Revlon Chic, the MAC Blue India dupe?

As promised earlier on, here is the new MAC Blue India comparison!

I was at Watsons a few weeks back and I was walking down the cosmestics aisle when something caught my eye. It was this gorgeous slate blue Revlon polish and I knew instantly that they brought Revlon Chic in! LIKE FINALLY!

I've been crazy about slate blue polish ever since I saw MAC Blue India, a polish which I had longed for for the longest time but wasn't able to get until I was trolling ebay one fine day last year and since a listing! I HAD TO HAVE IT IMMEDIATELY and Janelle, the kind soul that she is, helped me with the shipping (the seller only shipped within the US). I will be forever grateful to her! :)

So anyway, back to Chic, I grabbed a bottle and proceeded to pay for it, excited at how it'll compare to Blue India and the rest of my slate blue polishes!



Here we have a bottle comparison of, from left to right, my franken Blue My Mind (BMM), Sally Hansen Grey by Grey (GBG), MAC Blue India (BL) and  Revlon Chic (C).



This is one coat of each polish on my nails. Revlon Chic and Blue My Mind were the more opaque of the bunch, and you can immediately see how much greyer and lighter Grey By Grey is compared to the rest.



This was two coats of each polish.



This is Chic on the left, next to Blue India and you can see that they are definitely not dupes!



This is Grey By Grey on the left and Blue India on the right and again, no dupes here.



Lastly, we have Blue India on the left and Blue My Mind on the right. Blue My Mind was the closest to Blue India (and I take pride in knowing that I created the closest dupe of the bunch, even before I bought Blue India!) but they're still not dupes.

Formula wise, Blue India had the runniest formula, and hence was the sheerest of the bunch but it built up nicely with two coats. Revlon Chic was a little thick but still manageable. My bottle of Grey by Grey has grey streaks in it and those streaks translated to grey streaks on the nails. They're not too obvious unless you examine the nail close up but I'm still not happy about it. As for Blue My Mind, it does have a rather thick formula so I'll be adding a couple of drops of thinner to it after I finish typing this.

In conclusion (boy, I feel like I'm writing an essay!), Blue India has proven to be a polish that is undupable. As much as I love being able to find dupes of polishes, I'm actually happy that Blue India has no dupes because it makes the money I spent worth it! :)

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Where to buy:
MAC Blue India: Ebay
Sally Hansen Grey by Grey: Ebay
Revlon Chic: Watsons
Blue My Mind: Sorry ladies, this was a franken but you can get Tony Moly TR11 and add a few drops of black polish.

December's Haul

December's haul was so epic I had to split the entire haul up to take photos. I actually paid for most of the polish you're about to see in October/November but the polishes only arrived in December which is why they're featured in this month's haul. So technically, I wasn't THAT naughty in December!

This first set of pictures are of the polishes I collected from Cheeying from Inkypolisholicious and from Susan. I wasn't able to meet up with Susan to get my polishes but she was meeting up with Cheeying anyway and I too was going to meet Cheeying during the weekend, so she was kind enough to help me collect my polishes from Susan and passed me all my polishes! Thanks Cheeying, if you're reading this!!



December's Haul: Batch 1. This batch consisted of the Cult Nails polishes, Nfu Oh polishes and mini franken bottles the Yings helped me to order, and the RBLs and piCture pOlish Festival that I bought from Susan!

Don't worry, I got some close up shots for you! (:



Love how the Cult Nails bottles came wrapped up in brown paper with their names on the sticker! Doesn't the packaging look so chic? It really makes the packaging look so much more personal, showing how every bottle was individually wrapped by hand, with love!



Here they are unwrapped! The order's opposite from the above picture (i.e. L-R: Wicked Fast to Clairvoyant).



RBL BiBs! These were the RBLs that got shipped to Singapore first because they were from an earlier batch of BiBs. BUT, not all four are mine. One of them is actually for the giveaway that Lynn and I are going to have! We have yet to discuss the details but we should be doing the giveaway very very soon so do look out for it! And for now, I shall keep you in suspense as to which colour we'll be giving away! (:

Susan sent me the remainding two RBLs when they arrived and here they are!



These two Catherines are all mine! They're so pretty!



FLAKIES GALORE! Here are the two Nfu Ohs the Yings helped me to get and piCture pOlish Festival which I purchased from Susan! The Yings aren't really selling polishes, I just tagged along with their Nfu Oh order but Susan is selling piCture pOlish as well as Ozotic Pro polishes so if you're interested, head down over to her blog for more details!



