Comparison: Shimmery Pinks

Today I have a comparison between Sally Hansen Bubblegum Pink, OPI Japanese Rose Garden, and Revlon Temptress. Each of these polishes are pink with fine silver shimmer. You can tell by looking at the bottles that they aren't dupes, but let's see how they compare to each other.




This is two coats of Bubblegum Pink on the pointer finger, two coats of Japanese Rose Garden on the middle and pinky, and two coats of Temptress on the ring finger (no topcoat on any):

Indoors shot; the shimmer in each of these is so fine that it all but disappears in indoor lighting:



Sunlight: there's the shimmer!





Bubblegum Pink is the...barbiest, for lack of a better word. Japanese Rose Garden has a tad bit of dustiness that makes it intersting, and Temptress is the lightest and most neutral of the three.

Formula wise, JRG won, but Temptress wasn't too far behind. BP was a little chalky and hard to work with.

Which do you like best?

Happy painting!

Comparison: OPI DS Extravagance vs. Ulta Material Girl

Today I have two burgundy polishes with rainbow holographic glitter. They look very close in the bottle and close on the nail, but there are a couple of differences.




This is two coats of Extravagance on the pointer and ring fingers, and two coats of Material Girl on the middle and pinky fingers. No topcoat on either:



Extravagance is a little more rich and vivid.



Also notice how glossy Extravagance is compared to Material Girl, which is dull and gritty to the touch. The scattered holo is pretty much the same, but Material Girl doesn't have that faint orange flash to it like Extravagance does(my camera never picks up the orange, but it's definitely there).





Formula wise, Extravagance is superior. Both go on smoothly, but Extravagance dries to a gloss. Material Girl definitely needs a topcoat for shine and a smooth finish.

If I had to pick one, it would be Extravagance, but Material Girl is a fine substitute. They aren't dupes, but they're close enough that you don't need both.

ETA: Material Girl removes like a glitter polish. In other words, you might want to use the foil method. Extravagance removes like any other non-glitter polish.

Happy painting!

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!

Quick NOTD: OPI Green-wich Village

Just popping in to post a quick NOTD. This is Green-wich Village from the OPI Mod About Brights collection. Two coats, no topcoat:



Formula is standard OPI creme; it applied perfectly. I love the color...it's very fresh and perfect for spring.

Happy painting!

CQ: Silver Violet over OPI: Do You Lilac It?

I picked up Silver Violet the other day. I tried to wear it on its own, but it just did not work for me. It's super sheer and wasn't even opaque at three coats. Not only that, but it just looked washed out against my skin. That's when I decided to layer it over Do You Lilac It?.
DYLI? is a lilac creme and a perfect shade for Easter and spring. Silver Violet is lilac with silver shimmer.

Two coats DYLI?, no topcoat (natural light):



One coat of Silver Violet over two coats of DYLI? (natural light):


Indoors:


DYLI? is a standard OPI creme, which means great formula, glossy finish, quick drying time, etc. As I said before, Silver Violet is very sheer, but the formula itself isn't bad. I guess I'll only ever use it for layering.

What are some of your favorite shades that you can only use for layering?

Happy painting!

Comparison: OPI Yes...I Can Can! vs. NYPD Beet

Yesterday I showed you some burgundy polishes. I noticed that two of them, YICC! and NYPDB, looked fairly similar in natural light and I wanted to compare them side by side. Index and ring finger have YICC! (three coats no topcoat); middle and pinky have NYPDB (two coats, no topcoat).

Natural light:



Indoor lighting:





As you can see, the shimmer in YICC! is far more pronounced than that of NYPDB, which is why it wins the battle for me. I think the base colors on both are very close, but the obvious shimmer in YICC! makes it lean toward the warm side of the spectrum.

I don't like that YICC! needs three coats, but it also dried very quickly so I can get over that.

I'm headed to Ross to get the new Color Club collection (Starry Temptress). I also have some stash pics coming up. Let's just say it might be time for a helmer. :)

Happy painting!

Burgundy, wine, maroon...

No matter what name it goes by, I love the color. I have three polishes today that fit the bill.

First up is OPI Yes...I Can Can! from the France Collection. This polish has a burgundy base with pink and silver shimmer. It's a bit darker in real life, as my photos were taken in direct light. Three coats, no topcoat:



Next is OPI NYPD Beet, from the New York City collection. I've posted about this one before, but here it is again. This one is beet colored (hence the name) with subtle pink shimmer. Two coats, no topcoat:



Finally, I have Orly Perfectly Plum. Again, please excuse the lightness...it's a little darker in real life. This one is a plum creme. Two coats, no topcoat:



Formula wise, NYPD Beet wins by a mile. I was quite disappointed in YICC! because after two coats, I still had bald spots. NYPDB was opaque in two. Perfectly Plum, as you can see, still has sparse areas after two coats.

Application was fine on all three, but again, NYPDB was best. I should note that it is the only Big 3 Free polish in the bunch.

Color wise, I have to say I love YICC! the most. I was previously in LOVE with NYPDB, but she has now been dethroned. I'll have some comparison pics of the two tomorrow.

How about you...are you a fan of burgundy?

Happy painting!

OPI: DS Extravagance

Imagine my surprise when I walked into Ulta during my trip a few weeks back and saw this and several other DS polishes on the shelf. I was really close to buying them all, but at $12.50 a pop, I showed remarkable restraint and only bought one. This has been a lemming of mine for a long time, so I couldn't be happier. Still, I think about the others and wonder what might have been...

Oh well. Love the one you're with, right? :-) You've all seen this before. Unfortunately, I failed to capture the awesomeness of the holo, but trust me, it's amazing in real life. Two coats, no topcoat.





