Dupe Attack from Martha: Zoya Natty, Sinful Colors Rain Storm, China Glaze First Mate

My buddy and Lacquer Clones Swatching member Martha has provided me with this fun blue cream comparison.

Ever wondered how Zoya Natty, Sinful Colors Rain Storm, or China Glaze First Mate compare with each other?  If so, you're in luck today!

From left to right: Zoya Natty, Sinful Colors Rain Storm, and China Glaze First Mate.  Each are two coats, indoors, with curtains open.  No base or top coat.

Dupe Attack by Amber: OPI Last Friday Night versus Julep Portia

Here's another blog post by Amber of the Lacquer Clones Swatching group on Facebook:  this time, between OPI Last Friday Night and Julep Portia.  A big thank you to Amber for this lovely contribution!

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As you can see in the photo below, my bottle of Julep Portia (right) is very well loved. But at $14 for a .27 fl oz bottle I’m not planning on buying replacement when mine runs out. I had seen photos of OPI’s Last Friday Night before and thought the glitter looked pretty similar to Portia. So when I happened across a bottle in Kmart, I snatched it up.

From The Polish Jinx: Julep Robin and Claire

Today we have a link sharing several Juleps, including two similar shades:  Julep Robin and Julep Claire.  

Please check her comparison, including side-by-side swatches of Robin and Claire, at this link.

(photo courtesy of The Polish Jinx)

Blues from Melissa!

There are still a few hundred swatch sticks which need to make their way back to my house before the big, fat swatch comparison posts happen. But that doesn't mean I can't show you hints of things to come. Melissa Crouch is one of the ladies who is sending me sticks. She's just swatched them and is in the process of getting them back to me.

Check out this photo which she just sent me!

(pictured, from top to bottom:  Revlon Blue Lagoon, Revlon Coastal Surf, Sally Hansen Blue Me Away, Milani Dude Blue, Sinful Colors Fly Away, Catrice Blue Cara Ciao, Sinful Colors Gredian Sun, Sally Hansen Pacific Blue, Revlon Indigo Night, Sinful Colors Rainstorm, Sinful Colors Neptune, Revlon Blue Slate, OPI Ski Teal We Drop, and L'Oreal After Hours.)

Thank you, Melissa, for your photo-- I'm looking forward to seeing these in person and comparing them with even MORE blues!

Pretty Sara-Swatches!

The big swatching project is underway.

 The plan is to have a few dozen of us swatch similar polish colors on swatch sticks. Then everyone mails them to me, and I take a photo of similar colors for a blog.

Can you imagine, fellow nail-lovers? Twenty teals? Fourty fuschias? A BAZILLION BLACKS?! (Okay, yes, I love alliteration. Maybe too much.)

Anyway, Sara from My Life in Polish is one of the ladies from Lacquer Clones Swatching on Facebook. That's where we organize all of the swatch-plans for the blog. And look at this photo she just posted in the group!

(From top to bottom:  China Glaze Liquid Leather,  Essie Bobbing for Baubles, Pure Ice French Kiss, Orly Shockwave, Essie Mesmerize, OPI Dating A Royal, OPI No Room for the Blues, OPI Fly, China Glaze Custom Kicks, Barielle Do Unto Others, China Glaze Turned Up Turquoise, Color Club Age of Aquarius, Julep Daphne, Julep Robin, Orly Frisky, China Glaze Aquadelic, Cult Nails Manipulative, and Orly Purity.  You can see a comparison shot of the four navy blues, minus Dating a Royal and plus China Glaze First mate, over here.)

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These are the sticks that I sent her for swatching.  She's painted them, as of today; later on, she'll be shipping them back to me so that they can be photographed with other people's blues, greens, teals, and whites.

This is just a hint of what's to come. Two hundred sticks have been sent out so far, and two hundred more are just waiting to be labeled and shipped.

Dupe Attack: A-England Avalon, Pure Ice No Means No, A-England Order of the Garter, and Zoya Song

Guess what I got?! Dupe comparisons for two A Englands: one with a budget-priced Wal-Mart polish, and *another* up against Zoya Song from the new Fall 2012 Diva collection!

Swatch photos are courtesy of Rebecca, a friendly face who I know via Facebook's Zoya Nail Polish Exchange Group.

From left to right:A-England Avalon, Pure Ice No Means No, A-England Order of the Garter, and Zoya Song.




Rebecca reports that

"I was just swatching [Order of the Garter] to compare to Zoya Song... and remembered again how BAD it is! It goes on kind of clumpy and take like 3 or 4 coats! So unlike my other smooth as butter 1 or 2 coater A-Englands!"

