New Catrice Polishes and a Comparison

Hi all!

I wanted to show you the new polishes from Catrice that they generously gave to me for consideration. I got Hip Queens Wear Blue Jeans! and Absolutely Chinchilly! I swatched them both on nailwheels as well as a comparison between Absolutely Chinchilly! and Essie Chinchilly. I still owe you the real on the nails swatches, don't worry, they're coming!


Left Catrice Absolutely Chinchilly! and Hip Queens Wear Blue Jeans! on the right. Absolutely Chinchilly! is a khaki creme and both the color and the name really remind me of Essie Chinchilly, the comparison between these two is below :) Hip Queens Wear Blue Jeans! is a gorgeous slighly dusty blue with tiny light blue glitter flecks in it. The color is darker in low light, making it appear like a dark blue creme.

So.. Here's the comparison I promised!


Essie Chinchilly on the left, Catrice Absolutely Chinchilly! on the right, both are two coats. I have to tell you beforehand that my picture makes the difference appear to be more obvious, but it's hardly noticeable irl! Chinchilly is the tiniest amount of a shade lighter, but I can only see that when I'm looking at the wheel right under my nose, so to say. When I take more distance, let's say 15 - 20 cm, the difference is not visible at all.

I prefer the application of Catrice, since the brush is wider and makes it easier to apply the polish. Also, Catrice is thicker in formula, while Essie's formula is on the thin side.

Catrice made an affordable dupe for Essie Chinchilly! While Essie retails for € 13,49 a bottle, Catrice only costs a fraction of the price - € 2,49 a bottle.


The products in this post were given to me by the manufacturer or their PR company for consideration. For more information, please read my disclaimer.

Ruby Pumps and Smitten With Mittens Compared

Hi all,

A week or so ago, someone told me that OPI Smitten With Mittens looked like China Glaze Ruby Pumps. I thought it was way off, but when I pulled out both of my bottles, they seemed more similar than I thought. Time for a comparison to see how similar they really are.


Ruby Pumps is on my pinkie and middle finger, Smitten With Mittens is on my ring and index finger. Both were two coats.

As you can see, Smitten With Mittens is a darker, deeper red than Ruby Pumps. The base of Ruby Pumps is lighter and less pigmented than the base of Smitten With Mittens. The glitter in the two of them is different too, even though that doesn't show up in my picture. The glitter in Ruby Pumps is red, while the glitter in Smitten With Mittens is red and gold. It's a slight difference, but hey, it's there.

There two are not dupes, but have the same feel to them. I prefer Smitten With Mittens because the application was better, but if you're not crazy about red and you own one of these, you probably won't need the other.


If you want to read the post in which I wrote about these polishes,
just click on the name - Smitten With Mittens & Ruby Pumps

Comparison Wednesday

Hi all!

I've had a couple of requests for comparisons and I found some polishes in my stash that were a lot alike, so Comparison Wednesday it is! I apologize for the variety in backgrounds, but some colors wouldn't be accurate on a white background and some didn't like the black background. I did the best I could with it since lighting wasn't really coorperating either..

Anyway, I have no less than four comparisons for you today! Here's a little overview.

Some colors are way darker irl, but again, that's due to the background..

Left Misa Dirty Sexy Money, right Catrice I Sea You! The colors are a little too dark, but you can see that they're pretty much identical. Dirty Sexy Money is a tad bit more blue, but I don't think you could tell these apart when I wore them together as a mani.

Left Color Club Electronica, right Nfu Oh 117. Both are deep purples with red and blue shimmer particles, but Electronica is a bit darker so I'd say these are no dupes of eachother. They are siblings though, so if you own one of these two, you probably won't need the other.

Left OPI Dating A Royal and Essie Mesmerize on the right. I would call both of them medium blues, but they are no dupes. I've read somewhere that these are deadon dupes, but they're obviously not. Dating A Royal is more intense, colorwise, than Mesmerize. The latter is a bit brighter. No, these are not dupes. If you're not really into blues, you probably won't need both though.

This one is not as faded and light as my picture let's it appear, but I couldn't get a proper shot. I will try again later this week and add a better picture when I managed to take a more accurate picture.. Anyway, left is Orly Prince Charming and right is Essie Mink Muffs. Both are taup-ey cremes, but Mink Muffs is more pigmented and is warmer than Prince Charming. Mink Muffs and Prince Charming are not dupes of eachother.

Left RBL No More War, right Pieces It's a Camouflage. They are both in the army green category, but that's all they have alike. No More War is way darker and greener than It's a Camouflage so no dupes here either.

