{pr sample} Duri sent me the polishes in this post to swatch and review. All opinions are my own.
Duri reached out to me to swatch their spring collection and, not gonna lie, I saw a pretty green and that was all it took for me to say, yes please! Also, I have wanted to try the brand for a while and opportunities like this do not come knocking every day. I got my swatches up on Instagram pretty quickly, but fell into a bit of a blog slump. I guess I was feeling uninspired to actually write a post (I have been swatching consistently) but now I feel up to it again! I just love nail polish so much (wow, really Ashley, no one would have guessed) and I love the nail polish community. I think I needed a different form of escapism during this pandemic and since I have been working from home for about 4 weeks on and off, it feels like I’m just at home all day on a computer. I’ve gotten over that now and I am finally ready to give you guys an in depth look at the Duri Costmetics Retro Wave collection for spring 2020! I’m switching it up for the foreseeable future and my posts will be dropping on Wednesdays now. I would like to tell you that I used stats and blog analytics to decide this like a professional would, but actually I just realized that having a “deadline” on a weekend was not working out for me and mid-week posts seem more achievable. We’ll see. On to the swatches, there are six polishes in this collection and you know there’s going to be lots of photos.
I used a-england The Ridgeway base coat under all swatches today and SuperChic Lacquer Marvel Liquid Macro as my top coat where noted.
Duri Speck-tacularly Me, 3 coats plus top coat
First up, we have one of my many favorites from the collection and the first of the speckled polishes, Speck-tacularly Me! Duri calls this a “speckled baby blue polish” and those speckles are little teeny blue flakies. Guys, I love me some itty bitty flakies, this is one of my favorite polish finishes.
Duri Speck-tacularly Me, 1 coat
The formula of this polish is a bit thin, so I went in with thin, careful coats. It was a little streaky on the first coat, but that is not surprising considering the pastel base. The flakie payoff is really good right off the bat.
Duri Speck-tacularly Me, 2 coats
With a second thin coat, the base color actually builds up really well. There are no more visible streaks, just a few lighter patches that I would still like to cover up. The flakie density is perfection!
Duri Speck-tacularly Me, 3 coats
Three thin coats brought this one fully opaque for me! For this polish and all the others, I found that they self-level really well and dry shiny. When you compare the photos with and without top coat, you don’t see a major difference!
Duri Speck-tacularly Me, 3 coats plus top coat
This macro is suuuuuper blurry, I was hoping to show you that the little blue flakies are slightly metallic but it’s actually easier to see that here from the bottle than on my nail. Nice.
I am giving the name Speck-tacularly Me a 4/5. It has speckles, so the pun works, I just think a name that gets a 5 also references the color.
Duri Cotton Candy Sky, 2 coats plus top coat
Cotton Candy Sky is the other speckled polish in the collection. This is a very pale pink with either teeny tiny copper or rose gold flakies.
Duri Cotton Candy Sky, 1 coat
I found the formula of Cotton Candy Sky to be a bit more creamy than Speck-tacularly Me. This made it a little more opaque on the first coat because I naturally wanted to use a slightly thicker coat than I would normally use (a normal coat for most people probably). There are some light spots that will require a second coat. Like the first one, the flakie payoff is amazing.
Duri Cotton Candy Sky, 2 coats
Two coats is definitely all you will need for Cotton Candy Sky. Even if you over-manipulate the formula, it won’t streak like some other pastels will. It dries so smooth and shiny, love how well these self-level!
Duri Cotton Candy Sky, 2 coats plus top coat
What color do you think the flakies are? I think the polish looks a lot like a sea shell, with those soft, pinky yet natural tones.
I am giving the name Cotton Candy Sky a 2/5. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a speckled sky like this, but the name sounds delicious so I’m not giving it a 1. Also, cotton candy does kind of fit with the color, though I think of cotton candy as being a bit more of a vibrant pink.
Duri Diner Date, 2 coats plus top coat
Diner Date is the first we have of the two creme polishes in the collection! Duri calls it a “coral pink” which is spot on. I’m not going to lie, I detest coral polishes but even I have to admit this one looks pretty good on me. Also, the formula is amazing!
Duri Diner Date, 1 coat
Diner Date has a creamy formula that is on the thinner side of creamy, but still creamy, you know? The opacity here is just stunning. My notes say that there were a few streaks I needed to cover up with a second coat, but it’s actually kind of hard to tell where they are here.
