Comparison: Essie Retro Revival Starry Starry Night vs Colors By Llarowe Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Giveaway Prize Purchased Myself

Hello readers,
There's been a lot of discussion lately about how the new Essie Retro Revival Starry Starry Night compares to the original.  While I'm not one of the lucky few to have an original bottle, I do have CBL Twinkle Twinkle Little Star which is considered a dupe for the original SSN.  Let's take a look at how the two compare.

Purple Flakie Comparison: Color Club The Uptown vs Nfu Oh 51 vs Layla Ceramic Effect 52

Hello readers,
I have a weakness for flakie polishes so I tend to buy every one I can get my hands on.  The result is that I ended up with three very similar purple based flakies.  I wanted to see how close they really are and try to decide whether I need to keep all three.

Color Club The Uptown, Nfu Oh 51, Layla Ceramic Effect 52

I applied each polish to one nail until it became opaque.  For Color Club The Uptown and Nfu Oh 51 this took four coats, but for Layla CE 52 it only took three.  The photos below show these three polishes with one coat of CND Super Shiney top coat in natural lighting.

The Nfu Oh immediately stands out as being different.  It has a lot more red-copper shimmer than the other two.  The Uptown and CE 52 look very similar on the nail.  The Uptown is perhaps a tiny bit more blue but they're so close that I don't think you need both.  I would choose CE 52 as the better of the two since it took less coats to become opaque.

Happy polishing,

Michelle

Finger Paints Shredded Chromes Comparison

Hello readers,
Today I have three of the Finger Paints Shredded Chromes collection to show you.  I was really drawn to this collection when I saw them at Sally's (and it didn't help that they had B2G1 free this month :P)

The three I like most were Stargazing Lilac, Gilded Chrome and Crystalline Crush.  Even as I bought them I knew I probably didn't need both Gilded Chrome and Crystalline Crush, but hey, the third was free. I swatched all three together so you can decided whether you need to add all of these to your collection.  Photos show two coats of each polish with one coat of Seche Vite in natural lighting.

My favorite of the three is definitely Stargazing Lilac.  I really love how the darker purple glitters pop against the lighter shimmer.  Gilded Chrome and Crystalline Crush turned out to look very similar on the nail.  Crystalline Crush is just slightly pinker while Gilded Chrome leans a little more gold.  I don't think you need to get both of these though as they were hard to tell apart unless I looked very closely.  My personal choice out of the two is Crystalline Crush.  Also, I'm not sure if these were intended to be textured polishes, but they definitely turned out that way.  Even after a thick coat of Seche they were still noticeably gritty.  They still looked very pretty though and if you really wanted a smooth finish it would just require more than one layer of top coat.  Overall I think this collection is really pretty but I think you just need to pick up the two or three that speak most to you rather than the whole thing.

Happy polishing,

- Michelle

Battle Of The Purple Multichromes Part II - The Holo Multichromes!

Hello readers! Are you ready for some more comparisons??  Did you catch Part I of my purple multichrome comparison yesterday featuring Girly Bits I Hit My Bunny Phone and KBShimmer Pigment Of My Imagination?  If not, you can check it out here.  Today I have the four remaining holo purple multichromes to show you and you can decide if they are different enough to need them all.

Enchanted Polish Yesterday vs Girly Bits Belly Jeans vs Enchanted Polish Octopus's Garden vs ILNP Cygnus Loop (H)

Right off the bat we can see that two of these are definitely not dupes.  EP Yesterday is more pink toned than the rest and Girly Bits Belly Jeans has more holo.  EP Octopus's Garden and ILNP Cygnus Loop (H) look identical in the bottle though so it was worth checking out if that translated to the nail.  Photos show two coats of each polish with no top coat in natural lighting.

The verdict?  I'm saying Octopus's Garden and Cygnus Loops (H) are dupes.  They have the same amount of holo and the same colour shift.  The only difference I found was that Cygnus Loop (H) was a tiny bit more pigmented.  I think if I had added a third coat of Octopus's Garden then the opacity would have been exactly the same.  Belly Jeans has the same colour shift as those two but has significantly more holo pigment.  Yesterday is a different colour all together.

Out of the two dupes I would have to declare ILNP Cygnus Loop (H) the winner.  It is slightly more pigmented which is always nice, it is readily available and it's cheaper than the Enchanted Polish.  I hope this comparison makes your multichrome shopping a little less confusing and your bank account a little happier.

Happy Polishing!

- Michelle

Battle Of The Purple Multichromes Part I - The Metallic Multichromes!

Hello readers! I feel like multichromes are the new holo.  Lots of different makers have had multichromes as part of recent collections which leads to the question: Do you need to get them all?  I realized that I have a lot of purple based multichromes in my collection already and decided to compare them to try and give you an answer.

