Comparison Mini-Spam!

Hello there!

Today I have some simple comparisons for you. This is mostly newer polishes I've acquired that bear a big resemblance to others in my stash. Maybe this could help you save some moolah. Yeah, I just said moolah.

First up, some comparisons to the new Essie Winter Collection. On my pointer I have Where's My Chauffeur, middle Turquoise and Caicos. Ring finger is Butler, Please and pinky is Nails Inc. Baker St.

Where's My Chauffeur definitely stands alone in my stash since it's bluer than its other mintier turquoise counterparts. Although, if you have China Glaze Aquadelic you might not need this one. Butler, Please is very close to Baker St. but, maybe this was just my experience, BP had a hoorrible formula! Streaky, pulling up polish and it dries to this weird lumpy semi matte finish. Baker St. is still just a touch brighter and the formula is absolutely wonderful so, while I don't regret having Butler, Please, Baker St. is the clear winner for me.

Next up, a reader request! It's some blue jellies. You know I love me some blue jellies. Pointer finger is Sation It's All Navy Baby, middle is China Glaze Ride the Waves, ring is Nina Ultra Pro Cobalt and pinky is Revlon Royal.

As you can see, no real dupes here. Sation is definitely the darkest and every polish was 2 coats except Ride the Waves, which needed 3. I'm wearing the Nina polish as I type and it's absolutely beautiful, a welcome addition to this blue jelly hoarder's stash.

And finally, some Illamasqua comps! Pointer finger is Revlon Jaded Night from a LE collection a while back, middle is Illamasqua Kink, ring finger is Sation Little Miss Emo and pinky is Illamasqua Prosperity, from the newer Rubber Brights.

Kink and Jaded Night are extremely close, I could barely tell these apart IRL. In macro mode, the rubber finish sets them apart and it looks a little lighter. Little Miss Emo is not quite as blue as it photographs, so its really just a touch darker than Prosperity. These would make for a very subtle gradient.

All in all, I'm happy with the polishes I have. The little differences are enough justification to keep them all. I may have a problem.

Hope this helps and please be smart tomorrow when voting. I know people here get involved in the fanaticism and euphoria and vote 'for the color' (the political parties here are very associated and identified by their colors), not the leader so I can sincerely hope it's not the same in the US.

Have a good day!

Top Coat Comparison Pt. 2 - Seche Vite vs. Essie Good to Go vs Poshe vs SH Insta-Dri

Whoa that was a moutful! (That's what she said teehee).

Well, back again for another top coat comparison! This time around I'm pitting more topcoats against the one, the only, the mighty Secheeeee Viiiittee! Ever since my first top coat comparison, it was always meant to be a series of sorts, I just never had the chance to get it done. Until now that is!

In this round, we'll be comparing Essie Good To Go, Poshe, Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Clearly Quick with Seche Vite. Little disclaimer, while doing this I could tell that my polishing 'style' has definitely changed since last time. I have learned how to apply polish more evenly with thinner coats I think, so that's something that probably affected the results. Also, to eliminate any other influence that could alter the results, I used the same polish I used for my last comparison, OPI Thanks a Windmillion.

Here's what I did to compare: I applied my basecoat and two coats of polish as normal, and waited ~1 minute while I did cleanup. Then, I applied the top coats, waited 5 minutes, and started making dents in the polish with my own fingernail at 5 minute intervals so 4 dents = 20 min. of drying time.

To see the rest of the pictures and the results you have to do a click. I'm sorry, I don't make the rules. Give that button a click. He's a good guy. You never know, you might enjoy it.

Essie A Crewed Interest vs Sally Hansen Sorbet

*This is a scheduled post, I'll be back the 24th. Maybe 25th if I'm too exhausted*  

'Ello!

Just a quick comparison post for today. I mentioned in yesterday's post how Sorbet was so much more peach than Essie's A Crewed Interest and, while nobody asked me to, I had already taken the pictures for a comp so here ya go :D

I have Essie on my pointer and ring finger, and Sally Hansen Sorbet on my middle and pinky. Like I said, Sorbet is definitely more peach while A Crewed Interest leans more salmon-y pink-ish. Can you tell I'm not great at color descriptions?

Also a quick shout out to Kelly from Kelly's Nail Blog who tagged me with the Liebster Blog Award. I haven't had time to do the actual questions (I will, promise! I love badgering you with useless facts about me), but I didn't want to let it go unnoticed without saying thank you. Also, check the girl's blog, she's really got some great nail art and posts! I'm itching to try her psychedelic tie dye nails but, after seeing her say her back hurt for a day after doing them, I'm putting it off....

Have a good day!

Pretty Purple Post (Comparisons)

Wee! It's friday!

