Comparison: Chanel Paradoxal vs. Revlon Naughty

A little while ago, I stumbled upon a bottle of Chanel Paradoxal. Never one to pass up the opportunity to do a comparison post, I went out the next day and found Revlon's dupe, Naughty. In viewing other comparisons online, it seemed to be that Naughty didn't have quite the same shimmery depth as Paradoxal, so I had to see for myself!


 The bottles:

 

Pretty similar here. The Chanel looks a little more sparkly, but that could just be the bottle shape.


The brushes:

 

Surprisingly similar. The Chanel version has a slightly longer handle and the bristles are a little shorter, but that's about it.


 And finally, the swatches:

 

I have Chanel Paradoxal on my pinky and middle fingers, with Revlon Naughty on my ring and index fingers. Quite honestly, I can't tell which is which! They are practically identical, from the subtle pink shimmer to the gorgeous greyish purple. The Revlon version might be a touch darker in this close up shot, but I could not see a difference in person.

 Application for both was very similar - no real issues at all with either formula.

In this case, we definitely have a true dupe. Unless you're really concerned with the label on your polish bottle, you can safely skip the $25+ on the Chanel, and pick up the Revlon. I've seen it on sale for as little as $3 a bottle.

Deborah Lippmann Glitter in the Air vs Revlon Whimsical - now THIS is a dupe!

While picking up Deborah Lippmann's Candy Shop, I could not resist grabbing Glitter in the Air to do a true dupe comparison with my bottle of Revlon Whimsical. I was convinced I'd be able to tell the difference between these two on the nails the same way I could with Candy Shop, but...

Yeah. I couldn't.

By the way, I'm giving away two bottles of Revlon Whimsical here :)

The bottles:




Close up:



They look pretty damned identical to me. The Lippmann looks a touch milkier, but not much.

Side note: this is the first time I've ever gotten a Lippmann bottle with a flawed brush - one of the strands was super long! You can see it poking through the polish here. I took a pair of scissors and cut it off.

The brushes:



The Lippmann brush is a bit shorter and wider than the Revlon brush.



This is four coats of each polish with no base coat.




Two coats over OPI Alpine Snow. The Lippmann had a bit more glitter, but that may have been a coincidence.



Two coats over Deborah Lippmann Shape of my Heart. Again the Lippmann appears to have a touch more glitter. Incidentally, this is my favourite way to wear this polish!




Two coats over Revlon Dreamer - another beautiful way to wear these lovely polishes. In this case, the Revlon had slightly more glitter than the Lippmann, confirming that it's more a random luck thing than a glitter concentration thing.

Unlike Candy Shop, in my mind Whimsical is a true dupe for Deborah Lippmann's Glitter in the Air.  If you have one, you don't need both! The only difference I saw was that GITA has more tiny pink glitter - the Revlon doesn't appear to have any, but it's so subtle it's barely noticeable. The application for both is similar - fairly easy, though you'll want to wait a minute between coats to prevent the glitter from moving around.

My bottle of Whimsical is already looking a bit low from the number of coats it takes to get a decent application, but I'm not too worried - I have a bottle of Glitter in the Air as a backup!

A sneak peak...

I can't WAIT to work on these! I went into my local Claire's on the way home from the office and found the rumoured Deborah Lippmann Candy Shop dupe! I immediately grabbed it, then in a flurry of impulse buying, headed right to Holt Renfrew and picked up both Deborah Lippmann Candy Shop, and Glitter in the Air.

Look for a comparison post or two in the upcoming days!

My first giveaway!

I went on a polish hunt this weekend, and struck gold! I found not one, but two bottles of Revlon Whimsical! I'm lucky enough to have access to so much polish, I thought I'd put these up in a giveaway.



These are completely unopened, unswatched, pristine bottles. There will be two winners selected at the end of this contest by random draw. The entry form's super short because, well, it's easier that way :)

This is open to anyone, anywhere. Being Canadian, I know the heartbreak of not being able to enter because of where you live!

Enter here:


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Deborah Lippmann: The Stripper to Go vs. light glitter polish

Day two of the great Stripper to Go Experiment! After my success with removing black creme polish, I had to up the ante.

Today's contenders:

One coat of Essie Good to Go base, two coats of Revlon Dreamer creme polish, two coats of Revlon Whimsical glitter polish in a jelly base, and one coat of Seche Vite.



I really loved the way this manicure turned out, and I have to admit I was reluctant to remove it, but it must be done. If you don't have Whimsical by the way, definitely try and find it - the sparse glitter with teeny tiny microglitter is lovely, feminine, and sweet. I tried to wear it alone without a base colour when I first got it home, and gave up after four coats - definitely get something pretty and blue for underneath!



I digress. Onto the results!

I wore this polish for about 24 hours before attempting to remove it.

Left hand:



Right hand:



The mitt after cleaning:



I'd be lying if I said removing the glitter polish was as easy as the creme - I really had to work at it, especially for the last two nails I successfully cleaned. By the time I got to my right thumb, the mitt had failed completely and barely made a dent in the topcoat. I ended up adding some of my own polish remover to the mitt and finishing the job.

I'd rate this a partial success - the mitt removed the polish from 9 out of 10 glittery nails, albeit with some elbow grease. On the flip side, it had to contend with six coats of polish plus some glitter, which is still rather impressive.

From what I can tell, the mitt primarily fails because the polish remover evaporates before you can get to the tenth nail. For my next experiment, I might try covering the mitt with its foil packet to see if that helps the problem.

Turquoise stone nails using China Glaze Crushed Candy crackle topcoat

This is the first time I've EVER put on a crackle topcoat and not immediately reached for the polish remover. I love this look! It's not perfect, the crackle was a bit too lumpy so I'll need to perfect my technique, but I'll work on it for sure :)



What I did:

First I painted my nails with two coats of Nicole by OPI Not a Gold Bigger (the best gold foil EVER)

Then I dabbed on random strokes of Revlon's Copper Penny and butter LONDON's The Black Knight for some sparkle. I then sponged on a few bits of American Apparel's Meteor Shower (I can't believe I found a use for this!), then topped the whole works with a layer of Nubar 2010 for the flakies.

Next, I loaded my brush with China Glaze Crushed Candy, painted on a thick coat of crackle, and made random swipes with the brush to get it to crack in different directions.

Finally, I topped it all with two fairly thick coats of Seche Vite to try and smooth the whole thing out.

Overall I'm pleased with how this turned out. It could use some work, but it was a first attempt so I'm not going to stress too much over it :)

My latest haul!

The postman showed up with three packages for me today! First, my Manglaze order came, which thrilled me. Then I got my first ever order from Rescue Beauty Lounge. And finally, my first order from Harlow & Co, with the Ozotics, Glitter Gal, and Picture Polish colours! And then I happened into Shoppers on my way home where they had Gosh on sale for $5 each. How could I resist?




Top: Sally Hansen Salon Effects Peppermint Twist
Middle: Revlon Snow Bunny, Gosh Metallic Blue, Blue Monday, Black Passion, Orange Drops, Rusty, Manglaze Fuggen Ugly, Matte is Murder
Bottom: Nyx Bejeweled, Rescue Beauty Lounge Piu Mosso, Scrangie, Glitter Gal Suede 3D holo, Ozotics 520, Picture Polish Voodoo.