Minty Shimmers!

I can't remember if the City Color ever had a name. I bought it...this year I think? It was a cheapie Rite-Aid polish. It's actually quite pretty. The brush is thin and kind of annoying, but nothing too awful. Both of these are over a layer of Wet-n-Wild "I need a refreshmint" see it hiding out back there?

Index and Ring: City Color

Middle and Pinky: CQ Gem Green

Gem Green has been featured on here before but it is so lovely, it deserves more attention!

 Look at that shimmery goodness!

Verdict: NOT dupes
If I had to get rid of one: Nope, gotta keep them both!

Some Nail Art stuff I've been trying out...

 Needle Marble Mani

I'm still mastering this one, but I like it. It's not easy though!

 Part of my problem is, I can't stick to one look. I want to throw every color I own on at once!

I saw this tutorial on Youtube and wanted to try it. Mine did not come out as nice, but came out better than I thought it would. Definitely going to try it again!

I love the ombre/gradient look. I did this with a cut up makeup sponge and then added a layer of sheery pearly white over it. I didn't come out as seamless as I wanted, but I used like 4 different colors. Next time I think I'll just use two and sponge it on thicker...?

Battle of the Purples!

 Pointer and Ring: Kleancolor - "Fairy Lover"

Middle and Pinky: Spa Ritual - "Health, Wealth and Happiness"

 Fairy Lover (I swear I bought it just because of the name!) is a thick, rich blue-toned purple.
HW&H is a little on the thin side, but this is three coats and it builds to an amazingly gorgeous almost multi-hued shimmer. It shift purple-blue very prettily.

Best of both worlds. One layer of HW&H over Fairy Lover. Perfection!

Verdict: Not alike!

If I had to get rid of one: No, way, they're both awesome!

One of these is not like the others...

 I've been wanting to do this comp for awhile now. For some reason I tossed in the Spa Ritual even though it's not really like the others. But it's a silvery-grey that shifts a little bit purple.

Index Finger: Opulent Cloud
Middle Finger: OPI - Not Like the Movies
Ring Finger: Wet-n-Wild - Gray's Anatomy
Pinky: Spa Ritual - Sacred Ground

 Good golly, I forgot how freaking amazing Opulent Cloud is! It's so pretty! Sacred Ground is reather awesome too. Gray's Anatomy and Not Like the Movies are very similar except the OPI had some silver glitter? particles. While I was swatching these, I remembered I had ONE MORE that was similar to these and went and dug out Lippman - Wicked Game.

Compare:

Index: Gray's Anatomy
Middle: Not Like the Movies
Ring: Wicked Game
Pinky: Gray's Anatomy

 Gray's and WG are both very, bery thin and sheer. This is about four coats of each. Honestly, they are indistinguishable from each other.

Verdict: If you missed out on Wicked Game, pick up Gray's Anatomy (if you can still find it) it's the same thing.

If I had to get rid of one: Gray's Anatomy, the brush is big and really annoying, plus the bottle is ugly.

Carbonite vs. Valiant

Middle and Pinky: Revlon - Carbonite

Pointer and Ring: L'Oreal - Valiant

 You think they're similar, but they're not. Valiant is a little smoother and more on the silver side.
Carbonite looks a little rougher and leans more gold. At least to my eye.

 Ignore my messy valiant fingers. I remembered when I was using it that this is the polish I use on my dog once and awhile, so I was pulling hairs out of the brush. Gross, I know! Sorry!

Verdict: Note dupes.
If I had to get rid of one: No way! Love them both!

Parade of Peacocks!

Index and Pinky: Spoiled - The Parking Meter Expired
Middle: Kleancolor - Retro Green
Ring: Essie - Dive Bar

 Kleancolor has the least shimmer. It's a really pretty blue-green that leans a lot green. No color shift or anything, but still a pretty sweet color. Consistency is just right.

 I love Dive Bar! This is the "walmart" version. It's a pretty blue-green shimmer with a very slight purple shift. It's a little thin which makes it a bit messy to apply.

I have to say the Spoiled is the real stunner here. It's a perfect peacock color. More pronounced purple shift to it. The consistency is a bit thick, but you could almost get away with using only one coat.

Verdict: None are dupes although the Essie and Spoiled are close.
If I had to get rid of one: This is a tough call. But, I'd have to say the Essie.

Two Glitters Side by Side

 I thought these were kind of alike, until I put them side by side. Nothing similar going on here!
Both of these are over Wet-n-Wild I need a Refreshmint.

Pointer and Pinky - Spoiled: Pet My Peacock

Middle and Ring - Kleancolor: Afternoon Picnic

Two coats of each.

 Peacock is actually pretty dense. It's different colored hex and round glitters suspended in a clear polish.

 Afternoon Picnic is a whole bunch of different shaped and colored glitter pieces suspended in a clear-tealish color polish. It looks like a party in a bottle! It's definitely more green and blue oriented with some silver.

Spoiled is a lot of green, blue, gold, solver and even some lavendar glitter.

Verdict: Nothing alike!
If I had to get rid of one: If I HAD to, it wold be the Spoiled, but I wouldn't be happy about it.

CONTEST TIME!

As promised! It's probably been...two years since I held a contest.

I am loving Kleancolor so much, I wanted a few of their awesome glitters with my readers!

In honor of July 4th coming up, we have up for grabs:

Firework

Silver Star

Blind Date

One reader will receive all three bottles. All three are brand new not swatched or worn.

My rules:

Be a follower of my blog by either Google Connect or Networked Blogs.

Leave me a comment in this thread WITH your contact e-mail.

*Extra entries if:

We're facebook friends.

You follow me on Twitter

You leave me a comment on any other post on this blog.

Contest is open until this Friday 6/29.

I'll e-mail the winner, to find out where you want your polishes sent to,

so don't forget to leave me your email. :)

Good luck!

Minty Fresh Comps

China Glaze "For Audrey" vs. Zoya "Wednesday" vs. Wet-n-Wild "I Need a Refresh-Mint"

Pointer Finger: For Audrey

Middle Finger: Wednesday

Ring Finger: I Need A Refresh-Mint

Pinky: For Audrey

 The picture makes For Audrey and Refreshmint, look closer than they actually are in real life. Wednesday is a a bit dusky blue/green.

For Audrey leans more blue while the Wet-n-Wild leans more minty green. Wednesday isn't a dupe for either of them.

Verdict: I need all three.
If I had to get rid of one: Wet-n-Wild, because the brush is horrific!

While I was comping these, it occurred to me that the Zoya might be a dupe for Misa's "Dirty Sexy Money" so I went and dug out my bottle of it which I haven't seen in probably two years. It needed some shaking, that's for sure.

Pointer and Ring: "Dirty, Sexy, Money"

Middle and Pinky: Zoya "Wednesday"

 Definitely not dupes either. The Misa is quite a bit darker.

Verdict: Love them both.
If I had to get rid of one: Misa, the formula is sucky and it takes forever to dry.