Archive for category Comparisons
Polish Comparison Swatches – The Best Kind of Post When You’re Sick
Posted by Latoya in American Apparel, butter London, Chanel, China Glaze, Comparisons, Coral, Deborah Lippmann, Nail Polish, Red on April 9, 2013
So yea. I sneezed funny on Sunday and then the next day I was sick with a cold. Has that ever happened to anyone else? I’m being dead serious – it’s like the sneeze dislodged the sickness or something. Ugh. Anyway, I was off work today and pretty much was a slug all day; even looking at the computer screen hurts my eyes. I am weird and don’t take medication when I’m sick (unless it’s that time of the month – then, JACK ME UP BABY) because I feel like it just masks the pain and makes me stay sick for longer. Or I’m a martyr. Either or. At least I know when I get pregnant one day I’ll be totally used to not being able to take meds (but I will not hesitate to get an epidural – eff that). So there’s that.
Anyway, I have photos of two polishes I had done comparison swatches for but never posted them, so here they are. First up is Chanel’s Orange Fizz (which I happen to be wearing this week, and seriously – I LOVE IT SO MUCH you guys should all buy a bottle, it’s good times) which I swatched against all my other orangey-coral polishes (spoiler – there are no dupes that I own, so you should just go buy a bottle of the real stuff):
Left to right: China Glaze Flirty Tankini, LA Colors Magnetic Force, Chanel Orange Fizz, China Glaze Surfin’ for Boys, Deborah Lippmann Daytripper
Thumb: China Glaze Flirty Tankini; Index: Chanel Orange Fizz; Middle: LA Colors Magnetic Force; Ring: China Glaze Surfin’ for Boys; Pinky: Deborah Lippmann Daytripper
You can see that aside from the LA Colors shade, the rest of the polishes are all in the same vein, but Flirty Tankini is less saturated and dries with a flat finish (though probably the closest match); Surfin’ for Boys is more pink and with a pearlesence about it; and Daytripper is more pink. What I love about Orange Fizz is that it’s super-shiny on it’s own, has a squishy quality to it, and is somehow both soft enough for spring but bright enough that it will be awesome in summer too 
The next polish I have to show you is one I recently picked up from American Apparel, called Downtown LA. I was in the store a couple weeks ago buying Neon Violet for a gal at work, since she loved it so much on me, and decided to take advantage of the buy 3 for $18 deal (I also picked up their matte top coat for fun). Downtown LA is a bold red that leans ever so slightly orange. It is exceptionally close to butter London’s Come to Bed Red, though bL’s version really is more of a true red without the orange lean. I can tell the difference between the two but if I didn’t tell you, I’m sure you wouldn’t guess:
butter London Come to Bed Red; American Apparel Downtown LA
Index & ring: butter London Come to Bed Red; middle & pinky: American Apparel Downtown LA
I have a hard time wearing red polish as I find on my skintone it looks a bit garish; however, I wore Downtown LA last week and actually liked it quite a bit. The warmer tone of the polish worked better on me than Come to Bed Red has in the past, and I made sure to cut my nails super-short which made the manicure less in-your-face. I won’t be stocking up on red polishes any time soon but it’s still nice to have a few great ones in your arsenal! I’ll likely pass along my butter London shade – I always hate to part with more high-end brands but I know I’ll never choose it over the AA color. I have to say, I really like AA polishes – they are almost one-coaters and apply so well!
So, I hope this keeps you entertained until I get better! I usually go into repair mode when I’m sick and rarely stay down for long, so I’ll be up and kickin’ by the weekend I’m sure 
What do you do with your nail polish dupes? Do you find red a difficult color to wear?
Quelling a Burning Desire with Deborah Lippmann’s Through the Fire
Posted by Latoya in Comparisons, Deborah Lippmann, Holiday, Holiday 2012, Nail Polish, Red on January 7, 2013
While I was away this fall, something terrible happened – I missed the Chanel fall collection entirely! Thankfully, there wasn’t too much I wanted to try, but I DID desperately want Malice, the gorgeous ruby-hued polish and the only one released with the seasonal launch. As it disappeared from shelves in a snap, I was left to scour the internet trying to find a dupe to the shade. What I came up with that was close (though by no means an exact match, or even that close, unfortunately), was Deborah Lippmann’s Through the Fire.
