Benefit Ultra Plush Lip Gloss Swatches and Launch!

Benefit, the San Francisco-based beauty company with a touch of quirk, is launching thier Ultra Plush Lip Gloss in July! There are 6 shades, and each shade has a name that corresponds to a colour of Benefit's famous boxed powders, which I personally think is a really cute touch. So you'll now be able to get a lipgloss in the shade of your favourite blush or bronzer! These also come in practical squeeze-tube packaging.



Of course, I've swatched all of them for you. What kind if blogger would I be if I didn't? So here you go! The first thing you'll notice is that the glosses aren't exact one-to-one matches for the boxed powders, but they do capture the essence of the shade name.



L-R: Dandelion, Dallas, Coralista, Sugarbomb, Bella Bamba, Hoola

Dandelion is a sheer light pinky-peach with no shimmer. A pretty, girly shade, just like the boxed powder.
Dallas is my favourite - it's a lovely creamy pinky-brown shade - you know, one of those universally flattering shaded everyone can wear. It's also surprisingly pigmented, which I personally think is a good thing.
Coralista is a semi-sheer coral with gold shimmer. Very summery and pretty.
Sugarbomb is a sugarbomb of a shade - a semi-sheer pretty pink with shimmer.
Bella Bamba is a slightly sheer, slightly warm red with no shimmer. This is also one I like.
Hoola looks ugly and brown in the tube, but in reality, it's a clear-ish gloss with lots of gold/bronze shimmer that is quite striking. I imagine this would look fabulous layered over a lipstick for dimension.

Most of these glosses are sheer, with Dallas being the most pigmented, and Dandelion being the sheerest. The glosses are very light in feel and texture, and don't feel sticky. They also have a nice lychee scent, and the packaging is adorable. The glosses retail for $26. I'll be reviewing these soon, so keep your eyes peeled!

Japalang Beauty Warehouse Sale

Mark your calendars, Japalang is having their first ever Beauty Warehouse Sale coming this weekend!

Expect up to 90% off beauty products from brands such as Cure Natural Aqua Gel, K-Palette, Beautyblender, Steamcream, DOMO, Gransenbon and more!



Details are as follows:

Date: 29 June - 1 July 2012 (Fri - Sun)
Time: 12pm to 7pm
Venue: 1 Kaki Bukit Road 1, Enterprise One #02-48, Singapore 415934

There's also an early bird gift to appeal to kiasu Singaporeans, as the first 50 shoppers daily will redeem freebies. Also, there's a lucky draw where you can get the chance to win a free gift with every $30 spent!

The sale only accepts cash as payment, so do bring sufficient amounts of money! If you want to, you can RSVP for the sale at Japalang's Facebook page.

Girly Glittery Nails: Sally Hansen Big Money and Essie Nice is Nice

So you know those awesome Sally Hansen Gem Crush shades that were recently released? I've been having quite a bit of fun with these ever since I bought them in the USA - they're great not just alone, but also lots of fun when layered. Just check out my latest mani as a case in point!



I was going for a pretty pastel look, so I layered Sally Hansen Big Money over Essie Nice is Nice. Essie Nice is Nice was from last year's Spring collection, but it's a very timeless pastel purple creme.



Sally Hansen Big Money consists of small gold glitter and larger (but not too large) light purple glitter in a clear base. This would probably be fully opaque in 3 coats if worn alone, but I was going for a gradient effect, so I just sponged it onto my tips. I just used a kitchen sponge, no fancy equipment. And yes, I still can't get my gradient right. It makes me sad.



Best part? I got em both on sale! I got the Sally Hansen Gem Crush shades when they were buy-one-get-one-50%-off, and I got Essie Nice is Nice from Marshalls for US$3.50! Score! It really made the cheapskate in me happy, it did.



Anyway, I like the overall look - it's a very pretty and office-appropriate way of wearing the glitters that are a mainstay of Spring and Summer collections. Now, if only I could nail the gradient technique properly...

MUFE Aqua Shadow Eyeshadow Pencils: Swatches !

MUFE just launched their Aqua Shadow Pencils, which are basically eyeshadow pencils that are touted to be waterproof, smudge-proof, and basically long lasting. Awesome, right?

There are 12 shades in this line, from surprisingly work-appropriate neutrals to the deep bold shades.



