Wet n Wild Comparisons

So I brought my little stash of Wet n Wild home in my tacky plastic Walgreen's bag and set them out on the floor to take pictures to show you and thought...hold up. I think I've seen some of these before!

I don't really do comparison posts. Partly because there are other bloggers out there who do them better and partly because what I think looks like something else really kind of...doesn't.

But I know that in these times, when money is scarce and food prices are only escalating, that if you can get close to a more expensive color you might just do it, if you knew what to look for. Some of these work, some of them are fails. Hopefully the are all food for thought. Each swatch is one coat just to show quality, opacity and color.

Here is the starting line-up:

 The two in the upper right are just part of the stash and I have a swatch of each to show you because they are really fun.

Hollywood Walk of Fame over Illamasqua Collide. I was taking Collide off when I decided to do these comparisons and I left it on. This turned out to be kind of educational and I may use this idea in the future. Nothing shows you streaky polish quality like something aggressively clashing under it. You will see what I mean later on.

This is a clear top coat with star shaped glitter in it and it is SO fun. I love it. You can see the stars are really pretty large, they're all the colors and they're densely packed in there. These Fergie ones have the large brush in it. I know there is a lot of hate out there for the wide WnW brush, but let me tell ya, when it comes to chunky glitter it's kind of an asset. I don't mind it. **shrugs**

 New Year's Kiss on Illamasqua Collide. One coat. this is sparkly silver tiny glitter and holo string glitter in a clear base. You can see the glitter is pretty dense and there is a lot happening. It dries a little rough so you want top coat on both of these. 

On to the comparisons!

Wet n Wild Fergie Rock n Roll is a sparkly charcoal thing. It's really pretty and it really sparkled but I said...wait, now. I have seen something like this! I dug through the Orly's I have out *embarrassed* and yes. Very close. Orly isn't really a luxury brand, but if you're shopping for them at Ulta or Sally or somewhere that isn't cheap and online, you can pay a price. These Mineral FX polishes were even more, though I do not remember how much more. I remember there was something of a small uprising about it. If you feel the same way, here is your answer. While none of these I will show you are complete dupes, some of them are dupe enough. I would say this one is. For $3.49, unless you compare and contrast with an Orly Rock Solid on someone else, you're not going to see the difference.
More on these two later because this is a polish look I really love.

Several of the WnWs I bought  reminded me of butterLONDON's. I don't know if it's just I love what butter does so I am attracted to those same kinds of colors at Wet n Wild or if Wet n Wild is deliberately aping some shades done by butter. It's not a bad idea. Take your lead from a more cult brand to bring those kinds of colors to a mass of consumer who probably aren't even looking at the more expensive brands. It's a sound strategy, if that's what they are doing.

This is Wet n Wild Dutchess and butterLONDON Scouse. No, they're not exact, but they are very very close. The difference is in the quality. Scouse does have that hot pink sparkle in it that Dutchess has, it's just not showing up here. Look at the nails...Middle is Dutchess, Ring is Scouse. See how much smoother Scouse is? Also, it's clearly in a rich clear helly base. I'm not sure what Dutchess is doing.

Scouse has more of a glass fleck to it while Dutchess is more of a scattered mico-glitter, and it is chunkier and dries rougher. The butter is a smooth one. Like...butter. **groan**

However...in the world of color, which I think Scouse is the better made polish, I am not that fond of the chunk there, it just looks messy, I think in another layer or two, these would be close enough. Definitely not dupes. But close enough. A way to get the look for less, here. At $14, butters are up there compared to many and way over the $3.49 price point. For $10, I'm sure some of us can tolerate a little chunk.

OK, here's where I went astray but not as far astray as I will later! This is WnW Miami Heat and butterLONDON Slapper. Never gonna pass for each other, no way. This is with flash and it's making it a bigger difference than it really is, but it it shows of the shimmer in Miami Heat nicely. It's a really pretty polish, actually, and it went on beautifully. butters streak on the first coat and level on the second, we know this. It's a characteristic of the brand. I'm willing to live with it, personally. I usually do at least 2 coats regardless just for better wear.

No flash, just glare. the butter is much more blue and turquoise. These look very close in the bottles but go on a bit differently. Still, depending on just how blue that turquoise has to be for you., Miami Heat is really pretty and a lot less money. They won't ever be confused with each other, but this is a nice way to get a similar color. However, if you just need that blue in there, then go for the butter. I did. :)

WnW Teal of Fortune and butterLONDON Bluey. Damn Close. Once again, the butter is more of a glass fleck with a nice smooth finish while the WnW is more about sparse glitter but the base colors are really almost dead on. Not the same polish, not saying that, just saying it's a way to get a trendy look with a little less investment. They are distinct but the base colors are so close. You could substitute Teal of Fortune and be very happy with it, I think. If you've been lemming the butter but can't swallow the price, go for Teal of Fortune. But save up for the butter. The smoothness of it is worth while, I feel. However, they are both really very pretty. I don't think there is a bad decision here.

Next I thought...maybe. Just maybe. AEngland Galahad and WnW I need a Refresh-Mint. Or maybe Buffy the Violet Slayer to butterLONDON HRH.

This is why I don't do comparison swatches.