The formula was classic OPI; I had no problems whatsoever. I was so excited about this one that I got back to my hotel room, slapped two coats on top of whatever I was wearing, and proceeded to wear it for the next three days. I couldn't stop staring at my hands.

So, lemming satisfied. It feels pretty darn good.

Happy painting!

Purple mini-spam

I love purple and I'm pretty sure that's the most abundant color in my stash. Today I have three of them to show you.

NYX Girls Fierce Purple. The name is entirely appropriate because this dusty purple creme is fierce, chic, and gorgeous. I'd love to see this compared to Parlez-Vous OPI?, but sadly, I don't have that one. My pic doesn't do it justice, but here it is anyway. I color corrected to get to the right shade so this is accurate. Two coats, no topcoat:



Next is Kleancolor Neon Purple. This one is a midtoned purple with silver shimmer, and it's pretty unique. I don't have anything like it and I don't think I've seen anything like it. It's so pretty, but I don't think I'd describe it as a neon. Two coats, no topcoat:





Finally, OPI Can You Dig It? from the Psychedelic Summer collection. This one is a warm purple creme. Two coats, no topcoat:



Formula-wise, OPI was typical in that it applied smoothly and evenly with great pigmentation. No surprises there.

I was rather suprised at the formulas on the other two. Both Neon Purple and Fierce Purple applied well and were nicely pigmented. I'm falling more and more in love with cheapies as the days go by.

Happy painting!

OPI: Catherine the Grape

Today I have a classic. Catherine the Grape, released with the OPI Russian collection, is a smoky purple with subtle bronze shimmer. This is one of my absolute favorite purples, and I have a lot of purples. There's just something about it...the depth, richness, color, shimmer...and it all comes together to make one fabulous and distinct shade. Hey OPI? Release more shades like this. Thanks.

Two coats, no topcoat.



Look at the shimmer. Isn't it beautiful?



The formula was perfect and CtG always wears well on me with only minor tip wear after a week. I should probably get a backup of this.

Happy painting!

Straight to the taupe!

How lame is that title? lol

Anyway, I have some taupe comparisons. I had already planned to compare Color Club Give Me a Hint from the Alter Ego collection with China Glaze Below Deck (re-release of Channelesque) from the Anchors Away collection, but I threw in Pure Ice Taupe Drawer and OPI You Don't Know Jacques just because. I already know they aren't close, but what the hell. No topcoat on any of these.

Index finger: Give Me a Hint (GMaH), 2 coats
Middle finger: Below Deck (BD), 2 coats
Ring finger: Taupe Drawer (TD), 3 coats
Pinky finger: You Don't Know Jacques (YDKJ), 2 coats







As you can see, GMaH and BD are not dupes. BD is more purple; GMaH is more grey. Formula wise, there is no comparison. BD was pretty much a one coater for me even though I did two out of habit, while GMaH needed two thick coats. If you have BD, you don't need GMaH unless you look at these pictures and see two drastically different shades.

TD is pretty sheer and not all that great to work with. YDKJ is standard OPI creme fare (smooth, creamy, pigmented, etc.).

I think I can safely say I have enough taupes. Happy painting!

Comparison: Black Tie Optional vs. Hard Edged

In my post about Rimmel Hard Edged, I wondered how close it was to OPI Black Tie Optional. I did some comparison swatches and now I see that they are fairly close. Check out these photos and see if you can tell which is which. Ring and index finger have one shade and middle and pinky have another.

Shade:


Indoors:







Sunlight:





Can you tell? I'll tell you; BTO is on the index and ring fingers, and Hard Edged is on the middle and pinky fingers. In the shade, BTO is darker and more purple. Hard Edged looks to be lighter and more red.

Indoors, I can barely tell them apart. Both flash green, purple, and brown. The only difference I can see is that the demarcation between the colors is clearer with BTO. With Hard Edged, the colors seem to blend more.

In the sunlight, they look completely different to me. BTO looks like a blackened purple, while Hard Edged looks like a blackened reddish-brown.

Formula wise, BTO is the clear winner. I only needed two coats for opacity, while Hard Edged needed three coats.

Final verdict: Both polishes are beautiful, but they aren't dupes. That said, Hard Edged is a pretty good substitute for BTO.

Happy painting!

OPI Flashbulb Fuchsia

Flashbulb Fuchsia was released with the 2006 Brights collection. Bright pretty much sums things up for this shade. It has a deep fuchsia base with pink shimmer. It flashes blue depending on the light, and it definitely leans toward the cool side.

Three coats, no topcoat.

Natural Light:


Sunlight:





Indoors:



The formula was fine and I had no problems with the application. This is one of those colors that looks great on both fingers and toes. I cannot wait for summer because this one will definitely be a regular for pedicures.

Happy painting!

OPI Maine-iac Mauve

Maine-iac Mauve was released with the 1998 New England Colors collection. It has a fairly standard mauve base and lots of gorgeous gold shimmer. I think this polish is absolutely stunning. Maybe it's just me, but it doesn't seem like OPI makes shades like this anymore. I wish they would, because when they get it right, they really get it right.

Four coats, no topcoat.

Sunlight:





Natural light:


The formula was standard OPI; I had no problems. The polish was opaque in three coats, but I added a fourth for reasons I'll explain below.

I love this color. Absolutely love. But I don't love it on me. I added a fourth coat because I think I was holding onto the vain hope that it would get darker or more intense. Clearly, that didn't happen. This shade is just too close to my skintone and it washes me out. I think it would look beautiful on darker or lighter skin, but I'm too middle of the road for it.

Sigh.

Happy painting!