Essie Where's My Chauffeur? Swatch & Comparison

Hi guys! Today I'm showing you Essie Where's My Chauffeur from their holiday 2012 collection, I can never pass up a turquoise!

I used two fairly generous coats for essies small brush.

I then decided to do a quick comparison with a few popular turquoise shades you might have.

Left to Right:
China Glaze For Audrey, Orly Frisky, Essie Where's My Chauffeur?, Zoya Wednesday, Essie Turqouise & Caicos.

No 100% dupes here, the closest by far was Orly Frisky (In Real Life) While Frisky is more opaque it stains like a bitch which I didn't experience when removing Where's My Chauffeur?

Zoya Logan Swatch & Comparison AND 18k Gold Flake Topcoat

Hi guys! Today I'm showing you Zoya Logan from the 2012 Ornate Holiday collection. Logan is a dark green with golden sheen which is quite similar to Ivanka. I used two coats for full coverage which I thought was impressive as other Zoyas with a similar finish always seem to need three +.

Top: Ivanka. Bottom: Logan

I then decided to layer the Zoya 18k gold topcoat over it as I didn't think it would be as good over the plain black andwhite that came with the kit.

Urban Decay Vice Palette COMPARISON SWATCHES

Hi guys! As promised I decided to take some comparison photos with some of the shades from the Urban Decay Vice Palette. I don't have a huge eye shadow collection but I've found some really similar shades! Lets get into it!

Top: Urban Decay Baked (FUN PALETTE)

Middle: Urban Decay Penny Lane (VICE PALETTE)

Bottom: Urban Decay Half Baked (NAKED PALETTE)

READ ON AFTER THE JUMP FOR MORE COMPARISONS!

Darling Diva Polish: Ringer Swatch & Comparison

Hi guys, sorry I haven't been posting much lately I've been so busy aha.

Today I'm showing you an Indie polish by Darling Diva Polish. This is called Ringer, and is a supposed dupe for Max Factor's Fantasy Fire.

It's a sheer blurple jelly base with colour shifting pigments infused throughout. I layered one coat over China Glaze Gothic Lolita

Final picture is of Gothic Lolita by itself.

So onto a comparison!

Left: Darling Diva Polish Ringer, Right: Max Factor Fantasy Fire

 Left: Darling Diva Polish Ringer, Right: Max Factor Fantasy Fire

By itself, both three coats.

Left: Darling Diva Polish Ringer, Right: Max Factor Fantasy Fire

One coat of each over black.

So ultimately I think this is a dupe, and in all honestly I like it BETTER! It has the same red to green shift as Max Factor Fantasy Fire and the same jelly base, but just more sheer. The bottle is a LOT larger than Fantasy Fire, as is the brush which makes Application a lot easier and more even. This polish also only costs $8 which is a lot cheeper than what you'll find Fantasy Fire for on eBay!

Thanks for Reading!

 

A-England Lady of The Lake: Swatch & Comparison

Hi guys, so the sun finally came out today!! So I'm going to show you A-Englands Lady of The Lake!

Lady of the lake is a blue toned purple with a sight dustyness to it with a subtle holographic effect!

And in the shade.

I also decided to do a comparison shot for you guys!

On the Left is Nubar Treasure, Middle A-England Lady of The Lake, Right Color Club Wild At Heart

To me, the closest is Color Club Wild At Heart. I'm torn between which I prefer, the Color Club is much more holo and has this sort of inner glow I find really beautiful, it is also a lot more opaque than the A-England. However, The A-England's dustyness and cooler tones make it much more flattering on my skintone.

A-England polishes can be purchased at A-England.co.uk for £9.00 which as of today converts to just over 13 Australian dollars and  just over 14 US Dollars. A-England also have free international shipping.

Alternatively, A-England can be purchased from Llarowe for $12 USD plus postage and handling, which is still pretty reasonable. 

China Glaze On Safari: Exotic Encounters Swatch & Comparison

Hi guys, today I'm showing you one of the polishes from the new China Glaze On Safari Collection for Summer 2012. This is a collection of twelve shades that are a lot more 'fall' colours than the traditional summer shades, but then again China Glaze just released a 12 piece neon collection aha.

The first one I'm showing you is Exotic Encounters.

