Stila PEACOCK Smudge Stick Waterproof Eye Liner VS. Urban Decay COVET 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil Swatches and Review

Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof Eye Liner in Peacock was included with this months Birchbox as a full sized item.  Full sized items only very randomly appear in Birchbox, but when they are there it's always a good one.

What the Sephora website has to say about Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof Eye Liner:

What it is:
A color-rich, vibrant, easy-to-use liner with staying power.

What it does:
Obsessed with Smudge Pots? You'll go crazy for Smudge Sticks! This highly pigmented, waterproof eye liner glides on to deliver intense, vibrant color with staying power. Soft, smooth, and easy on the eyes, Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof Eye Liner creates a high metallic, sultry, inky intensity that lasts.
Size: 0.01 oz

Peacock (vibrant teal sheen) is not only a gorgeous shade, but actually DOES stay on!  This liner is incredibly soft and easy to use.  It doesn't last particularly well on the waterline, but it's perfect for those occasions when you just don't have a chance to make sure your liner isn't migrating down your face.  Based off of the description from Sephora, if you like the Smudge Pots this is basically the same thing, but in stick form.

While testing Peacock, it got me thinking about my fave Urban Decay liner - Covet.  I use Covet for a lot of looks but have never swatched it to refer back to.  Peacock reminded me of Covet, but once they were swatched side by side I saw they were completely different.  Peacock is more of a blue, and Covet is more teal.  What they DO have in common is that they're both beautiful shades!

(Stila Peacock, Urban Decay Covet)

Urban Decay Covet 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil is the stuff dreams are made of.  Ever since I learned of my sensitivity to MAC Pearlglide liners I was in search of a dupe for Undercurrent.  The closest I've found was Urban Decay Covet.  I use it quite a bit for a color liner if you read through my FOTD or EOTD posts.  If you adore shades such as this, it's imperative that you check it out!

Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof  Eye Liner retails for $20.00 and Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil retails for $18.00.  Both are available at Sephora and Ulta.  You will get much more product from the Urban Decay (0.04) vs the Stila (0.01), but they are both excellent products.

***This post contains an affiliate link.  For more information, please see my disclosure policy.

Gareth Pugh for MAC Ascension Nail Polish Swatches, Review, and Comparison

For the Gareth Pugh for MAC Nail Lacquers I splurged and bought one.  I wasn't going to get any, but a gift card was burning this big hole in my pocket.  My shade of choice was Ascension.  It looks incredible in the bottle, right?!  Let's see what happened when polish hit nail...

What the MAC website has to say about Gareth Pugh for MAC Nail Lacquers:

Shade and finish, this limited-edition Nail Lacquer sums up the entire sub-culture mood of Gareth Pugh for M•A•C. The square glass bottle features the collections signature marque.  Limited Edition.
9 ml / 0.30 US fl oz

 

Ascension (grey with blue violet reflective pearl) is a  really gorgeous purple, blue green frosty duochrome.  On my tone, the purple shines through much more so than the other colors, but when I angle my hand a certain way I do see the green and grey.  I saw absolutely no blue.  It would be awesome if it hit on the nail like it does in the bottle.

The bottles of the Gareth Pugh for MAC Nail Lacquers are really heavy and I'm loving the design.  The formula of the polish was very fluid and was opaque in three coats.

Ascension is said to have several "dupes".  One of them being OPI Not Like the Movies from the Katy Perry Collection.  This is the only one out of the reported dupes that I have in my stash, so I thought I'd do a comparison.

L-R: OPI Not Like the Movies, MAC Ascension 

Basically, they look more alike in the bottle than on the nail.  Not Like the Movies has more of a grey hit, whereas Ascension is more purple.  The glitters are different too.  Not at all dupes.  Ascension also looked much more of a metallic duochrome, and the OPI was much more dulled down and flat.

Gareth Pugh for MAC Nail Lacquers retail for $22.00 each and are available on the MAC website, or on the Nordstrom website, where I purchased mine.  They are all limited edition.

Dior PISANELLE PINK Rouge Dior Lipstick Swatches, Review, and Comparisons

Dior released Pisanelle Pink 428 with the Fall 2011 Blue Tie Collection.  I have no idea why I didn't grab up this lipstick earlier.  Forget the fact I have a million variations of this shade, it's totally ME!

What Sephora.com has to say about Rouge Dior Lipcolor:

What it is:
An ultra-nourishing, long-wearing formula, in a haute couture color.

What it does:
This extraordinary lipstick does what most long-wearing lip colors do not. It dresses your lips in voluptuous, long-wearing color, while simultaneously providing definition, moisture and nourishment to the lips.

