MAC Patina Swatches

Hey there!

Today I'd like to show you some swatches of my first ever MAC eyeshadow that I recently purchased. The shade is called Patina.

Patina is a medium brown shade, not really warm, with a shimmer which is very very fine. The finish is called Frost.
It contains 1,5 gr and costs 18,50 Euros.

Pigmentation is really great, it is super soft and has a nice colour pay-off. I love how you can use it for any kind of look, from very light to dark and dramatic. A very versatile shade that I use a lot!

In case you are looking for something to compare it to or something similar, I swatched it next to Suspect from the Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette, and My First Copperware Party by Catrice. It falls rather in between those two shades, and they were the closest I was able to find in my collection.

Has anyone of you tried Patina?

xoxo, Misch

Comparison: Essence Guerilla Gardening LE Nail Polish 01 I'm The Moss

Hey there!
Because I've been asked to do so, today I have a comparison of Essence's nail polish 01 I'm The Moss from their current Guerilla Gardening LE to show you.

At first I thought this would be rather easy to dupe, because it just doesn't look that unique. When I went to look through my stash, however, it was quite difficult to find a similar shade! Most of my greens seemed to either be more blue-toned or have shimmer particles.
The closest color I could come up with is China Glaze - Starboard. It came out in Spring 2010 as a part of the Anchors Away Collection, and it is a medium grassy green creme.

Compared to I'm The Moss, they are quite similar. They are, however, not of the same shade. I'm The Moss is dustier, not as bright as Starboard, which also seems to be a tiny bit lighter. I'm The Moss has more brown undertones to it, too.
Left: Essence, right: China Glaze

After all, those two shades are very similar, so for some of you it might be enough to own one of them :)
What do you think of them?
xoxo, Misch

Comparison: Essence Vintage District LE Bush 01 It's Popul-art

Hi there!
I know I'm rather late with this, but I thought you might interested in it nevertheless! I went through my stash and looked for blushes similar to Essence's Blush from the Vintage District LE. So, here's a comparison.

We have first of all Catrice's Duo Blush C01 As Lively As Ever from their Floralista LE of Spring 2011. Next, we of course have our center-piece, Essence's Blush 01 It's Popul-art from the Vintage District LE, which is current right now, January 2013. As a third blush I chose Catrice's Blush C01 Gone With The Wind from the September 2012 Hollywood's Faboulus 40ties LE.

Let's begin with the lighter shades. 

The Essence and the Catrice blush are both a orange-toned matte coral. Looks very similar.

Catrice Floralista

Essence Vintage District

However, when you have a look at the swatch, you can tell that the Catrice shade is darker and way stronger pigmented. No dupes here!

Now, onto the darker shades. All three of them are coral-ish pink matte shades. Catrice's Floralista one is the truest pink, with pretty much no coral in it.

Catrice Floralista

The other 2 ones are way way closer, I think that the Catrice Hollywood's Fabulous 40ties one is just a tad darker.

Catrice Hollywood's Fabulous 40ties

Essence Vintage District

When consulting the swatches, it is obvious that here again Essence's blush is the most poorly pigmented one. The other two are brighter and pinker.

After all, no dupes here. What I hope I was able to give you now, however, are some references to the color range these blushes are in. Even if the Essence one is the least pigmented, it still shows color, and is therefore better for lighter skin tones. For those of you who thought the Catrice blushes to be too dark for them, you might wanna have another look at the Essence blush.

What do you think of these blushes? I love all 3 of them! :D
xoxo, Misch

Comparison: Essence Home Sweet Home LE Lipstick 01 Red-y To Relax + Essence Lipstick 44 Almost Famous

Hi there!
Today I'd like to compare 2 lipsticks for you guys, both are by Essence. The first one is the shade 01 Red-y To Relax from their current Home Sweet Home LE, and the other one is a rather popular permanent shade, the color 44 Almost Famous. They looked very similar on the outside, so I thought you might be interested in a comparison!
The packaging looks super similar, only the LE one has the name of the LE on it. In the following pictures, Essence Almost Famous is always on the left, Red-y To Relax on the right.

