Readers' choice: comparisons!

Oh my! I have absolutely no clue what I'm doing, but I'll try to write down a somewhat coherent post anyway. Been working the night shift (11+ hours), and after that slept all day. And now I'm about to apologize for this way overdue post, too. I have gathered a few comparisons you have been asking for, and this is it.

First, PlatinumV asked me a long time ago to do a comparison of shimmers in the petrol spectrum. Well, I can only hope PlatinumV and I are on the same wavelength, because these are the colors I could come up with that "felt right" (yes!).


Check out the wheel, in shade, and in sun:

1. OPI Austin-tateous Turqouise
2. Essence Blue Ray
3. China Glaze Rodeo Fanatic
4. Misa Quirky Smile
5. CHI Hot Ring Illusion Around Saturn
6. LA Girl Metal Deep Sea Mica
7. Boots 17 Exquisite
8. NYX Jungle

Some are apparently more blue than others, and I brought in the OPI mostly for reference - I don't feel like it fits this bunch. Unfortunately it has been so long since this wheel was done that I don't remember if I was consistent throughout with the number of coats, or if I used to have in my head which ones needed more coating than the others... But I do know that the NYX is slightly jellyish and this is three coats, which is also the case with both the Boots 17 bottle, and the LA Girl, where the product is rather sheer.

I still hope this is what PlatinumV wanted to see!

Next, nihrida wants to know how Kiko 337 Viola Pervinca compares to H&M Blue My Mind.

In reverse order:

Yes, this photo is both out of focus and slightly weird in most senses, but I think you'll get the general idea!

jazzqueen64 asked how Ciaté Golden Globe compares to China Glaze Peace on Earth, and this is how:



Same color family for sure, there are some differences, as you can see. Since I'm a collector of this particular type of shade, I don't mind, but perhaps some of you will feel fulfilled owning only one.

I hope these were helpful in some kind of way, and now me and my sad excuse for a brain will retire for the evening. Don't forget you may at any time submit requests on swatches of specific shades, or comparisons! Just email, tweet or MUA PM me.

Swedish word of the day:
pepparkvarn -noun pepper mill
One is standing in front of me while I'm writing...

A grey is a grey is a grey...

Or is it?

I recently realised I was seriously lacking grey cremes. I had two or three, and all were slightly tainted, not pure grey. I had to do something about this and got a shitload of new ones.

The ones I had before, was Essie Chichilly and Ciaté Vintage. I also thought I had an oldie from H&M, called Dusty, and yes, I had it, but when looking closer, I saw it is actually a shimmer, ever so slightly.

Neither Chinchilly or Vintage are truly grey. I categorize both of them as greys, but Vintage is leaning green, and Chinchilly is borderlining taupe. Just for funsies I wanted to check out how others perceive it, so I did a search on nailgal.com, and then clicked the images to see under which category different users had uploaded their swatches of it. Most swaches were filed under Black, Charcoal and Grey, but some were filed under Taupe. I really think either is correct and purely a matter of fact that any beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Long story short, since it turned out class was cancelled today (which I of course found out after I got there- luckily I live only a five minute walk away from the classroom), I'm home, comparison blogging in your favor, my dear friends!

Let's take a look at all the greys I have obtained.


Lighter: Essie Chinchilly, Nubar Barricades, Mavala Berlin, China Glaze Recycle.

Darker: Mavala New-York, Nubar Stronghold, Ciaté Vintage, Mavala Minsk.

The Mavalas were gifted to me by my beloved friend Lina, of the Swedish makeup blog I karusellens öga! The Nubars were, in combination with Knight's Armor, the only ones I bothered getting from the Fortress collection.

Here they have all been painted up on wheel, like always:

Same order as the bottles above, and in the sun.

And with flash.

As you can see, they are all very different! If you're a lover of grey cremes, the risk of getting dupes is not as obvious as it may seem, actually. Some are warmer, some colder, some greener, some bluer. Either you have a favourite kind that matches your skin tone, or you're just like me and always appreciate a good grey, there is plenty to choose from!

Do you still enjoy my comparisons? If you have any wishes, I would do my best to help, so please let me know if you're curious about how polishes in any certain color group compares. Though, I do not own many pinks or nudes... ;)

Swedish word of the day:
betong -noun concrete
Because it was the most apparent choice today...

Greenish gold comparison

You wanted the best, you got the best! The hottest nail polish color in the world- golden greeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeens...!

