Lit from Within: Essie - no dupes in my drawer!
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Monday, June 25, 2012

Essie - no dupes in my drawer!

I am the person whom the advertisers love.  I am the one who reads these blogs that say - forget all the other blues you have, THIS is the one you need.  And I say, yes, yes, I DO need that particular blue.




So, I bought two new Essie shades:  Bikini so teeny and Mojito madness.  Both colors were touted as THE new shade, and I believed that..sorta.  I knew I had to look in my extensive collection to see if I had any dupes.

So I picked the closest 4 bottles of light blue I had, and swatched.

Essie bikini so teeny, China Glaze Electric Beat, China Glaze Secret Peri-winkle, Zoya Jo, and Jessica Movie Premier.  I thought for sure Electric Beat, and maybe Kinetic Candy, or DL Let's Hear it for the Boy would be close.  Kinetic Candy and the DL didn't even merit a swatch they were so different.



I don't think any of them are alike.  Electric Beat and Movie Premiere are similar (the Jessica was ONE coat, can you believe it?  All the others were two)  Jo is much darker on my nail than it was in the bottle.  So I can breathe a sigh of relief - no dupes for the beautiful Bikini so Teeny.

Next, the greens.  Again, I picked the 4 closest greens I had.  Essie Mojito Madness, China Glaze Gaga for Green, Revlon Bonsai, OPI Don't Mess With OPI, and Sinful Colors Exotic Green.


Ok, I just realized that because this is my right hand, the swatches are all backwards from the lineup.  DERP.  Thumb is Mojito Madness, index - ChG Gaga for Green, middle - Revlon Bonsai, ring -  OPI Don't Mess with OPI, and the pinky is SC Exotic Green.


Gaga for green looks close in the pix, but it's visibly different in RL.  GFG is a much sheerer polish that took 3 coats for opacity, and is a little more yellow.  OPI DMWOPI was the closest in the bottle, but is the most different on the nail! This is why I don't trust bottle comparisons.

Again, nothing close in my stash.  Good thing, because I really do like that Essie.

With 10 different colors on 10 different nails, I knew I'd be re-doing my mani, so might as well test a couple of glitters!  On the Essie BST, I layered Revlon Radiant (said to be a DL dupe.)  Very pretty, nice coverage - I could have added another layer for full opacity, but I liked it with the underwear showing.  I'm liking the flashes of green glitter, too.


And, finally, a layer of Sinful Colors Call You Later over Essie MM.  Not sure I would pair these together again, but I do like that flash of gold in that glitter.


So, does anyone know of a dupe for either of these Essie colors, or are they truly unique?  Have you worn them with a glitter topcoat that you liked?

2 comments:

  1. Nope, no dupes here - so you really did need them LOL

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've even got my husband saying, 'they're not the same, they're SIMILAR.' lol.

      Delete

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