Really? OK, to be fair to me, these are the same color family. Galahad is a lot darker. you don't really need me to tell you. If you want the look and are OK with it being a lot lighter, Refresh-Mint will do ya. But it's a total compromise. I would point out, though, the quality. This is on a bare nail, obviously, and note the streaky thin look of the WnW as opposed to the consistently excellent AEngland. No real contest. However, in a few more coats Refresh-Mint is going to even out and behave and be very pretty.


Buffy, on the other hand, is a total WTF was I thinking?

Next to HRH Buffly looks blueberry. There is no contest here. Once you got Buffy on the nail it became so much more blue than it ever was in the bottle. I knew it was more blue, but...THIS much?

So for grins and giggle I dug out Deborah Lippmann's Private Dancer. Yeah, no.

You'd be better off choosing the butter over the Lippmann if cost is your only concern. Possibly WnW has a purple that can go toe to toe with these two. but I don't have it. HRH and Dancer are two very different polishes, I would never ever ever call them dupes, but if you want a rich royal purple, HRH will do just fine for a little less. It lacks the chrome finish of Dancer, but it's not meant to have it.

Now here's a comparison I bet doesn't get made every day. This is the newer version of Happy Birthday, which is the only one I have, Wet n Wild Fast Dry in A Party of Five Glitters, and Forget You.
Looking at them in the bottles I would have ruled out Happy Birthday. It's simply not as dark. Not the case!

Interesting. OK, so we can rule out Forget You. It's a hot mess in one coat and it's a sheer black base. Not int he running, but...Birthday and Party...well, now.

Are they dupes, no. But once again, if you're the only one in the room wearing it no one would ever know. Only a true polish hound is going to even question it. And worse yet, the WnW went on easier! I think, again, it's that tremendously huge brush. It picks up more polish, more glitter and it distributes it more easily. Plus, the WnW was a bit thicker so the glitter stayed put better. Happy Birtdhday was a little more difficult and a little more sparse going on. You can fix sparse but...For the money, unless you just HAVE to spend the extra $17, get the WnW. I know Happy Birthday is practically legendary and it is beautiful and it is higher quality, but if you just want the look, because let's face it, not many of us are getting away with this at work, why would you do it? I did it because I didn't know about Wet n Wild and I assumed it was not cruelty free, which it is.

And they both suck equally coming off so...not a factor.

One last shot of those. You can see the differences but I say if anyone is looking that closely with an attempt to say "CHEAP IMITATION" then you need to just poke them in the eye.

So those are my bargain suggestion for some of the trendy right now colors and some classics as well. And some fails. But the fails are useful, too. Maybe it will spare someone a frustrating thought they had a passable color and they do not moment. As I run into things I will try to post more. I'm all about saving money and making cruelty free easier and more appealing to everyone.

Happy Talons!!

Deborah Lippmann Brick House

Deborah Lippmann Brick House is part of the new Fall collection. These have been out about a month or so. I did post bottle pics when the haul arrived, but I didn't swatch. Well, now I have.

This is a really lovely copper metallic. It's not so much brick, which I associate with red, but instead a metallic terra cotta? It's really gorgeous. It's very wearable. Here's a better swatch:

I believe this may have been only one coat...Judging by how thin it looks in the first swatch, it might be. I know I had two lacquers that I swatched that were one coaters. This may have been one. A second and third coat sure won't hurt it, if it was. This is so stunning, and so wearable. It's a tricky color for some skin tones, having that much orange in it. Mine should be one of those, however, and it's not.

It's not frosty or shimmery, that is just the metallic finish to it. It's probably my favorite of the Fall collection. They are all beautiful, of course, but this is lovely, lady like, but still a little edgy. It's definitely Fall but I see no reason this can't come out in the Summer and Winter, too.

So...I know when I did the bottle shots I did a comparison to Illamasqua's Shrapnel. In the bottle they are so different. Shrapnel looks more pale, softer, pinker...I had to try it anyways.

This picture really shoes the differences in the bottle colors, but the nails...not so much. You can see Shrapnel is pinker here.

Let's try that again.

Ah. Here we go. This is pretty true to color. It's a tad washed out...and don't ever punch someone like this, you'll break your thumb. I just didn't paint the thumb nail so I hid it. These have about the same kind of metallic finish. Shrapnel leans more towards a foil. They are in the same color family, to be sure, but Brick House is darker, redder, while Shrapnel, denying it's rather fantastic name, is pinker, softer and more delicate. They are both gorgeous. I would say Brick House is a more true copper while Shrapnel is the color of rose gold. And they both look good on my super white skin, which normally rejects anything passing for orange. I just wear oranges anyways!

So what do you think? Brick House, totally beautiful? I think so too.

It went on nicely, like a Lippmann should. You're paying top dollar for it, it better go on nicely! I think this was two coats, to be honest. I think I took that first swatch and slapped another coat on. It's two coats of Shrapnel as well. Both polishes apply so nicely. I can't complain about either brand, honestly.

I think when it comes down to it, if you love this color, get a hold of both of these. They are different enough. If you like this color then I'd choose one, purely on your own preference or skin tone. These are top shelf lacquers with top shelf prices, and I confess, if I hadn't purchased Shrapnel some time ago, I would likely have not bought both. That, my fellow polish hounds, is up to you!

Happy Talons!!