To Dupe or Not To Dupe: Color Club Halo-Graphic vs OPI DS Passion

It's Holo time! Normally, if you know me, in the past I used to throw a particular holo over any polish I had. The polish? DS Passion which is from OPI Designer Series, from the older series that is now discontinued.

So when I purchased Halo-Graphic from Color Club (Halo Hues collection) while I was at Harmon's, I was shocked because I believed it was an exact dupe for DS Passion.

Question is, is it really a dupe?

Halo-Graphic vs DS Passion

DS Passion is from OPI's Designer Series that is now discontinued, I believe this series is from any formula changes as this polish and another I have, have a very distinctive smell of chemicals (smells like permanent marker, not a sharpie, but the real smelly ones). The smell on this one isn't as bad as the other one though. 

Anyway, DS Passion is a mauve-pink holo. The holo is there, just not very distinct, it photographs just a little bit, all over the place. It is on the sheer side, so when I painted the nail plate, it took 5 coats to get it opaque.

Color Club's Halo-Graphic from the Halo Hues series. Looks like a lilac-pink (with gold overlay?). In the bottle though the base color looks similar to DS Passion, but going on not so much. 

Can we just stop for a second and look at that holo! It is insanely amazing! And that's only in the bottle!

Depending on how much you load onto the brush, it can either go on sheer with the first coat or very opaque. On the nail plate I used 2 coats.

Halo-Graphic's holo/halo (which is it?) bursts when the flash hits it. DS Passion's is more subtle, and you can see the base color more so with Passion than with Halo-Graphic.

Would I Call Them Dupes?: Not really. The base color may appear similar, but they aren't dupes. Maybe close to dupes, if you couldn't find DS Passion, Halo-Graphic would be a perfect replacement. In fact I lean more towards Halo-Graphic anyway. The formula is amazing, and the holo/halo is out of this world.

Price: I believe Harmon's sold Halo-Graphic for $7.99, but has it on sale for $3.98. Being the older Designer Series is discontinued, I did however purchase this from Harmon's as well for $5.99 They had a slue of this collection discounted.

To Dupe or Not To Dupe: Hard Candy Crush on Lava vs. MAC Mean & Green

 

Welcome one and all to the lastest edition of To Dupe or Not To Dupe. Now, lets jump right into it!

 

I was (and still am) excited about this one. Now, let us take a trip down memory lane to when MAC released their Venomous Villians collection which was based off of Disney Villians. There were several sought after nail polishes from that collection, one being Mean & Green. 

Venomous Villians has long been discontinued, but there are dupes out there of these polishes, some perfect dupes (ie Orly Space Cadet, not sure if those are now discontinued though) and some not so perfect dupes.

Mean & Green is a teal based duochrome polish where to the naked eye gives off a shimmer of copper, purple and pink depending on how the light hits it. It is a gorgeous colors, and if you couldn't tell by my bottle, I used it quite a bit. With the flash on, it appears to have a blue hue to the pink of the duochrome. The formula for Mean & Green also is on the thin side, at least mine is.

So now the possible dupe?

Crush on Lava is from Hard Candy new polish line. It is another duochrome, but not as prominent as Mean & Green. The duochrome is mainly pink, red and copper. So where is the difference? There is no teal base with Crush on Lava. The base appears to be more of a bronze base. Formula on Crush on Lava is thin as well, right on par with Mean & Green.

To the naked eye (and polish challenged) one wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the two.

Would I call them Dupes? Not quite, they're similar and could pass, but up close Crush on Lava appears to be more warm, while Mean & Green seems to be on the cooler side. 

Price: Hard Candy is available at Walmart for $4.97 (mine however sells it for $5.00 so be sure to check the price), Mean & Green is discontinued.

To Dupe or Not To Dupe: Green With Envy vs. Green Apple vs. Innocent

Welcome to another edition of To Dupe or Not To Dupe! For this round, it's a lime green edition. I was actually surprised by how many lime greens I have, but narrowed it down to only three. 

