Duri Cosmetics Primal Instincts Fall 2020: Swatch & Review

*The polishes featured in this post were gifted to me by Duri Cosmetics. I am under no obligation to review them or write this post. All opinions are my own.*

Duri kindly sent me their fall collection a couple months ago (sorry guys). It took me a while to get this post together, but I think I owed it to this collection to take my time and do it justice, you know? It’s called Primal Instincts; I think they were on the same wavelength as some other brands with the nature inspired theme! This is a super fun fall line up of polishes, they went full jewel-toned as opposed to dusty and muted. It’s composed of all the primary and secondary colors with a fall twist. All the polishes in this collections were cremes, totally fine with me, and I found the formulas superb. The last Duri collection I swatched had amazing cremes too, they have clearly mastered the formula. None of them took more than two coats (yes, even the yellow!) to reach full opacity and some of them only needed one. You really cannot ask for more.

For all of today’s swatches, I used the Zoya Naked Base as my base coat and topped with Dimension Nails Quickie where noted. Quickie is a thinner top coat and it does indeed dry quite quickly, so if you see any brush strokes in the photos with top coat that’s why.

Duri Hunting for Love, 2 coats plus top coat

We’ll start off today with Hunting for Love, a warm grape purple that Duri describes as an “intense purple embracing a velvety and rich tone.” It definitely leans more red than your standard, secondary color purple which I think makes it perfect for fall!

Duri Hunting for Love, 1 coat

Hunting for Love has good coverage in one coat. I have a few lighter patches on each nail that will need to be covered but nothing terrible. The formula was really smooth and easy to work with. That’s going to be a theme in this post. Sorry, but when you have fantastic formulas there’s really only so many words in the English language I can use to describe them.

Duri Hunting for Love, 2 coats

Unsurprisingly, Hunting for Love reached full opacity in two coats. These do dry pretty shiny and smooth on their own, but top coat just gives them that extra ooomph, ya know?

Duri Tropical Rain, 2 coats plus top coat

Next up we have, blue, glorious blue with Tropical Rain. Duri calls it an “indulgent, luscious blue.” To me this comes off as an ultramarine type blue, but honestly even though I’m a blue lover, I really don’t know ALL the names of the different types of blues, I just make things up that sound good ;]

Duri Tropical Rain, 1 coat

One thing I’m not making up is how nice this formula is! Tropical Rain applied nice and creamy, I had zero running issues (just brush control issues, hence my cuticle area getting a little blue there on the middle finger – I really should stop watching soccer while I swatch). I didn’t feel it was 100% opaque, I think you can see this best here on my index nail so I did do another coat.

Duri Tropical Rain, 2 coats

After two coats, Tropical Rain is completely opaque. I’m thinking that people who tend to do thicker coats could get away with this one in one, but I see little reason to use just one coat of a creme polish unless I’m wearing it under a topper.

Duri Monkeying Around, 1 coat plus top coat

This is one of my favorites of the collection! Duri describes Monkeying Around as a “lush, woodland green.” Just like Hunting for Love, this one is like a secondary color but more fall. If someone poured a touch of olive or moss green into your standard kelly green, you’d get this polish. It’s such a nice shade of green, I could probably wear it all year round.

Duri Monkeying Around, 1 coat

One of the best things about Monkeying Around is that it is completely opaque in just one coat! The formula is super creamy and just glides on to the nail. Zero application issues at all.

Duri Sting Like a Bee, 2 coats plus top coat

Sting Like a Bee is probably going to stand out to a lot of you; I know there are quite a few yellow lovers out there! Duri calls it a “creamy yet daring yellow.” I would say it’s a honey, buttery yellow. I’m not really a big fan of yellow myself, but this one has a softness to it like the pastel yellows I’m a fan of, I think I can get on board with it!

Duri Sting Like a Bee, 1 coat

Sting Like a Bee covers REALLY well in just one coat, especially for a yellow! I got a few streaks and lighter spots, but it didn’t apply any worse than the other two-coat cremes in this collection. I didn’t have to do any kind of special technique or anything like that, just painted it on normally.

Duri Sting Like a Bee, 2 coats

Sting Like a Bee is completely opaque in two coats! That is absolutely amazing for a yellow, I’m thinking that you yellow-lovers NEED this one. The formula also self-levels really nicely, it’s just a really good creme formula.

Duri Uninhibited, 2 coats plus top coat

This next polish is my other favorite in the collection! Uninhibited is described as a “vibrant and fresh orange.” This is SUCH a perfect Halloween orange, it is super bright and bold, but not neon. It would look so good with some black nail art (like a jack-o-lantern face). Otherwise, it’s a punchy orange that I would be more inclined to wear during the summer.

Duri Uninhibited, 1 coat

Uninhibited is so close to being a one-coater! The formula was really creamy and easy to apply. I found that it dries looking a little squishy and crelly-like, so I thought a second coat would really bring this one to perfection.

Duri Uninhibited, 2 coats

Two coats of Uninhibited is totally sufficient for this orange. Any lighter or darker spots caused by the squishiness are completely evened out. Even though this isn’t a fall burnt orange, I cannot help but adore this one. It’s just such a happy shade of orange!!!

Duri Hear Me Roar, 1 coat plus top coat

Lastly we have the most standard polish in the collection. Hear Me Roar is described as a “valiant and striking red.” I feel like every polish brand has a red like this in their collection. It’s bold and juicy, the kind of red I like around the holidays.

Duri Hear Me Roar, 1 coat

Although Hear Me Roar may not be the most unique color in the world, it IS a one-coater, so that may be the reason you choose this one over the five billion other red polishes in existence. Again, broken record here, the formula was creamy and a breeze to work with. You just don’t have to think much when using these polishes, they are one step away from just applying themselves.

I’m super happy Duri sent me this collection! They made me go out of my comfort zone with Sting Like a Bee, a shade I would have never picked up on my own, and I actually kinda think I like it. Monkeying Around and Uninhibited are my top picks because of the colors, but if any of these appeal to you, you won’t be able to go wrong. All these cremes were super easy to work with and they are great examples of why creme polishes will always be my favorites.

What fall colors and collections have you been loving this year?

xx, Ashley

You can find Duri on their website here. They say they are cruelty-free, but it doesn’t look like they are on the Logical Harmony approved brand list… yet!

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