Exotic Encounters is a creme teal which leans A LOT more toward the green side. It also has a dustiness  to it. It applied well with no streaks, but I did find that the brush seemed to pick up a lot more polish than I needed, even when wiping some off, so something to keep in mind. This polish was very pigmented and you could totally get away with one coat if you so wished. I did two coats in my swatches as photos tend to bring out every inconsistancy in polish aha.

 I also did a comparison for you guys.

Left: OPI Jade Is The New Black, Middle: Exotic Encounters, Right: Essie Go Overboard.

Thanks for Reading! 

Are you planning on picking anything up  from this collection?

China Glaze IDK: Swatch & Comparison

Hi guys, today I'm showing you China Glaze IDK. IDK is a gorgeous light purple with a strong linear holographic effect. It applied well in two coats.

Here's a comparison swatch I did a while back when I swatched OPI DS Original.

 L-R : Color Club Fashion Addict, China Glaze IDK, OPI DS Original

Nfu Oh #65 Swatch & Comparison

Hi guys, so today I'm showing you Nfu Oh # 65. This is the most amazing holo!

A beautiful pale blue with a strong linear holo effect.

I've heard these polishes getting flack for being hard to apply but I didn't experience this. I did not wear a basecoat or topcoat and it applied fine. The formula is on the thin side, but it isn't sheer. I used two coats.

Here is a comparison shot I did a while back of some of my light blue holos

Left to right: Milani Cyberspace, China Glaze Kaleidascope Him Out, Nfu Oh 65, OPI DS Sapphire

CND Guava Swatch & Comparison with China Glaze Peachy Keen & Zoya Arizona

Hi guys,

so I really debated showing you this swatch today because it is SOO colour inaccurate, but I don't know, I'm going to show you anyway as you really never hear about this colour.

I heard about it from Andrea or Plasma Spedo on youtube, and I realllly wanted it, but couldn't find it for AGES! So I think it must be discontinued as CND don't have it listed on their website.

Guava is a beautiful coral colour, it applies well. I used two coats and experienced no streaking or bubbling. I also really like CND's brush, while it's not like OPI's Prowide or anything I find it so easy to use, the bristles are very flexible.

Since this swatch looks soo much more orange than it is in real life I decided to include a comparison between a couple of oranges.

On the left is CND Guava, in the middle, China Glaze's Peachy Keen, & Zoya Arizona on the right. Here you can see it's a lot more coral.

Zoya Wednesday Swatch & Comparison

Hey guys, SUPER quick post showing you Zoya Wednesday from their 2012 Beach collection. Wednesday is a green leaning turquoise with a slight dustiness to it. 

This creme applied easily in two coats.
I did experience a bit of staining on my skin when removing this polish.

So the furthest left is Zoya Wednesday, OPI Mermaids Tears, China Glaze For Audrey, Zoya Wednesday (again), Essie Turquoise & Caicos, Color Club Blue-ming & Essie Mint Candy Apple. These are actually all one coat.

Comparison: OPI Catch Me In Your Net, Zoya Charla & Orly Halleys Comet

As some of you may know, OPI's Catch me in your net is one of my favourite polishes. Unfortunately this is discontinued and now, expensive, but I've got some cheaper alternatives for you!

Zoya and Orly have exact dupes of this colour! I've heard of a couple of US DS brands also do but I'm not aware of these sorry.

 

So, left to right is ORLY Halley's Comet from the Cosmic FX Collection, Zoya Charla from the Sparkle Collection and OPI Catch Me In Your Net from the Summer Flutter Collection.

All three were released in 2010.

 

For some reason in this photo, the OPI is appearing less sparkley, but this is not the case in real life. All three have three coats. The formulas are all pretty much identical, however I did feel my Orly was a little thicker, but this may be because it had been used a couple of times before. My favourite is the OPI, ONLY because it's my favourite brush, but it's not worth splurging ebay prices when you can get either of the other two for a fraction of the price, I was just lucky enough to come accross it in a dusty so I snatched it up :P The most economic is deffinately the ORLY especially when you consider it's 18mL compared to Zoya & OPI's 15mL.

Thanks for reading!

Color Club Blue-ming Swatch & Comparison

Hi guys! Today I'm wearing Color Club's Blue-Ming from their 2012 Spring Blossoming collection.

Blue-Ming is a gorgous and suprisingly unique turquoise creme.

The formula wasn't bad per se` but not great either. Thin coats left the polish streaky, but it was hard to get enough polish on the small, thin brush to make it apply evenly. This swatch is two thick coats.

