CG Ruby Pumps vs. ORLY Star Spangled

When I saw ORLY Star Spangled for $1 at a Sally's "damaged sale" I HAD to pick it up.  I hadn't actually tried my Ruby Pumps, yet, but I knew a lot of people really liked it, ORLY looked similar, and for a $1 I couldn't pass it up!

So without trying either of them, I decided to swatch them together because they look so similar in the bottle!  Here they are, together.  Please forgive my terrible clean up of these.  I'm embarrassed I didn't clean up better when I did this comparison a few days ago...red is hard to clean :) 

Also ignore my stained, non-polished thumb.  I didn't think it was necessary to paint at the time lol

Shade, bottles side by side

Sun, bottles side by side

Ew please don't stare at my pinky

Shade

Up close...

Up close again

So overall, they are pretty similar but I definitely wouldn't call them dupes.  The CG Ruby Pumps goes on flawlessly with 2 coats while ORLY Star Spangled needs 3 coats to look as opaque.  I would say that Ruby Pumps formula is better specifically for this reason.  The glitter is also much more dense with China Glaze than ORLY, I can really see why so many people like Ruby Pumps.

The color is pretty much exactly the same, CG might be slightly darker, and the prices are usually pretty similar, but based on the glitter density and the formula, I like China Glaze Ruby Pumps slightly better (2-coat polish FTW)!  I'm still pretty psyched I got the ORLY for $1, though! 

Do you guys have both of these polishes?? Which do you like better?

Hope you all had a great 4th!

<3 Whitney

OPI Be a Dahlia Won't You vs CG 108 Degrees--dupe!

Hey everyone!

Someone the other day asked if OPI's Be a Dahlia Won't You is a dupe of China Glaze 108 Degrees and I'm going to go ahead and say yeah...pretty much.  If you have one, you probably don't need the other!  I swatched them both yesterday and they are SO very similar, in formula and shimmer, that I almost wish I hadn't spent so much on the OPI!  Oh well!  Check out this picture heavy post:

Bottles outside...I think this is with a flash

Bottles sun.  Almost exactly the sameee

In the picture, CG looks to be slightly darker, but in person you can't tell. 

My middle finger nail is oddly flat so the color looks off, but if you look at my ring and pinky they're quite similar

With a flash

In the shade

CG might have slight more "sparkle" but like I said, you can barely tell in person.

So my verdict is buy the China Glaze 108 Degrees if you don't already have it and forget OPI Be a Dahlia Won't You.  I literally couldn't tell the difference between them while they were on and the formulas are so similar, I just can't see the benefit to spending more on OPI one in this case!  I'm a little sad that I didn't realize the similarities when I bought it, but I do like having all of Nice Stems collection.  So oh well!  Maybe I'll swap one.

Hope you guys are having a GREAT Friday and enjoy your (US) holiday weekend!

<3 Whitney

P.S. My best friend Jenn just started a blog called Nurse by Night, Nails by Day, please go check her out :)

China Glaze vs. Sinful Colors: Blues and Peaches!

Hello all and welcome new followers from Polish-aholics Anonymous!  If you're a nail blogger, or even just love nail polish, you should check out this group on Facebook.  It's a great way to meet other bloggers and nail polish lovers and share your opinions.  I just found out about it yesterday and I'm already so excited about it!  And while you're at it, check out the Elemental Styles Facebook page!

Anyway, today I passed on trying another Zoya Sunshine....Since I noticed that some of the Sinful Colors polishes I picked up (and won during a giveaway) were a little similar to some of the China Glaze colors I have, I decided to do a comparison of blues and peaches.  It's a little picture heavy for the peaches, so I'll start with the blues:

I decided to compare China Glaze (CG) "Flyin' High", Sinful Colors (SC) "Savage" and Finger Paints (FP) "Art Dealer Teal-Er."  In the bottle I thought the Sinful Colors and Finger Paints looked similar, but on the nail it was definitely a competition between Savage and Flyin' High:

Savage, Flyin' High, and Art Dealer Teal-Er, I guess outside SC looks nothing like FP...inside they do!

FP is obviously completely different...

So in terms of color, China Glaze's Flyin' High and Sinful Colors' "Savage" are very similar but they're definitely not dupes.  Savage (SC) looks quite a bit more matte than the shinier Flyin' High (CG).  I love the Finger Paints but it's not really comparable to the other ones!  These are all shown with three coats of polish without a top coat, though, so you can definitely make the SC shinier by adding that.

The SC formula was a little runny, but it might've been the brush causing the problem.  If you don't wipe the brush off enough it ends up dripping after a few seconds.  I hadn't eaten so I was a bit shaky with my application and had an issue with this. 

Overall, though, if you liked the CG Flyin' High that I reviewed but can't decide if you want to pay the CG price, you can pick up the similar color "Savage" by Sinful Colors at Walgreens for around $2.  It's a decent polish for so cheap!  Last week they were on sale for 99 cents, which is a steal.  I don't know if that's still going on, though!

I also decided to check out Sinful Colors "Hazard" and China Glaze's "Thataway."  I love both of these colors but I'm a sucker for peach.

Peachessss

Inside, no flash...kitchen lighting!

Inside, flash

Outside

Outside again...stupid clouds

Once again these shades are pretty similar on the nail.  This time the Sinful Colors was not matte at all, but quite shiny.  The China Glaze, however, stole the show by having a slight shimmer to it!  I feel like you could easily franken the Thataway (CG) by starting out with the Hazard (SC) base and adding a clear or white shimmer because the base colors are nearly identical.   

These pics all show three coats, no top coat, and the formulas both went on pretty well.  I like the CG brush a little better though because it's slightly smaller.  My nails aren't very wide so thicker brushes make it more difficult for me to cleanly paint my nails. 

But once again, if you're looking for a deal or you're poor like me, Sinful Colors provides a pretty decent competition to some of the China Glaze colors!  I'm glad I have both, though, because I really like the shimmer to Thataway.  You can read more about it here.

Sorry for the super long post!  I'll be out of town tomorrow and Tuesday for another interview so I doubt I'll update, but we'll see.

Have a great Sunday, and check out the giveaways that are ending today!

<3 Whit

P.S. My something "new" of the day is, as of right now, Sinful Colors...I just got a bunch but I hadn't tried them yet :)