Sorry about that. But let's get down to business. Here is my current stash of greenish golds, or golden greens, but actually, more greenish golds in this case. I have narrowed the color selection down, and now they are all in the same group. That means no greens with heavy gold shimmer. Only greenish gold shimmers! The contestants:


Maybellines- Khaki Fringe and Golden Khaki.

Much beloved OPIs- Greenwich Green and At Your Quebec & Call.

And the miscs- China Glaze Cat's Eye, Ciaté Golden Globe, and Revlon Street Wear Burnt.

First, let's see the mandatory one coat shot!

You can already tell there is going to be an opacity problem here. Therefore, I applied four coats of most, except the Ciaté and the Revlon.

Fully painted, in flash:


Fully painted in daylight:


...and in sun:


The darlings are:
16. China Glaze Cat's Eye
17. Maybelline Khaki Fringe
18. OPI Greenwich Green
1. Maybelline Golden Khaki
2. Revlon Streetwear Burnt
3. OPI At Your Quebec & Call
4. Ciaté Golden Globe

Golden Khaki is a truly weird color. The base is a greyish green-brown sorta weird... thing. It was still sheer at four coats. The China Glaze is also very sheer, but that could be due to old age- it is very thin and runny, hardly thicker than water. The Revlon and the Ciaté on the other hand, were both pretty good already at two coats. But I did three just to be almost consistent. And I know, the Streetwear is a bit of an oddball in this bunch, it is actually a green with gold shimmer, but it was close, so I let it in!

My absolute favourite is At Your Quebec & Call. Actually, it could be my favourite OPI of all time, too. I have a very needy relationship with this polish, I treasure it like it was my second daughter! The Ciaté is very dupish, though, so if you have trouble finding the OPI, you can always get the Ciaté instead- or if you're just to lazy to paint the four coats and would rather settle for two.

Needless to say, I have a deep and eternal love for shades like these. I am always on the hunt for more. This is a color I do not hesitate to get from ebay, and on this treacherous site I finally hunted down both the Maybellines, OPI Greenwich Green, and the Revlon Streetwear.

Swedish word of the evening:
älskling -noun darling
Because these are.

Ciaté Paint Pots

I chose my manicure color accordingly to the weather today.

Two coats of Ciaté Vintage. In overcast.

A while ago I, like so many others, was tempted to get myself a couple of the super cute Ciaté Paint Pots bottles. I was reassured I would love them, because, not only are they pretty, the formula was supposed to be effing awesome! I was ogling through the range in one of the webshops, and it was so hard to narrow it down to only a few pretty colors to order. I ended up getting the dark teal creme Superficial and shimmery greenish Golden Globe that time. I tried Superficial first, and was... Well. Disappointed. After three coats, I still had bald spots, which were detectable even in poor light. The formula was thick and I had trouble maneuvering the wide brush. Compared to the price, I felt that Ciaté polishes were overrated.

I wasn't very tempted to try out my second bottle, Golden Globe, but eventuall did so a few months later. Shimmer formulas tend to be a little more sheer, so I thought at least it was possible it was easier to apply. And it was. A little. I still wasn't very impressed with the formula, although I tend to luuurv colors like Golden Globe and therefore was quite happy with that manicure once it was set. I also got a compliment on the color from one of the girls in my class, and unlike so many of you seem to, I don't often get comments on my nail colors. Must be my repelling personality! Hahah.

I tend to do the stupidest things, and forget some bad things because I like the good, so of course I once again fell for those pretty pretty bottle pictures of the Paint Pots. Like an old hippie on pot, all I think is "Oooh, pretty colors!" and ordered a couple more. This time I had an even harder time choosing, but I ended up with Vintage and one more.

And this time around, it wasn't all that bad. I almost feel bad, because I have been so negative towards the Ciatés. When I applied Vintage this morning, I first thought it could be a one-coater. Though, I still had some bald spots down at the free edges. This happens to me a lot, but it is more evident when applying really opaque cremes. Maybe it's just my crappy technique, but still. No one-coater, but yes, a two-coater. And I didn't have all that much trouble with the brush this time either. I feel I may forgive Ciaté for my early conclusions. ;)

Here's a photo of Golden Globe, from the vault. Quite purrty. And my nails were a lot purrtier too.


This kinda reminds me. I have made a new greenish golds comparison wheel, complete with my stash reinforcements. Is this something you would be interested in? Please let me know in the comments section.

Swedish word of the day:
tvåveckorsförkylning -noun two week head cold
Because I have yet another one, and this word really makes it apparent that Swedes like 'em looong and combined! ;D

Purple shimmer comparison

You wouldn't believe it- I have a day off! Fantastic. This means I have some actual, physical time to do a blog post. I just edited a shitload of comparison photos, so believe me, I have many coming up for you! Right now, this seems to be the huge comparison Mekka.