What else you need to know:
Rouge Dior Lipcolor is available in luminous shades, each of which is luxuriously packaged in the House of Dior's signature Cannage pattern with a bejeweled Christian Dior emblem. Dior Rouge Dior Lipcolor is an Allure Best of Beauty Award Winner.

Research results:
-89% of women had more hydrated lips.
-96% of women had improved definition on the lips' outline.
Size: 0.12 oz

 L-R: Dior Versailles, Dior Pisanelle Pink, MAC Patisserie

 Dior Pisanelle Pink

Pisanelle Pink (mauve beige pink) is intensely hydrating, though I didn't find it to be long wearing, at least by my standards.  It had normal glossy lipstick wear of a few hours sans eating and drinking.  The shade is basic, and my usual shade that I tend to throw on the most.

When I first swatched Pisanelle Pink, I thought it was like Dior Versailles from Holiday 2011, so I did the swatch as a comparison to that as well as one of my HG lipsticks, MAC Patisserie (see above).   I only chose 2 shades to compare it with, but I probably have about 3 more that are similar.  It's a sickness ;)

Rouge Dior Lipstick retails for $32.  You can pick this up at Sephora, Nordstrom, and all of your other local Dior counters.  I believe that Pisanelle Pink is permanent.  

***This post contains an affiliate link.  For more information, please view my disclosure policy.

China Glaze MIDTOWN MAGIC Nail Polish Swatches, Review, and Comparison - Metro Collection

I thought that bringing you China Glaze Midtown Magic today would be appropriate since it's Halloween!!  I had also planned on doing Ghoulish Glow on top of this, but it does not glow on my nails lol I have NO idea why, and I've tried it in a variety of ways.  The bottle glows, but not the nails... Maybe I got a bum bottle?  Any tips?

In any event, Midtown Magic has a vampy aubergine base with lots of glittery copper and red dominated flecks of color.  This polish applies so well and remains consistent with the high quality that we're familiar with in China Glaze polishes.  I used 2 coats for the swatch photos.

Comparison time!  On my stroll around the interwebs I came across blogs mentioning that Midtown Magic reminded them of Dior Czarina Gold.  I own both, why not a comparison!?

(middle finger - Dior Czarina Gold, ring finger - CG Midtown Magic, pinkie finger - L'Oreal Owl's Night)

As you can see they look nothing alike.  Not even in the same color family.  I'm pretty sure I don't need to break it down for you... but just in case you were curious like I was, there you go.

China Glaze Midtown Magic released for Fall 2011 as part of the Metro Collection (Downtown).  China Glaze polishes retail price can vary, but the most I've seen them for is $6.99 each.

Dior ALOHA 638 Nail Polish Swatches, Review, and Comparison to Essie Meet Me At Sunset

FINALLY it's mine!  Buwahahhaha!!!  I don't even care that it's out of season, I have been DYING for Dior Aloha Nail Vernis.  I can't even deal right now because I'm so excited.

Backing up, when Aloha came out with Electric Tropics in Summer 2011, based off of  the promo pics and swatches, I wasn't getting a strong lemming.  Of course... I'm at Macy's much later after the release and I painted a nail with it.... must have.  Hands down, needed.  Sold out.   Isn't that what ALWAYS happens?!  Long story short, after much searching I couldn't find it anywhere and I was stuck with a major sad face.

Last week, a friend of mine (Hi, Nat!) needed a CP (custom purchase) of some Le Metier de Beaute items and I saw it... right there on the Nordstrom website.  AloooooHA!  Add to cart.  Order.  Mines.

Aloha is such a beautiful shade for Summer.  A hot, neon orange begging to bask in the hot sun.  I'm a huge fan of Dior polishes because (IME) they are the easiest to coat on and have the BEST brush.  I only used 2 coats for the swatch photo.  In real life there is a hint of visible nail line, but it's nothing that looks bad.  I'm rather pale in the swatch photo, and I still think the shade compliments well.  So you don't HAVE to be tan to pull off this shade!

Aloha is paired up in this collection with the Dior Top Coat.  Though I don't like the brush from the top coat, it went on well and dried fairly fast.  It wasn't thick or sticky, and I actually think I like it better than Seche Vite!

This Dior Catwalk Duo Vernis Fluorescent & Top Coat Glossy retails for $26, and were only sold as a set.  I have no idea if you can still snatch this up, but I would recommend calling your local Nordstrom and having them do a computer search.  They can check every store and the website all in one shot. 

Now... on to the comparison!  Is Essie Meet Me At Sunset a dupe for Dior Aloha?  Hmmmm


Before I could find Aloha, I purchased Essie Meet Me At Sunset, hoping against hope it was a dupe.  It looked close enough to me, and really.. beggars can't be choosers.

First... what do you think?

It's looking close! 

