Dupe It Out: CG Channelsque vs. CG Below Deck

Welcome to the first Battle of the Dupes at Polish & Tonic! I love comparing polishes to make sure I have a well-rounded color collection, and not just a bunch of dupes. For this first battle, I heard rumors around the interwebz that Below Deck from the China Glaze Anchors Away spring 2011 collection may be a dupe for a past discontinued favorite, China Glaze Channelesque. I heard yea/nay all over the place, so decided to battle it out for myself.

This was also my first time working with China Glaze polish. I am a self-proclaimed OPI addict - it's all I've ever worn (until last night), with the exception of this one time in 2004 when I tried Essie's Ballet Slippers. Really. Ballet Slippers is the first time I can ever remember noticing salon polishes (and their fun names!), and while I didn't love Essie, I soon found OPI and have been in a committed relationship ever since. However, with blogging, I want to try out new stuff, and a recent trip to a nail supply store in LA had me picking up my first bottles of CG. Instant impression - I love the formula, as both polishes applied with ease, but the brush is so tiny! I guess I'm spoiled by the OPI pro wide brush, but I was not used to having to use so many strokes to apply polish as I had to with CG .

Anyway, on to the battle! Channelesque is on my pinky and middle fingers; Below Deck is on my ring and pointer fingers (and apologies in advance for not being my neatest mani ever - let this pic remind me why not to paint my nails at 11pm while also watching season 1 of Damages).

Below is the contrast in sunlight:

And here's another shot with natural indoor lighting:

Channelesque edges slightly more gray, while Below Deck moves slightly more purple.

Verdict: They're dupes
Color to Keep: CG Below Deck by technical decision

While Channelesque and Below Deck have the slightest difference in color, to the naked eye they're the same, and I see no reason to need to have both in one's collection. So with that, Below Deck wins based on 1) availability - Channelesque has been discontinued; and 2) The bolder, more purple coloring works in favor on my complexion, as the less washed out my color is, the better.

Below Deck is getting a little tricky to find these days as the Anchors Away collection released back in February, and I'm not sure if China Glaze automatically adds their newest colors to their regular collection. Either way, snatch it up while you can!


Which polish do you like better? Can you tell the difference between Channelesque and Below Deck? Or has my nail polish fetish gotten so out of control it's blinding me and making me see things that aren't there? Sound off in the comments below!