Orly Nail Lacquer Thinner Review

I don't do a whole lot of nail treatment/tool reviews on here, because I'm not sure they're particularly interesting, but when I find something that works well, I figure I'd share it with you in case it might fill a void in your polish routine or let you know to avoid something that's complete garbage. So which category does Orly Nail Lacquer Thinner fall into? Let's find out...

If you're unfamiliar with what exactly lacquer thinner is, some polishes either come with very thick, gunky formulas that make them hard to use or old polishes dry up and become thick over time. So you add a few drops of lacquer thinner and voila! Your old, dried up polish is restored (usually) or your thick, pain-in-the-ass polish is now more manageable. Whatever you do, DO NOT use nail polish remover to try and thin your polishes! You will only ruin your poor polish!


I bought this thinner specifically to use with Seche Vite Topcoat (more on that HERE). It's my absolute favorite topcoat I've tried, but once you get down into the last half or so of the bottle, it becomes really thick, goopy and generally un-fun to use. Using the thinner is super easy: just unscrew the cap, squeeze two or three drops of thinner into the polish bottle (start sparingly but then use more if needed) and you're done.

I'm happy to report this works very well with my Seche and makes that last half of the bottle much more enjoyable! Sometimes I have to add more thinner as I work my way further through the bottle but I see an immediate difference once I do. I also tried this on one of my thicker glitter polishes and it worked great with that as well. If you've got a polish that's been dried up since like, the Clinton administration, I can't guarantee this will bring it back to its former glory, but it should do the job with pretty much anything else.


Overall, this gets a thumbs-up from me. It did what I needed it to do, it's cheap (about $3 at Sally Beauty) and given how little you use at a time, a bottle should last you quite a while. I'm glad my first foray into polish thinner was a successful one! If you're in the market for a thinner, give this one a try.