like I mentioned, all went on very smoothly, only required two coats, and had an ideal consistency that required minimal clean up.

While I enjoy the shimmer and (some of) the colours, there's one thing I find problematic with these polishes. That would be the drying time. For me, texture polishes need to dry fast, especially since they are meant to be worn without top coat. Since I rely on a top coat so that I'm not incapacitated for hours while waiting for my polish to dry, then I expect texture polish to dry quickly. Is that unreasonable? These polishes will dry to the touch in about 15-20 minutes, however, they are not completely dry for at least an hour. And even then it's still possible to ding, dent and smudge the polish. So if you get these, expect to be using a quick dry top coat unless you want to sit around for 2-3 hours waiting for your polish to dry completely.

What do you think of these? Have you tried anything from the Orly MegaPixel FX collection? What's your favourite texture polish?