Only speaking for myself: these photos personally make me want to buy a Pure Ice and a Zoya. This isn't to say that I have no love for A England: I do love my St. George!

Guest Dupe Attack from mylifeinpolish: Essie Mesmerize, Orly Shockwave, Pure Ice French Kiss, China Glaze First Mate

I'm glad to share my first-ever guest post from Sara of http://www.mylifeinpolish.blogspot.com ! Here it is: Hey, fellow lacquer lovers! I'm really excited to be here today comparing one of my favorite nail colors, blue. So lets get right to it. Starting with my pointer finger we have Essie Mesmerize, Orly Shockwave, Pure Ice French Kiss and China Glaze First Mate. This is two coats of each with topcoat. I wasn't going to topcoat them but I have little kids and I had to get them dry so I could make snacks :)

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As you can tell, the China Glaze is more navy than the others. I knew that before I started but I have four fingers and really wanted to add another blue. Orly Shockwave looks a tad darker in the pictures but really isn't noticeable, especially indoors. First Mate and French Kiss had the easiest formula to work with. If you exclude First Mate my pick would be French Kiss. Best part is it's only $2. I love inexpensive dupes that have a good quality. I hope this comparison helps some of you out on your quest for the perfect blue. You can find me over at mylifeinpolish.blogspot.com. Stop by and say hi.

Added to the blogroll: The Polish Jinx!

I'd love to share our newest addition to the blogroll, The Polish Jinx! This blog is run by Shayna, who has made several informative and useful dupe comparison posts in the past.

Here are a few of them:

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The Polish Jinx: The Polish Jinx: HEAD TO HEAD MATCH - Girly Bits Shift Happens VS Clarins 230

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The Polish Jinx: Deborah Lippmann Dont Tell Mama VS Illamasqua Viridian

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The Polish Jinx: How Do You Orange?

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Credit for all photos goes solely to Shayna of The Polish Jinx.

I hope that everyone is looking forward to what's coming up for Lacquer Clones! As of now, we have plans underway to compile swatch sticks comparing blacks, whites, reds, blues, light aquamarines/teals/light blues, medium teals, corals, and several other shades. All in all, we have sixty-five ladies in Facebook's Lacquer Clones Swatching group offering to swatch shades from their collections and send them back to me. Nearly 200 colors have been offered so far!

Dupe Post at Legendary Lacquers!

I've just added Legendary Lacquers to my blogroll. Karly, who runs Legendary Lacquers, recently posted an excellent dupe-comparison post with the following:

• OPI Funky Dunky and Sinful Colors Amethyst
• Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Blue Me Away and Zoya Robyn
• OPI Thanks A Windmillion and Zoya Bevin
• OPI Glitzerland and Finger Paints Key to My Art

You can find this post by clicking this link. Karly has some excellent swatches here. You should check them out!

Dupe Attack: Charla Clones

Here's a first dupe post: dupes of Zoya Charla. Here, I have Essence Colour & Go in Choose Me!, Wet 'n' Wild Fast Dry in Teal of Fortune, and Sinful Colors Kissy. (Other dupes of this color include OPI Catch Me In Your Net, Orly Halley's Comet, NYX Girls Sea of Cortez, and Jesse's Girl Glee. If you know more, let me know!) They look nearly identical while posing outside in the 90-plus degree heat. On swatch sticks, however, there are some slight differences:
Essence Choose Me! on the left, Wet 'n' Wild Teal of Fortune in the center, and Sinful Colors Kissy on the right. Each are with two coats.

I was surprised to notice that, despite the Teal-y name, Teal of Fortune was the least green of the bunch. Kissy has a deeper pigment than the others, and Choose Me! is ever so slightly less opaque. My personal favorite is Sinful Colors Kissy, although I would warn that it did leave slight stains on the edges of my nails. I assume it stained where I had missed base coat. Edit: JulieG Mermaid's Tale is also a Charla dupe. Props to Roxanne Lee Tornyi for this info! She has also provided me a photo of Jesse's Girl Glee and Zoya Charla, both in the bottle and on nubbined swatch sticks (two coats):  
Also, if you would like to contribute to this blog in any way, let me know. Maybe you want to make a guest post. Perhaps you'd prefer to cross-promote by sharing a dupe-alert post on your own blog. Even a contribution of dupe photos (maybe you have other Charla dupes!) would be useful. Drop me a comment!