Duri Diner Date, 2 coats
If you don’t get Diner Date opaque in 1 coat, the second coat will cover any little, barely visible streaks and nail line. It dries completely smooth, just like literally every other polish in this collection. Why can’t all polish dry down like this???
I give the name Diner Date a 3/5. It’s a cute pun, but I don’t think of coral pink when I think of diners.
Duri Dream Pop, 2 coats plus top coat
Dream Pop is another favorite of mine in this collection, and the other creme I have to show you. Duri calls it a “soothing lavender.” It is a blue toned purple and it’s a bolder pastel shade. I do not have any other purple like it. I actually realized as I was going through my polishes picking out what to wear for spring that most of my purples are super dark, berry toned, or greyed out. This is such a nice purple for spring, I am so stoked to have it in my collection!
Duri Dream Pop, 1 coat
Dream Pop has a very similar formula to Diner Date, but it dries looking a bit squishier. There are some more apparent light spots at one coat.
Duri Dream Pop, 2 coats
A second easy coat of Dream Pop takes it to complete opacity. I cannot get over how shiny it is, looks like I already top coated it!
I give the name Dream Pop a 2/5. It’s cute, it’s a pop of color, I just don’t feel like it is overly unique or inspired by this particular color. I feel pretty neutral to it if I’m being honest.
Duri Vinyl Records, 1 coat plus top coat
Vinyl Records is the first of the two shimmery cremes Duri gave us in this collection. Duri describes it as a “tan polish with golden shimmer” which is exactly what I am seeing. Not gonna lie, I also do not like wearing brown polishes but I gotta respect this one; it’s opaque in just one coat!
Duri Cosmetics Vinyl Records, 1 coat
Vinyl Records has a very opaque and creamy formula. Looking at the photos I can see a teeny bit of nail line, but in person my jaw dropped because I was 100% not expecting this level of opacity from one coat. Actually, I fully expected to do three coats. Respect to Duri!
The name Vinyl Records gets a 2/5 (we’re using the Goodreads rating system, skewed towards positive). It’s cute, it fits with the retro theme, I just don’t see this polish and think of records.
Duri Peace & Love, 3 coats plus top coat
The last polish and last of the shimmers is another one of my favorites! I think Peace & Love is my ultimate favorite of the collection, actually. It is described as a “chill golden shimmer mint green.” I never would have guessed the shimmer was gold, I thought it was green! The base color must be distorting it to my eyes, or the fact that I have worn Pretty Serious The Dragon’s Curse so recently might be throwing me off because that one has a strong contrasting gold shimmer.
Duri Peace & Love, 1 coat
Peace & Love is really easy to apply with nice, thin coats. The formula is creamy and the polish stays where it is put. I definitely have some light spots that need covering, especially compared with Vinyl Records.
Duri Peace & Love, 2 coats
Peace & Love is so close to being opaque for me in two coats. It’s hard to tell here, but in person I could still see my nail line a bit. I really do not mind having to build this one up though, the formula is so easy to use.
Duri Peace & Love, 3 coats
For me Peace & Love reached full opacity in three thin coats. I cannot stress how easy this one was to work with, applied like a dream. I also cannot stress enough how much I adore this shade of green, I mean, WOW. Paint my entire life with it, please!
The name Peace & Love gets 3/5. This color is just the embodiment of love to me because I love it so much! It would have gotten a 5 if they had gone for Peas & Love, I mean, COME ON.
This is the first time I have tried Duri’s polishes despite the fact that I have been following them on Instagram for some time, oops. Too many polishes in the world to try, ya know? I am just so impressed with the consistent quality of all these formulas, they all self-level perfectly and dry shiny and smooth. I don’t think I’ve encountered a salon brand yet who has this kind of quality throughout an entire collection other than maybe Zoya. Duri polishes retail for $8.00 on their website, which is pretty reasonable for what you get. The bottles are super cute too, they are fun and a little different but still easy to store *side eyes Essie Gel Couture* (don’t ask me how many attempts I made to spell “couture” correctly). I kind of stated my favorites throughout the post, but I would recommend any of them if you like the color.
Have you tried Duri polishes? What colors do you love for spring?
xx, Ashley
Duri sent me these polishes complimentary. You can purchase them on Duri’s website here. Duri Cosmetics is not yet on the Logical Harmony approved brands list, hopefully they will be soon!
short nail swatcher 
Oh yes these are nice. I do like a speckled type polish 😀
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Yes, they are so fun!
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