Category Archives: *Swatches & Comparisons

MAC Moth Brown Eyeshadow Swatches, Comparisons, Dupes

Possible dupe ideas: NARS Lhasa, MAC Moth Brown, Urban Decay Mushroom

I try not to get pulled in by the MAC limited edition product hype, but I do love my purple/taupes, so when the recent MAC by Request collection was released, I ordered one product – the eyeshadow Moth Brown. It’s already sold out (though available overpriced on Ebay) so instead of a review, I have comparison swatches for you today. The two most similar shades in my stash are – luckily – both permanent: NARS Lhasa, and Urban Decay Mushroom.

Swatches are done without primer, with a sponge – tipped applicator. Click to enlarge.

NARS Lhasa, MAC Moth Brown, Urban Decay Mushroom – sunlight

As you can see, the color family is the same, and the shade is very similar in all three eyeshadows. The biggest difference is the level of pigmentation – Lhasa is fairly sheer, Moth Brown has medium pigmentation, and Mushroom is very pigmented. If you apply Lhasa or Moth Brown over primer they will – of course – appear more opaque and pigmented.

Everyone has different ideas of what is close enough to constitute a dupe, but I personally would consider Lhasa and Moth Brown almost-dupes; different in swatches, but identical on the eye. Because Mushroom is more pigmented (and has more metallic shine), I don’t think it’s a dupe, though they might be close enough that you don’t want to own both.

Would you consider any of these three eyeshadows dupes?

Maybelline Fashion Week 2012 Color Show Nail Polish Swatches

Maybelline Fashion Week Color Show Nail Polish: swatches!

I took some time this morning to do actual (nail, not nail wheel) swatches of the six Maybelline Fashion Week Color Show nail polishes.

I don’t have much to add to my original review – I found that all six polishes were thin and applied easily and smoothly. Several were more sheer than I realized. In particular, Pink Cosmo is extremely sheer – even at three coats – and is probably best as a layering shade. However, it is very even, so if you like sheer nail polish, it will work on its own.

On to the swatches! On the left, I photographed the polish in shade (natural light) with flash, and on the right, no flash. In the caption for each photograph I noted how many coats each swatch is (either two or three)

Maybelline Color Show Avante Green, swatched – 3 coats

Maybelline Color Show Auburn Ablaze, swatched – 2 coats

Maybelline Color Show Metal Icon, swatch – 3 coats.

Maybelline Color Show Boho Gold swatched, 3 coats

Maybelline Color Show Cosmo Pink swatched, 3 coats (left picture is in sunlight)

Maybelline Color Show Downtown Brown swatched, 2 coats

After seeing these on my nails, my two favorites are Boho Gold and Auburn Ablaze. Boho Gold is more sheer than I realized – it definitely needs three coats – but the color is just gorgeous. I prefer it to the Peridot / Just Spotted the Lizard polishes, since it is more gold. Auburn Ablaze is the most opaque of the set – two coats is completely opaque – and I love how it is almost black in low lighting but lights up with a fiery shimmer in the sunlight!

My least favorite is Metal Icon – it’s the most ordinary shade of the bunch, and it (surprisingly!) requires three coats for opaqueness. While I might not have an exact dupe, I definitely have a couple shades that are extremely close, and I’m pretty sure I have some that are one-coaters.

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Maybelline Fashion Week 2012 Limited Edition Color Show Nail Polish Swatches, Review, Photos

Maybelline LE Fashion Week 2012 Polishes

I am on a Maybelline Fashion Week kick right now – I finally found the Color Show nail polish collection at a Rite Aide near me, and after agonizing for a few minutes, decided to buy all six nail polishes.

The colors are: 700 Avante Green, a full coverage chrome finish green; 705 Auburn Ablaze, a gorgeous blackened red with a subtle shimmer; 710 Metal Icon, a sort of chunky metallic/chrome – it looks to me to be sort of taupe with silver; 715 Boho Gold, a gold duochrome that shifts to green and pink; 720 Cosmo Pink, a pink duochrome that shifts to gold; and 725 Downtown Brown, and brown with strong green shimmer.

I just bought them a couple hours ago, so right now I just have nail wheel swatches for you. I have two swatches of each color – on the left, one coat over black, and on the right, two coats (with no base). I did not use top coat so you could see the finish of the polish. If you’re interested in seeing these swatched on my fingers, please leave a comment – I’d be happy to do that if enough people are interested!