I hope this was helpful :) Again, if you have suggestions for a comparison, please let me know and I'll see if I can do one for you!

Thanks for stopping by!

Comparison Time

Hi all!

It's time for some comparisons again! There are three comparisons again this time, so let's get started.

A little roundup

First up is a comparison between Chanel Nouvelle Vague and Orly Gumdrop.

Left Orly Gumdrop, right Chanel Nouvelle Vague. As you can see, they are dupes! The only difference is the really subtle shimmer that Nouvelle Vague holds and Gumdrop is a teeeeenie bit more blue, but the difference is barely visible. Gumdrop is easier to get your hands on and it's a budget friendly alternative if you want Chanel Nouvelle Vague.

Next up: a coincidental dupe! I bought Kinetics Shall We Dance? at Alice and Jo's havesentials and found out it looked really close to GOSH Purple Heart.

Left GOSH Purple Heart, Kinetics Shall We Dance? on the right. The only difference is the way the light hits these polishes. These polishes are identical. They're both evenly duochrome-y (which I couldn't really capture on the wheel) and have the same smokey dark purple, mossy green colors. These are dupes.

Last but not least of this comparison post, I have two periwinkle cremes for you; China Glaze Secret Peri-winkle and Orly Cashmere Cardigan.

Secret Peri-Winkle on the left, Cashmere Cardigan on the right. Please imagine this is more periwinkle (a tad bit of purple), because the color freaked out my camera. These are not dupes. Secret Peri-Winkle is lighter and a bit dustier than Cashmere Cardigan, while Cashmere Cardigan leans more towards purple. The difference is big enough to justify you owning both ;) These are not dupes.

And of course, to round it all up.. A little summary in the form of a shot of the nailwheel;



These were the comparisons I had for you, dear reader! If you have requests for more comparisons, feel free to ask me!

Thanks for stopping by!

Readers Requests: Comparisons

Hi all!

There were a couple of people asking for comparisons, so here they are! If you would like to see another comparison, please let me know and I'll see what I can do for you.

All the comparisons lined up on the nailwheel :)

First up, I was asked to do a comparison between Essie Chinchilly and Catrice Clay-ton My Hero.

Left Essie Chinchilly, right Catrice Clay-ton My Hero. As you can see, these aren't similar at all. Chinchilly is a khaki creme, while Clayton My Hero is a lighter sort of khaki, almost sandy brown, that holds golden shimmer. These are not dupes.

Next up are Essence In The Jungle (from the Show Your Feet line) and OPI Jade Is The New Black. In The Jungle is supposed to be a dupe for Jade Is The New Black, as I've seen on various boards.

Left Essence In The Jungle, Right OPI Jade Is The New Black. The biggest difference is the finish that the polishes have; Jade Is The New Black dries completely smooth and shiny, while In The Jungle dries a bit weird; it's not satin, but it's not shiny either. It looks a bit bumpy, but it's not when you feel the polish. Besides that, In The Jungle is a little bit more blue and less dusty than OPI Jade Is The New Black. These two are not dupes.

Last but not least I have a comparison between Essie Lilacism and Illamasqua Wink for you.

Left Essie Lilacism, right Illamasqua Wink. Wink and Lilacism are really really close and I wouldn't be able to tell you the difference if it wasn't for the fact that I know which polish is on which side. Both are lilac cremes and similar in opacity. This is two coats on both. The application on Wink is better in my opinion though. These are dupes, so if you're looking for a cheaper alternative to Illamasqua Wink, I'd recommend getting Essie Lilacism.

A little overview of the comparisons:



I hope this was helpful! If you have any questions about these comparisons or if you have a request for one, please let me know :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Zoya Loredana; Swatches & Comparison

Hi all!

So, today I have quite a lengthy post for you. I decided to do a matte mani and while I was at it, I did a 'complete' post; Swatching both matte and shiny plus a comparison. Lots to cover, so on to the pics!

Zoya Loredana, two coats in natural light. Loredana is a medium grey, charcoal colored polish. This one isn't shiny, a true matte! I love how this looks. Because she is so pretty, another picture:

Application on Loredana was super easy. The polish structure was just right; not too thick or too thin. A couple of my mattes/suedes tend to be a bit gloopy, but this one certainly wasn't. I didn't have problems whatsoever and since the polish dried so quickly, it's an A+ polish for me!

There isn't any matte that I wouldn't try to make shiny, so Loredana is no exception:

Zoya Loredana, two coats with one coat of Seche Vite in natural light. Pretty huh? She really shows her shimmer when you make her shiny. It looks so pretty! I can't decide if I like her better matte or shiny.. What do you think?