I don't really understand why this polish is called Blue-ming because it really leans on the green side of turquoise, but absolutely gorgeous colour. I also added a silver rhinestone at the cuticle - cause I could lol

I then decided to do a quick comparison with a few comon and popular turquoise cremes.

As you can see, no dupes here!

L-R: ORLY Frisky, China Glaze For Audrey, Color Club Blue-ming, Essie Turquoise & Caicos, China Glaze Aquadellic

Chanel Paradoxal: Swatch & Comparison with Aussie Brands

Hi guys I have a quick swatch and comparison for you today before I get on with my uni assignments.

I know this is late I guess since Paradoxal came out in 2010 but it wasn't until now I was able to get my hands on it.

Paradoxal is a super smokey puple leaning brown i think with a hidden purple/pink shimmer. It's very flattering.

Unfortunately I couldn't get the shimmer to show up properly on my camera, but beleive me it's there!

Now I know there are many dupes of Paradoxal from brands such as Barry M and Revlon but I thought I'd do a comparison with some Aussie brands since I remember searching through google for some, and nothing turned up aha.

CHANEL Paradoxal, Australis Limited Edition1, Ulta3 Twilight Fever

Now again I had trouble with my angles with the comparison, it seems I always have this with darker colours, but you'll have to trust me.... THEY'RE IDENTICAL!

The Australis was the most opaque of them all, barely needing a second coat, but the Chanel and Ulta3 were both opaque at two. They all apply very nicely and smoothly - I didn't experience any dragging or streaking. 

CHANEL - $39 at David Jones ($22 in USA)

Australis - $7.95 at Priceline, K-Mart & Target (However I got mine on clearance for 3.99 since it was limited edition, however I still see it around)

Ulta3 - $2.25 at various chemists eg. Terry White

CHANEL APRIL: Swatch, Reveiw & Comparison

Hi guys so today I want to show you one of the Chanel 2012 Spring Line polishes, called April. I don't know why I HAD to have this polish, maybe because I'm born in April, but anyway - I really do like it, is it worth the $$$ - not really, read on why!

Chanel April is a gorgeous soft burgandy/cranberry/deep red with a slight dustyness to it. It's got a wonderful formula, applies so smooth, I used two coats, but you *could* get away with one if you were in a rush. It also dried super fast WITHOUT a topcoat! I never don't wear topcoats but i got a phonecall right as I was screwing the lid back on and took it, by the time I was off the phone (not long) it was dry and so so shiny (which dulled with use of handcream right before the photo) that I didn't feel I needed it :O

I thought I'd do a quick comparison to OPI's Just A Little Rosti at This because they are very similar.

The OPI is on the left and Chanel April on the right.

As you can see the OPI is a tad bit darker and lacks the certain dustyness I feel APRIL has (maybe that's just me) Both colours have superb formula and very easy application.

I feel that APRIL is a little more flattering on pale skinned girls (like me) but for the price difference you're getting more bang for your buck with the OPI.

Australia:

OPI (15mL) - $19.95, CHANEL (13mL) - $39.00 

(David Jones)

USA

OPI - $8.50, CHANEL - $22.00

Thanks for reading!

Comparison: Essie Smooth Sailing vs. Zoya Skylar

Hi guys just wanted to do a quick comparison today because I know some people were wondering how the new Zoya Skylar compares to Essie Smooth Sailing. I wasn't going to post this comparison because I wasn't very happy with the photos, but they aren't that bad lol

 L- Skylar R- Smooth Sailing

As you can see, no dupes here. They do actually look more different in real life believe it or not. Smooth Sailing almost looks purple next to Skylar which is a dusty slate blue while Smooth Sailing is very periwinkle. Besides the base colours which are very different, the shimmer is also different. Smooth Sailing has a silver shimmer (in some lights you see little hints of pink and blue too) and Skylars shimmer is almost a mixture of silver and gold. I think Skylars shimmer is more noticable. Both colours apply super well. This is two coats of each.

Battle of the Lemon Scented Cuticle Creams: LUSH Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter VS. Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream

Hi guys! Since i've been camping for the last few days and haven't done any NOTD's I thought I'd do a bit of a comparison for you, between LUSH Lemony Flutter & Burt's Bees Cuticle Cream.

Check out my in depth review after the jump!