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.