I got a call from a BFF going, “What is that color you were looking for from Revlon? Is it called Perplex?”
Me: “OMG…YES! WHERE ARE YOU?”
BFF: “I’m at Big Lots. They have three left and…”
Me: “GET THEM ALL. DO YOU HEAR ME? GET THEM ALLLLLLLLLLL!!!!! ALL OF THEM! I LOVE THAT COLOR. WELL, I DON’T KNOW IF I WILL LOVE THAT COLOR, BUT I WANT THEM ALL ANYWAY!”
BFF: “Ok. Stop yelling in my ear. They’re a dollar each.”
Me: *faints*
I got the package 2 days later. Yay for NAIL MAIL!! Thank you, Karen! Thank you, thank you!!!
When I put on Iconoclast, I had flashbacks of Black Satin nightmares. You know what I’m talking about – people selling bottles of this on eBay for exorbitant prices. Little did you know that waiting a few years down the line would yield a version of it with better shimmer and a better formula. Sometimes it pays to wait.
Come on over and see what I’m blabbing about today…The sun came out and is still out, so I’m going to make this brief because I want to get some swatching in before the rain starts in again!
I went home and compared the 2 and discovered that I did not have the HTF version of that color. After much picture taking from every angle in daylight, shade and flash I gave up. To cheer myself up, I decided to compare two holographic polishes from two lines: Ginger & Liz (whom I have so much love for) and Color Club.
Mr. Carinae and I are firm believers in the Karen Walker School of Thinking: Drinking during the holidays. So amateur.
However, just because we don’t go drinking on that particular day, it doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy the festivities that go on. I’m very early on these, but I wanted a little green on my Tuesday before I jaunt off to yoga class.
While Essie shines in color, it is, quite sadly, deficient in application. A bit moody – in that godawful once a month kind of way. It took three coats to get it to the color you see in the pictures and it took forever and a day to dry. It held me up for the day I had allocated for swatching. Zoya dried quickly and only needed two coats.
I really should’ve had taken a picture of these colors in artificial lighting because that’s where they both fall extremely similar – you would almost never be able to tell the difference.
Anyway, come see what I mean below. I also tested for wearability on both and found they held their own after 3 days – all you’ll see is tip wear and my ghetto cuticles. It’s my right hand – what can I say?
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These three were definitely in the same color family, but I love the subtle differences…and I love that they’re cremes. Hope you fall for these military greens the way I did.
In sunlight you can see the obvious difference between KV, SP and DM. KV has more green while SP and DM have more grey in it. Mr. CarinaeLetoile was so cute when he looked at Khaki Vert on me and commented, “It’s really like a military green. I think Army when I look at it.”
At first glance, SP and DM seem like dupes. But only in the picture. Both have an extremely faint shimmer in it. Both have a good amount of grey in it, but that is it. The difference in person is extremely subtle, but because I’m such a nail fanatic I know the difference – or so I tell myself. LOL I wore SP during the weekend, but kept KV and DM on my swatching hand. It was so subtle that no one could see the difference in the restaurants and dim places we went to this weekend. If you can grab SW, go for it. It’s a cheaper alternative to RBL’s DM. However, if you have DM no need to get SP. If you don’t have KV and want to get it…go for it. While I felt Les Khakis was a bit pricey, I felt it was well worth it.
Deborah Lippmann’s formula was a bit more jelly-like than China Glaze’s. However, in three coats BR was a bit more opaque and darker, coming across more on the black side than a jelly. China Glaze’s came off as a dark brown. The colors of the purple glitter are similar, but BR has the awesome hexagonal shapes while MMI has plain circles.
Good news on both colors? Fast drying. No jacked up brushes. However, both were three coaters because I didn’t get the initial color I wanted.
Picture spam begins now…
Both of these applications were three coats.