Through the Fire, a ‘radiant merlot hue’ was released as part of her 2012 Holiday collection (along with Cleopatra in New York). While it doesn’t have the slight berry tinge that Malice appears to have, it still has that inner glow that captivates the eye. Below, this is two coats with Poshe Fast Drying Top Coat.
Apparently, one of the true closer dupes to Malice is OPI’s Royal Rajah Ruby, which if you remember I was iffy about at first, but then found love using it as a pedi shade. Personally I think RRR is too brown-leaning, but it pleases me that I have one of the closest colors to Malice already in my stash.
As for TtF, I pulled RRR plus a couple other shades to see how they all compare – OPI’s Every Month is Oktoberfest, which has been noted by other bloggers as a potential Malice twin (it’s not), and Misa’s Red Pumps at the Nordstrom (which isn’t like Malice at all, nor TtF – but is red and also has that gorgeous radiance about it).
Left to right (artificial light): OPI Every Month is Oktoberfest, OPI Royal Rajah Ruby, Deborah Lippmann Through the Fire, Misa Ruby Pumps at the Nordstrom
Left to right (flash): OPI Every Month is Oktoberfest, OPI Royal Rajah Ruby, Deborah Lippmann Through the Fire, Misa Ruby Pumps at the Nordstrom
Top to Bottom (artificial light): Misa Red Pumps at the Nordstrom, Deborah Lippmann Through the Fire, OPI Royal Rajah Ruby, OPI Every Month is Oktoberfest
Left to right (flash): OPI Every Month is Oktoberfest, OPI Royal Rajah Ruby, Deborah Lippmann Through the Fire, Misa Ruby Pumps at the Nordstrom
Left to right (flash): Misa Red Pumps at the Nordstrom, Deborah Lippmann Through the Fire, OPI Royal Rajah Ruby, OPI Every Month is Oktoberfest
While RRR is in the same vein as TtF, it’s not a dupe and I like TtF much better on my fingernails, as its more feminine with it’s red tones. Though I tend to prefer cremes over other formulations of polish, I gotta say that these types of polishes with a less metallic shimmer and more of an inner fire, are totally up my alley. I could stare at them all day! All four of these polishes captivate my heart in one way or another, and while I don’t feel that my lemming for Malice is fully abated, I’m not totally broken-hearted over it
Did you pick up Malice, or did you miss it too? Are you a fan of shimmer polishes, or other types?
So Many Products, Not Enough Time…Interim Quickie Polish Post
Posted by Latoya in Aqua/Teal, Blue, China Glaze, Comparisons, Nail Polish, Orange, Summer 2012, Zoya on July 13, 2012
Hello everyone! I have an insane backlog of products I want to show you desperately, but have just NOT had the time to take photos of anything – such is the way Summer goes, I guess! We’ve been having just the most spectacular weather you could imagine which means I’m outside as much as possible, which is absolutely lovely Tomorrow I plan to get up and do a major photo and swatch session so hopefully in the coming days you’ll have a ton of eye candy to ogle In the meantime, I’m going to do a post a la Liz (aka Beauty Reductionista) to fill the void. Enjoy!
Zoya Arizona
It looks different in different light eh? I’d say the last photo is the most color-accurate. This is a sad polish. The formula was atrocious, gloppy and streaky (this is three coats) and while I liked the color, I didn’t love it so much that the crappy formula was worth dealing with. I wore two full mani’s with this, but I’m am DONE. Swap!