Festival is a gorgeous multicoloured flakie in a clear base which makes it VERY interesting! Here is it next to Clairvoyant, which is also a multicoloured flakie, except it had a darker base!



You can see the flakies better from this angle! Aren't they so purdy? (: And if you're curious how they compare on the nail, Susan did a good comparison post between Clairvoyant, Festival and Nubar 2010, so do check it out!




Here, we have the Starbites pigment I bought from TKB Trading. They make really nice glass fleck duochrome topcoats when put into clear polish! You can check swatches out here, here and here! I've made my glass fleck top coats already and you only need a little pigment for a 5ml bottle and I have plenty left so if you're interested, drop me a comment and I can make and sell you a bottle! (:



And I ordered another 20 mini fraken bottles! I've already used up 17 bottles from my previous batch of 20 mini bottles I ordered a couple months back so I needed to restock my frankening supplies! I somehow don't remember using 17 bottles! WEIRD!!!



December's Haul: Batch 2. These polishes are the ones Janelle helped to buy from the US and mailed it over to me! She was very patient with all my orders because I was collating orders from 4 other gals and she also included some extras for me because she was busy with school and had to delay sending the polishes out! She was way too kind and I'm going to repay the favour when she send me the list of polish she wants from over here! (:

Top row: Deborah Lippmann Across the Universe, MAC Blue India (!!!!!!I FINALLY OWN THIS BABY!!!!!), Sally Hasen Gray by Gray, Sally Hansen Fairy Teal, NOPI Green Up Your Act and Color Club Artsy Crafty

Bottom row: Color Club Bojo Mojo, Manglaze Matte is Murder (these were the two extra bottles Janelle got for me!), Revlon Perplex, Orly Fowl Play and OPI Nantucket Mist

Really happy with this US haul because I got to satisfy so many of my lemmings. I finally own Blue India! It's been on my wishlist since the second month of my addiction and when I saw it on eBay for a reasonable price, I jumped at the opportunity! I also managed to get Perplex, which is a well know dupe for Chanel Paradoxal, which I also have but who can resist such a good dupe? Certainly not me. I also got a backup bottle of Fowl Play and Nantucket Mist. Sadly, I overpaid for Fowl Play, Nantucket Mist and Artsy Crafty but considering Janelle threw in Bojo Mojo and Matte is Murder, I'm still a very happy kid! (:



December's Haul: Batch 3. Collected some of these polishes from Candy and bought the rest during my outing with Lynn and Candy. Oh, and some were Christmas gifts from the very very very generous Candy too! I tell you, shopping with two fellow polish addicts is very damaging to your wallet! HAHA, this batch contained so many polishes I had to take a vertical shot! D:

Let's go to close ups shall we? (:



L-R: Essie Size Matters (What a fabulous name! HAHA!!), Topless and Barefoot, Color Club Fashion Addict and Worth the Risque (THEY BOTH ARE THE FRIGGIN STUD HOLO VERSIONS!)



Nameless Beadstreet polishes again! I friggin love Beadstreet polishes because they're of a very good quality for the price you pay! And since they are nameless, I shall exercise my super creative (read: lame) brain power. L-R: 3 bottles of clear which I'm not gonna bother naming, Yellow Yellow Dirty Fellow, Orange You Glad I'm Only $2 and Night Sky. And yes, I'm VERY happy they only cost $2 per bottle!



L-R: Color Club Magic Attraction, Art Club Glitter Hologram and Gold Hologram



Took a blurry picture just to show you how holo these three polishes are! :D



Finally bought myself some proper yellows! I was doing my nail wheels and got so pissed off at having to paint 5 coats of cheap yellow polish to get it opaque! L-R: China Glaze Lemon Fizz, Happy Go Lucky, Refresh Mint and Essence Lime Up!



And lastly, Essie Smooth Sailing, Orly Sapphire Silk and Pixie Dust!

Okay, as you can see, I'm pretty much broke and need to eat grass for the next two months so I can afford to buy the gorgeous polishes coming out in 2012! I'm praying my addiction will improve in the New Year! HAHAHA! That shall be my New Year's Resolution! TO BUY LESS POLISH! :D



(L-R: Elianto White, Twilight, Perisian Indigo, Night Glitters, Etude House BL505 and OR207)

December's Haul: Batch 4. These were the polishes I bought during my one day trip to JB. I was searching extensively for Elianto and when I finally spotted it, I squealed! Got myself a back up of their black and white polishes because I love how creamy and opaque they are, and I also got two more polishes from their Sparkling Diva range. Etude House was ahaving a 30% off for their polishes so I grabbed a multichrome blue and a dusty salmon/coral colour. Really Happy with the coral colour because I've been having a tough time finding a coral I like and this one is so pwetty!