The MUFE Aqua Shadow Eyeshadow Pencils launch was also extremely creative and entertaining, too. There were three models who were dressed up summer-style, with bright clothes, beach balls and everything, but the catch was that part of their clothes were actually body art! The guy's vests were painted on, as well as part of the girl's tops too.



A variety of products was used to paint on the clothes, including the Aqua Shadow range. The idea was that the products used (that included the Aqua Shadow Eyeshadow Pencils, Aqua Liners and Aqua Creams) were indeed shown to be long-lasting and sweat-resistant on the models' bodies over the course of the day.

We were also shown a demo of a look created by MUFE makeup artist! There are a few looks with different moods (exotic, romantic, glamorous, etc), but the look I saw was more of a romantic natural look. Here you can see the before and after.



Finally, of course, here are the swatches. I realized that my photo doesn't give the colour names, so I've done that below.



0e Matte Black is just as the name says - a matte black.
2e Matte Brown is a matte neutral brown.
4e Matte Taupe Grey is a grey with a tinge of taupe. Very pretty and neutral.
6e Matte Navy Blue is a, well, matte navy blue.
9e Matte Green is a very pretty shade of matte emerald green.
20e Pearly Taupe is a shimmery pinky tan kind of shade - sort of a darker Stila Kitten or MAC Naked Lunch, if you will.



22e Pearly Copper is a shimmery browned copper.
24e Pearly Pink. This would be pretty on the lips too.
26e Pearly Peach. Nice orangey peach.
28e Pearly Beige. A medium shimmery beige, very useful for an all-over lid colour.
30e Pearly Pink Beige. A pinker version of 28e.
32e Pearly White. The name says it all.

These are actually reall good in quality. The texture is very smooth and the pencils generally glide on well, although I think there is some variation between individual colours. The colours also don't shift, bleed or smudge. Once you apply them to your skin, they pretty much stay on the whole day until you take them off (you'll need an oil-based cleanser to remover all traces of the pencils). Given MUFE's previous success with their Aqua line products, this is bound to be good as well.

(Product was sent for review. Review is my complete and honest opinion. I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)

PSA: Luxola Sale + Free Gift Promo!

If you live in Singapore, you're in luck! Luxola is not only having a sale right now, they're also having a promotion where if you spend $50 and above in a single purchase, you get a FREE bottle of Lippmann Happy Birthday! That's like double whammy, and a really good deal, since a bottle of Happy Birthday would normally cost you $35. So you effectively spend $50, and get a gift worth $35! Also, I've featured Lippmann Happy Birthday before in a recent NOTD, and I can testify that it is total awesomeness, especially if glitter is your thing.

So anyway, this promo doesn't last forever. It ends 24 June or while stocks last. And Luxola has free next day shipping, so all the better. I don't always post sale news up here, but this is too good to pass up. I'm totally getting a couple more Lippmanns from their sale as I type this...

Lippmann Happy Birthday NOTD (And Free Polish at Luxola Promo!)

It's not my birthday, but it's always the right time for happy festive glitter! And of course you know what I'm talking about - Lippmann Collection's Happy Birthday!



Lippmann Happy Birthday is a multi-coloured, multi-sized glitter in a clear base. And Deborah Lippmann has clearly pulled out all the stops making this one. The beauty about Happy Birthday is that although there is so much colout in that one tiny bottle (pink, orange, green, blue, silver, yellow), the end result is pretty and festive without being overwhelming.



There are so many ways you can wear Happy Birthday (alone, layered, jelly sandwich-ed) but the classic look for Lippmann Happy Birthday, if there is one, is layered over a white base. So here's one coat of Happy Birthday over two coats of Wet n' Wild White.



Happy Birthday had good application. The glitter does tend to pool in some places so a little work is needed to ensure it lands more evenly, but otherwise I've no complaint.



Now, I bet you're wondering about how to get a bottle of your own free. Well, if you're in Singapore or nearby (Malaysia, Indonesia or Hong Kong), Luxola is currently running a promotion whereby if you spend at least $50 at their store, you can get a free bottle of Happy Birthday with your order! Lippmanns aren't cheap (they cost $33-35), so how awesome is that? And Luxola currently also has a sale going on too, with some really good deals too! And for my Singaporean girls, there is free next day delivery too, right to your doorstep, so that's definitely a plus! The promotion runs only for this week, so don't wait to pick it up! You can check out the Luxola site here.