China Glaze For Audrey
Another slight color-shifter. It’s most like the second photo I would say. Since I broke the seal on aqua polishes with Zoya Wednesday (which was a counterpart AWESOME to Arizona’s TOTAL FAIL), I decided to go all in and pick up this cult shade to wade in the aqua pool a bit further. I like it! I don’t think aqua will ever be a ‘go to’ shade for me – I still this it looks much better on fairer skin – but it’s a fun shade to wear in Summer, and I’m glad I found a few to play nice with This was an easy-to-use formula, no issues. Here it is compared to Wednesday:
(No, I did not wear these as a mani/pedi combo LOL!) In the first photo, with flash, they look quite similar, but in the second you can see that Wednesday is dustier and more muted. I think I’d actually prefer the reverse to this – Wednesday on fingernails and For Audrey on toes. But they’re both pretty
China Glaze Ridin’ the Waves
I’ve already shown swatches of Ridin’ the Waves, but I wanted to show it again when I wore it as a full mani, with a coat of white polish underneath to make it really pop! Although I don’t like the sheerness of this polish – it tends to be a bit streaky, so even over white it was tricky (as you can see in the first & second photos) – I love the shade; it’s vibrant without being too in-your-face, and the jelly texture is a nice switch-up. It’s not quite as bright as shades like Nails Inc. Baker Street, but it comes close.
Speaking of nail polish, I would be remiss if I didn’t let you know about the contest going on at Nail Polish Canada – they’re giving away a lifetime supply (approx. 25 years worth) of CND Shellac to one winner! Though I know a few people were a bit offended by the somewhat poorly delivered joke about living too long to surpass the ‘lifetime’ claims, regardless, this is a pretty sweet giveaway for anyone who loves having their nails polished to perfection but doesn’t want to deal with the hassle of upkeep. “CND Shellac is a cross between nail polish and gel. Shellac is applied like regular nail polish and then cured using a UV lamp. Shellac lasts much longer than your regular manicure; up to 14 days without chipping or peeling. Dry time is instant, making the application process fast and ensuring your polish doesn’t smudge.” This would almost be a sort of hell for me because I love changing my nails so frequently, and so the fabulous technology would be completely lost on someone like myself, but I can think of a number of gals who would LOVE to win something like this and put it to very good use!
The winner will be selected August 7th, and contest is open to residents of Canada and the US (excluding Quebec), so boogie on over to NPC and check out the full details! Best of luck to all who enter!
I hope everyone has a lovely weekend full of tons of sunshine!! Get ready for a barrage of posts coming next week – it’s gonna get a little crazy
Thoughts? (about Arizona/For Audrey/Ridin’ the Waves/Nail Polish Canada joke/life in general)???
A Nail Polish Fitting For It’s HP Namesake: Zoya Cho
Posted by Latoya in Comparisons, Nail Polish, Neutral, Spring 2012, Zoya on March 28, 2012
*Of course, I do not KNOW if this polish was named after Cho Chang from Harry Potter…it’s just that she’s the only Cho I know, and it seems to suit her personality (more on that below).
So, a lot of the Spring collections didn’t really grab me that much in the end; as we drawer nearer to the release of the Summer collections, I realize just how few shades in the current season piqued my interest. I considered a few from Essie’s Navigate Her collection – A Crewed Interest, Ole Caliente – but decided to pass in the end. The shades in the OPI Holland collection were quite pretty, but none seemed well suited for my skintone – I only picked out two of the twelve. I’ve been hemming and hawing over butter London’s Bossy Boots, but feel that I waited SO long that now the time has passed. However, one shade that I was certain I wanted from the beginning was Zoya’s Cho from the True collection – a French Vanilla cream with the barest hint of shimmer. 
I don’t own many true neutral shades, as I tend to favor color over subtlety, but every so often I get the urge to wear something demure, and I decided that I should broaden my choices. Cho is a lovely, warm-toned shade that I just knew would look flattering on my skintone, so I ordered it sight-unseen from Nail Polish Canada, for $8.75CAD (which is about $2 cheaper than it is here in town).
Above photos in artificial light
The first thing I noticed upon applying Cho was that it was just like many other pale, creamy shades – tricky to apply. Shades like this are notorious for applying streaky (what’s the reason for that BTW? Anyone??), and this was no exception. It wasn’t a terrible hassle, but it required three coats to reach full opacity with no patchiness or see-through spots. The formula was of medium thickness and flowed easily enough, but just didn’t want to easily cooperate. I think these are times when Zoya’s smaller brush works against it, as it would have been quick and easy with a wider brush with only a few strokes required (which would likely have minimized the streaking).