Can you tell the Essie from the Dior?  Let me help you out. 
The pointer and ring finger are the Essie, the pinkie and middle finger are the Dior.  Both shades are 2 coats and each has the Dior Top Coat.
Now what do you think?
In person, the Essie has a BIT more red in it.  It's not at 100% for a dupe, but it's at least 99%.  The Dior is limited edition, as is the Essie, but the Essie's are still available and only $8 as compared to $26 for the Dior duo!

Personally, I prefer the brush of the Dior to the Essie, but the wear is similar and if you have the crazy lemming that I had for Aloha, Meet Me At Sunset should help save you, color wise ;)

I hope this helped those with the lemming for Dior Aloha and either couldn't find it or wanted a cheaper alternative!!!  Let me know if you have any other questions!

China Glaze Ingrid VS Dior Exquis Nail Polish Comparison Swatches

This is just a quick comparison post to show the similarities and differences between China Glaze Ingrid and Dior Exquis.

I got a question on this post about Exquis and is it a dupe for China Glaze Ingrid. I thought... hey... I have Ingrid!

At first, by looking at the bottles, I thought no way. Swatched on the hand though.....

(Ingrid on the top, Exquis on the bottom)

...pretty darn similar. Ingrid has more of a taupe brown base and is less smokey than Exquis ... but the shimmers appear identical! This is the closest dupe I've seen so far! Thank you to Original T. Mitch for bringing it to my attention!!!

Zoya JULES Nail Polish Swatches and Review

Zoya Jules was released very early this year with the Zoya Intimate Collection. It wasn't even on my radar as a want until the shade was brought to my attention by a reader, more on that later ;)

Jules is phenomenal. In the bottle it seriously looks like nothing. On the nail it's fall all over yourself beautiful. I can't stop looking at it. It's a great shade (champagne greige!) and loaded with shimmers. I used 3 coats for the above swatch photo. It was a little thin so I needed all three for sure.

Recently I was asked how Zoya Jules compares to the soon to be released Dior Exquis Nail Vernis, so I took some pics ;)

Zoya Jules has more of a grey base to it's gold shimmers, where the Dior has a smoked khaki base. They are not similar and yes you need both ;)

Zoya Jules retails for $8 and is available at Zoya.com and Ulta. Right now (until 10/5/11) they are offering a Buy One Get One Free, see the Zoya Blog for more info.

L'Oreal OWL'S NIGHT Nail Polish Comparison to Dior Czarina Gold and Butter London Wallis

As you can see below, the bottle images for Dior Czarina Gold and the new L'Oreal Owl's Night Nail Polish from the upcoming Project Runway line look similar. So how do they translate on the nail?

(In All Photos: Pinkie Nail - Czarina Gold, Ring Finger - Owl's Night, Middle Finger - Wallis)

When I first applied Owl's Night I thought it was a dead on dupe for Dior Czarina Gold. Turns out the L'Oreal is MUCH flashier than the Dior. They're each beautiful in their own way, but I actually think I like Owl's Night a little more because of it's glitz. Dior Czarina Gold is from Holiday last year, and longggg gone, so hopefully L'Oreal Owl's Night will suffice for you! I threw in Butter London Wallis just for another random comparison, though I knew the difference would be extreme.

Orly FOWL PLAY vs OPI MERRY MIDNIGHT Nail Polish Comparison Swatches, Review and Photos

I've heard a lot around the nail community about Orly Fowl Play possibly being a dupe for last years sought after OPI Merry Midnight.

I hadn't seen too much by way of comparison, but a search I just did shows that a few bloggers have tested this and found slight differences.

Since I found a lone bottle of Orly Fowl Play during my most recent trip to Ulta, I snatched it up since I knew I had OPI Merry Midnight at home. I don't normally do nail polish comparisons, but thought this one would be fun for a change.

Please keep in mind these are just my opinions on how the two polishes compare. I'm by no means an expert, this is just to maybe help those out who are looking for either polish or are trying to decide if they need both. Please click the pictures to enlarge them, if needed.

Pointer and Ring Finger are OPI Merry Midnight; Pinkie and Middle finger are Orly Fowl Play

Pointer and Ring Finger are OPI Merry Midnight; Pinkie and Middle finger are Orly Fowl Play

Orly Fowl Play close up

It is my personal opinion that OPI Merry Midnight has a lighter base than Orly Fowl Play. The shimmers seem the same, but I believe the Orly to be more dense. I actually prefer the Orly over the OPI. For reference, I did 3 coats of each polish.

The original price of OPI Merry Midnight was $8.50, but it's going high on eBay. Seriously, in the completed listings one sold for $37.00. Orly Fowl Play is not a complete spot on dupe, but it might help your lemming a bit. Especially since it's only $7.00.

Orly Fowl Play is now available at Ulta and Sally Beauty Supply.