Some random comparisons and swatches

I'm still in the process of checking my stash for dupes and weeding out things I don't like. Hope these help someone!

OPI The One That Got Away

OPI Tease-y Does It

Ulta Envy vs. FingerPaints Avante Garde Green

Zoya Blair vs. Zoya Isla

Zoya Valerie vs. OPI Visions of Sugarplum

Ulta Banana Rum in the Sun vs. China Glaze Lemon Fizz

American Apparel Factory Grey vs. Ulta Concrete Evidence

China Glaze Sea Spray vs. Color Alike 451

Nicole by OPI My Lifesaver vs. Barry M Mint vs.
 Orly Ancient Jade vs. Ulta Mint Condition

Dupe or No Dupe? Guest starring part of Cilucia's stash!

It started as an argument as to whether or not I can wear orange (Yes, you can! No, I can't!), a subject which will be addressed next, and ended with my friend Cilucia suggesting that we do a swatch swap, where we swap a given number of polishes with each other temporarily so that we could do comparisons, or just try out colors that we've always wanted to... or, she thinks, prove me wrong about whether or not I can wear orange. XD

One of the things I wanted to do was some comparisons, so that's what I'm going to share with you now. Enjoy!

First up, American Apparel African Violet. I really thought this one would be closer to CND Eclectic Purple than it is. It's actually pretty close to Celebutante though. I think I can leave this lemming be for now. =)

Next up, OPI What's With the Cattitude? I really, really though that Nicole by OPI Baby Blue was a dupe for this one. Turns out, I was wrong! I probably should have done three coats of WWTC, but still... these are not dupes. At all.

Then I compared WWTC to Color Club Factory Girl. Closer, but still no cigar. And Factory Girl has a terrible formula to boot. This is three coats, and it's STILL a streaky mess. I'm banishing Factory Girl from my stash, I think. Yuck. And I need to get my paws on What's With the Cattitude!

My next comparison is OPI Sparrow Me the Drama. I'm not normally a fan of pink, but I have had a bee in my bonnet about this shade ever since Cilucia posted her swatches. I went to Ulta specifically to buy it, and ended up walking out with this Ulta shade instead. In the bottle, they are very, VERY similar. They're even close on the nail, but again, not quite a dupe. I think I'm happy with the Ulta one, though. I think.

And lastly, OPI Planks a Lot. Sinful Colors put out a display called Adventure Island, which was a blatant rip off of the OPI Pirates of the Caribbean collection. This is the purple that corresponds with Planks a Lot, a lovely shade called Verbena. Again... not dupes. Verbena has a really great formula, especially for a polish that was only $1.99. But I may yet add Planks a Lot to my stash!

I have to say, this was a brilliant idea. I had so much fun playing around with this and picking out the colors to compare! Thanks for thinking of it, Jen! ♥

Blue Ombré Mani

om·bré (äm′brā′, äm brā′)
adjective

shaded or graduated in tone: said of a color

I've wanted to do an ombré mani for ages, but I never could seem to get the right five colors lined up to make it work. With the addition of Sinful Paradise to my stash, I had the perfect mid-range blue to do my first one! These are the colors I used:

And here's what I ended up with:

I love this to bits. I need to get the shades I need to make this happen in purple and green too. ♥

I know it probably only needed one pic, but I was having too much fun admiring it!

Plus it's my blog, so I guess I can do whatever I want! XD

Thanks for stopping by, y'all!

Trying to De-Dupe My Stash - A Bunch of Comparisons

I've been working on my stash a bit lately, getting rid of the things I'll never wear again, and my project tonight was to actually swatch some of the polishes I have that look so close to each other in the bottle. I found doing this really, really helpful, and I hope it helps you guys out too! =)

China Glaze Tree Hugger vs. China Glaze Entourage

My verdict:  They are close... very close. Tree Hugger has more straight out shimmer, while Entourage is more of a glass fleck. Entourage also has a little less yellow, so it's more flattering on me. It gets to stay.

CND Eclectic Purple vs. Zoya Kieko

My verdict:  I really struggled with this one trying to convince myself they're different enough to keep both. They're not. The CND stays.

OPI Jade is the New Black vs. Ulta The Jungle Look

My verdict:  These might as well be the same polish in different bottles. I'm leaning towards keeping the OPI, but I really do like Ulta's brushes more. I dunno. One is definitely going though.

OPI Malaga Wine vs. Zoya Stacy

My verdict:  I thought these were much closer than they actually are. They both get to stay.

China Glaze Turned Up Turquoise vs. Sinful Rise & Shine

My verdict:  I've seen a lot of people call these dupes, but in real life, they're actually not dead on dupes. The China Glaze is brighter with more shimmer. Having said that, though, they are too similar to keep both. Turned up Turquoise stays.

Orly Sapphire Silk vs. American Apparel Peacock

My verdict:  These are closer than I thought. Peacock is a little more vibrant, plus it's a one coat wonder, which makes it better for layering. It's hard to part with the Orly because I really love Orlys so much, but I really think Peacock is staying and Sapphire Silk is going.