(Product was sent for review. Review is my complete and honest opinion. I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)

My $1 Version of Revlon Runway Pearl: Sally Hansen Platinum

Recently, there's been a lot of hype over Revlon Runway Pearl, as it's one of the newer Revlon polishes to be released. When I saw it in Walgreens while I was on holiday, I was intrigued by it, but in the end I didn't bother, since it seemed like just another frosty ol' white, although with an interesting pink flash in the colour.

Next thing you know, I'm walking past the Dollar Tree, and lo and behold, I see this little baby. And although it, too, also looks like just another frosty ol' white with a pink flash, hey, I guess for a dollar, I could just buy it first, and rationalize later, right?



So here you go. Picture spam! I suppose it's what I expected to be, nothing more, nothing less. That is, sheer frosty-ish white with a pink flash. And as such, it's just an okay-ish kind of manicure. This here is three coats, and it's pretty opaque at three.



I suppose I wouldn't have bought this if I hadn't caught sight of Revlon Runway Pearl first. I don't know how the psychology goes, but I suppose it's the equivalent of seeing a more branded product (say, Jergens Hand Lotion), feeling like maybe you want it, and then seeing right next to it is the Walgreens own brand version of the same hand lotion. I don't know about you, but I end up going for the Walgreens sometimes. Human psychology, I guess...



Anyway, this isn't a bad colour. It looks very light, clean and pearly on my nails. And I think the pink reflects make it a tad more interesting, too. I tried getting more photos of the colour to show you the tinge of pink reflect, but I couldn't really get it on my camera.



Although this isn't really a colour I'd wear typically, I don't mind, it's a good palate cleanser once in awhile. And for a dollar, I can't complain. And although it required three coats, it applied well and wasn't streaky or anything weird.



For me, this is good, it helped me to squash my half-hearted lemming for Revlon Runway Pearl. What about you? Do you like these types of pale, pearly shades, or are they just not your cup of tea?

Bella Box June and May: Double the Review

Bella Box is one of the Singapore-based beauty boxes making waves recently, as the beauty box trend has spread to Asia too! I was travelling around in May quite a bit, so I didn't manage to get to review the May box in time - oops! - but no worries, because this time, I'll be reviewing both the May AND June boxes together!

This time, the boxes are great, especially the June one. A lot of the samples are good stuff, with not many fillers. Here is the whole of the June box:



And here's the May box! This one didn't really come in a "box", but it came in a really cool looking cloth bag!



So, let's start with the May box, and then move on to the June one. First, let's start with the haircare. In the May box, we have a sample of Essential Shampoo and Conditioner. These are nicely-sized for travel, and perfect for a few days' use.



We also have a sample of Enavose Cellogist Youth Guard Cream, as well as a Macadamia Healing Oil Treatment. Enavose is a great skincare brand, so this is bound to be good. The Macadamia Healing Oil Treatment is a hair product meant to revitalize and treat hair, and it would be great for those with thick, dry, and frizzy hair.



Lastly, we also have a bunch of Candydoll samples. There's a few sample sachets in the plastic bag, but for me, this is mostly one-time use sachets and thus a little bit of a filler. The Elizabeth Arden Ceramide Capsules are great, and there are two capsules - perfect for trying before you buy.



Now that we're done with May's box, let's showcase June's box! I'm really excited for June's box, it's really quite amazing for $15. First up, we have Lancome Genifique samples. This is one of Lancome's latest launches, so you really get to try the latest and greatest here.



Next, we have another latest and greatest product - Biotherm's BB Cream, their first ever, and a sample of body milk. The Body Milk sample is a little tiny, but I'm sure lots of people will be excited about the BB cream - it's always great to have a BB Cream sample to try before making a purchasing decision!



Then, we also have a sample of Kiehl's products - another little bit that makes the box this month really good. The Kiehl's Calendula Herbal Extract Toner is a nice healthy size, and this is the first toner I've seen with actual marigold flowers in the liquid! It' so cool. The Khiel's Midnight Recovery Concentrate is also one of those products that would be really expensive at full retail price, and it's great to have a sample of this in the Bellabox.



