Showing posts with label dupes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dupes. Show all posts

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Egg Hunt!

Here's my latest Easter design. Easter isn't complete without some decorated eggs, and let's not forget the Easter bunny!





PRODUCTS USED:
PRO Nail Systems Base Coat
China Glaze in - Lemon Fizz
Color Club n - Factory Girl
Sally Hansen's Salon Nail Lacquer in - Made You Blush
Essie in - St. Lucia Lilac
"Franken" dupe of MAC's Peppermint Patti
SO Easy Stripe Rite in - Lavender Pearl
KISS Nail Art Paint in - Soft Green
L.A.Colors in - Baby Pink
L.A.Colors in - White
Hurricane Nail Art Polish in - Sky Blue
"Franken" Nail Art Polish in - Pale Yellow
Dotting Tool
Fine Nail Art Brush
Various pastel acrylic paints
Seche Vite Top Coat
For ful tutorial on this design, please visit my You Tube channel

www.youtube.com/user/dollface22772
OR

click the You Tube link in the sidebar
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Saturday, February 13, 2010

Orly SWEET Spring Collection 2010

The Orly SWEET Spring Collection is showing a familiar trend this spring. Pastel cremes are all the rage. This collection definitely mimics many of the other Spring collections out there.  This collection consists of 6 different shades.


Pixy Stix - Pink Cream
Lollipop - Pastel Purple Cream
Lemonade - Pastel Yellow Cream
Gumdrop - Pastel Turquoise Cream
Cotton Candy - Baby Pink Cream
Snow Cone - Baby Blue Cream

What makes these gems unique is that each bottle comes with a mini lip gloss in the same shade as the polish. VERY CUTE. Since I've just picked up almost the entire Up & Away collection, by China Glaze, I decided to get just a couple of these polishes and try them out. Cotton Candy & Gumdrop.





I purchased these online, so I haven't had the chance to see all the colors first hand, nor do I know what each of the lip glosses smell like.  Cotton Candy lip gloss is a classic fruity scent, it reminds me of Fruit Stripes gum. Ok, perhaps I'd dating myself since I said that, I haven't seen Fruit Stripes in stores for many years. GumDrop's lip gloss scent is a pure candy smell, very sweet, very yummy. Both glosses are pretty sheer with an opalescence to them.

Now, let's talk about the polishes themselves.The truth is, I can never say anything bad about Orly. Their formula is fantastic, not to thin, not too thick. Paints on clean and smooth and most times you can get away with a single coat. These 2 polishes are no exception to that. Cotton Candy is really a classic girly pink. Yes, there are alot of pastel pinks on the market these days, and so I can't out right day GO BUY THIS, however, if you've got a thing for pink, you need this one in your collection. Cotton Candy has a dupe, same color, goes on the same, for a third of the price. and that color is Beautiful Girl by Sinful Colors. Both in the bottle and on the nail, Beautiful Girl is the slightest bit darker. Cotton Candy being more peach toned, Beautiful Girl being more pink toned. Sinful Colors retails on average $1.99, while Orly's Cotton Candy on average retails for $8.99

Gumdrop I purchased in the hopes of it being a dupe for China Glaze's infamous For Audrey. I was right. These two colors are identical. I am thrilled because For Audrey is one of my all time favorite colors, and apparently it's everyone elses favorite as well, because this color is usually sold out. :( But have no fear. Orly's gumdrop is a perfect match. I may just have to stock up on this color if I'm not able to get my hands on new bottles of For Audrey. It's a wonderful pastel turquoise cream. A classic Tiffany blue. Gorgeous. Polish is the same, not too thin, not too thick, very smooth application and drys fast.China Glaze retails on average of $6.99 & Orly on average of $8.99. Personally, I'll pay a couple of extra dollars to get my hands on a good "For Audrey" dupe.


 

 


Judging by these two colors, I'd say that Orly has got a hit with this spring collection. I think I may pick up SnowCone next, I've yet to see a pastel blue exactly like it. These pastels, while the seem the same, they are unique onto themselves.Definitely worth a second look.






Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Some Franken Dupes...

How many times have you seen a new polish collection come out, or perhaps it's just one polish in particular and you think to yourself, I gotta have that! Then you see the price, and all your dreams are shattered. Still, we hang onto the dream that one day, we can own such amazing colors. ( Ok, so maybe that's just me, lol )

Oh sure, it's nice to be able to splurge on the more expensive brands, but the truth is, alot of us don't have the kind of money to drop on nail polish. I know, that's crazy talk, but sometimes you have to put the polish down and buy groceries instead. LOL! Yeah, budgets suck.....but hey, when my wallet is tight, that's when I have come up with some of the most creative and ingenius ideas.

I have been eyeing a few polishes lately, you know the ones. when you see them, you get all warm & fuzzy inside. Don't deny it, we've all been there.


Unless you've been living under a rock, anyone who loves nail polishes, knows MAC's Peppermint Patty. This color has been such a hit, that many MAC counters have sold out of this minty gem.  So, I started thinking....I'm creative, I have the no-how to mix colors.AH-HA! I'll make a Franken! Hmmm, but which colors to match to make just the right color. Trial and error, I could not get this color right. Then, one day, I literally stumbled onto a YouTube video telling the exact colors to match to get this color.  So I immediately ran-sacked my polish draw, pulled out the colors she mentioned and got to mixing.  The end result brought tears to my eyes and I swear I heard angels sing when I painted my first nail. EUREKA!!!


But wait.....there's more! Hilary aka HilsHeavenScents(see video above) truly inspired me to try and duplicate some more colors. So I tried a couple more.
This is what I came up with.

     This is a dupe for Essie's  - Sag Harbor

 I took just a plain white polish, the bottle was 3/4 ful.
the one I used is from Avalon. Then I took a basic black (I used NYX polish in black) and poured about 20 drops into the white. Then to give it just the slightest blue tint, I poured about 7 drops of a sky blue polish (I used May6ix polish in Sky Blue) Simply placed the lid back onto the bottle and gave it a thorough shake. VOILA! there you go.


This is a dupe for MAC's - Coconut Ice


This is a new polish from MAC's Lilyland collection. I simply fell in love with it. It's so perfect for spring, I just knew I had to own it. Again, taking a basic white(I used Brucci polish in Snow White) with the bottle about halfway full.
Next, I took an orange polish ( I used Sally Hansen's Xtreme Wear in Sun Kissed) and poured about 25 drops into the white. Followed by a nice cream pink (I used Essie polish in Forget Me Nots) and poured about 8 drops into the white. Closed the lid, shaked the bottle well and now I've got Coconut Ice. I gotta say, I'm really looking forward to doing a tutorial with this color.


 
 This is a dupe for MAC's - Peppermint Patty
(the Seche Clear was just an empty bottle I had)

Following the directions in HilsHeavenScents video, I mixed China Glaze's For Audrey & In The Lime Light with a plain white and this is the result. Pure minty heaven! I can't thank her enough for not only showing me how to make this color, but for also inspiring me to try some stuff out on my own.


This is with indoor lighting


This is with natural lighting

My camera isn't the best with colors & lighting, all the colors in person are slightly lighter.
So now it's your turn to try something new! Have fun, mix it up, you never know what you'll come out with!!