I wasn't expecting the out come though, as the swatches on the nail plate differ drastically than the swatches I did on myself (is that normal?).

Lets jump right to it!

Base coat used O.P.I. Nail Envy, no top coat used.

Starting off with Sally Hansen (Hard as Nails) Xtreme Wear in Green With Envy. Photographing the bottle actually makes it appear darker (this was an issue I was having with lighting), but it's actually a lovely lime green cream, that definitely has a yellow tone to it.

I used two coats to get it fully opaque. No real issues with the application, it went on fairly smoothly, with only minor balding with the first coat which was easily fixed with the second.

Next up is Orly Green Apple. Another cream polish. Unlike the first one, this one definitely comes across as having more of a... blue hue to it. It photographs as being more of a mint color and to me, falls into the cool field.

Application with this one was tricky. The formula was very runny, so I had to keep going back to the bottle to get the excess off, it would just flow down and pool onto the nail. The good thing though, I only had to use two coats, despite the pooling of polish.

Finally, Sinful Colors in Innocent. The third cream. This one is a light moss yellow-green. Innocent definitely is more of a yellow tone green compared to Green With Envy.

The formula on this one was thicker than the other two, other than that there weren't any other issues. Might have been thicker, but it was the one that gave me fewer issues. Two coats were used to get it fully opaque.

The comparison.

I certainly have to say, the way these colors translated to the nail plate, were so off it isn't even funny. I was definitely surprised by the out come of this because they look SO very similar. Two have a yellow tone to them (one more so than the other) while the other is a cool tone (mint) green. In the bottles it's even difficult to tell, although Green Apple looks slightly off even there.

Would I call them dupes? Absolutely not. The three of them are very different.

Price Range: Orly Polishes go for $8.50 on the Orly website. Sinful Colors go for $1.99 at Walgreens. Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear start from $2.12 and up (depending on where you shop).

Disclaimer: Products mentioned in the post were purchased by myself. None of the links featured are affiliates.

To Dupe or Not To Dupe: Ingenue vs. Faye vs. It's My Year

Good Evening/Afternoon/Morning!

I'm hitting everything there, for me it's evening and instead of working on my February Favorites (erk!), I wanted to get the third in my series of To Dupe or Not To Dupe up.

A quick explanation, this is basically me going through my nail polish stash and finding colors that happen to be similar or possible dupes. Oddly enough it always seems to be a limited edition polish versus a Zoya polish. Which I can assure anyone, is not done on purpose.

Without further ado! The third in the series! Rather anticlimactic there, boss.

Quick disclaimer - I just wish to apologize in advance as some of the photos (namely the swatch photos) were taken while I was testing out the setting features.

I honestly have to say, I was surprised that I had three variations of this color. And to the untrained eye (like my Mom's), they all appear to be the same.

Base coat that was used, Revlon Post Trauma Nail Treatment. No top coat used.

First up, is O.P.I. It's My Year. This one was released in 2011 and was part of the Miss Universe collection. It's My Year comes across as having a darker purple-berry base compare to the other two. It's a slightly richer shade. The gold duochrome seems to be less compared to both Faye and Ingenue. It's there, it just comes across as more subdue.

It's sheer, using three coats on the swatch to get it opaque. However, I can still see the tip of my nail so I believe a fourth coat would have worked better to get it fully opaque.

Next up, Faye.

Faye was part of Zoya's Sunshine Collection and is a permanent color on the site. Something of which I love about Zoya, they don't retire colors. Anyway, Zoya's website describes Faye as: A bronzed mauve with purple and brown undertones flooded with bright gold sparkle. Faye is definitely a bronzed-mauve with purple undertones, however I'm not certain where brown comes in. When photograph, I'd have to say it comes across as more of a taupe purple undertone instead. The duochrome of gold definitely stands out far more than It's My Year.

The application was a little tricky with the first coat as it caused some balding by the cuticle area. Three coats were used, but I'll be honest, I should have added two more. It seems a little patchy near the tip edges.