Girly Bits I Hit My Bunny Phone vs KBShimmer Pigment Of My Imagination

Today I am comparing the two straight metallic multichromes that I have in my possession.  That is, they have no added holo pigment and give a shiny metallic finish.  On first look in the bottle they definitely look identical.  Both start with an indigo blurple base that shift to a redder purple and then to a coppery orange.  As I was putting them on there was one difference that became apparent.  Girly Bits I Hit My Bunny Phone was more pigmented than KBShimmer Pigment Of My Imagination.  In the end I only needed two coats of the Girly Bits polish but required three of the KBShimmer polish.  Photos show both polishes in natural lighting with no top coat.

So, what do you think?  I declare dupes!  You definitely don't need both of these in your collection.  I don't think there is a clear winner either though.  I Hit My Bunny Phone is more pigmented and requires less coats but it is also more expensive, retailing at $12.50-$13.  Pigment Of My Imagination is less pigmented and requires more coats but it is less expensive, retailing at $8.75-$9.25. So, for about two thirds the price you get a bottle that will last two thirds as long.  They both had easy to apply formulas that dried smoothly and both had the exact same end look.  I really think which is best for you really depends on what qualities you're looking for in a polish.  I'll be back later this week with the remaining four polishes - the holo purple multichromes!

Happy Polishing,

- Michelle

Dupes: Enchanted Polish Ciao Milano vs Darling Diva Polish Maxed Out vs Ozotic 528

Hello readers! Today I have a comparison post for you that has been floating around my brain for a while.  I wanted to see how close Enchanted Polish Ciao Milano, Darling Diva Polish Maxed Out and Ozotic 528 really are.  These three polishes all contain glitter that shifts from green to purple to coppery orange depending on the angle.

Enchanted Polish Ciao Milano, Darling Diva Polish Maxed Out and Ozotic 528

They all look quite similar in the bottle.  Maxed Out looks a little bit more purple but I think this is just because of the curved bottle as opposed to the flat fronts of the EP and Ozotic bottles.  I used China Glaze First Mate, a medium blue creme, as the base colour for all three.  I left my pinky finger with only the base colour so you can see the change due to the glitter toppers.  For Ciao Milano and Maxed Out I used one coat and for 528 I used two coats.  Photos show the three polishes in natural lighting with no top coat.

I think I'm seeing double...

Source

So what do you think?  I think they look pretty much identical!  There were only a few small differences.  Maxed out has a tiny bit more sparkle in person since along with the colour shifting glitter it has a tiny bit of holographic sparkle as well.  The Ozotic dried a little bit more smoothly than the other two but it did require two coats to get the same glitter coverage.  If I could buy only one I think would have to go with Maxed Out.  First of all, it's much easier to actually get your hands on.  EP restocks as we all know are just crazy.  Ozotics don't seem to be in stock consistently either.  Second, it's way cheaper.  Darling Diva Polish Maxed out is $9.  She also makes a version of this polish without the added holo, Happy Wife, Happy Life, that retails for $8.  The Enchanted Polish and Ozotic are in the $15 range depending on where you purchase them from.  Are these dupes? I would definitely say yes!

Enchanted Polish - https://enchantedpolish.bigcartel.com/
Darling Diva Polish - https://www.darlingdivapolish.bigcartel.com/
Ozotic - https://www.llarowe.com/catalog/Shop-by-Collection/Ozotic, https://www.nailpolishcanada.com/categories/ozotic.html, https://www.harlowandco.org/collections/ozotics

Happy Polishing!

- Michelle

Dupes: Butter London Henley Regatta vs Icing Glitz & Glam

I don't purposefully look for polish dupes but sometimes I find them by accident.  I recently bought Butter London Henley Regatta and put it on the home for all my new polishes, my coffee table.  Sitting on the table was Icing Glitz & Glam which I had recently been given.  I noticed that the two were very similar and decided to do a proper comparision.

In the bottle the two look identical.  The ratio of teal and blue glitter appears to be the same and the glitter size is not noticeably different.  What about when I actually put it on my nails?

The pictures show three coats of each polish with one coat of CND Super Shiney top coat.  Henley Regatta is the tiniest bit darker than Glitz & Glam.  However, if I wasn't looking at them side by side I wouldn't be able to tell the difference.  The formulas were virtually identical as well.  Both took three coats to get opaque and both dried with a slightly gritty finish.  Considering the ~$10 price difference I think Icing Glitz & Glam is the clear winner here and can definitely be considered a dupe for Butter London Henley Regatta.  I love figuring out ways to save people money!

Dupes: OPI Divine Swine vs Wet n Wild Take the Stage

I love OPI's Muppets Collection but it's getting harder and harder to find these days.  However, if you are lusting after Divine Swine you are in luck.  The Wet n Wild Fergie collection contains a polish that is a 90% match, Take the Stage.  See for yourself.

In the bottle Take the Stage looks a tiny bit more purple than Divine Swine.  However, one you put in on your nails, this difference seems to disappear.  I used two coats of each.

There were two main differences that I spotted between the two polishes.  First, the glitter in Take the Stage seems to be a bit more dense than that of Divine Swine.  Also, Take the Stage has two sizes of purple glitter where Divine Swine only has one.  Overall I think that Wet n Wild Take the Stage is a very reasonable substitute for OPI Divine Swine and bonus, it's less than half the price.  What do you think?