Comparison: Pure Ice Purple Reign vs. OPI Catherine the Grape

Today I'm comparing two smoky purples. I originally thought these two shades were close, but after reviewing them side-by-side, it's clear that they are not.



This is two coats of Catherine the Grape on the pointer and ring fingers, and three coats of Purple Reign on the middle and pinky fingers (no topcoat on either):



As you can see, Purple Reign has a cool base while Catherine the Grape is more warm and red-based. The gold shimmer is also different; PR has large shimmer particles while CtG has ribbons of gold microshimmer.





Formula wise, CtG wins. It was perfectly opaque in two coats, while PR was still a little patchy after the second coat. Both were easy to apply and had good consistency.

Final Verdict: I originally called PR the more outgoing sister of CTG, but now I'm going to change that and call PR a second cousin LOL. They aren't even close to being dupes and if you love purple, you probably need both.

I'm going to be doing comparisons all week.

Happy painting!