Judging on the color, I thought she might be close to OPI Suzi Skis In The Pyrenees Suede, so I grabbed my bottle and did a comparison.

Index and ring are Zoya Loredana, middle and pinkie are OPI Suzi Skis In The Pyrenees Suede.

Loredana is two coats, while SSITP is three coats. Opacity is better with Loredana. On the nail they are closer colorwise, but my camera shows a huge difference. These are no dupes, but similar. SSITP is a darker grey with more shimmer than Loredana. Loredana looks a bit flat besides SSITP because she is a true matte.

A shiny comparison:

Again, Zoya Loredana on index and ring, SSITP on middle and pinkie. Both are topped with a coat of Seche Vite. You can clearly see now that SSITP looks deeper because she holds more shimmer.

I really like both of these! It depends on my mood which one I will wear, but I know for a fact that both will be a part of my go-to polishes when I'm in a hurry. If you can't decide which one you like best of these two, I'd say the Zoya is 'better', but only because she is opaque in two coats, while OPI needed three to be opaque.

I hope this was helpful :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Comparison: Models Own Slate Green vs. Misa Dirty Sexy Money

Hi all!

Gisteren was ik te laat thuis om nog te kunnen posten, vandaar dat ik mijn post naar vandaag verschoven heb. Ik maak het goed, dat beloof ik! Vandaag heb ik een comparison tussen Models Own Slate Green en Misa Dirty Sexy Money. Misa DSM is vrij moeilijk te vinden, dus zou het fijn zijn als er een dupe was.. Daarom heb ik een vergelijking gemaakt zodra ik Dirty Sexy Money binnen kreeg.

I got home a little late yesterday, so I couldn't upload my post anymore.. So I'll show you today what I wanted to post. I have a comparison between Models Own Slate Green and Misa Dirty Sexy Money for you today. Misa DSM is not that easy to find, so it would be nice to have a dupe handy. I decided to do a comparison with Dirty Sexy Money as soon as I got it in, which was this week.


Naast elkaar. In de flesjes lijken ze erg op elkaar.

Side by side. In the bottles they look quite close.



And in a bigger picture


Ik hoop dat het zo duidelijk te zien is, ik heb echt mijn best gedaan maar deze kleuren laten zich niet makkelijk op de foto vastleggen. Op mijn wijsvinger en ringvinger heb ik Misa Dirty Sexy Money twee laagjes, op mijn middelvinger en pink heb ik twee laagjes Models Own Slate Green. Zoals je kunt zien (hoop ik, dat zie ik in ieder geval op mijn scherm wel), zijn dit geen dupes. DSM is donkerder, meer blauw, terwijl Slate Green lichter is en de kleur van deze lak is wat koeler. Ze zijn allebei dusty en daarom vind ik ze allebei erg mooi. Dit zijn geen dupes. De applicatie op Misa Dirty Sexy Money was stukken beter dan die van Models Own Slate Green, maar misschien komt dat ook doordat Models Own alweer een tijdje stilstaat.

I hope you can see this, I really tried my best to get the colors right in the pictures and that wasn't easy. These colors are hard to photograph.. On my index and ring I'm wearing Misa Dirty Sexy Money, two coats, and on my middle and pinky I'm wearing two coats of Models Own Slate Green. As you can see, hopefully, these are not dupes. Dirty Sexy Money is darker and more blue in color, while Slate green is lighter and cooler. They're both dusty so I like them both a lot, although DSM is a little bit warmer. Again, these are not dupes. The application on Misa Dirty Sexy Money was way better than the application of Models Own Slate Green, but then again, I already have this Models Own polish for a couple of weeks, so maybe this polish just needs a little Restore.


Het verschil tussen de lakken is op deze manier beter te zien denk ik. Op mijn middelvinger zit dus Models Own, op de andere twee nagels zit Misa.

The difference is clearly visible in this picture I think. On my middle finger I wear Models Own, on the other two nails I'm wearing Misa.

I hope this helps, with either killing a lemming or creating one ;)

Thanks for stopping by!

Essence Cute As Hell Collection

Hi all!

How was your weekend? I have a post for you with pictures that have been sitting on my computer for almost two weeks now. I got the Essence Cute as Hell Collection from a very sweet blogger, who offered to send them to me when I was nagging about it on Twitter. Thanks so much J! <3 On to the pics, four different shades so a lot to cover here.


Naughty But Nice, three coats. As you can see, I had issues with bubbling with this one. In the second picture, I'm wearing one coat of Nubar Diamont to fix the bubbles. Naughty But Nice is a soft pastel yellow. I'm not really into yellows, but I like this one.


Not Just Cute, three coats. Again, I had issues with bubbling so I'm wearing one coat of Nubar Diamont in the second coat to get rid of the bubbles. Not Just Cute is a light pink creme. Nothing unique, but it's a cute color.


Bad Girl, three coats. I had major bubbles with this one. Bad Girl is a soft muted orange creme. Pretty, and I don't think I've seen anything that looks alike.. Although I don't own much orange polishes.



Date Me!, two coats. This is my favorite of the bunch. Can you guess why? Date Me! is a soft, dusty lilac or light purple. I really love this shade. I'm sure it's dupeable, but I haven't found any dupes in my stash. If anyone knows, tell me! I'm sure I will be wearing this more often. Application on this one was a lot better, I didn't even have bubbles. This was also the only twocoater in this collection.

Overall, I like the colors of this collection. They really are 'Cute as Hell'. I didn't like the application. On three of the four polishes I had bubbling issues, so I had to apply Diamont to smooth it out. Drying time was ok. The application of these was a lot less than the application of the Moonlight Collection polishes, which were released in fall 2009.

The colors are not entirely unique. I noticed one of them looked a lot like one of my other polishes; OPI Got a Date To-Knight!, so I did a little comparison.


Could you tell which one is which? I certainly can't and since I forgot to write it down, I don't even know which polish is on which finger. These are dupes of eachother. I'd go with the OPI polish though, since I haven't had bubble issues with Got a Date To-Knight!.

Essence Cute as Hell is available at DM in Germany. Unfortunately, Essence didn't release this collection in The Netherlands. Boo!! *insert evil eye here*.

What do you think of Essence Cute As Hell? Do you know of a dupe of Date Me!?

Thanks for stopping by!

Grey Comparison and New Blogs On The Block

Goedemorgen! Vanochtend heb ik een grijze vergelijking voor jullie.

Good Morning! This morning I have a grey comparison for you.

Orly Mirror Mirror op wijs- en ringvinger, Models Own Grey Day op middelvinger en pink, beiden twee laagjes. Zoals je ziet zijn dit twee totaal verschillende kleuren - Grey Day is veel donkerder. Dit zijn geen dupes.

Orly Mirror Mirror on index and ring, Models Own Grey Day on middle and pinkie. Both are two coats. As you can see, these are two completely different colors. Grey Day is much darker. These are not dupes.


RBL Stormy op wijs- en ringvinger, Models Own Grey Day op middelvinger en pink, beiden twee laagjes. Hier hebben we twee lakken die wel erg dicht bij elkaar liggen! RBL Stormy is wellicht een ietsiepietsie donkerder, maar het scheelt écht heel weinig. In het echt was amper zichtbaar dat het twee verschillende lakken zijn, ik had dit gewoon kunnen dragen zonder dat iemand het op zou vallen dat ik niet op alle nagels dezelfde kleur heb. Mocht je RBL Stormy op het oog hebben, maar te duur vinden, dan is Models Own Grey Day een goede vervanger. Models Own kost GBP 5 (omgerekend ongeveer € 5,75) voor 14ml, RBL kost $ 18 (omgerekend ongeveer €13,50) voor 12ml.

RBL Stormy on index and ring, Models Own Grey Day on middle and pinkie. Both are two coats. These two are really close! Maybe RBL Stormy is just a teenie tiny bit darker, but it's very close. Irl it was barely visible that I had two different polishes on my nails and I could have easily worn these like this, and nobody would have noticed. If you like RBL Stormy but think it's just a little too expensive, you could go for Models Own Grey Day. She is a really good alternative. Models Own retails for GBP 5 (around € 5,75) for 14ml, RBL costs $ 18 (around € 13,50) per 12ml.

Hope this helps!

Because there are even more new blogs from Dutch Diva's, I wanted to share them with you! Please check out:

Linnie's Favorites
Kelly's Nailstash
Nail-licious
At my Fingertips
Polished Perfection
Ainnir

Thanks for stopping by!

OPI Thanks So Muchness! vs. China Glaze Thunderbird

Vandaag heb ik Thanks so Muchness! (waar ik gisteren nog over postte) vergeleken met China Glaze Thunderbird. In het flesje zie je duidelijk verschil: Thunderbird is een paar tinten donkerder dan Thanks so Muchness!. Op mijn nagels vond ik het verschil kleiner.

Today I compared Thanks so Muchness! (I posted about her yesterday) to China Glaze Thunderbird. In the bottle they are clearly different: Thunderbird is a few tints darken than Thanks so Muchness!. On my nails, the difference was less visible.