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UPDATE: See all six swatched on my nails here!

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Although it’s harder to judge based on nail wheel swatches, overall the formula of the Maybelline polishes seemed very good to me – all six were thin and flowed evenly. Any smudges or bubbles you see are due to my painting the nail wheels outside in 90 degree heat and some dust getting on the nail wheels. Some of the shades do show brushstrokes, so you’ll have to decide if that bothers you.

On the left, the photo is in direct sunlight – on the right, the photo is in the shade, using flash. Enjoy!

Maybelline 700 Avante Green

Maybelline 705 Auburn Ablaze

Maybelline 710 Metal Icon

Maybelline 715 Boho Gold

Maybelline 720 Cosmo Pink

Maybelline 725 Downtown Brown

I also did comparisons. I’d heard that China Glaze Swanky Silk duped one of the shades – and in the bottle, It looks like China Glaze Swanky Silk is extremely similar, if not identical, to Maybelline Cosmo Pink.

China Glaze Swanky Silk / Maybelline Cosmo Pink

However, on the nail wheel, they look very different: With two coats of each, Maybelline Cosmo Pink is very sheer still, while China Glaze Swanky Silk is almost opaque. Swanky Silk also has a stronger duochrome. I did try these out on my nails, and they look much more similar there (especially with three coats of the Maybelline), but I can see the difference, especially since even with three coats the Maybelline is not opaque.

Not dupes: Maybelline Cosmo Pink, China Glaze Swanky Silk

I’d also heard that there was a Chanel Perido / OPI Just Spotted the Lizard dupe in the collection. I don’t own the Chanel, but I do have the OPI. Here’s the OPI compared to Maybelline Boho Gold. You can see that even in the bottle, the Maybelline looks more gold, and the OPI more green.

Maybelline Boho Gold / OPI Just Spotted the Lizard

On the nail wheel (and on the nail), this is true as well – Boho Gold is gold with a green duochrome, while Just Spotted the Lizard is green with a gold duochrome. Note also that Just Spotted the Lizard has a stronger duochrome.

Not dupes: Maybelline Boho Gold / OPI Just Spotted the Lizard

I also have a perhaps – surprising dupe for Maybelline Auburn Ablaze: Wet n Wild Megalast polish in Under Your Spell. These look identical on the nail and nail wheel – however, it takes three coats of the Wet n Wild to match two coats of the Maybelline in opacity.

Maybelline Auburn Ablaze /
Wet n Wild Megalast Under Your Spell

Dupes! Wet n Wild Under Your Spell, Maybelline Auburn Ablaze

My favorite shades are the two duochromes: Boho Gold and Cosmo Pink, but I really like all six of these. It’s a great little collection, and too bad that it’s limited edition!

Again, let me know in the comments if you want to see these swatched on my own nails, and I’ll do that 🙂

A $1.50 Dupe for Urban Decay Grindhouse

Dupes: Essence dual pencil sharpener and Urban Decay grindhouse

A few weeks ago, Nouveau Cheap posted that Essence pencil sharpener was a dupe for the famous Urban Decay Grindhouse. UD Grindhouse is a great pencil sharpener that can sharpen even the softest pencil, but it sells for $10 – which I consider pretty steep. I was browsing at Ulta earlier today, and when I saw the Essence sharpeners, I remember Nouveau Cheap’s post and decided to pick one up to compare for myself – since her post didn’t have pictures, and since I can always use an extra good-quality pencil sharpener.

Aside from the branding, they are identical – it’s quite clear that that the same factory makes both. When you take the lid off of each sharpener, not only do they look the same, but the blades are engraved with both “Made in Germany” and the same symbol – it’s sort of an E with a crown on it.

They’re constructed identically as well; a square box, with a removable top and bottom, and two sizes of sharpener. The bottom also says Made in Germany and has the same symbol – it’s much easy to see on the UD sharpener, but if you look closely you can see it on the Essence sharpener as well.

Of course, the same factory could make two sharpeners that were of different qualities, so I tested out the Essence sharpener to make sure that it worked well!

First, I tested out the smaller side. I sharpened my Prestige Total Intensity pencil, which is the softest pencil eyeliner I own. It’s also a hot day here – making it softer and more difficult to sharpen well. The Essence sharpener did a great job, and I got a nice point.

