Doppelgängers! Holo Edition, Featuring Layla and Nfu Oh

I hope those of you who had a long weekend emjoyed yourself, I know I did :) Today I will be comparing two awesome holos! Like I said in this haul post although I have around 4 other silver holos, I could not give up the opportunity to purchase Mercury Twlight from Layla when I saw it in store. Maybe one day will do a comparison on all of them if you are interested, but for now I picked Layla's strongest condenser in my collection, Nfu Oh 61. For your reference this this is the newer formula. So let's compare them shall we.

First close ups of the bottles, for whatever reason both of these holos hide in the bottle, doesn't really look like anything too special. I have noticed however that if you shake them up real good you can see a rainbow. I didn't capture this on camera because it goes away too fast.

Next up is formula, both polishes are different. Layla is very thin where Nfu Oh is thick and gloopy! Although I prefer the application of Layla, it does take longer to build up, for a full mani I would probably want three coats. In the swatches you see in this post, both polishes are two coats.

Although I have not worn either of these polishes yet I have worn the same brand and finish just different colours. From what I remember even without a top coat these lasted a long time! Definitely longer than my China Glaze holos. So which is more holographic?

... The winner is on the left, the Layla!! My camera sucks at capturing holos, Layla was sooo holo in person! Look how pretty!!

Layla is on the right in this photo, upside-down!

One last thing before I finish this post, check these two out in the shade. I love how the Nfu Oh looks like a chrome. For that and just not being holo enough I'm gonna have to day they are not dopplegangers. Do you need them both then? Probably not, I just cold not resist picking up a stronger silver holo :)

Doppelgängers! Duochrome Edition Featuring China Glaze & Revlon

While in Sally's the other day deciding if I wanted to pick up Deviantly Daring I was reminded of another colour in my stash. I have been doing that a lot lately, trying to make a mental note of the polishes in my stash and they are close to the ones I want to buy. This way I can leave it if I have something similar. Usually swatch wheels aid in this, but they didn't have one out on display at the time.

The one polish that came to mind was Revlon's Ocean Breeze I wore not too long ago. I almost left the China glaze behind, but I am so glad I didn't!

So let's see a close up, first Deviantly Daring 

and Ocean Breeze.

And now both snatched side by side, Deviantly Daring is two coats and Ocean Breeze is at least three.

Both pf the photos above and below were taken in direct sunlight at different angles.

And the last photo shows them in the shade. Look at that shine on Deviantly Daring! I love it :)

So these are obviously not as close of dupes as I thought they were. It you couldn't see it in the photos here are some others reasons why:

- Deviantly Daring is darker in colour

- Deviantly Daring has a chrome-like finish

- Ocean Breeze is thinner formula wise and requires more coats

- Ocean Breeze has more of a duochrome effect. You can see the colour of this polish better in this post.

- Ocean Breeze leaves more brush strokes behind and has more of a frosty finish

Even though Deviantly Daring doesn't have a strong duochrome effect I still prefer it over Ocean Breeze and I cannot wait to wear it as a full mani soon :) which do you prefer?

Doppelgängers - A New Series

When I asked last week some of you showed interest in more comparison posts, so I decided to create a new series of posts called Doppelgängers. For those of you who don't know, a Doppelgänger is described as "a paranormal double of a living person" or in this case polish :) Basically these will be comparison posts. Today I have Wet N' Wilds Behind Closed Doors and NYX Girls Dorothy. At first glance they both appear to have small and hex red glitter in a black jelly base.

In the bottle they look pretty similar, right? Take a look at a close up of the bottles below.

First up is Behind Closed Doors, notice the sparse magenta hex glitter. BCD also looks to have more glitter than Dorothy.

And here's Dorothy, the glitter looks so sparkly! So so far the only difference looks like the magenta glitter.

Here's the first coat, Dorothy on the left, BCD on the right.

2 coats. Interesting, Dorothy seems to have more glitter. It also seems to have a murky, muddy base where BCD has a more charcoal/black base.

3 coats looks to be opaque for Dorothy, but BCD needs 1 more.

I added another coat for Dorothy too.

Here's how the look in direct sunlight, no top coat. I would suggest a nice glossy one to even out the grittiness of the glitter.