(L-R: Extra Strength Lacquer Remover, Emerald City, Sacred Ground and Twisted Vine)


December's Haul: Batch 5. These were from the SpaRitual nail class I went to with two of my friends as well as Cheryl! Emerald City came with my goodie bag, along with a buffing block, zebra file and samples of their Handprint Hand Serum and Hydrating Hand Salve (which are not in the picture above). As for the rest, the course fee of $38 was fully redeemable for products and I chose to redeem the lacquer remover, Sacred Ground and Twisted Vine.

MAC Blue India and Comparisons

OH YES, YOU READ RIGHT. MAC FRIGGIN BLUE INDIA. And this didn't even cost me as much as I thought it would so double yay! (:

A few weeks back, Candy sent me an email requesting for a comparison swatch between Sally Hansen Gray by Gray, MAC Blue India and Essie Bobbing for Baubles, and I decided since I'm gonna swatch my precious, I might as well throw in some similar shades too.



L-R: Tony Moly Indian Blue, Sally Hansen Gray by Gray, Blue My Mind (my own franken), Mac Blue India and Essie Bobbing for Baubles



The closest of the five are Gray by Gray and Blue My Mind.The latter is a tad greener though. Just a tad.
Gonna show you individual swatches first before the comparison.



This is Tony Moly Indian Blue. I'm not even lying about the name. On the bottle, it only says TR11 but when I checked my receipt, I saw the name Indian Blue. I mean seriously? Come up with a more original name! Two coats here. I love Tony Moly's formula. Real nice and buttery to apply. They just glide on!



Sally Hansen Gray by Gray. I wanted this the moment I saw it on ALU, being compared to Blue India. Sadly, my bottle had swirls in it, like the pigments weren't blended together. And it caused streaks when I painted it on my nail. Grey streaks. It isn't that obvious but close up, OMG, the horror! I'm cringing! Colour-wise though, lovely colour. The tappered brush is similar to Rimmel's brush and it does miraculously help me to paint neater. Wearing two coats here.



My gorgeous franken Blue My Mind. See how much more original my franken's name is than Indian Blue! This baby's formula is great, applies like butter, isn't too thick and best thing ever? It's a one coater.



The star of the show, or rather, post, MAC Blue India! This was two coats but I have a teeny tiny bald spot so maybe three coats would have been better. I'd still wear two coats though, probably with a ridge filler below to make it apply more opaque. This one had the jelly-est consistency of the bunch.



Essie Bobbing for Baubles. Deep blue polish that applied well with 2 coats. Very hot colour! I'm waiting to get Essie's Luxeffects and layer them on this baby! I must save up because Smoochiezz will be having a booth at Jurong Point when school reopens so I NEED TO SAVE MONEYYYYY!



Thumb to pinkie: Indian Blue, Gray by Gray, Blue My Mind, Blue India and Bobbing for Baubles.



Same order but from a slightly different angle. The colour is slightly more accurate here.



These three are so close to each other. Gray by Gray, Blue My Mind and Blue India. So so close. Which means my franken was pretty darn close! :D

Blue My Mind is greener than Blue India and Gray by Gray is greyer. Blue India is, well, bluer than the two, so technically, no dupes here but for all normal-people-who-are-not-polish-addicts purposes, you don't need all of them.

I got my Blue India on ebay and Gray by Gray from the US, just in case you're wondering.
Okay, going on my one week break now! See you!

September's Haul

Holy crap, I can't believe I bought 21 bottles of polish in September. *Shakes head in shame*



Top row: OPI Miso Happy With This Colour, China Glaze Awaken, China Glaze Westside Warrior, MAC Fatigues, MAC Deep Sea and Essie Going Incognito.

Bottom Row: Nfu Oh #51, Aqua Base, #61, China Glaze DV8 and China Glaze 2nite.



Top row: Various nail art polishes from Daiso. They're all $2 so I'm convincing myself that the haul wasn't that bad.

Bottom row: Various Michelle polishes from Beadstreet



I also got flakies! I was soooooo happy when I found them and I had a plan to create a flakie fraken but but but, after spending hours cutting the flakies smaller pieces, pouring the flakies into some clear polish, and waiting for a while, the darm flakes settled to the bottom of the bottle (probably because I don't have a suspension base) and the different colours of the flakies got lost and it was such an epic failure I don't know what to do with these gorgeous flakes now.

