Dupe Attack from Christina: Zoya Adina, Deborah Lippmann Wicked Game, and Color Club Port-Folio

Guess what Christina from the Lacquer Clones Swatching group on Facebook has provided for the blog?  Dupes for Zoya Adina!

(Okay, fine, it's obvious... there's a photo below.  Let's just pretend that you're surprised.)

Either way, from left to right:  Zoya Adina, Deborah Lippmann Wicked Game, and Color Club Port-Folio.  

Each of these three appear to be purple polishes with a green duochrome shift in the bottle.  There appear to be some variation in finish and hue, but they definitely are cousins.  But their true differences become super-apparent when they are swatched.

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: Wet 'n' Wild Fast Dry- Waves of Enchantment and NYC Colors Golden Glam

It's a decently established fact on the Internets that Zoya Rica and Wet 'n' Wild Waves of Enchantment are essentially dupes.  Of course, this isn't super-helpful for those who are seeking an inexpensive Zoya Rica dupe, since Waves of Enchantment is currently discontinued.

But did you know that NYC Golden Glam gets pretty close, too?  Check these swatches out:

 

(swatches provided by Sara of My Life in Polish)

Skip the first two colors swatched, and Waves of Enchantment is the on the left; Golden Glam is on the right. Each of these have two coats.

Waves of Enchantment, with its extra golden undertone and more foil-like finish, is much closer to Zoya Rica than NYC Golden Glam is.  Still, if you aren't super-picky about absolute, one-hundred-percent dupeability, Golden Glam might do it for you.  

(For those curious: the teal chunky glitter on the far left is Orly Flash Glam FX in Mermaid Tale, and the purpley chunky glitter to its right is Orly Bubbly Bombshell. Sara has Zoya Tracie peeking through on her gorgeous thumb.)

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: Zoya Pinta versus Essie No More Film

We have a Clone Attack provided by Christina of the Lacquer Clones Swatching group on Facebook: Zoya Pinta and Essie No More Film.
As indicated on the photo: Pinta is on the left, and No More Film is on the right. Both are swatched with two coats with flash.

To my eye, Pinta looks ever so slightly darker and bluer-- not enough to own both. I prefer Pinta-- what about you?

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!

Comparison posts on The Girlie Tomboy!

One of the swatchy-ladies working with me on this project is Janna, who runs The Girlie Tomboy. The Girlie Tomboy is a Facebook blog that is, as she writes in the About section, " A smorgasbord of nail related goodies. " Yep, I like that! And even better, to a dupe-obsessed chicky?! She has a few comparisons on her blog, too. She's got:

• Zoya Akyra and Essie Trophy Wife
• Julep Kate and Orly Au Champagne
• Zoya Rekha and Zoya Sooki
• Zoya Bevin and OPI Mermaid Tears
• Cult Nails Iconic and Barielle Elle's Spell
• Sinful Colors Kissy and Zoya Charla (you can see more Charla dupes in a Clone Attack post right here).

Wanna see her comparison photos? Then come over here! Several of these posts have either inspired upcoming Clone Attack posts for this blog, or they are just super-reminiscent of what is to come. YEA!

From Fresh Air & Fashion: Zoya Pandora, Julep Pippa, Zoya Avery; plus teals at her blog!

Today I have some swatches from Sophie over at Fresh Air and Fashion . Sophie is one of sixty-three ladies who are agreeing to swatch polishes on sticks and mail them back to me for this big, collaborative dupe-finding mission! By the way: the first shipment of one hundred swatch sticks just went out to fifteen ladies this very morning. Pins and needles! ANYWAY. Sophie has developed a delightful post comparing three classy neutral cremes: Zoya Pandora, Julep Pippa, and Zoya Avery (seen below). This post also provides side-by-side stick swatches comparing Julep Daphne, Zoya Wednesday, and China Glaze For Audrey. (photo provided by Sophie of Fresh Air & Fashion) Pandora reminds me a bit of my favorite neutral: OPI Dulce de Leche. Very pretty, don't you think?

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: Jesse's Girl Wild Thing and Zoya Charisma

Another dupe attack for you today, provided by Roxanne! Jesse's Girl Wild Thing and Zoya Charisma. Roxanne has provided this comparison shot: each nubbined swatch has two coats. Roxanne tells me that even in person, these two are "dead on dupes, even down to the finish." She says that Zoya Charisma, while it may not show in the photo, dries matte, just like Jesse's Girl Wild Thing.

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!