Posts Tagged dupe
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?
Couleur du Jour: Deep Teal Green Eye Shadow
Due to the fact that I’m limiting my purchasing power over the next year, one thing I’m becoming more and more aware of are repeat shades in my stash. If I can only buy so much a month, I want to make sure it’s something good, not something I already own in another interpretation. In going through all my eyeshadows recently, I realized I had several deep teal-greens – all acquired in the past year. Two are from a palette, and one from a shadow duo, so that’s a saving grace, but even so – how often do I even wear teal-green? And so, I thought I’d take a closer look at them to see just how similar they were.
First, we have one half of NARS Rajasthan, which was released with their Fall 2010 collection and an instant must-own (the other half, a shimmering golden shade, is to die – it complements the green half perfectly). This is a deep, dark blackened teal-green with some shimmer:
I find the formulation of this shade just a touch stiff; its a bit difficult to pick up on a shadow brush and requires a bit of extra effort to get the depth of pigmentation I’d like.
Next, I bought Urban Decay’s Book of Shadows III shortly after Rajasthan, in the Fall of 2010. In it contained the limited edition shade Loaded -a blackened, semi-metallic deep forest green, also with teal leaning (though less so), and with more depth than the shade above:
The pigmentation on this shade is lovely; rich and dense, and so ridiculously buttery to the touch. It still requires an extra stroke of a shadow brush to get full depth of color, but it’s hardly an effort.
Last, in the recently acquired theBalm’s Balmbini Palette: Babies of the Balm, the shade Jealous Jordana was included, which is a very dark forest green with teal microshimmer, very reminiscent of UD’s Loaded but slightly lighter: 
The density of pigment in this shadow was best overall – in one swipe, you get pure, saturated color – and it’s also got the most lovely soft, smooth texture (as most shades from theBalm have!).
Here are some comparison swatches (left to right – Jealous Jordana, Loaded, half Rajasthan duo):
You’ll notice that Loaded pulls slightly more green than Jealous Jordana, while the half of the Rajasthan duo looks charcoal by comparison. Also notice the density of the first two, as opposed to the NARS shadow, which I had to build up quite a bit just to get this much pigmentation. For all intents and purposes, theBalm and the Urban Decay versions are essentially the same in both pigmentation and color.
Overall, I think if I had purchased the Balmbini palette, I’d feel a little put out because of how similar Jealous Jordana is to Loaded, but not too much as there are so many other shades/products in the palettes that you’re still getting a good value. Since I DIDN’T pay for the palette, I feel even better As for the NARS duo, I feel that the teal-green shade is not even comparable to the others due to how muted it is, and it’s more smoky quality, which I still appreciate even though the density of the product is somewhat lacking. I’m also not too concerned about owning three similar shades, because I really love this kind of color and feel that it looks great on just about everyone! So they will all certainly get some use over the years.
Do you have any particularly repeated shades in your collection? Which shade do you find yourself buying over and over?
Review: L’Oreal La Couleur Infallible 24 Hour Shadow
Posted by Latoya in Drugstore Finds, Eyeshadow, Giorgio Armani, L'Oreal, Make-up on January 16, 2012
When L’Oreal came out with the La Couleur Infallible shadows, I had to suppress a laugh, as they were so obviously mimicking Giorgio Armani’s Eyes to Kill Intense shadows – similar shades, similar packaging, with the same little black insert inside to keep the powder flat. Their marketing scheme was the same too – exceptionally long wear and intense pigmentation. Having picked up one of the GA shadows last year, I was skeptical that they would measure up – the GA shadows are, in a word, unbelievable. Ridiculously pigmented, they do not smudge, budge or fade over the course of a day, and do not require primer whatsoever. And they contain multiple colors in each pot which mix together to create one gorgeous shadow with incredible depth. Could L’Oreal even stand a chance at being as good?
Last week, I had my chance to find out. While the Infallible shadows initially didn’t tempt me at all, when I was skulking around Shoppers for something (anything!) to buy (it happens), I saw that these were on sale, from something like $11.99CAD to $6.99CAD. I noticed they had a great burnished red shade, Golden Mahogany, that reminded me strongly of another L’Oreal shade I had bought eons ago – Five Alarm – which I loved. I decided to give in an pick one up – research for the blog, you see. It didn’t seem so bad since it was on sale.
Once home, I compared it to Five Alarm, and initially they seemed quite similar:
Five Alarm is a loose shadow, while the Infallible shadows are sort of this loosely pressed shadow, which feels very smooth to the touch (just like GA’s). Above, they both are shimmering deep reds with a sort of slight bronze leaning. However, when swatched, the differences become more apparent:
Golden Mahogany on left, Five Alarm on right.
Golden Mahogany is clearly more pigmented and dense, while Five Alarm pales in comparison. Also, Five Alarm is more sparkly, while Golden Mahogany imparts a deep metallic effect, which I find more wearable. From past experience, Five Alarm does not stay put very well – perhaps four hours at the most before it starts to fade. Golden Mahogany, on the other hand, wore quite well all day (without primer), even through a vigorous run at the gym. However, none of this is surprizing, as Five Alarm is over 10 years old (gasp!) and I would expect technology to have improved since then
Comparing the formulation of L’Oreal’s Infallible shadows, to Giorgio Armani’s Eyes to Kill Intense, is another story. While the Infallible shadows are certainly impressive regarding pigmentation and wear compared to many other drugstore shadows, Giorgio Armani’s (original) version kick L’Oreal’s butt. Golden Mahogany wore well considering I went for a mid-day run, but by the end of the day it had faded considerably. Still visible, but not nearly as intense – in the future, I would definitely use a primer. Giorgio Armani’s shadows last all day and then some, without the need for a primer at all. The pigmentation of Golden Mahogany, while very good, still doesn’t come close to the insane pigmentation of the Eyes to Kill shadows, which truly blow my mind – with just the barest touch of a finger, you get rich, full opacity in one stroke.
Ultimately, my conclusion is that if you’re looking for a (MUCH) cheaper alternative to Giorgio Armani’s Eyes to Kill Intense shadows, you might be appeased by these, but will have to put in a bit more work to get the same effect. That’s not to deter you though, as even at full price these are nearly a quarter less than the Giorgio Armani shadows, which is kind of a big deal. If you find them on sale, I definitely recommend grabbing one (or a few) as they do have great shades, and are an exceptional drugstore shadow overall. They’re just no Eyes to Kill…those babies are one of a kind!
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