Next! Ingenue.

Last out of the three is Orly's Ingenue. This polish came out in 2011 with the Holiday Soireé collection and is still available on Orly's website. This one is also a bronzed mauve with a purple base. The gold duochrome being just as noticeable as Faye's duochrome.

Two coats were used, where (I'm seeing the trend here, I blame the lighting I use when I do swatches) a third should have been used as the formula is a bit sheer.

The comparison.

It's My Year definitely lacks with the gold duochrome with the purple/berry base being more noticeable. However, I have to say, Faye and Ingenue are practically dupes. The base colors appears to be the same, along with the gold overlay. The only difference would be that Faye appears to have a bit more gold to it.

Would I call them dupes? Two out of three, yes.

Price Range: O.P.I. Polishes can range from $6.99 and up. Orly Polishes go for $8.50 on the Orly website. Zoya polishes are priced at $8.00 on the Zoya website.

 Disclaimer: Products mentioned in the post were purchased by myself. None of the links featured are affiliates.

A bronzed mauve with purple and brown undertones flooded with bright gold sparkle.  - See more at: http://www.zoya.com/content/38/item/Zoya/nail-polish-zoya-nail-polish-Faye-ZP551.html#sthash.MA3oVpeD.dpuf

A bronzed mauve with purple and brown undertones flooded with bright gold sparkle.  - See more at: http://www.zoya.com/content/38/item/Zoya/nail-polish-zoya-nail-polish-Faye-ZP551.html#sthash.MA3oVpeD.dpuf

A bronzed mauve with purple and brown undertones flooded with bright gold sparkle.  - See more at: http://www.zoya.com/content/38/item/Zoya/nail-polish-zoya-nail-polish-Faye-ZP551.html#sthash.MA3oVpeD.dpuf

A bronzed mauve with purple and brown undertones flooded with bright gold sparkle. - See more at: http://www.zoya.com/content/38/item/Zoya/nail-polish-zoya-nail-polish-Faye-ZP551.html#sthash.MA3oVpeD.dpuf

To Dupe or Not To Dupe: The One That Got Away vs Sarah

Yes! It's another To Dupe or Not To Dupe post. I figured that this could be a little series. I know a lot of bloggers do dupe posts whether it's with nail polishes or with eyeshadows, this isn't anything massively different.

This is basically just me going through my polish collection and seeing if I have any polishes that are close in color to be possible dupes. Especially if they're limited editions and are no longer available, except through online retailers.

So, onward to this edition of the series!

Basically this whole "series" started when I picked up Scarlett on Friday, I had been wearing Zoya's Lisa on my nails, and couldn't figure out if Scarlett had been a dupe. I originally thought The One That Got Away could also be a possible dupe, until I swatched it on a nail plate and realized it wasn't. That encouraged me to go through the rest of my stash to see if anything could be a possible dupe for The One That Got Away. Which is how I ended up here with this post.

Base coat used, Revlon Post Trauma Nail Treatment, no top coat used.

The One That Got Away was/is part of the Katy Perry Collection that O.P.I. released around January 2011 (I actually found mine in T.J. Maxx). This is definitely a rich berry with hints of purple to it, as well as fine micro glitter (although not overwhelming).

The Formula is on the sheer side, and I needed to use three coats to get it fully opaque. As with most polishes (this could be a user problem), there was slight streaking with the initial coat, but once you get the second coat on, it evens out.

Next, Sarah.

I believe this was one of the first Zoya polishes that I purchased from their site. On there, Sarah is described as Pearls of dark fuchsia, red-violet and ruby tones in a bright sparkle finish.  A very rich and different shade of cool red sparkle that will stand out in a crowd. To my (untrained) eye, this definitely leans more towards the ruby (cool toned) family, it has hints of violet, but I would say the fuchsia/ruby dominates. Two coats were used for it to be fully opaque.

The comparison.