With flash
In any case, I got it on, and waited for the magic. Essie’s Jazz, a cool-toned neutral that almost leans grey, makes my hands look stunning and elegant and quite frankly, awesome for being essentially a non-color. Cho, on the other hand, was flattering but kind of…boring (and this is where the Harry Potter reference applies – Cho Chang was super lame!! Crying all the time? Helping rat out the D.A.? UNCOOL, Cho, Uncool). So uh, yea. That’s essentially how I felt about this polish. More effort than it was worth to end up not stunning me in the least. Like Cho Chang, I didn’t HATE it, because that would imply I felt strongly about it, and that I did NOT. It was just there – nice enough, but with no pizzazz for me to feel like it will ever be chosen over any of my other polishes.
Just for a quick reference, here are all three of my neutral polishes together (yes, only three…c’mon, my whole stash hasn’t even hit 100 yet! Gimme a break!):
Left to Right: Zoya Cho, Essie Jazz, OPI San-Tantonio
Left to Right: Essie Jazz, Zoya Cho, OPI San-Tantonio
The good thing is that they are vastly different from one another, so that might give Cho an extra boost in the repeat wear category, since she doesn’t have any competitors. Ah well…I rarely wear a nude polish anyway, so no big issue. And after wearing that for a few days – I’m ready for some color again!!!!
What do you think of Cho? Lame like the HP character? Or are you totally digging it??
Purple Holo Polishes: A Comparison
Posted by Latoya in a-england, Color Club, Comparisons, Holographic, Nail Polish, Purple on January 24, 2012
More and more I recognize the fact that when you get right down to it, I love creme polish formulas above most others. I love looking at the shimmer and sparkle of other polishes – I’d love to paint a car in them, perhaps – but on my nails, nothing entrances me more than a straight-up creamy, glossy finish.
However. There is one other formulation that captivates my heart: holographic polishes, or what I think is the more accurate term – prismatic.
Actually, let’s settle this terminology before we move on. Every time I mention ‘holographic nail polish’ to my bf, he gets confused, and insists that is an incorrect term. After I thought about it, I think he might be right. Here are the definitions of ‘holographic’ and ‘prismatic’:
Holographic: Of or relating to holography or holograms. Soo…
(Without getting too technical) A hologram is a three-dimensional image, or representation, in photographic form.
Prismatic: 1) Of, relating to, resembling, or being a prism. 2) Brilliantly colored; iridescent. 3) (Physics) Exhibiting bright spectral colors (prismatic light).
Which sounds more accurate to you???
Ok, now that we’ve cleared that up! So yea, I love me some PRISMATIC polishes in all their iridescent goodness. I like them so much that I ended up buying two purple shades that come pretty darn close to being one and the same – a-England’s Lady of the Lake (purchased first) and Color Club’s Wild at Heart. They’re not dupes, but they’re near enough for me that I don’t see a good reason to own both – though I’ll probably keep ‘em both because their purple, and their prismatic. Reason enough!
Here are some swatches of the two – you can certainly see the difference with the naked eye, but for all intents and purposes they’re quite similar:
On my index and ring finger is Wild at Heart, middle and pinky fingers are Lady of the Lake. You can clearly tell that it’s two different polishes, but still. Wild at Heart is more plum, while the Lady is a muted violet. I normally don’t pick up even near dupes, but when I saw shots like this online, I thought it would be entirely different. Wild at Heart did not get that fabulous from my perspective, but then again it is Winter and perhaps the cool sunlight isn’t doing it any favours. Regardless, the multidimensional shimmer (in both) does come out at the right angles in sunshine:
I don’t really think I like one better than the other really…maybe Wild at Heart because its more vibrant, but overall they’re both lovely polishes (I’ve reviewed Lady of the Lake previously; Wild at Heart has a good formula with no issues to speak of) with a pretty sparkle that I thoroughly enjoy. It’s a shame it’s not consistently more sunny here in Halifax, as the beauty of these types of polish really don’t come out without it (unless you have a really stellar formula – from what I’ve seen, Speciallita and Glitter Gal look pretty amazing regardless of lighting…will.own.soon.).
And – despite the seemingly incorrect use of the word ‘holographic,’ I’ll still probably use as it’s more commonplace and I don’t want anyone to get confused Enjoy the rest of your day everyone!
