OPI - Rainbow Connection & Deborah Lippmann - Happy Birthday Comarison

I loooove fun glitter like these! This is OPI's Rainbow Connection compared to Deborah Lippmann's Happy Birthday. When I saw Rainbow Connection, Happy Birthday was the first polish I thought of. They are very similar so did some swatches of them both. I believe I have the "old" version of Happy Birthday. I've had it since it came out so I'm assuming its the old one. The new version is suppose to have more pink glitter in it. Here is link to my post with OPI - Rainbow Connection swatches.

Left to Right: OPI Rainbow Connection (1 coat)

Deborah Lippmann - Happy Birthday (1 coat)

OPI - Rainbow Connection  (1 coat) over OPI - Black Onyx (1 coat)

Deborah Lippmann - Happy Birthday (1 coat) over OPI - Black Onyx (1 coat)

(OPI - Black Onyx is a plain black creme)

Top: OPI - Rainbow Connection

Bottom: Deborah Lippmann - Happy Birthday

Top: OPI - Rainbow Connection over Black Onyx

Bottom: Deborah Lippmann - Happy Birthday over Black Onyx

OPI - Rainbow Connection

- Has three sizes of hexagon glitter:  Large, Medium and Small 

- Has six colour of glitter: Orange, Gold, Pink, Silver, Blue, Green

- All six colours have the three sizes of glitter.

- Silver glitter is predominant with clear base

Deborah Lippmann - Happy Birthday

- Has two sizes of glitter (it's largest sizes is the same has OPI's medium size)

- Large size hexagon glitter comes in: Orange, Gold, Pink, Silver, Blue, Green

- Small glitter comes in hexagon shaped and square shaped

- Small glitter comes in the same colours has the large glitter but also with red

- Silver glitter is predominant with clear base

The differences are that OPI has three sizes of hexagon glitter to it, Deborah Lippmann has two and it's largest glitter is the same size has OPI's medium size. Deborah Lippmann has a variation of hexagon and square glitter in the small size and the small size also comes in red. 

The similarities are they do both have hexagon glitter and have majority of the same colour glitter. They both have a clear base. Both go on nicely in two coats. Both are very silver glitter predominant. 

Dupes? Not exact. But they could very well be sisters. They really do look very very similar. While they are exact dupes, I don't think anyone really needs both, they are super close.

OPI Rainbow connection is limited edition for the Holiday 2011 season. It's part of the Muppet Collection that is due out November 2011. OPI's retail for $9 CAD and a little less in the states. They can be found in salons and many drug stores.

Deborah Lippmann's Happy Birthday isn't limited edition. It retails for $20 CAD and can be found at Holts, Murale, and select boutiques. 

Thanks for reading! 
Please follow The Lacquer Lounge!

Fall 2011 Trends: Dark Grey

This season brings some grey weather and some grey nails. I love this trend, because its versatile. This look can easily be taken to work and then to a night out. Neutral colours like grey are prefect for two reasons: 1. You don't have to worry about your polish clashing with your clothes  2. If you don't have the time to change your polish often grey polish can easily carry you through the week and not clash with anything that comes up. This season had many collections that had a dark grey in them. They ones I'm comparing are all described as dark grey cremes with zero shimmer to them.

From left to right:

Deborah Lippmann - Stormy Weather  (Fall 2011)

CND - Asphalt

Essie - Power Clutch (Carry On Collection Fall 2011)

China Glaze - Concrete Catwalk (Metro Collection Fall 2011)

From the swatches you can see that all are very similar. The only one that is noticeably very different is Essie's Power Clutch. To me that Deborah Lippmann and the China Glaze are the darkest and are virtually identical. The CND is also a lot like Deborah Lippmann and China Glaze but is slightly in direct like a tone lighter. Essie's Power Clutch is the lightest of the bunch and a tad bit green compared to the other three. Out of direct light they are all very close. 

Deborah Lippmann is sold in Canada at Murale, Holts, and select boutiques. You can see my post on this polish (here). It was $20 CAD.

CND is a little harder to find in Canada. Mine is from an e-tailer and it's been probably about a year since I've bought it so I don't remember exactly what I paid for it. They retail for about $8 CAD. 

