Comparison Swatches: Battle of the Blurples

Hi Everyone! It's Tuesday, Tuesday! Why am I so happy for a Tuesday, you ask? Well, in my mind, it's actually my Thursday - tomorrow is my last day of work, then I'm headed back east for a long weekend at Virginia Beach with the family. I'm super excited as I haven't seen a lot of my family since last fall (I rarely go home for the holidays - it's too cold!), but am a little leery of the heat wave that's been blasting the east coast. Must remember to pack a LOT of natural fibers and skirts!

Today I have for you a few comparisons - what I call the battle of the blurples. If you didn't know, I hang out a lot over at The Purse Forum talking nails with the awesome ladies on the board, and recently we've discussed known nail polish dupes. I had for a long time heard that the colors in today's review maybe/maybe not were dupes of each other, and so I decided to finally swatch them out. Up for battle are OPI Funky Dunkey, Rescue Beauty Lounge Mismas, and Butter LONDON Marrow. All of these polishes are purple with a blue undertone (hence, blurple), which is pretty much my favorite color of all time - I love purples because they're work safe but still have personality; the blue undertone goes well with my cool skin-tone; and they work in all seasons - spring, summer, winter, and fall. As a matter of fact, Funky Dunkey was released in Spring 2010 as a part as OPI's Shrek Collection, while Mismas was a part of the fall 2009 Bloggers Collection from RBL, and Marrow released in the Butter LONDON Fall/Winter 2010 Collection. It's a timeless color that never goes out of style or season.


I swatched all three polishes on a nail wheel (2 coats each, no top coat) and then proceeded to take dozens of photos to try to capture any differences. Take a look at a few shots:

(Funkey Dunkey, Mismas, Marrow; indoor artificial lighting, no flash)

(Funky Dunkey, Mismas, Marrow; outdoors, direct sunlight, no flash)

To my eye, Marrow is noticeably darker than the other two with more gray in it's color, making it almost an 'ashy' blurple. It's so dark that while I think you could pull this off for a summer mani, the color feels much more cool fall/winter than the other two. It's definitely not a dupe, and a keeper.

Funky Dunkey and Mismas, though, are really really close. I will say there are definitely formula differences - Mismas went on beautifully, in true RBL fashion, and didn't need a 2nd coat (although I did apply one). Compared to Mismas, Funky Dunkey was noticeably less pigmented per coat and felt a little more watery, but was fully opaque in the typical OPI-required 2 coats. It's definitely the same color of blurple; they even separated the same in the bottle. Mismas may be a hair darker than Funky Dunkey, but I also question if that isn't just pigmentation; with a 3rd coat, I think Funky Dunkey would be even more close to Mismas.

The verdict - their dupes. If I had to keep on or the other, it would be Funky Dunkey - same color for half the price, leaving me a spare $9 or $10 to go pick up another polish!

Funky Dunkey was a limited edition release. You can find it at various online retailers (retail price $8.50/bottle), and it was recently placed on clearance at ULTA for $4.99 (along with the rest of the fantastic Shrek collection). Mismas is currently sold out at rescuebeauty.com, but fans rallied for the recent Bring It Back vote, so it should be making another appearance some time in 2012. Marrow is currently available at ULTA, Nordstrom, and other places where Butter LONDON is sold; retails for $14/polish.

What do you think? Could you spot a difference between Funky Dunkey and Mismas? Do you agree this is an anywhere, anytime kind of polish? Do you have any other blurples in this color family? Sound off in the comments!

My European Vacation: Part I

Good morning!

As I mentioned in my post yesterday, this week we're taking a look at all the mani's and pedi's that were during my London/Paris vacation earlier this month. Up first is my pedi - OPI Funky Dunkey and Butter LONDON No More Waity, Katie.

Funky Dunkey is a bright purple creme that shows a lot of blue in its base. It's highly pigmented which is wonderful - some will get away with just 1 coat, but I applied 2 thin coats to get full coverage and no VNL. No More Waity, Katie was originally a limited edition release from BL for the royal wedding this past spring (everyone was cashing in on it!). It's a purple glitter packed into a purple-gray base. For the pedi, I applied 2 coats over Funky Dunkey to get maximum glitter coverage. I swatched the pedi on my hands - take a look!


The first pic is a look at the mani in natural light. You can see on the ring finger that I applied an additional coat, just to show how the purple-gray base of NMWK really grayed out Funky Dunkey. Here's another look in artificial light:


All in all, I was quite happy with this pedi! It lasted the full trip, with one minor nail getting chipped from a drunken night out on London's cobblestone streets. What can I say? Crazy is how I roll!

OPI Funky Dunkey is currently available. Even better - ULTA has the entire OPI Shrek Collection currently on clearance for $4.99 each. Get thee to an ULTA, stat! (And while you're there, I'd also recommend picking up Ogre the Top Blue, another fave of mine from the collection.) Butter LONDON No More Waity, Katie is now a part of its permanent collection (yay!) and is also available at Ulta. 2 beautiful colors, one store - what could be easier than that?

What do you think? Have you tried any colors yet from the OPI Shrek Collection? Is NMWK a must have? and were you into the hype of the royal wedding?

Chip Prevention: Basecoat or Topcoat?

Chips. No, not Lay's. I'm talking chips in your manicure. Is there anything more unsightly? I can't stand when I see manicures on others in bright blue or fuschia and they're chipped all to hell. If you're wearing a nude or neutral color, lucky you - your chips are less noticeable to the rest of us, but I'm sure you notice and it drives you crazy.

Most brands have a nail treatment product that claims to help prevent chips, either in a base coat or top coat. Which is better to use? I have no idea. So we're going to do a wear test here at Polish & Tonic.

The Challenge: Wear a manicure for 5 WHOLE DAYS and see which mani chips the least - the mani with a chip preventing base coat, or the mani with the chip-hating top coat. Least chipped mani wins!

The Manicure:

For this manicure, I'm making my maiden voyage with a new brand - Butter London. Butter London is on the line between salon brand and designer brand polish (read: it never goes on sale at Ulta), and from the chatter I see on the interwebz I'm not sure that there really is a difference in quality between designer vs. salon brands. So I picked up my first bottle this weekend to try it out. The color is Butter London Macbeth, a bright pinky coral creme that I loved at first sight. I also borrowed some great advice from another blog, All Lacquered Up, and practiced wrapping my tips for this mani to help delay tip wear.

The Contenders:

On my left hand we have Orly Bonder base coat. Orly Bonder is a rubberized based coat that claims to grip your polish to your nails like a leech and hold on for dear life, giving you extended wear with your manicure.


On my right hand we have essie No Chips Ahead top coat. essie No Chips Ahead doesn't promise to adhere to stick to you like white on rice, but instead puts an armor around your fresh manicure and protect it from those things that would do your pretty nails harm - mainly dish detergent, keyboards, and cleaning supplies.

You didn't actually think there would be a visible difference to the naked eye, did you? Doh!

So who will win this battle? Stay tuned! I did this manicure Monday afternoon, so check back in over the weekend to see which coat is last nail standing. (Or Friday, in case I go crazy and can't handle looking at the same nail color for so long!)

Do you have a preference between basecoat and topcoat to prevent chips? Sound off in the comments!