Then, I sharpened the only jumbo pencil that needed sharpening – NYX Milk. It’s also not the easiest to sharpen, given the texture of the wood, but again, it sharpened quite smoothly and easily.

Overall, I would definitely recommend the Essence pencil sharpener! There is no need to spend $10 on the Urban Decay Grindhouse sharpener when you can get the same sharpener (and in a variety of colors, too!) for just $1.99.

Brush Comparison: Hakuhodo vs. Shu Uemura 5r

Shu Uemura 5r, Hakuhodo G5529BkSL Eye Shadow Brush Round, MAC 219 Pencil Brush
– penny for size comparison

Since I have a small amount of lid space, I’m always interested in small and precise eyeshadow brushes. I’ve also been upgrading my makeup brush collection gradually, and adding more natural-hair brushes to go along with my many synthetic brushes. I bought some Hakuhodo brushes while at IMATs this year, and recently bought the Shu Uemura 5r, which I had long been coveting but was hesitant about the price (ebates – affiliate link – had a 20% sale, 5% back, plus a gift with purchase. It was time!)

One embarrassing thing; I’m actually not 100% sure which Hakuhodo brush I have. I’m fairly sure I have the G5529BkSL Eye Shadow Brush Round, but it is extremely similar to the G5534BkSL Eye Shadow Brush Pointed. Each brush is $21, and each is made of blue squirrel. The are each the same length, but the Round is a little wider than the Pointed. Without both to compare, I just cannot tell!

29 Round; 34 Pointed. Source.

Here are the Hakuhodo and the Shu brushes compared, full length; the Hakuhodo is smaller and slimmer overall. The Hakuhodo says only the brand, while the Shu also says the brush type, hair type and (on the back), “made in Japan.” Hakuhodo brushes are also made in Japan.

Close up on the brushes:

The Hakuhodo is more tapered, while the Shu is more rounded. Both are quite dense, rather than fluffy. I haven’t used the Shu extensively yet, but the Hakuhodo is great for doing a cut crease, for highlighting the inner corner of the eye, for laydown in the corners of the eyelid, for precision crease blending, and so much more.

I swatched a matte black eyeshadow with the MAC 219 Pencil Brush, the Hakuhodo probably- G5529BkSL Eye Shadow Brush Round, and the Shu 5r (in that order, from left to right). You can see that the MAC 219 is the most dense and gives the most solid line. The Hakuhodo is the least dense, and gives the softest line; the Shu 5r is somewhere in the middle. I don’t think there is a best or worst; all three brushes have their individual merits.

MAC, Hakuhodo, Shu brush comparison

The Shu 5r sells for $60, but Shu regularly has 20% off sales, which brings the price down to $48. I’m not sure if I consider the brush worth it yet. In the US, Shu is only available at Shu’s US website. The two Hakuhodo brushes are $21 each, and I would definitely recommend buying one or both of them. In the US, they are only available on Hakuhodo’s US website.

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Red Blush Comparison, Swatches, Photos

Red Blush Swatches

Today I have all my red blushes swatched for you! I have three blushes that I would consider true reds (Black Radiance Rasperry, Inglot 382M, and La Femme Red), and then above I’ve also swatched two close-to-red blushes for comparison purposes – the LE MAC Bite of An Apple, and La Femme Coral. I also have individual swatches of the red blushes.

Black Radiance Raspberry

Of the red blushes, Black Radiance Raspberry is by far the most sheer; the left swatch below took several swipes to build up, and the blended swatch was very easy to do. Although Raspberry looks very red in the pan, it applies a little bit berry and is quite cool toned. Since it’s sheer, it would be a great first red blush for someone who didn’t want to deal with the pigmentation of starting with something like La Femme.

Black Radiance Raspberry

The Inglot I have, 382M, is actually an eyeshadow, but since it’s a matte red it works well as blush. The pigmentation is medium compared to the La Femme. It’s not quite as blendable as I would like; you can see from the swatches that it’s a little bit patchy. It would be workable over powder and with some effort, but it’s definitely not easy to work with.

Inglot 382M

And finally, the pigmentation on La Femme Red is just crazy.

La Femme Coral, La Femme Red

La Femme Red

As you can see from the swatches, La Femme blushes are super, super pigmented, but also incredibly smooth. It takes some effort to work with them – I explained the technique I use midway through this post – but I find it totally worth it.

And once again, the comparison shot – the La Femme pigmentation really stands out!

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