Sparitual’s ‘Sacred Ground’
Posted by Latoya in Comparisons, Nail Polish, Sparitual on September 8, 2011
Will wonders never cease? Somehow, the Sparitual Fall 2011 collection was actually available here in Canada before it was officially released. I can’t believe it. Imagine my surprise when I strolled into Remedy Spa here in Halifax, to have my eyes rest upon the whole collection – before I had even seen swatches online! Unheard of.
Of course, I had to pick up a shade to commemorate this astounding event. My choice? ‘Sacred Ground,’ a beautiful muted taupe-ish grey with flecks of gold, green and purple shimmer throughout. At the time, I was trying to quell my desperate lemming for Chanel’s ‘Graphite’ as it hadn’t yet arrived in at our Chanel counter. It was no dupe, but it would do. 
In plain lighting, it just looks like a grey polish with shimmer…
…but in direct sunlight, the multi-colored shimmer appears! So pretty! (click to enlarge and get the full effect)
In the last two photos you can see that its quite a mysterious looking polish, I love it!
‘Sacred Ground’ is my first Sparitual polish, and applied easily with no issues. I did notice some tip wear after the first few days, which you can see in the photos, but I’m not entirely sure that’s not due to my base coat – butter London Nail Foundation – as I find my polish chipping more often than usual since I’ve been using it. I’ll be doing a review on that at a later time.
Details: One coat butter London base coat, two coats of polish, one coat of S.Vite fast-drying top coat.
Size & Price: 0.5oz and retail for $13CDN.
Where to Buy: Remedy Spa (Granville St, Halifax).
When I brought S.Ground home, I realized I had another polish very similar to it – Joe Fresh’s ‘Gunmetal’, which is a shimmerying taupe-ish polish with pink and purple flecks in it. For added measure, I also swatched Chanel’s ‘Graphite’ to show shimmer intensity and color leaning:
Left to Right: Graphite, Sacred Ground, Gunmetal
Graphite, Sacred Ground, Gunmetal
Left to Right: Gunmetal, Sacred Ground, Graphite
Left to Right: Sacred Ground, Gunmetal
You can see that a) Graphite is much sparklier, b) Graphite is much more green when paired with the cooler grey of Sacred Ground/Gunmetal, and c) Sacred Ground and Gunmetal are way close, no??
For me, the two polishes are close enough that I feel justified in giving one away. Of course, it’ll be the Joe Fresh version…Sacred Ground has the much more visible multi-colored shimmer that really makes it unique. Also, the Joe Fresh polishes, while easy on the wallet at $4 a pop, or 3 for $10, do not have the best formula – they pull a bit and are on the thicker side. So no dilemma there!
Sacred Ground is unique, easy to apply and I can imagine would look lovely on most any skintone. If you happen across it, I definitely recommend picking it up – it’s a very wearable shade that isn’t boring in the least!
What are your thoughts on ‘near’-dupes – keep ‘em or leave ‘em? If you can notices a slight but discernible difference, do they stay in your stash or move along?
Thanks for stopping by
Something Fun!
Posted by Latoya in Comparisons, Nail Polish on August 8, 2011
So, as I mentioned last week, I’ve been sick. Still am sick actually – I’m back to work, but I have this nasty chest cold with a tight cough that makes my asthma pretty unbearable. This morning I woke up feeling like I had a vice squeezing my lungs ~Whine~
Ok, I’m done now. The upside of being sick is that I’ve had a little extra time on my hands. On Saturday on a little excursion out with my bf, I picked up something super fun at Sally Beauty. Nail wheels!!!!! OMG these are the best things ever! I honestly need to own these forever and ever. There are so many reasons why nail wheels are totally my thing.
1) I have OCD-tendencies and am a slight organizational freak. A place for everything and everything in it’s place. Plus, I love complimentary colors and how beautiful they look together. Case-in-point: When I was a kid I used to pair up my crayons according to color and how they complimented each other. And I always put them back as per the rainbow spectrum (red to orange to yellow to green to blue to purple etc.). Oh yeah. I totally miss those days.
2) I really like painting. Anything. I’m stoked to paint the rooms of the house, even. I didn’t know this was a ‘thing’ of mine ’til I started painting the wheels and realized that half the reason I paint my nails so often is the actual act of painting brings me some sort of silly joy. Wheeeeeeee!
