Monday, September 20, 2010

Purples and Teals

In a comment early this month, Jennifer Armintrout mentioned that China Glaze Coconut Kiss looked like Sinful Colors Fiji. I tapped out a note to myself about doing a comparison of those two, only to find I did not own Fiji. How could that be? It's purple, my favorite color, and a brand I see pretty much every time I make my drugstore rounds. Not an expensive brand, either, which made its absence from my stash all the more puzzling. Rather than wonder about it any more, I added "buy Fiji" to my note and did just that the next time I saw a bottle.



China Glaze Coconut Kiss (left), Sinful Colors Fiji (right).




Top to bottom: Fiji, Coconut Kiss, Fiji, Coconut Kiss.


I used two coats of Coconut Kiss and three of Fiji, which is a cooler, bluer purple than the China Glaze.

As long as I was comparing purples, I decided to see how Fiji looked next to Sally Hansen Grape Going, which I had not yet put away after using it last. (Also I wasn't 100% sure I'd transcribed the comment correctly in my note to myself, since I'm still getting used to living in the future and keeping my to do lists on my phone. True, I could have stopped swatching and double checked the comment on the phone or any one of the computers in the house but that would have meant stepping away from the nail polish, and I hate to do that when I've carved out some time to play.)




Sinful Colors Fiji (left), Sally Hansen Insta Dri Grape Going (right).




Top to bottom: Fiji, Grape Going, Fiji, Grape Going.


Still three coats of Fiji; I used two of Grape Going. In lighting conditions where the Grape Going is not showing off its blue flash, these two are pretty close.

I finished up my comparison swatching for the day with some teal shimmers.



Left to right: OPI Cuckoo for This Color, China Glaze Emerald Fitzgerald, Wet 'n' Wild Morbid, Maybelline Blackened Teal.




Top to bottom: Cuckoo for This Color, Emerald Fitzgerald, Morbid, Blackened Teal.


The OPI and China Glaze are both from this year's fall collections, and are so alike that one wonders if both companies subscribe to the same color forecasting service. Emerald Fitzgerald is perhaps a wee bit darker than Cuckoo, but not so anyone who wasn't looking really, really hard for differences would notice. Morbid, part of the current Craze core line, is a touch warmer in tone, and it has a few more flecks in its shimmer. Blackened Teal, being a classic I picked up at the Dollar Tree, has the old school style of shimmer, complete with brushstrokes; it's still a pretty color, though. All of these were two coats. Should I ever get around to de-duping my stash, of these four I'll keep Blackened Teal and Emerald Fitzgerald, though I do wonder about having a polish whose name is so close to that of the ship on which 29 crewmen lost their lives.

16 comments:

  1. I really like these comparrisons you do!! Thanks!

    Nubar Pasadena Purple is a dupe of Coconut Kiss, closer than Fiji

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  2. I love all the teals! I just can't seem to love purple! Thank you for all the comps though!

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  3. ohhh both stunning colours love them xox

    http://veryrandomrambles.blogspot.com/

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  4. I like Morbid best from all those teals. I don't have many teals in my collection and really feel I need more of them :)

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  5. Thanks for posting up the comparison, now I don't need to get Emerald Fitzgerald since I have Cuckoo for this Color & they're very similar and almost a dupe for one another :) Awesome purple comparison! I love the Sally Hansen one! :)

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  6. I always love your comparisons. They're not that alike after all!

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  7. I totally blame my dad for knowing about the Edmund Fitzgerald. lol
    Lets just say I wish I didn't know that Gordon Lightfoot wrote a song about it. :P I am ALL too familiar with that song!
    Very tragic but interesting tale of the great lakes. I love shipwreck stories.
    And you know, before you mentioned it, I had never even thought of the Edmund Fitzgerald in connection with the name, I had always thought of Ella Fitzgerald.
    I still have to wear this polish! I haven't yet. Oooh, my friend is getting married next month and the dress I'm wearing to her wedding is green and black!! :D

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  8. You have such a great eye for doing this! In the last picture the top 3 look identicaL!

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  9. I was about to pick up fiji and passed. :( oh well!

    follow me and Ill follow you!
    http://toesthattwinkle.blogspot.com/

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  10. I really like these teals. Especially the metallic-y Maybelline colour. Pretty!

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  11. Miranda, thanks; I only have a couple Nubars and Pasadena Purple isn't one of them.

    Jess, can't love purple? What? I guess that means more for me. :)

    Steph, thanks!

    migdall, Morbid is a nice one.

    necessary nails, you're welcome. Yes, I agree, one doesn't need both Cuckoo and Emerald Fitz.

    kittypolishnbags, nope, they're not--but it can be hard to tell in the bottle.

    Twister, thanks!

    Sarah, of course Ella Fitzgerald makes a heck of a lot more sense given the theme of the collection. :) I guess growing up in the Great Lakes region meant I got the ship stuck in my brain and it just pops up first for me.

    ShaGlam, the first two are definitely really close; the third is just a bit different, but only if you're really looking hard at them. :)

    M 2011, you can always get it later, I'm sure.

    Joan, thanks! I think teal is my second favorite color after purple.

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  12. I just found your blog and wow! you got lots of nail polishes, that's awesome!

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  13. wow i love this post.. and i agree about your selection of the teals. I would sooo keep emerald fitzgerald too.. i don't know why but china glaze makes some good polish....sometimes even better than the expensive 'opi' brands.. lol

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  14. Thanks for doing the comparison! They really look nothing alike after all!

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  15. the OPI Cuckoo one just has a certain something about it, it's the prettiest out of the teals

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Thank you for reading and commenting! I greatly appreciate knowing I'm not just talking to myself here. :) I'm moderating most comments now due to the spate of spammers who claim to be looking for sexy times.