Today I have an almost full wheel of one color group I can seldom resist: purple shimmers. I have many more than the ones on this wheel, but they didn't fit in this bunch, as I tried to gather the ones I feel are the most typical and sometimes hard to tell apart. Though, are they really that much alike..? Let us take a look.

Here are the fifteen bottles I picked out this time.


And here they are, lined up after being judged by approximate bottle color.


First, let's take a look at one coat only. This is when they are usually the easiest to tell apart.

Clockwise, they are:
12. H&M Fashionista
13. Zoya Savita
14. Wet'n'Wild Eggplant Frost
15. Color Club Taboo!
16. LA Girl Rock Star Groupie
17. OPI Ink
18. Ciaté Starlet
1. China Glaze Midnight Ride
2. Essie Sexy Divide
3. H&M Wicked Purple
4. China Glaze Let's Groove
5. OPI Visions of Sugarplum
6. H&M Goddess on Stage
7. Zoya Yasmeen
8. Zoya Sloane

Sloane is really reddish, but has some kind of magenta or purple shimmer that slightly transforms it into a purple, so I threw it in here. Eggplant Frost is also mostly borderlining a plum shade, but the shimmer makes it appear rather purple, in my opinion, so it got to fit in here too! Because, frankly, let's take a look at the finished product. And... Um... Yes, this problem with awkward numbering seems to be haunting me. Please excuse that!


And to clarify things a little bit more, a fugly direct sunshine shot:

No, you don't get to see my by elderly care destroyed thumbnail!

Last, I think we should take a closer look at some of the best ones, in the same range, to see the little differences. Here, from left to right, we have Color Club Taboo! from the Master of Disguise Halloween mini set, LA Girl Rock Star Groupie, and OPI Ink.

See? Taboo! has the finest shimmer, Groupie is the most duochrome, and Ink... Well, it is the classic one. You can't tell from this shot, but it is also the only one with a charcoal base color. You can trace the base colors of all of them in the first wheel photo.

Oh, did you see my kitchen table in the first few shots?

I know, I know... And I was going to keep all my nastiness to where my seat is, but... As it turns out, I failed this mission. So now there are little dollops of color everywhere... Ahem...

Swedish word of the day:
vargavinter -noun from varg wolf and vinter winter really fucking ass freezing mid-winter
Because last night was the coldest yet this season.

Golden green comparison!

Good day, dear friends!

I have certainly missed you, and blogging, over the last few days, but it has been chaotic here! I stick by my opinion that being a nursing assistant at an elderly community is hard work. In fact, it is so damn hard, that I just slept in total a little over 17 hours.

Luckily, I still have a bunch of stuff in the vault that I would like to share with you. The truth is, I have been building up quite a stash of documentation long before I went into blogging, with the purpose of either posting it on the nail board, or, if I would ever start my own blog... Regardless, you know I have this sick interest in comparisons, so I have been making them with pretty much the sole purpose of my own enjoyment!

Today: mossy, golden greens! I just love, love lovelovelove this kind of colors, and I collect them- any I can find I grab instantly! Still many highlights missing, but I'm working on that, and since the comparison below was made, I dare say the collection has grown at least a little bit.

Here are the bunch:


Lined up and sorted by approximate bottle color:


Painted and ready for in-depth review!

L-R:
15. Zoya Irene
16. Nfu-Oh 125
17. Guppy 77
18. OPI At Your Quebec & Call
1. Ciaté Golden Globe
2. China Glaze Cat's Eye
3. Make Up Store Celebration
4. China Glaze Wagon Trail

As you can see they vary quite a lot, and you can find both the ones that lean much to the golden, and some dark ones that aren't apparent green- and that you may discuss whether they are really green or not! For instance, both the two darker ones to the right are doubtfully reallt green, but make that impression because of how the gold shimmer is reflecting in the deep brownish base.

One of my absolute favourites, and the one I call my very OPI favourite, is At Your Quebec & Call. It turns out that Ciaté Golden Globe is very dupish, and also less sheer. Therefore, of course, gorgeous. However, I feel that it can't ever replace the OPI one. I know that the Ciaté Paint Pots are much loved by many who tried them, but I have to admit I absolutely hate the formula. It is too thick, gluey. Golden Globe was a bit easier, or less difficult, to apply, than the cremes I have tried.

Doesn't matter, I still love all of these, greenish looking polishes! And I do hope this comparison was helpful for you.

Swedish word of the day:
trollskog -noun troll forest
Because they are cozy.