Anyway, look how pretty the Nfu Oh bottle is! It's supposed to look like a Victorian dress and it's the prettiest bottle I've ever seen!





Close up of the 3 glitter polishes I got from Beadstreet! I found them selling these outside Cineleisure and from what I've seen online, I think there may be more colours in their shop (inside Cineleisure) so I'm gonna check the shop out the next time I head over!



I'm probably giving this one away because I realised it kinda looks similar to the blue one that I'm going to show next. It's still gorgeous nonetheless! It's best for layering!



This blue one is gorgeous! Reminds me of OPI Last Friday Night!



One more for layering and this one is different from the above one because it has some blue shimmer running through it.



Really glad that beadstreet makes their own polishes and they're all so affordable! I also bought the flakies from beadstreet in case you're wondering!

Quite happy with this haul because I got to fulfill some major lemmings with this haul. The Nfu Ohs were soooo pretty, and I got my first MAC polishes! Oh, and the two polishes from the OMG collection which I never thought I'd ever own! (:

MAC Fatigues Comparison

MAC Fatigues was one of my first two MAC polishes that I recently got and I've been very into the whole military trend so Fatigues was really a die-die-must-buy polish for me, even though a couple of my friends (who are fully aware of my entire stash) advised me to just get Deep Sea. Knowing that I already had a couple of military green polishes, I bought Fatigues and prayed I wouldn't have any duped for it!
L-R: MAC Fatigues, Essie Sew Psyched, Chanel Khaki Vert, OPI Uh Oh Roll Down the Window and China Glaze Westside Warrior. Without flash.



L-R: MAC Fatigues, Essie Sew Psyched, Chanel Khaki Vert, OPI Uh Oh Roll Down the Window and China Glaze Westside Warrior. With flash.



Same order, from thumb to pinkie, without flash. I used 2 coats for all of them but Fatigues could have used a third coat. Fatigues was also the greyest of the bunch.

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Same order, with flash.



So to conclude, NO DUPES HERE! I was actually thinking of getting Zoya Dree but after swatching all 5 of these polishes, I think I have enough military green polishes for now!

MAC Deep Sea Comparison

As you know, I recently bought my first MAC polishes over the weekend and I was so excited to give them a swatch. I actually loved the colours so much I didn't bother swatching them at the MAC counter so I was hoping they'd apply well!

First of the two to be swatched is Deep Sea. It can be describes as a gorgeous deep teal with a hint of green thrown in. I went digging around my Helmer for dupes and the closest I came up with was OPI Ski Teal We Drop, which was clearly much bluer than Deep Sea. Ski Teal We Drop also had a certain dustiness to it that Deep Sea doesn't.



Bottle pic.



L-R: Ski Teal We Drop, Deep Sea, Ski Teal We Drop, Deep Sea. One coat of each here and you can already start to see how much greener Deep Sea is.



Same order, but with two coats this time. There's a little balding going on on my middle finger nail and maybe it's because I used a thinner second coat for Deep Sea. After noticing the bald spot, I used a thicker second coat for my pinkie and it made all the difference in the world! I also noticed that if you wait for the first coat to dry a little more and if you push the brush down against the nail with less pressure, it does help with the balding! I tend to like to fan the brush out as much as possible and thereby applying unnecessary pressure, which may be the cause of the balding issues. Took the above picture under my table lamp and the below picture in natural sunlight. The colours are pretty accurate in both!



And in case you're wondering how it compares to Essie Going Incognito, here's a bottle pic.



I think if going Incognito and Ski Teal We Drop had a baby, Deep Sea would be it!
I'm happy to report that Deep Sea had a pretty nice formula, it wasn't too runny nor was it too thick. The brush, although thin like Essie (maybe just a little but thicker), was able to fan out well and it wasn't too stiff  so that made the painting much easier.
At the end of the day, I really like Deep Sea (both in terms of colour and formula) and I sure wasn't disappointed with my first MAC purchase!
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Side note: My nails are now so boring in pink  and I can't wait to paint them blue/green/purple! I have on Essie Not Just a Pretty Face now because there's an Recruitment Fair and my nail colour has to be conservative. Sadly, my nails are stained yellow from all the painting that I look like I've been smoking for 20 years so boring french mani pink it is! I think it's serving well as my palette cleanser because I'm dying to try out some of the new polishes I bought! (: