Comparison: Savina - Black Mist, Jordana - Night Fall, Hard Candy - Wicked

I was rearranging my untried drawers (okay, to accomodate a sh*tload of new polish I hauled over the weekend) and noticed that I have three untried black polishes with silver glitter.  I am pretty sure I don't need three, so I decided to compare them.  I'm going to guess these are all about as equally easy to find (unless Wicked is d/c'd).  I got the Savina at Nordstrom Rack, and I ordered the Jordana from Cherry Culture.

In the bottle they look pretty similar.  The Jordana has a lot more silver glitter stuck to its sides, but it's patchy.  A good shaking up fixes this.

Here they are at one coat each.  These are in the same order as the bottle photo:  Black Mist on my index finger, Night Fall on my middle finger, and Wicked on my ring finger.  From here we can see that Black Mist has more glitter and a sheerer base.  Wicked is the most pigmented.

Two coats.  Black Mist is still super blingy, and its base is starting to fix itself.  I have a big bald streak in Night Fall, but that's my fault.  Night Fall and Wicked are looking pretty dupe-y.

Three coats.  We can safely conclude that Night Fall and Wicked are dupes.  Black Mist is fairly different from the others.

I added a fourth coat of Black Mist, just to compare it with Night Fall and Wicked.  Still not dupes, but Black Mist is gorgeous on its own.

I went into this thinking I would find that these three are all dupes, and I would only keep one.  Instead, I am keeping Black Mist and Night Fall, and Wicked goes into the purge pile.  I liked Night Fall's application a little better than Wicked's, but this was almost a toss-up.

Comparison - Savina Money Tree and China Glaze Cha Cha Cha

I was playing around in my stash this morning, trying to pick an untried to wear later this week.  I finally settled on Savina "Money Tree", which I've had in my untrieds for a while.  I was waiting around for the washer to finish before I did anything, and while I was waiting I thought, "huh, this looks kinda similar to Cha Cha Cha".  That's also in my untrieds, so I decided to pull that out and do a quick comparison.

In the bottle they are really, really close.  The Savina looks like it might be brush-stroke-y, but otherwise they are very similar.  I didn't set up my lightbox for this comparison, because I wanted to make sure I got different light sources, and now I think I might have found a different way to take NOTD pics.  Anyway, here are the bottle shots.

The Savina looks a little bit duller in this photo, but I think it's because the Savina is a little bit thinner.

Here they are at one coat each, over one coat of Fiberglass Network.

I have Cha Cha Cha on my index and ring fingers, and Money Tree on my middle and pinky fingers.  At one coat you can see that Cha Cha has a little bit more shimmer, and Money Tree seems to be a tiny bit deeper green.

This is two coats.  They're starting to get closer now - the Savina has a little bit of VNL, but it no longer looks much deeper green than Cha Cha Cha.

And here we are at three coats.  All the nail photos are taken next to a window on a sunny day (is there anything else in Texas this time of year?).  My middle finger is at a different angle, so it looks a lot greener, but you can see from my pinky finger that they're still really, really close.  Money Tree does have a teeny tiny bit of brush-stroke-y ness, but it's really not noticeable.

Verdict:  dupey dupe dupes.  You only need both of these if you're a green hoor.  I am, but I actually still don't know that I need both of these in my stash.

Comparison: Chanel Riva and Hard Candy Sky

After all the commotion about Chanel Jade, when Riva went on sale I jumped right on that bandwagon. I finally picked up Sky last night so I decided to compare them.
As you can see in this photo, both polishes are pale blue with hidden shimmer. In the bottle Riva looks a touch dustier than Sky.
I actually had a hard time getting Riva's shimmer to show up at all in any photos, but Sky's shimmer just jumps right out front and says "haaaaayyyyyy!"
Here they are on the nail (please ignore my scary dry cuticles, yikes! And also the place where I messed up my middle fingernail!) From index to pinky, I have Riva, Sky, Riva, Sky. I used four coats of each, and to get opacity you're going to need at LEAST three thick coats.
On the nail, under halogen light, Riva is CLEARLY dustier than Sky. You can see here, though, that most of the time you won't be able to tell - they look almost identical on my ring finger and pinky. Both polishes are streaky and sheer-ish, though they build well. As in the bottle, Sky's shimmer is a little more evident.

Verdict: If you're a Chanel addict, get Riva. Otherwise, save yourself some money and get Sky instead. Most people will never know the difference, and they're close enough that even someone familiar with Riva probably won't be able to tell, either.

Comparison: Orly Lunar Eclipse and OPI DS Magic

I read on the nail board that DS Magic might be a dupe for Lunar Eclipse. When I wore Lunar Eclipse I thought there was no way - I'd seen photos of DS Magic and they weren't close. Then I took my own photos, and realized, yeah, they could be dupes.