3) Um, it’s nail polish! ‘Nuf said.
So, needless to say, these nail wheels have been a mini project since I picked them up. Again, due to the OCD-tendencies, I went through a couple ‘trial’ wheels before I was satisfied with the myriad of colors and how they coordinated with each other. But the final products look pretty cool, I must say. There are a few things I might change when the time comes to do new ones (when I have a bunch of new polish down the road and need to fit them in), but for the time being, they’re pretty sweet. My boyfriend can’t quite understand the purpose of them – the only thing he can think of is that they must ‘help me choose my nail polish in the morning easier’ lol which is cute – but even he concurs that they look cool. I don’t know what I’ll use them for exactly, but I do see them coming in handy for my polish combos, and/or remembering what they look like (because sometimes you forget – there starts to be so many! - and the bottle isn’t always a true representation…you know what I mean). And…they’re just so darn awesome!
Enough with the babble and more with the photos!! Voila, my most current (only) masterpiece (DISCLAIMER! MEGA PICTURE HEAVY! Click to enlarge):
Reds/Pinks/Plums
Blacks/Greys/Taupes/Purples
Blues/Green(s)*
(*as I only have one!)
Neutrals/Golds/Khakis
I wish you all could see these in person, because they look infinitely better in real life. Not like many of you haven’t seen nail wheels before, or even don’t have your own – I just stupidly proud of these little things! Like, wow, I made some great polish choices in the past! LOL I have a whole new appreciation for a lot of the shades I own; some I’d forgotten and I feel like I just ran into an old best friend my elementary school. And of course, I also ran into the mean girl who I always secretly wished liked me but we just never got along because I refused to ‘fall in line.’ So they gotta go ;P
For now, because there is so many shades (or so little, as compared to some stashes!), if there are any shades you are interested in, shoot me a line and I’ll let you know what it is! Some of these I’m sure you’ll all recognize from the blog anyway. Eventually I’d like to populate a little database with all the info for you all – in time!
Off to bed, everyone have a great night and thanks for reading!
Another Comparison: butter London ‘Come to Bed Red’ and Essie ‘Queen of Hearts’
Posted by Latoya in butter London, Comparisons, Essie, Nail Polish on August 5, 2011
Again with too much time on my hands! I’m home again from work today, still feeling pretty under the weather, and I want to make sure I get a ton of rest so I can get over this as fast as possible. My bf has had it for about two weeks now and I just don’t want that!! So gotta take care of myself.
I picked up Essie’s ‘Queen of Hearts’ a couple weeks ago when it was on sale at Shoppers Drug Mart for $2. $2 Essie!? Count me in! In the bottle its a pretty red with slight pink leanings, and subtle silver sparkle. This was part of the ‘Essie Loves Diamonds’ collection by Judith Ripka, which came out a couple years ago. I’d never heard of it or her, but apparently she is a jewelry designer. The silver sparkle in the polish is supposedly genuine diamond dust. Okey dokey!
Again, yesterday when I was going through my stash, I realized that it was uncannily close to ‘Come to Bed Red’ by butter London, a beautiful, glossy, true red creme (previously reviewed here). Paired side by side, they look pretty close, with the Essie being slightly more faded.
Once on the nail, you can see the slightly more muted tone of QofH as well. They’re not complete dupes, but pretty darn close – enough that I definitely don’t feel the need to own both. Check it out:
In all shots you see ‘Queen of Hearts’ on the index and ring finger, and ‘Come to Bed Red’ on the middle and pinkie. The shots above show the slightly faded quality of QofH as compared to CTBR. Also, in all shots taken, the fine silver shimmer is absolutely nowhere to be seen. I couldn’t even see it with the naked eye in outdoor light, once on the nail.
In these other two shots, I find that you can barely distinguish between the two – especially the last shot. Personally, I think that if you didn’t know I had two different polishes on, you’d never ever guess. And to me, if that’s the case, then these polishes are dupes. Of course I can say that one is more muted, and I’m sure you can see that slight difference, but if I don’t let on and you can’t tell? Absolutely NO reason to keep both, in my opinion. To nitpick over the smallest of differences seems silly to me. But, that’s just how I feel about it! Clearly I’m not a true nail polish connoisseur as I’ve got less than 100 bottles, and many bloggers I’ve encountered have upwards of 700!! So what do I know? 