I've been feeling exhausted lately, just sleepy all the time, so I'm happy I'll get to sleep in tomorrow. Side note: I changed my bed sheets last night and slept so amazing! Nothing like getting into a clean bed with your favorite sheets. Also, nothing like a brand new bottle of Seche Vite.

Back to the nails, today I just have another simple comparison. Sorry it's been a bit boring around here but most of my creativity has gone to my challenge manis and, even then, sometimes its lacking. Hopefully someone out there wondered how these shades compared and this will help.

Up for comparison: Barielle Expressive, Milani Violet Dash, Essie Play Date and Illamasqua Jo'Mina. As you can see, none are really dupes so yay! I get to keep them :D. Jo'Mina has much more blue in the base, Violet Dash is darker and Play Date is somewhere in between, also a bright color. Expressive leans way more pink when compared to the other shades. Formula was good on all of them, Expressive is the only shade that might need 3 coats depending how you apply it. All the others could easily be one coaters if you applied thicker coats.

Hope this helps and have a good weekend everyone!

It's a Blue Jelly Smackdown! (Comparisons)

Hey everyone! I survived the night of San Juan so I'm back with another posty post for you!

Today I have the blue jelly battle royale. I'm comparing the whopping 3 blue jellies that I own in an effort to remind myself they are indeed different and I do need them. Ok, technically I'm comparing only two that might have sort of been dupes and two that were similar for different reasons, but let me flow with it, I was excited to sound like a wrestling announcer.

I'll be comparing Nubar Blueberry (BB) vs. China Glaze Ride the Waves (RtW) vs. Revlon Royal (r) vs. Nails Inc. Baker St. (B St.). I know Royal isn't even close color-wise, but it did earn it's place here for (possibly) being my all-time favorite polish. Baker St is also different since it's a creme and not a jelly, but the vibrancy of the color also merited inclusion into this comparison.

Onto the show:

As you can see, Royal is definitely darker but I also wanted to compare formulas so that's why it's there. Baker St. is fully opaque in two coats and I feel it has a hint of more purple to it? Like it's SO BLUE it's right next to the purplier shades. The two worth noting are Nubar Blueberry and China Glaze Ride the Waves. Although they're definitely not dupes, one might be enough if you can't find the other (and aren't a blue jelly collecting fiend). Blueberry is a tad more opaque than Ride the Waves and RtW is also a straight up jelly, while Blueberry is tad more "creme-y". Not quite enough to be called a true hybrid but a difference that makes Nubar's formula superior to China Glaze's

In this close up you can see the slight differences better, especially in the VNL. I used three coats of Blueberry and Ride the Waves while I only needed two for Royal and Baker St. Overall, do I have a favorite? Hellz to the nah. Royal is a little higher up on the list maybe but I couldn't in good conscience say I prefer one above the other. I guess the difference comes down to availability, pricing and personal preference of course.

I hope you all had a great weekend and enjoyed this post! I'll see you tomorrow for a nice pool party!

Top Coat Comparison - Seche Vite vs. NYC In a Minute vs. Revlon Quick Dry

Good morning!

Today I have something a little different for you guys. I decided to review and compare the three top coats I have (and have heard about often) so you can get the idea of how they work pitted against one another. I do warn you, this will get wordy! 

When I started reading blogs and generally getting more into nail polish, I kept seeing the name Seche Vite and people raving about its mystical polish drying powers so I decided to give it a try. Obviously, wonders happened and I swore I would never forsake it with another. Then I got to the middle of the bottle and my beautiful magic serum turned into a gloopy mess.

Then I saw a couple of posts about Revlon's Quick Dry top coat (mainly this one at Lacquerized) that conviced me to give it a try and had great results at first. It prevented my sheet marks as well as Seche Vite and dried just a touch slower but then I had a problem with bubbling.

Enter Sammy's ravings at TheNailasaurus about NYC's In a Minute top coat. After a while of reading her posts I stumbled onto a bottle at my K-Mart so I decided to try it too.

What I did to compare: I painted two coats on each nail as normal, waited one minute and then applied top coat to each nail (Seche Vite on my index and pinky, NYC to my middle finger and Revlon to my ring finger). After applying the top coat I waited five minutes and started making dents in the polish with my fingernail at 5 minute intervals for every dent so 4 dents total = 20 minutes drying time.

Be sure to keep reading after the jump for more pictures and the final verdict!

Sinful Colors Cinderella vs. Revlon Blue Lagoon

Today I have a comparison for you guys. It's my first one so be gentle! Lately all the drugstore buzz has been about Sinful Colors Cinderella. It's a beautiful light blue with a strong pink shimmer but when I first saw the swatches it reminded me of Revlon's Blue Lagoon (minus the pink) so I decided to pass on it. Then came along the Walgreen's sale and I saw Cinderella there for just 99 cents and I couldn't resist!

Similar, no? See more pics and the verdict after the jump!