When you open both lipsticks, they still look very similar, but you can tell slight differences. The LE one looks matter and a tad darker, the permanent lipstick a little more shiny.

When swatching them, the real differences become visible: Red-y To Relax is a matte pigmented deep blue-toned red, whereas Almost Famous is a slightly pink-toned, sheerer and shinier lipstick.

When applied to the lips, they don't look similar at all anymore.

naked lips

Essence Almost Famous

Essence Red-y To Relax

So, after all, no dupes here. They looked very alike on the outside but turned out to be utterly different products. Which one do you prefer?
xoxo, Misch

Comparison: Kiko 293 + China Glaze Grape Pop

Hey there!
When I showed you Kiko's 293 a couple of days ago, I was asked to compare it to China Glaze's Grape Pop.

They're both really similar: both a dark blue-toned purple cremes, both two-coaters. So if you don't want to look too closely, you can declare them alike and just get one of them.

left: China Glaze, right: Kiko

However, if you pay attention, you'll be able to see some differences. The China Glaze polish is a little darker, and also seems to be more purple-toned. That makes the Kiko nail polish a tad lighter and more blue-toned.

Still, these differences only show up when you compare them directly, side to side. I personally prefer the Kiko one more, because it like the blue undertones and to me, its consistency is better. The China Glaze one is a little thick, the Kiko one not, it's way thinner. I wouldn't say you need to have both.
So what do you think? Close enough? Or are those utterly different to you?

NOTD June 5th: Essence - Sundancer

Hi there!
Today I want to show you swatches of a polish I've owned for quite a while now. It's Essence's Sundancer from their Color&Go line.

Sundancer is a happy shade of yellow, just the tiniest bit orange-toned. It's a creme and very shiny.
Application of Sundancer is really nice. Even though my bottle of it is already a little older, it's still great. It's not too thick or too thin, and it covers perfectly with 2 coats. That doesn't happen very often, yellows tend to be a little difficult in terms of application.

In the pictures I'm wearing 2 coats of Sundancer as well as base and top coat.
I'm now including pictures of other yellow cremes I own, just so you have some reference and can compare them. From left to right, here you have Essence - Sundancer, Essence - Pimp My Bright and Manhattan - Rise Of The Fun. They're all a little different!

I like yellow polishes way more than I thought I would! They're super bright and not always that easy to wear, but I love them nonetheless :)

What do you think of them?

xoxo, Misch

Comparison: Catrice Revoltaire LE Ombre Blush and Catrice Floralista LE Duo Blush

Hey there!

Today I want to do a comparison I was asked to do. I totally forgot about it, so sorry dear Desert Rose! But better late than never, right?! :D
So, the request was to compare Catrice's Ombre Blush from their Revoltaire LE, called C01 Color Bomb, to the Duo Blush they released with the Floralista LE in the spring of 2011, called C01 As Lively As Ever.

Let's say it right away: these are not dupes in any way. The differences become clear already when you just look at both blushes. Color Bomb is a blush that goes from a light peach to a darker peach-toned pink, and the overall color is definitely pink-toned. It also has a shimmer. As Lively As Ever is a blush that has two clearly divided parts, and one is a hot pink and the other a orange-toned peach. Both sides are fully matte.
The pigmentation of As Lively As Ever is also better than the one of Color Bomb, and it contains 6g, whereas Color Bomb contains 8g.
When you have a look at the swatches, you can also see that the colors aren't similar. I compared the orange-toned peach of As Lively As Ever to the lightest part of Color Bomb, and the pink side of As Lively As Ever to the darkest part of Color Bomb. Then you also have a swatch of all of the colors of As Lively As Ever and all of the colors of Color Bomb together. Color Bomb is more pink-toned, and it's overall color is a tad lighter.

Catrice Revoltaire LE Color Bomb, lightest part

Catrice Floralista LE As Lively As Ever, peach part

above: Color Bomb, below: As Lively As Ever

Catrice Revoltaire LE Color Bomb, darkest part

Catrice Floralista LE As Lively As Ever, pink part

above: Color Bomb, below: As Lively As Ever

each blush mixed: left: Color Bomb, right: As Lively As Ever

I hope you found this comparison helpful!
xoxo, Misch