Details: As these polishes were just applied for swatching purposes, it was just two coats of each polish with no base or top coat.
Size, Price & Where to Buy: Essie polishes are 0.5 oz and usually retail for $11 CDN at drugstores (they’re about $2 cheaper at Walmart!). This particular shade was Limited Edition. butter London polishes are 0.4 oz and retail for $18 CDN at select locations (in Halifax you can buy them at Spirit Spa on Hollis St.).
In this case, butter London’s wins out over Essie’s version – mainly because I love b.London’s formulation, it is slightly brighter, and it irritates me that you can’t see the shimmer on the nail at all in QofH. Regardless of it being ‘genuine diamond dust‘. And, I paid full price for CTBR!! LOL so that’s something to consider, too.
What are your thoughts about dupes? Do you feel the minute variations make all the difference? Or are you the opposite, and feel that a red is a red, etc.? How many nail polish do you own?
Ok, I’ve been sitting up for longer than I’d like, and its nap time (again!). I hope I wake up tomorrow feeling back to normal and ready for the weekend! If not, well…I hope everyone else has a fantastic weekend – enjoy it, have fun, drink a glass of wine, and take ‘er easy
Comparison: Revlon Plum Night and MAC Dark Angel
Posted by Latoya in Comparisons, MAC, Nail Polish, Revlon on August 4, 2011
Hello everyone! I’m home sick in bed today, feeling miserable, and the only thing I can get up the energy to do is my nails….that’s pretty sad, huh? There always time for nail polish Anyway, I was going through my untrieds again and pulled two shades that I really can’t bring myself to wear right now, because 1) the colors are SO not Summer, and actually look a lot like shades coming out in the Fall collections this year, and 2) I just don’t really like the polishes much, for different reasons – one is another one of those ‘middle of the road’ shades I’m not a fan of, and the other is a Revlon, so you know…application issues etc. Yuk.
Anyway, like I said, these shades remind me of some of the colors coming out this season, specifically OPI’s Honk if You Love OPI/I Brake for Manicures, and China Glaze’s Urban Night. Of course, I don’t have these shades so I can’t say for sure how close they are (those of you that do, feel free to set me straight! I don’t want to buy dupes if I can avoid it).
Since I’m sick and exhausted, without further ado, here is my comparison shots (Revlon Plum Night on index and ring fingers, MAC Dark Angel on middle and pinkie):
In this last shot, it’s Revlon, MAC, Revlon. This is more accurate to what these shades look like in regular lighting – Plum Night is almost black, while Dark Angel is considerably lighter.
Initially, P.Night applies almost like a jelly, but doesn’t maintain that squishy-looking texture, and has some dragging issues. What you see here is two coats, FYI. Dark Angel is a pain because it requires 3 coats to full opacity, and dries slowly. I dunno, I guess I’m pretty fussy now when it comes to nail polish. I don’t want to hang on to shades that are just ‘OK’ when there are a ton of shades that blow my socks off (butter London ‘Snog’, Chanel ‘Paradoxal’, and Deb Lippmann ‘Across the Universe’ come to mind). There’s nothing wrong with these colors, just like there wasn’t anything wrong with yesterday’s YMOMC by OPI. Add that to a sub-par formulation and I’m out. If the polish is swoon-worthy but has crappy application, I can be forgiving. But otherwise…I just can’t be bothered.
Wow, you sure can tell I’m sick, eh? What a downer of a post LOL. My apologies! I put these shades on just for swatching purposes, so I plan on doing an appropriate combo later which I’ll post soon.
Size, Price & Where to Buy: Revlon polishes are 0.5 oz and retail for around $6.49 at most drugstores. MAC polishes are 0.34 oz and $15, found at MAC stores worldwide. Both shades are permanent.
What do you make of these shades? Have you tried them and found similar application issues, or am I just hard to please? What nail polishes have left you cold recently?
I hear this cold is going around, so I hope everyone is staying healthy! It’s a bitch of a bug.
Bye for now!
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