As with my Lunar Eclipse mani, I had trouble capturing the purple flash in both bottles. I can tell in the bottle that Lunar Eclipse seems to have a tiny bit more purple flash.


This is three coats of color with two coats of basecoat. They are pretty close, right? I have Lunar Eclipse on my index and ring fingers, and DS Magic on my middle and pinky fingers. Lunar Eclipse is a teeny tiny bit darker blue and has more purple flash, but otherwise they are dead dupes.

For polishes this unique this is as close as you will ever get to a dead dupe. You definitely don't need both of these unless you're collecting all the Orly Cosmic FX or DS polishes.

Comparison - Jessica Electric Teal, China Glaze Turned up Turquoise, Sinful Rise and Shine, China Glaze Custom Kicks

When I ordered Electric Teal I got it to round out my order of Yellow Flame. I didn't notice until I was holding it that it has shimmer to it, and I thought it might be similar to China Glaze Turned up Turquoise. When I was going through my Helmer to find TuT, I came across Sinful Rise and Shine and threw that in, too. I also threw in Custom Kicks.
In the bottle we can see already that Custom Kicks isn't really close, but I swatched it anyway. Everything else seems to be pretty close.
All of these are three coats, no topcoat. Index finger is Jessica Electric Teal, middle finger is China Glaze Turned up Turquoise, ring finger is Sinful Rise and Shine, pinky is Custom Kicks.

Everything but Custom Kicks is very, very close. The VNL in the photos doesn't show in real life. Here are the three close ones inside.
Electric Teal is the most saturated of the three, but it's still really, really close. Turned up Turquoise has more shimmer. Rise and Shine is a tiny bit dustier than the other two. Verdict: Only a true polish addict would notice the difference - I do. Otherwise, these three could all pass for each other, even though they aren't true dupes.

I also had a chance to take photos in the sun of yesterday's mani - Sinful Pink Glitter over Fusion Neon.

No idea what I have planned for tomorrow. Until then, have a great weekend!

Comparison: Color Club Wild Child and Essie Pretty Edgy

OK, in my defense, these looked pretty close in my office.  Unfortunately, these are not even close to being dupes, unless you never, ever go outside, and you never sit under bright lights, either.

I think it's pretty obvious which is which, but just in case - index and ring fingers are Wild Child, middle and pinky are Pretty Edgy. 

About the only similarity they have is that they are both green jellies.  In no way is Wild Child a dupe for Pretty Edgy.

Next!

Comparison: China Glaze IDK and Milani Hi-Res

As promised, I did a comparison today of China Glaze IDK and Milani Hi-Res.
In the bottle I can tell immediately that the glitter and holo is going to be the difference. The base colors for both of these are just about identical.

I have 3 coats of Hi-Res on my index and ring fingers, and 3 coats of IDK on my middle finger and pinky. Here they are in the sun.

Hi-Res has holographic glitter - the individual pieces are holographic. IDK has an overall holo effect. Coverage on both was fantastic - Hi-Res covered totally in three coats, IDK only required two, but I did three for consistency. If you happen to catch a glimpse of these in the shade they are almost identical, but when the sun comes out they're definitely different.

Comparison: China Glaze Pool Party and Color Club Warhol; Zoya Exchange

So today I had time to compare China Glaze Pool Party and Color Club Warhol.  I am wearing Warhol on my toes, and was planning to wear Pool Party on my fingers, when I noticed that they seemed identical in the bottle.  I don't really do matching mani/pedi, so back into the stash it went. 

I used two coats of Wet N Wild French White as a base on my index and middle fingers.  I used three coats on all fingers.  Here they are under daylight lamps (more on this later):

I have Pool Party on my index and ring fingers, and Warhol on my middle finger and pinky.   Here they are next to a window on a sunny day.

The neon-ness really shows up in this photo.  I went outside to take a picture:

 These are pretty dupe-y.  You only need both if you are a completionist, or you really love neon pinks (as I do).  Pool party leans a little warmer than Warhol and Warhol is a tiny bit more opaque.  I wasn't very careful with my white base coat, and I had VNL on all four nails.  You'll definitely want a non-streaky white basecoat if VNL bugs you.

Next, I got my Zoya Exchange package in Friday.  I wasn't able to take pictures until tonight.  A note about these photos - they look COMPLETELY different from any of my previous photos.  I have Emily of Squared Nails to thank.  She posted an outstanding tutorial series that I was thrilled to see - I have next to no knowledge of photography.  I had been planning to get a light box anyway, but after reading this I purchased one today and set it up.  Here is the first part of my Zoya Exchange haul:

Wait, what the heck is that?  It must be Pixel, my art director.

She's decided to offer her advice on my photo shoot.

