Quick Duochrome Eyeshadow Comparison

Speaking again of Lorac... One of you commented (though, now I can't seem to find the comment) that the peachy gold/pink duochrome in the Multiplex 3D shadow palette looked like MAC Motif. I completely forgot I had Motif! I was comparing the brown/green shade to MAC Club so I figured I'd do a Motif comparison while I was at it.


On the left is MAC Motif and on the right is the top left shade in the LORAC Multiplex 3D Eyeshadow Palette. They're similar in theme- peachy-gold with pink-coral pearl/duochrome, but they're definitely different. The LORAC shade seems to have better payoff but the MAC is more duochrome.


Left to right: MAC Club, Too Faced Label Whore, L'Oreal HIP Intrepid, LORAC top right shade, Wet n Wild Comfort Zone Definer shade. Two unnamed shadows in one comparison, how about that? Out of all, the L'Oreal HIP Intrepid is the most duochrome and the MAC is the least. But they're all really, really close.

Wet n Wild Fast Dry Nail Color in Teal of Fortune

I was going through my nail pictures folder and I saw this in there... I completely forgot to post this color when I did my post on the Wet n Wild FastDry polishes! I suppose it is pretty enough to get its own post...


Teal Of Fortune. It's a lot more green toned than my picture shows, but I have a feeling you already know what this looks like. It's a teal-blue jelly base with duochrome glass fleck/borderline foil shimmer. Very similar to Zoya Charla and her army of clones. I wouldn't call it a duplicate, but it's definitely in the same vein as all those other colors. Very pretty. Also very inexpensive. Too bad the brush isn't better!

Wet n Wild Gray's Anatomy versus Deborah Lippmann Wicked Game

I picked up a handful of the new Wet n Wild Fast Dry polishes and this color immediately stood out to me. I think it's a re-release from the summertime, but now it's permanent. The shade is called Gray's Anatomy and it's a sheer silvery purple, grey, green and blue duochrome. Sound familiar? I thought so.


This is Wet N Wild FastDry in Gray's Anatomy all by itself- three coats, no basecoat or topcoat. The duochrome effect shows up best in low light, but you can see the colors in the sides of the bottle. It isn't the strongest duochrome effect like a Sally Hansen Nail Prism would be, but it's still undeniably color-shifting.



And here it is alongside Lippmann's Wicked Game. Can you tell which finger has which polish? No? It's:

Left to right, pinkie to index:
Pinkie: Four coats of Wet n Wild Gray's Anatomy
Ring: Four coats of Deborah Lippmann Wicked Game
Middle: Four coats of Wet n Wild Gray's Anatomy
Index: Four coats of Deborah Lippmann Wicked Game

They are so very, very close that I feel comfortable calling them dupes. There are some minor differences in formula- the Wet n Wild is a lot thicker and more opaque, requiring only three coats while Lippmann Wicked Game is more sheer and a little more watery and needs at least four coats for opacity. There is ever so slightly more duochrome effect on the Lippmann polish. And, one totally superficial difference: The Deborah Lippmann polish has a way, way prettier looking bottle. I looooove Lippmann's bottles. But, side by side, the polishes are practically identical.

Wet n Wild? Ninety-nine cents on sale at Walgreens. Lippmann? $16.00 plus shipping if you buy online. The Wet n Wild is definitely the most budget-friendly way to get the look but you can't deny the glamour and aesthetic advantages of the Lippmann bottle. But, it's good to know there are options!

I'll post the rest of the Wet n Wild shades I picked up eventually- but let me just say right now that Buffy The Violet Slayer is not to be missed. It's so good.

Milani Rockstar Heavy Glitter Collection - One Coat Glitters and Jewel FX

Since this collection is out already at certain CVS locations, you'd think this would be a Winter 2010 collection, right? Apparently it's a Spring collection that won't be released until February.... And that's all I know about it! I'm confused by this... But all is well because there is purple glitter on my nails.


Blue Flash. Every single polish in this collection impresses me, but this one especially. There are a lot of medium blue glitters out there, yet this manages to be unique. The different tones of blue glitter combined in this polish give it incomparable depth and interest.