I would says that The One That Got Away definitely has more of a fuchsia/purple tone to it than Sarah does. Sarah's violet tone seems to be more low key and not as up front. Swatching these colors on a nail plate, The One That Got Away comes across as a much deeper color than Sarah, while Sarah comes across as a richer ruby berry color. While Sarah has a very sparkly finish, The One That Got Away, finish is much more subdue.

 

Would I Call Them Dupes? Definitely not. While the colors are in a similar family (both berry), one leans more towards a violet berry side, while the other is more of a ruby berry.

 

Price Range: O.P.I. Polishes can range from $6.99 and up. Zoya polishes are priced at $8.00 on the Zoya website.

Disclaimer: Products mentioned in the post were purchased by myself.

To Dupe or Not To Dupe: Scarlett vs. Lisa

I've been attempting to come up with a nice catchy phrase to start my posts off with, so far, I've been failing at it. 

My nails have been bare for an entire day which is a shock (hello stain-age!), but I'm contemplating on dying my hair which is why I haven't done anything yet.

Besides that, as the title of this post says, this is a dupe post! 

After searching high and low for the new Nicole by O.P.I. Selena Gomez collection and only finding the glitter collection at stores, I lucked out yesterday and found the rest of the collection! The only color that I've been dying for is actually Scarlett. CVS had only one bottle of it left, so I snatched it up without even thinking about it.

Coming home though I noticed that Scarlett is rather similar to Zoya's Lisa.

First off, I apologize in advance for the photos. I took all of them with my Lumix camera which I've had for a while, but never really used, that is until yesterday. I discovered the exposure setting (yay!) so the photos don't appear so dark with the flash.

Now I wouldn't say these are exact dupes, they are similar though. Lets start off with Scarlett first.

I want to quickly note that the base coat used was my trusty Revlon Post Trauma Nail Treatment. I did not use a top coat on either swatches.

Although the name is Scarlett (if you're familiar with Selena Gomez then you'll know the reasoning for the name), this is a far cry from a red. I would definitely say that this is more of a raspberry pink, possibly on the cool side. To me it is a gorgeous color.

Upon swatching it, I noticed that the formula is on the sheer side. The first coat took a little to get it even, as there was slight balding (the color pulling away from the areas on the nail care of the brush). It took 3 coats to get the color to become opaque, in fact I'd go as far as possibly applying a 4th coat, as to my eye I could still see part of the nail tip.

Next, Lisa.

This is the color I actually wore on Valentine's Day. Zoya's website describes the color as such, An iridescent combination of deep raspberry pink, bright candy apple red and subtle gold tones in a dazzling sparkle finish. In my opinion Lisa leans more towards red than pink, definitely not a true red though because you can see the subtle pink and gold tones to it in natural light (majority of my photos are taken at night due to my work schedule).

With Lisa, it was opaque after 2 coats. The application being thicker and more even.

Comparison.

It might be difficult to tell with the photo, as I was still figuring out the settings on my camera, but Scarlett definitely photographs with more of a pink tone compared to Lisa. With Lisa, the pink tone is there, but not as noticeable. As I mentioned before Scarlett took 3 coats (a fourth could be applied), while Lisa only took two for full opaqueness. The drying time, also was different. Scarlett taking much longer than Lisa. And with Scarlett I also used. Zoya's Hurry Up drops. Both have shimmer, although Lisa seems to sparkle more, even without a top coat.

Overall result? I love both colors, but I gravitate towards Scarlett more due to the pink raspberry color that the polish is. It's eye catching to me.

Would I call them dupes? Not quite. They are very close though, perhaps if one isn't a nail polish addict (is there a nail polish anonymous group I could attend?), they probably wouldn't notice the difference.

Price Range: Nicole by O.P.I. range varies depending on where you purchase the polish. I bought Scarlett at CVS so the price was $7.99. Zoya polishes are priced at $8.00 on the Zoya website.

Disclaimer: Products mentioned in the post were purchased by myself.