Essie is now in drug stores and very easily accessible. Essie including there new collections can be found in Wal-Mart, Shoppers, and London Drugs. They are about $8 CAD. 

China Glaze can be found in Chatters and salons. They are about $7 CAD. 

Final thoughts, nobody really needs all of these colours. Deborah Lippmann, China Glaze, and CND are very close in colour. I would say pick one to see how you like it. 

Chanel Paradoxal Dupe! Gosh - Mystical

I love love love Chanel Paradoxal but EVERY time I've worn it it chips the very first day it's been applied. I've never had this problem with any other polishes. No matter what base coat of how I've tried to apply it, nothing works. So I'm loving seeing other companies come out with dupes. I didn't get Revlon's Perplex because I never saw it around in Canada, and I didn't see it in the states when I was shopping either. But this is Gosh's Mystical. 

It's a dark dusty purple with a pink shimmer in different lights. It leans slightly to the browner side for purple. This came out in Gosh's Fall collection named Magical Forest. Gosh is available in Canada at Shoppers Drug Mart and is $7 CND.

So how does it stack up to Chanel's Paradoxal?

L to R: Gosh Mystical, Chanel Paradoxal

It's very close. In fact when I was wearing Mystical the lady at the Chanel counter thought I was wearing Paradoxal. It last 3 days before it started having major tip wear, which is better then Paradoxal could do. It's a great colour for work. I love it!

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Pumpkin Spice (Halloween 2011)

I don't know about you, but here in Vancouver it feels like Summer just started. It's September 4 and it's the first day my apartment was too hot to handle. Hence, I made my way to the air-conditioned mall to grab a cool drink and take a look around. Now Pumkin Spice I've seen around for almost a month now and just never picked up, but for some reason today I had to have it. I kept telling myself it was too much like China Glaze's Ick-A-Bod-Y from last years Awakening Halloween collection to justify me buying it... but I still bought it. No will power.

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Pumkin Spice (three coats)

After I swatched it I thought it was terribly ugly. Like really really fug. So I played around with it a bit and compared it to last year China Glaze's Ick-A-Bod-Y. And I'm glad I didn't just give up on it, over black I think I like it better then Ick-A-Bod-Y.

Left to Right

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Pumkin Spice (three coats)

China Glaze - Ick-A-Bod-Y (three coats)

OPI - Black Onyx (two coats) & Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Pumkin Spice (one coat)

OPI - Black Onyx (two coats) & China Glaze Ick-A-Body (one coat)

As you can see both polished look much better over Black. They both have a clear black base that takes many coats to build up something more opque. They both have the same orange glitter but China Glaze's has much more. I think I might like Pumpkin Spice more... I'm a little torn, it all depends on how much sparkle you like I guess. 

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear retails for $3.50 CND (and about the same in US). It can be found many places, this particular bottle is from London Drugs, I haven't seen the displays with Pumpkin Spice out anywhere else yet. London Drugs usually has the Limited Edition displays out first. 

China Glaze is a little harder to find in Canada. It' retails for about $7 CND. Ick-A-Bod-Y was a limited edition colour from last Halloween collection only sold at Sally Beauty Supply. In the lower mainland there are two in Surrey and one in Abbotsford and one in Bellingham (if your a cross boarder shopper). China Glaze is also sold at many salons.

I'd love to read our comments on the two! Thanks!

Are you a lacquer connoisseur?

    con-nois-seaur (noun) 

1. Expert; especially: one who understands details, techniques, or principles of an art that competent to act as a critical judge

2. one who enjoys the discrimination and appreciation of subtleties 

I had a bit of wake up when I did my comparison posts on Revlon Facets of Fuchsia vs. Deborah Lippmann Bad Romance (read here) and the comparison post for Revlon Smoky Canvas vs. Deborah Lippmann Waking Up in Vegas (read here). I realized I'm not as big of a nail polish connoisseur then I thought I was! I've been loving high-end brands like Chanel, Dior or Deborah Lippmann for a while and I thought I would be able to tell the difference between the copies that lower end brands put out. After doing my comparisons I would know NOW how to tell the difference up close, but honestly while I was writing the posts I was still a bit confused and would have to cross reference which file I pulled the picture out. Just like you don't have to be a wine connoisseur to be a wine lover. I might not be a lacquer connoisseur, but that most defiantly still a lacquer lover!