Yeah, now she's just being obnoxious.  After this interruption, I continued:

From left to right:  Dita, Lola, Katy, Blyss, Ginger, Sweet, Kiki, Tobey

Left to right:  Renee, Anaka, Jessika, Bijou, Paz, Lindsay, Evangeline, Barbie

Left is Elodie, right is Anastasia.  I also picked up the Color Lock system, because I've always had trouble with the durability of my Zoya manicures, plus I usually have tip pulling no matter what I try.

Now, when I bought this on Zoya's website, they had two versions up.  One for $48, and one for $40.  What was the difference?  The $40 kit included this:

A giant bottle of Remove.  I'm about to say something unpopular:  I don't like Remove.  The thing everyone else raves about, the smell?  I can't stand it.  But for an eight dollar discount, I'll take the huge bottle.  And, I'll even give it a legitimate chance instead of dismissing it immediately because of the smell.

I think I'm going to put on Kiki tomorrow, and test out the Color Lock system.  Look for another post then.

Have a great weekend!

Comparison: Nina Summer Neon and Color Club Electro Candy

When I stopped in at Sally last week and picked up four of the Nina summer neons, it wasn't until I was swatching them on my nail wheels that I noticed they were very, very similar to the Electro Candy collection. Since I took off China Glaze Sun Worshipper last night (which, BTW, wore extremely well - no chipping or tip wear), I decided to swatch them and compare them today. All of these swatches are three coats of color, not including white basecoat where noted.

First up, Nina In The Spotlight and Color Club Volt of Light. In the Spotlight does not have the blue shimmer Volt of Light does. It has a pale gold shimmer instead. Here it is inside, under halogen light. I've used a base coat of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Whirlwind White on my index and middle fingers.

Both of these would really require a white basecoat unless you're into VNL, which I am not. I have In the Spotlight on my index and ring finger, and Volt of Light on my middle finger and pinky. Here they are beside a window on a sunny day.
In the Spotlight definitely leans a lot more towards the lemon yellow than Volt of Light does. In the bottle they are almost identical aside from the shimmer. Both of these would require topcoat to make them glossy. Here they are in the sun.
Unless you collect neon yellows, you probably don't need both of these in your collection. Next up is Nina Say Cheese and Color Club Tangerine Scream. These aren't really that close, but Tangerine Scream is the closest CC I have to Say Cheese. Here they are inside, under halogen light:
White basecoat on my index and middle fingers. Index finger and ring finger are Nina Say Cheese, middle finger and pinky are Tangerine Scream. Both of these have the Electro Candy blue/green shimmer to them. I would classify Say Cheese as more of a hot coral, and Tangerine Scream is definitely orange. Here they are inside, next to a window on a sunny day.
Coverage was pretty good for this set. It would probably require four coats to eliminate VNL, but it's nowhere near as sheer as the yellows. Here they are outside.

These are different enough that you can justify having both in your collection. Next up are the pinks - Nina Bubble Gums (gross name, ew) and Color Club Electro Candy. Bubble Gums does not have the blue shimmer. Its shimmer is a hot pink. These are similar in the bottle, but Bubble Gums leans a little warmer. Here they are inside, under halogen light:
White basecoat on my index and middle fingers. Index and ring fingers are Nina Bubble Gums, middle finger and pinky are Color Club Electro Candy. Inside, next to a window on a sunny day:

Bubble Gums is definitely more of a hot pink, and Electro Candy is a Barbie pink. Here they are outside.
Without a white basecoat you will have a little bit of VNL, but a fourth coat probably eliminates it altogether. As with the previous two, these are probably different enough to justify having both.

I've saved my favorite for last. I was a little disappointed by Color Club Ultra Violet - I was hoping for a more vibrant purple. I felt it was a little too "safe" for a neon collection, even with the awesome blue/green shimmer. Nina Grin and Berry It is everything I was hoping Ultra Violet would be. It is stunning. Here they are inside, under halogen light:

White basecoat on my index and middle fingers. Nina Grin and Berry It on my index and ring fingers, Color Club Ultra Violet on my middle finger and pinky finger. Even in the bottle you can tell Grin and Berry It is more vibrant. Here they are inside, next to a window on a sunny day.


And outside, in the sun:
I loved Grin and Berry It so much I put a coat of Seche over it and took more photos:


This is the first time I've photographed a purple, so I didn't really understand what you all mean when you say the camera doesn't capture it well. Now I do. This is much more vibrant in person. If you were disappointed at all by Ultra Violet, you will definitely want to pick up Grin and Berry It.

Something interesting I noticed while I was swatching these was that aside from Volt of Light, none of the Color Clubs needed a topcoat. I would have used one anyway if I was wearing them as a full mani. I also own the Vivid topcoat that came with the Electro Candy collection, but I didn't use it for any of the swatches.

Nina Ultra Pro is readily available at Sally Beauty Supply. I found these in an endcap display next to the other nail supplies.

Tomorrow I will have a NOTD to post. At least, I will once I decide what to wear. Have a great weekend!