Gems (one coat over black). I didn't manage to get a picture of it alone, but I think it looks best layered anyway. This is one of the two Jewel FX glitters in this collection and I believe they're meant to be topcoats. Right away you'll notice that this looks a lot like Deborah Lippmann / Lippmann Collection Happy Birthday, and it does, with a few minor differences:

Left to right (pinkie to index):
One coat of Milani Gems over black
One coat of Lippmann Happy Birthday over black
Two coats of Milani Gems
Two Coats of Lippmann Happy Birthday

The main difference is that Milani Gems is missing the pink glitter that makes Lippmann Happy Birthday so pretty. The pink glitter really does make a difference in the end result. The second major difference is that Milani Gems doesn't have the small square glitter that Happy Birthday has. Despite these differences, they do look really similar on the nail. I slightly prefer Lippmann Happy Birthday, but if you don't want to shell out $18 for chunky clown puke glitter, then I'm sure Gems will satisfy you. Just for reference, here's Happy Birthday over black:

Gold. That's right, just Gold. Simple name. The second of the two Jewel FX topcoats in the collection. This is the hardest to apply polish in the collection but the results are really cool. It's quite difficult to get the large gold plate hexagon glitter to lay exactly right, but when you do, it looks crazy awesome. Armor plated! Great for layering, if you can distribute the glitter evenly:



Here's one coat of Gold over Purple Gleam. So disco. Love it. I've also worn this over Revlon Royal and it looks equally nice over a creme.


Gold Glitz. A mix of warm and cool gold glitters accented with a little red-copper. I love the depth and complexity of these glitters. The color mix makes them so nice. It's not just all one color in these and it makes a world of difference! This one also looks pretty familiar:


Doesn't it? This is the new OPI Ulta Exclusive Gift of Gold... which I was told wasn't happening this year... but then it was... Yeah, more on that later... But it does look a whole heck of a lot like Milani Gold Glitz!


Purple Gleam. Yeah, it's pretty much completely awesome. As if you expected me to say otherwise about a purple glitter. But, seriously, this purple glitter owns all. It doesn't look like any purple glitter I've ever seen. It's a lighter red-toned purple, almost more of a dark fuchsia, with some true purple and some BLACK (!!!) mixed in to give it depth. Really, there's nothing else like it and I'm considering buying 2,394,875 backups. The lighter purple really pops against the black microglitter and it sparkles like mad. The waitress at dinner last night flipped out over it, too...


Red Sparkle. A unique red glitter! No, it's not a Ruby Pumps dupe, either! Yes, I'm excited about this. Light and dark red glitter with what looks like some extremely tiny black microglitter. If it's not black, then it's really dark red. This looks so awesome in person. I almost skipped this one because I thought it would be just another plain red glitter. It's not. I'm glad I got it.


Silver Dazzle. This isn't really as much of a silver as it is a grey. It's silver and grey glitter with black microglitter. Yes, black glitter. And it looks incredible. Polish companies, are you taking notes? Black glitter is awesome. This polish has a definite blue tint to it. Very shiny and sparkly with all the sliver in it. And, oddly enough, I think it looks way better at night in low light than it does in sunlight.

The formula on these was great. They claim to be one coat coverage, but I found that I needed two. They were really opaque for a glitter and if you did a thick enough coat I think you could settle for one, but I'm not a fan of super thick coats. All of these are two coats of glitter with topcoat. They do really need topcoat, too. They dry very gritty and semi-matte. You can get these completely smooth and glossy with two coats of Gelous plus a topcoat of Seche Vite (or whichever thick quick-dry topcoat you prefer). I've worn these as full manicures like that and they remained perfectly smooth for three days. After the third day it seems like it absorbed the topcoat and became less smooth. Isn't that weird? The dry time on these is really fast so you don't have to worry about doing extra coats of topcoat. I had no application problems.

Removal is a pain just like any other glitter, but if you have one of those scrubby acetone jars, you won't have any trouble removing them. The glitter in them is very fine and not chunky so it doesn't stick to your nails as strongly. You will probably have little glitters stuck on your skin after removal, though, so just go over your nails again with a remover-soaked cotton ball or scrub your hands in the sink.

If you couldn't tell by my gushing review, I'm totally in love with these. I am really absurdly excited about these glitters. I could go on and on about them. I almost didn't get a few of these because they looked so normal under the store lighting, but once I got them on my nails I knew I was wrong. These aren't normal. They are AWESOME. The varying tones and intensities of the glitter in each polish makes them very special and so much better than a plain single-tone glitter. Really, just look at them! They look like treasure chests full of jewels, or piles of rhinestones. Soooo goooooood. *drool*

So, yeah, these completely rock. Way to go, Milani!