Celebrating a legend: Orly

I was going to call this post “The Return of Orly”, but the internationally-acclaimed nail care brand has never really been away. It has been below my radar though, until I saw the latest colours and was reminded just what a great, category-leading name it is. When Jeff Pink founded Orly in 1975, he was motivated by what seems a very simple idea: to innovate natural nail care. So, he set about creating leading-edge products and tools designed not only to make nails look incredible, but to respond to the needs of the professionals i.e. those thousands of manicurists around the globe who have our hands quite literally, in their’s. What I didn’t know however, was that clever Jeff was also the creator of the now-legendary French manicure, a look that has endured for over 30 years and is still in vogue with everyone from brides to the hip and the haute. “The idea of the French manicure look came to me while I was starting Orly back in 1975,” he has said, “movie and television directors wanted a versatile nail style to compliment a Hollywood star’s entire onset wardrobe. They were looking for a singular look that would coordinate with the numerous wardrobe changes actresses had to make in one day. Once I started having the movie star stylists paint the nails with a white tip and a sheer, the celebrities loved it! I realised the most elegant, universal nail look is a natural nail look”. Jeff took his look, at the time dubbed the “The Natural Nail Look”, to the runways of Paris where the models and designers also lapped it up. On the plane ride home to the US, Jeff decided to rename his creation The French Manicure, in honor of his new friends in Paris. And the rest, as you say, is history.
Fast forward to the now however, and Orly is still here and still creating some of the hottest colours each season that are free of DBP, toluene, formaldehyde and formaldehyde resin. My pick for Summer is Green Apple – a little brighter than Chanel’s Jade, it’s guaranteed to add a little sunshine to any old pedicure.