For more about Revlon's Expressionist Collection (click here)

Are you a lacquer connoisseur?

Deborah Lippmann Waking Up in Vegas & Revlon Smoky Canvas Comparison

In my post about the new Revlon fall collection called The Expressionist (click here) I mentioned that my favourite was the polish called Smoky Canvas. Smoky Canvas right away reminded me of Deborah Lippmann's Waking Up in Vegas. Just like Revlon's Facets of Fuchsia comparison to Deborah Lippmann's Bad Romance (click here), I'm going to give you another quick comparison. 

Deborah Lippmann - Waking Up in Vegas (two coats)

Revlon - Smoky Canvas (two coats)

This one is a lot easier to compare. Both applied amazingly well. Both were smooth and opaque in two coats. You can see the tone of them are slightly different though. Revlon's Smoky Canvas had a very slightly more brown undertone while Deborah Lippmann's Waking Up in Vegas had a slightly more grey undertone to it. While not exact "dupes" they are very close. Again just like the other comparison from a distance they both look the same. You could be wearing a different one on either hand and I doubt anyone would know the difference.

Top: Revlon - Smoky Canvas

Bottom: Deborah Lippmann - Waking Up in Vegas

Final verdict?

Defiantly "dupe" realm. Not exact, but so close. Honestly you could be wearing Smoky Canvas and tell me that you have Waking Up in Vegas on and I would have no reason to doubt you, they are just that close. So again the only question is would you like to spend $5 or $22? For more on where to get these brands and the prices click here.

Get up and shake the glitter off your clothes now, 

thats what you get for waking up in vegas!

I'm just starting to blog, and I'm loving watching the stats go up and seeing people from other counties are reading my posts. Thats so exciting for me! Please don't be shy to ask questions or tell me what you you think in the comments :) Thanks

Deborah Lippmann Bad Romance & Revlon Facets of Fuchsia Comparison

This morning I did a blog post all about Revlon's The Expressionist Collection thats being released this fall (click here to see the whole collection). In it I talked about Revlon copying some of Chanel's colours and now this collection is very similar to some of Deborah Lippmann's polishes. I couldn't help but compare these two right away. Deborah Lippmann's Bad Romance is one of my favourite polishes. Both polishes are black jelly bases with purple glitter and larger purple hexagon glitter. Above is Deborah Lippmann's Bad Romance and the left is Revlon Facets of Fuchsia. So how did the two stack up?...

Deborah Lippmann - Bad Romance (three coats)

Revlon - Facets of Fuchsia (three coats)

The similarities are:

A. Both have the same black jelly base

B. Both have small square glitter

C. Both have hexagon glitter

D. The colour of the glitter in both are exactly the same shade

E. From arms length away you would think they are the same.

The differences are:

A. Revlon's Facets of Fuchsia goes on thicker

B. Revlon's Facets of Fuchsia has much more glitter both small and large

C. Deborah Lippmann's Bad Romance had a smoother appearance without a top coat

Top: Revlon - Facets of Fuchsia

Bottom: Deborah Lippmann - Bad Romance

The final verdict? 

I'm sitting here looking at the wheel at all different angles and lighting and they aren't exact dupes because Revlon's has more glitter, but honestly from a distance they are pretty much the same. I love them both. So really the question is $5 or $22? 

    - Deborah Lippmann $22 CND ($16 US)

    - Revlon $5 - 6 CND ($4 US)

Revlon is very easy to find (sometimes not the Limited Edition displays though), The Expressionist displays can now be found in London Drugs, Shoppers Drug Mart, and Zellers. 

Deborah Lippmann is found in stores in Canada at Holt Renfrew, Murale,  and other high end boutiques. The Deborah Lippmann site does not ship to Canada but you can go to nordstroms.com and they do ship to Canada, they will add in the duties though. A better option if you live in Canada might be nailpolishcanada.com, they carry Deborah Lippmann, and they have free shipping when you spend over $29 CAD. 

You can also check out Deborah Lippmann's website to see where to find her polishes near you lippmanncollection.com. 

THANKS FOR DROPPING IN!