Comparisons: olive cremes and purple duochromes

Today, all I've got for you is a couple of comparisons - I'm still rocking my red Chinese fauxnadicure actually - I hope you'll find these somewhat helpful.

We're expecting a boom of olive shades this fall, with both Zoya and China Glaze putting out theirs to accompany the one from OPI that I already have and that is represented in the wheel below. As usual with the weird numbering that comes only with alizarine claws! Check out linked names for full manicure posts.

14. Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Trendy Creme
15. H&M Hunt Me Down
16. OPI Uh-uh Roll Down the Window
17. Viva La Diva mini polish #2
18. Illamasqua Hectic
1. Depend 172
2. Jessica Victorian Crush
3. Rescue Beauty Lounge No More War
4. Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Swamp Thing
5. Eyeko Military Polish
6. Kleancolor Fashionista

...and against a different colored background - lighter shades enhanced more:

I still find it somewhat intriguing how the backdrop you choose for your swatches affects the color representation. These photos are both shot with the same camera, in the same setting, in the same lighting conditions!

11 shades of olive represented, no dupes. How happy do you think that makes the alizarine? The Kleancolor is slightly misplaced out on the edge of this wheel, which is all due to a late addition, but it is in reality the closest to No More War - but a tad greener and less brown. The IsaDora is the one that doesn't really fit in this crowd, but I put it in there for reference, thought it might be interesting.

Next, I mentioned while answering the comments on my post about Hard Candy Groove, that I'd do a smaller comparison of purple duochromes (and multichromes!), since so many of you felt it was reminiscent of other lacquers. I thought this would be fun - not only do I lalalalove olive cremes, a good purple duochrome totally rocks my world as well!

From left to right, with some links to manicure posts:

1. Wet n Wild Gray's Anatomy
2. OPI Not Like the Movies
3. Hard Candy Groove
4. Nubar Purple Beach
5. Zoya Ki

And check out a bad photo of the duochrome properties:

Again, all different! This makes the alizarine a happy girl, once more!

A closer look at the two that are the most similar, Hard Candy Groove and Nubar Purple Beach:

Oooh, old style Hard Candy bottle! [insert big heart]

Another really bad photo, but you can tell they're different, right? I'd say the same duochrome pigment has been used in these two, but the Nubar is deeper, and overall a little less pink. Fingerprints and cat hair free of charge!

Okay, I had lots of fun with this post, hope you had at least a tenth as fun reading it! Despite the lack of oceans of bottle shots. I realize it would be a little more oohs and aahs ringing around here if I had managed some bottles, but I have to be honest with you: I don't really like doing bottle shots. It's terribly time consuming and also quite boring. Though, the end result is most of the time a whole lot better, so I do them anyway - but being both impulsive and a perfectionist sometimes clash...

Swedish word of the day:
armbandsur -noun wrist watch
For no particular reason, except I got a new one today - and it's greeeeen.

Groovy!

Did you miss me? Well, I'm back. With a polish we would sometimes refer to as an oldie but goodie. A Groove, from Hard Candy.



2 coats. Not only an oldie but goodie, but also an oldie but goodie formula. Of course, not exactly manufactured yesterday, so it had evaporated a bit, but it was still manageable without thinning. No sun this day, which explains the less focused photos, but usually absence of sun doesn't matter when it comes to duochromes, because they photograph better in the shade.

Some additional shots, because this polish deserves it.



It's a before tried, but winning concept: purple to green duochrome. What more can I ask for? Green and purple are perhaps my two favourite polish shades, add duochrome to that and you have a lacquer right up the alizarine alley. I'm not crazy about the finish, but I'd forgive a good duochrome anything.

I first saw this particular one at Acetone and Old Lacquer, which is a great blog I think you should all check out, and the mere sight of it created such immense immediate lemmings that I had to open up a new tab in the browser for ebay - I scored. Within five minutes. This is the impact Bruno at Acetone and Old Lacquer has on you.

Swedish word of the day:
lösningsmedel -noun solvent
I like them too.