OPI Yoga-ta Get this Blue vs. FingerPaints Artist's Sapphire

My verdict:  Much more different than I thought. They both get to stay. I'm sure they're thrilled. ^.^

China Glaze Rodeo Fanatic vs. Essie Dive Bar

My verdict:  I saved this one for last specifically to show how deceptive the bottle color can be. In the bottles, these look completely identical. They even both have the purple flash in the bottle that doesn't translate to the nail. But as you can see in the comparison, they are really not that close. Rodeo Fanatic stays for sure. I'm on the fence about Dive Bar. I think it's a smidgen too dark.

Ulta Blue Streak

Next up in my vacation swatch-a-thon is Ulta Blue Streak. I think this one is dupey to OPI Ogre the Top Blue, but I don't have it to do a side by side comparison. This a great polish, really pigmented, great formula, wonderful color payoff. It's one of my favorite blue cremes! Enjoy!

Ulta Purple Haze

I bought Ulta Purple Haze thinking it would be a duochrome, but as is so often the case, the bottle lies! Still, it is pretty, just not what I was hoping for. The formula is good, like most Ulta polishes, and it really is a rather interesting shade.

Hope you all are doing well and holding down the fort in the world of polish while I'm away. Thanks as always for stopping by! =)

Ulta Concrete Evidence - My Second "Conservative" NOTD This Week

As I mentioned here, this week at MUA some of were flip flopping what we normally wear to get out of our comfort zones a little bit, and my job was to do more "conservative" colors. My first was Ulta Haute Stuff, which truly is a lovely berry shade, but it was making me crazy after two days. Last night at Ulta, I picked up Concrete Evidence, which is a light grey creme polish.

I know it isn't really unique, but this is the first grey I've owned that's quite this light. I absolutely ADORE this shade. It's neutral and conservative while still being modern and a little edgy. The formula was great, as is usual with Ulta's house brand of polishes, two easy coats. Perfection.

Hope you all are having a great week!!

Oops. OPI Green-wich Village and Ulta Limelight

I went to Ulta last night armed with my handy $5.00 off a $10.00 purchase coupon. Ulta polishes were Buy2Get2, so I ended up with 5 polishes total for $7.62. Yay!

This morning, however, as I was admiring my purchases, one of the polishes made me think, "Hmm. Where have I see that before??" Well, here's where I've seen it before. It's basically identical to OPI Green-wich Village.

The OPI looks a hair darker here, but seriously? They might as well be the same polish. The formula even feels exactly the same. The saddest part of this is that Green-wich Village was already in my swap pile, so now I have TWO of these shades to unload at some point. Oh well. At least it wasn't an expensive mistake!

I hope this comparison helps someone. Thanks for stopping by!

Ulta Professional Haute Stuff - My "Conservative" NOTD!

One of my buddies over on MUA (finch96) presented us with a challenge this week to step outside our comfort zones. If we normally like things like glitters and holos, we're to wear more conservative colors. If we're the girls who like more conservative shades, we're to bling it up! This was a big challenge for me because I have precious few polishes that could be termed conservative. I don't always wear glitter or holos, but I do like the more atypical shades like blues and greens. So, this polish has been sitting in my pile of untrieds for many months now. Honestly, I'm not even sure why I bought it. 

Ulta Professional Haute Stuff is a deep berry shade, not quite pink, not quite red. The formula is what I expect from Ulta polishes - this is to say creamy and easy to work with, two easy coats, no problems. Here she is:

I plan to swatch more of my Ulta polishes for you guys soon. I see a lot of questions about them, and there's not really much out there as far as swatches. I love all the ones I have, and I look forward to sharing them with you all!

FingerPaints Tiffany Imposter

There are a few colors I'm obsessed with. Mint greens. A certain shade of blue (okay, okay! MANY shades of blue). Teal. And Tiffany blue. China Glaze For Audrey was the first Tiffany blue polish I ever heard of, and it was the polish that reignited the polish fever I had in my teens and 20s. When I come across a new Tiffany blue, I usually have the same argument with myself... the one where I tell myself that I probably have something JUST like it in my stash. I lose that argument most of the time, and so Tiffany Imposter came to live with me a couple of weeks ago.

Honestly, I am SO happy I got it. The formula on most shades like this is less than pleasant to work with. They usually are chalky and streaky, take three coats, and are general pains to get looking nice. This beauty was ALMOST a one-coater! Almost! I probably could have done one coat if I'd been more careful... which doesn't matter because I never do less than two because I think it makes my polish wear better, but that's not the point! It's got a great creamy texture that applies precisely right. I'm quite happy with the color too. It's slightly more greyed out than For Audrey, such a lovely, lovely color.

See? *sigh* So beautiful and serene. =)

I also did a comparison shot of Tiffany imposter with For Audrey and Ulta Mint Condition. They are more different than it looks in this photo, I swear! 

Hope this helps someone, possibly a fellow Tiffany blue fanatic out there! As always, thanks for stopping by! =)