Sunday 3 April 2011

Red comparison week - 7th day: blood reds: 7

The big seven comparison! I had no idea it will put me through so much work, it was the first time I started to think about buying nail wheels, hehe. I still hope you'll find this one useful, I tried my best. Blood reds are by far the most useful reds in my opinion. You can get away with a blood red on long nails, short nails, at work or at a party or simply going camping. Or is it just me? I at least find it the most useful red, although I don't wear it often, what can I say, I'm a green person. ;) But I know a few people that think of a blood red as a bit much. So do they of basically all colours. Anyway, this will not be the last comparison, although it's the seventh day of red comparisons! I still have one more, I know you thought I've forgotten about them, but I haven't! But to todays comparison, here they are. Read the writing under the pics too, please, as I'll try to explain a few things.


 The group picture. They look like one mani, don't they?

 Up and below shots of separate hands in natural light, also for you to know which is which on one picture. My BIG apologizes for Luscious Wine, remember my rant about the dust in our house? Well, it happened, a piece of dust got stuck on my freshly applied polish. I couldn't remove it, as it was my last finger for the comparison and I'd have ruined the rest. *sigh*


 This one is almost useless due to the incredbile glossines of these colours! You can almost see my face in them, lol. This is all without TC, so trully an amazing gloss on these babies.



 The only way I could reduce the reflection on these. It's also the best picture for a very strict comparison. You may need to enlarge it to see the minor differences.


Another group picture. Not particularly useful, as the last three are in a different light, but still.

First of all, a big thanks to my mother, she had to use my camera for the very first time to get the group pictures. :) She almost lost her nerves too, so I bet she's glad the big comparisons are over (we did the one I'll show tomorrow today). :)

Jungle Red, NARS, no collection, as it seems, but it was a part of Jungle Red Set with lipstick and some other stuff.
Got the Blues for Red, 2005 O.P.I. Chicago collection.
Caught on the Red Carpet, Catrice, part of their core line Ultimate Nail Lacquer
St. Petersburgundy, 2007 O.P.I. Russian collection for fall.
Luscious Wine, LA Colors, no info on collection.
Bordeoux, Essie, again no info on collection, I suspect it's a part of their core line.
Thirsty!, 2010, Essence, The Twilight Saga Eclipse LE.


NARS, O.P.I. and Essie are all B3F brands, LA Colors claims on their web page they're toluene and formaldehyde free, and as for Essence and Catrice I still can't say for sure, but since the old formula is acutally forbidden, I'm guessing they are? At least partially. Don't know, wouldn't bet my head on it and their official sites don't say a word about it. But they're sister-brands so I'm guessing they have the same formula.

Brush: You know already what I'm gonna say about O.P.I. brush, I like it, the same goes for NARS (my first try out of NARS polish!). I love Catrice brush as it's a bit wider too. Essie, as you know, has a brush too thin for my liking, but it's managable. As for Essence and LA Colors, I can't really say I was thrilled about the brushes. But Thirsty! acted much nicely as with the wine red comparison. Still, they both fall in "less than good" chategory IMO.

Coats: I tried 2 with them all, and with the exception of LA Colors, you would get away with two, but with VNL and less depth in colour. Three coats are optimal with them all, except LA Colors, it needs four. I know what you'll gonna say - on some pictures there is VNL with some colors. That's due to the more jelly formula of some, especially NARS. Come to think of it, the biggest differences with these seven are because they're either more jelly or more creme. Application wasn't troublesome with any of them, at least not so much to point it out, even Essence behaved rather well. With removal I must point out that the only one who left me with bloodbath finger was Got the Blues for Red and that's no extra points for this one!

Dupability: The hard part. I looked at my nails like an idiot, on sunlight, shadow, in different rooms for different lighting, lightbox, strong light, soft light, you name it ... the only one that looked a bit darker, and that's only half a shade darker is Got The Blues For Red, as you can see on one picture especially (the one with reduced reflection). When I showed the pics to my BF by accident (I think I just edited them as he came in or something) he said NARS is lighter than all the other. I honestly didn't see that on my hands, so the only conclusion I can draw out of this is that NARS Jungle Red is the jelliest of them all and the colour change and more obvious VNL lies with that particular formula difference. Apart for Got The Blues For Red, I'd dare say they all look the same, and if there are differences, they're so small, you won't even notice them. I mean, look at my pictures with both hands. See any differences? 
Saying that, I feel it's a bit of a bold statement, claiming 6 out of 7 are dupes, and the one so close you won't even notice it unless staring at your nails for a while. Correction: 7 out of 8 are dupes, as Thirsty! was confirmed dupe with Essence Late At Night.
Maybe some of you would see the differences. I saw only the GtBfR and that Jungle Red is the jelliest. Saying that, I must say it's a gorgeous colour, one of the best shades of red, and I wouldn't worry much about it, if you have a couple of bottles at home. :) It's a classic shade, and it doesn't surprise me that most of brands have their edition of it. 

Long post, wow! Hope you find it useful. Oh, first time I've shown my right hand too, lol! Tomorrow I give you the last red comparison and then the usual manis. :) 

What do you think about this one? Please share your thoughts about dupabilty of these! :)

Thank you for reading!

3 comments:

  1. Catrice je tudi B3F - nekaj časa nazaj sem na njihovi spletni strani brala sestavive. :) Sicer se mi pa zdijo vsi ti laki enaki. :D

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  2. Uf, vsi so prav yummy! :D

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  3. Kaneli, hvala za info! :)

    Biba, jap, prav vsi, še sreča, da sta vsaj dva moja. :D

    Hvala za komentarja! :)

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