So, what's the verdict? Although they have slight differences like glitter and base colour, in the end they pretty much look the same. If you have one, I wouldn't get the other. If I had to recommend one out of the 2, I would say get Dorothy. You need less coats for opacity, there is more glitter in each stroke and in the end it looks smoother than BCD. Wet N' Wilds brush was also too stiff for me, it is apart of the fast dry collection but I didn't notice it drying much quicker.

Which one do you prefer?

Colour Club Blue-Topia vs. NYX Ink Heart

Today I have a comparison between Color Club's Blue-Topia, which I wore in my last mani, and NYX Girls Ink Heart. They looked closer in colour indoors from the bottle, but outside you can see they look fairly different. I also chose to compare them because they are deep blue jellies.

Here they are both at 1 coat on a nail wheel, left to right is Color Club, Blue-Topia and NYX, Ink Heart. The Color Club applied a little streaky at first, but I would definitely say that you need 2 coats for both. That being said, the only time I wore either of these I only used 1 coat lol. It was thick though and I layered another polish on top.

After a second coat, boh look perfect! Blue-Topia is definitely darker, but both are supper glossy, you can see my camera lens in the reflection!

Here is how they both look in natural sunlight once fully dry. Both are gorgeous, and I'm glad I own both.

My Lifesaver & a Comparison

Today I have a new Nicole by OPI polish I purchase recently from the Justin Bieber collection, My Lifesaver. Although the colour is close to some other polishes I have, since it was on sale I decided to give it a try.

For this particular polish, there is a label on the handle that states " New Perfect Stroke Brush". This brush size is similar to the OPI pro-wide brush, but it had a more curved bottom. Mine, however, was cut from and not a perfect curve. But I figured I would do the best with what I had.

Application was frustrating, the formula was thick and it seemed like the bristle on the brush were thick too because I was betting crazy brushstrokes on my nails. This may have been due to the formula, but even after using some thinner it was still hard to manipulate.

I ultimately ended up using 2 thick coats, and the end result was alright. Below is this most colour accurate photo in my post.

Back to the actual colour now for a sec because it is really pretty. I would descibe it as a light but bright green based turquoise. The first colour in my stash I wantd to compare it to was For Audrey my China Glaze.

As you can see below they are not identical, but pretty close. My Lifesaver is lighter and more green based, where For Audry is slightly darker and more blue based. This first photo was taken with no flash.

The photo below was taken my my window with overcast skies.

This last one was taken with my cameras flash, this is how they look the closest, but you can still tell there is a slight difference between the two.

What do you think? Do you have a favorite out of the two?

China Glaze - Pepermint Cuticle oil

Hey Ladies,

Today I have a quick review on my new bottle of peppermint cuticle oil from China Glaze's Holiday collection. I have found that other bloggers who have showcased this full collection have left out the cuticle oil, so I am here to share with you my thoughts on it today. I will also be comparing it to a cuticle oil I already own by Essie.

First Up, China Glaze.

First of all, love the frosted bottle :) My bottle of China Glaze base coat is frosted also and I love it! You must have seen this before, so yo know it's red and upon opening the bottle you can smell the amazing scent of peppermint, which is awesome. It makes my cuticles smell so fresh and so clean!

When I first applied the oil to my skin I noticed that the red pigment was visible, see below:

But once rubbed in slightly, the red disappears and gives my skin a nice glow.

On to Essie.

Although the 2 oils appear to have a similar colour to them, when I applied the Essie it did not show any pigment.

Brushed on

Rubbed in.

Even though the peppermint oil is visible, since it goes away once rubbed in it was not an issue for me.

I tested China Glaze on one thumb and Essie on the other. I found the Essie to be slightly thicker and stickier, when compared to China Glaze. And I'm not sure if it's just me, but I feel a light coolness with the China Glaze (could be the peppermint?). Let me know if you felt this too.

My main reason for purchasing it was because of the scent, so I am happy with that! Overall it does it's job. I haven't used it consistently so I can't comment right now on effects of long term usage. I will definitely be using it throughout the Christmas season though :) so I may be doing a follow up.

I personally use cuticle oils and moisturizers at night so it can just absorb in to the skin and do its job while I am sleeping, otherwise using it during the day can be messy!

Do you use cuticle oil? If so, which one do you prefer?