Wijs- en ringvinger zijn OPI Thanks so Muchness!, middelvinger en pink zijn China Glaze Thunderbird
Index and ring are OPI Thanks so Muchness!, middle and pinkie are China Glaze Thunderbird

Dit is twee laagjes met SV in daglicht. Aangezien ik Thanks so Muchness! al drie dagen ophad met SV, vond ik het voor de vergelijking beter om ook Thunderbird een topcoat te geven. Zoals je ziet is er duidelijk verschil tussen de twee, ook al is het minder zichtbaar als het verschil tussen de flesjes.

This is two coats with SV in daylight. Because I wore Thanks so Muchness for three days with SV, I thought adding a topcoat to Thunderbird would make the comparison work better. As you can see, there is a difference between both polishes.



Wijs- en ringvinger zijn Thanks so Muchness!, middelvinger is Thunderbird
Index and ring are Thanks so Muchness!, middle is Thunderbird
(Still haven't found a solution to the flipping images over problem)

Thunderbird is een diepere rood met een meer 'vampy' look, terwijl Thanks so Muchness! wat helderder is van kleur. Dit zijn géén dupes.

Thunderbird is a deeper red with more of a vampy look to her, while Thanks so Muchness! is a brighter red. These are not dupes.

And because I was about to take the reds off my nails, I played with one of my new plates, M79. I used China Glaze Millenium for Stamping.



I love this plate! It's the one with the polkadots and the clouds :) I also got M78 (with the butterflies and the fullnail images with hearts and tigerprint) and S10 (with the cute kitty, bunny, cow, chick and bear). I think I will be enjoying myself this afternoon ;)


Thanks for stopping by!

Comparison: Nfu Oh 068 versus P2 Gorgeous!

Na het lezen van Michèle's blog LACQUERIZED., dat P2 Gorgeous! een dupe is van Nfu Oh 068, wilde ik deze twee vergelijken. In het flesje zien ze er wel soortgelijk uit, maar de kleur is echt anders. Gorgeous! is meer grijs, terwijl 068 echt paars is in het flesje.

After reading Michèle's blog LACQUERIZED. about P2 Gorgeous! being a dupe to Nfu Oh 068, I decided to compare the two. In the bottle they seem similar, but not dupey. Gorgeous! is more grey while 068 is already really purple in the bottle.



De eerste foto is genomen in daglicht, de tweede foto is binnen genomen met flits.
Wijs- & Ringvinger: P2 Gorgeous!
Middelvinger & Pink: Nfu Oh 068

First picture is taken in daylight, second picture is taken indoors with flash.
Index & Ring: P2 Gorgous!
Middle & Pinkie: Nfu Oh 068

Beide lakken zijn stoffig paars, of paars met een grijze ondertoon en hebben een finish van shimmer met foil. Het is meer foil dan shimmer zou ik zeggen. Dit is twee laagjes, zonder topcoat.

Both colors are dusty purple, or purple with a grey undertone and have a shimmery foily finish. I'd say it's more foil than shimmer. This is two coats, no topcoat.

Als ik je niet zou vertellen welke lak op welke nagel zit, zou je het verschil niet eens zien! De lakken zijn identiek en dus dupes van elkaar. P2 Gorgeous is te koop bij bepaalde Slecker winkels en bij DM in Duitsland voor € 1,55 voor 8 ml. Nfu Oh 068 is te koop bij onder andere Fabuloustreet, Viis en Affiniti voor een prijs tussen de € 6,40 en € 9 voor 17 ml.

If I didn't tell you which polish was on what nail, you couldn't even tell the difference. I can't see any differences between these polishes and could wear it like this. The colors are identical and so they're dupes of eachother. P2 Gorgeous is available at some Dutch Slecker stores and at DM in Germany for € 1,55 a bottle of 8 ml. Nfu Oh 068 is available at Fabuloustreet, Viis and Affiniti for € 6,40 - € 9 for a bottle of 17 ml.

Thanks for stopping by!

Comparison: Barbie vs Cotton Candy

Index and ring are Cotton Candy, middle and pinkie are Barbie.

While I was at it, I thought I'd do a little comparison between Zoya Barbie and Diamond Cosmetics Cotton Candy. They seemed quite similar when I looked at the bottle of Cotton Candy and Barbie on my nails. They are not the same on the nails. Cotton Candy is quite a lot darker and barbie is more of a 'sweet' color. These are not dupes. Note: I didn't have any sunlight in these pics since it has been snowing for days around here. The color of Barbie is a bit off in comparison to the previous pictures, sorry for that.

Another thing: a friend of mine started her own blog this weekend, so be sure you check out LACQUERIZED.. She has beautiful nails!

Thanks for stopping by!