Thursday, August 23, 2012

Christian Dior Shadow Swatches and Comparisons

I was intrigued when I heard that Dior was releasing Les Violets Hypnotiques, a collection of three purple polishes. I am all for more purple in the world. The most interesting of the three seemed to be Shadow, the true shimmer in the group (the other two are "almost cremes", with a very, very sparse dusting of tiny shimmer particles), so I grabbed that pretty much as soon as it showed up on the Nordstrom website. Here it is in the bottle, looking gorgeous, with copper and pink shimmer in a brownish plummy base.



On the nail, the shimmer is less prominent. This is two coats, no topcoat. I'm thinking I should reconsider my "no topcoat for swatches" general rule, since I'm wondering if a shiny finish would have brought out the shimmer more (and I almost always wear topcoat when I do a full mani). I just wonder if I have the patience for that (and how much topcoat I'd consume).





Being me, I have about eleventy hundred deep plum shimmers, so I pulled out four of them to do comparison. Left to right below: Wet 'n' Wild Megalast Disturbia (old bottle, but I believe this made the leap to the new bottle style when they did the most recent relaunch), Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Problem Child, Dior Shadow, P2 Color Victim Rich, OPI Teasy Does It.



Left to right below: Shadow, Problem Child, Shadow, Disturbia (all two coats). In indirect light like this, Problem Child makes a great substitute for Shadow. Disturbia is not as close, as its shimmer blends into the base more than the other two.



Flash brings out the differences in the base and shimmer colors. Shadow's base has a brownish dusty quality to it that sets it apart.



Here's a close up of Problem Child just because I think it's pretty, with the fine purple shimmer and copper mini flakies.



Left to right below: Shadow, Rich, Shadow, Teasey Does It (all two coats). Rich is darker than Shadow, with bright purple highlights in its shimmer. Teasy Does It is more a wine color than Shadow's plum.



Here they are in the glare of the flash:



Teasy Does It actually does look a fair bit like Shadow looks in the bottle, despite being redder in tone; it just needs more dense shimmer.



Shadow's base color makes it unique among my deep plum shimmers, but given that there are alternatives that are fairly close (and the fact that the Dior is $23) I can't say it's a must have. (Well, no nail polish is a MUST, but you all know what I mean.)

17 comments:

  1. So when you do these posts-are they just swatches only on the nail for seconds? Then I'd find a cheap topcoat and not waste too much money using top coat for these things-but if you are wearing them longer-then I would definitely use a topcoat. you have to bear with me I am freakin tired and hope this made sense. I always use topcoat, but I don't do swatches-too lazy

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  2. I'm sad Shadow doesn't look as pretty on the nail as it does in the bottle, because in the bottle it looks gorgeous!

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  3. Shadow looks more clear than Problem child. Problem Child looks murky... These dark purples are so nice for fall and winter. I'm definitely looking forward to it!

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  4. Bottle shot (color) is gorg but on the nail it falls flat! =( Maybe matte looks better?

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  5. Argh. I passed on this but now...I'm not so sure!

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  6. Topcoat or not, this is GORGEOUS! I really want this now!

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  7. Thanks for sharing this lovely polish - and most of all the comparison,very interesting!!

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  8. All pretty but I like the Teasy Does It because of the shine it has.

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  9. Very pretty, especially the gorgeous shimmers! :-)

    ~ Yun

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  10. love the shimmer in this! great comparisons! :D

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  11. Great comparisons! I absolutely love Dior polish.

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  12. I need to stop looking at your swatches (j/k). I went to Estee Lauder counter yesterday in search of Explosif....$125 later and 5 polishes later I left...and no Explosif as its not out here yet! *must not go to Dior counter* *must not go to Dior counter* *come to think of it, I'm pretty sure I already bought Shadow*

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  13. That's another great post, Karen! That polish is gorgeous with its hidden shimmer. A fellow blogger told me a couple of days ago: I like shimmers loud and proud as you, but I also love the less visible ones, it's like wearing a secret on my hands. And that made me re-consider a lot of things / polishes.

    For your swatches, you could do one nail with top coat (thumb?), otherwise you'll become the nº1 buyer of top coat in the world :)

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  14. That is a gorgeous polish! Thanks for the comparisons! Tease-y Does It is one my of faves:)

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  15. That's super pretty. If you want to see if it helps you could always get a cheapo topcoat and use it on one nail to see if it does make a difference?

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  16. Beautiful polish. I love when you post comparisons :)

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