Lastly, we have a small sample of Shu Uemura's Skin Purifier, and Ralph Lauren's Romance Perfume. Both are small samples, but always a good addition.



So, if you're tired of your beauty boxes having random stuff like haircare and hair ties (in some boxes I've seen), then this month's Bella Box is a great one to try, especially if you're into high-end skincare. Virtually every sample is an expensive skincare product, so although I didn't do the math, I'm pretty sure the sum total of the products in the box is worth more than the $15 the box costs. So yes, while not all beauty boxes are value for money, this month's Bella Box is pretty great.

(Product was sent for review. Review is my complete and honest opinion. I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)

Enavose Floracomfort Micellar Cleansing Water Review: Feels Like Water, Cleans Like Oil

Micellar cleansers have been all the rage lately, so I finally got my hands on one to try! Micellar cleansers are supposed to feel like water, but clean as well as oil-based cleansers, which is why they have been so popular. Basically the technology involves suspending tiny oil particles in a watery base, thus giving micellar cleansers the best of both worlds.



After doing much reading up, I finally figured out what the difference between micellar and non-micellar cleansers is. An emulsion (in this case a oil-in-water emulsion) is defined by the particle size. There are 3 types - macroemulsions (particle size >1000nm), microemulsions (10-300nm), micelles (5-10nm), and anything with smaller particle size than a micelle is considered a solution. So basically, a micellar cleanser consists of many many really tiny droplets (micelles) of oil, suspended in water, held together by emulsifiers. Hence, you get the cleaning power of oil, but the nice light feel of water.


I recently tried Enavose Floracomfort Micellar Cleansing Water. Enavose is a Switzerland-based brand with some really good products - I previously tried their Black Tea Quench Mask with really good results. So, I had high expectations for their Micellar Cleansing Water as well.



One of the differences between Enavose and other brands' micellar cleansers is the natural slant to Enavose's product. Enavose's cleanser comes packed with a lot of botanical-derived extracts, so it's good for those who want something a little more power-packed. As with all Enavose products, the packaging is very clean, simple, and functional. The Enavose Floracomfort Micellar Cleanser comes in a plastic bottle. No fussy jars or breakable glass! And I like the pump top. Pump tops are my favourite type of packaging, since they're a lot more airtight than other alternatives.



The cleanser itself looks and feels just like water - it's a clear, watery liquid with no smell or colour. Very light-textured, too, in contrast to the heavier oil cleansers I've used.



So now on to the key question - how does this work at removing makeup? Well I've got a demo for you! Below, I've totally coveered my arm in all the most waterproof makeup I have in my arsenal - Bobbi Brown and MUFE eyeliners, Bobbi Brown Pot Rouge, Bobbi Brown No Smudge Mascara (serious - I wore this to a waterpark and it didn't budge), Benefit's Creaseless Cream.



Right, so let's see if the Enavose Cleansing Water removes all this! I poured some onto a cotton pad, and then swiped the cotton pad back and forth across my arm.

And...below are the results! Ta-da! Impressive right? I didn't expect it to, but the Enavose Cleansing Water removed all the makeup, and actually did so quite cleanly! And it didn't leave behind any weird sticky or oily residue, unlike most oil-based cleansers. I guess the technology behind this oil-in-water thing must be pretty darn amazing, to get something that feels like water clean like an oil!



So, do you need this? I think so, if you're still looking around for a cleanser that would remove your makeup fully, and is easy to use. If you like the cleansing power of cleansing oils, but find them to hard or time-consuming to handle, but at the same thing want something stronger than your average cleanser-type makeup remover, then this would be the jackpot for you. It combines both ease of use and serious cleansing power to give the beset of both worlds.

(Product was sent for review. Review is my complete and honest opinion. I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)

Reader Question (and my Biggest Makeup Secret): Makeup for Hot Climates and Air-Conditioned Indoors

Now normally I don't import questions from my Formspring page onto my blog, but I thought this was a good question faced by a lot of readers, so I thought it deserved some cross-posting love! Also, I realized after I responded on Formspring that I still had a few things to add to the question, so I thought I'd add them here.

Question:
Just wanted to ask, what make up products do your normally use on a working day? (or which products do you rotate around with) I'm in a perpetual dilemma between the moisture sucking air-con and humid sunny Singapore weather:(

Answer:
Hi there, first off, I totally sympathize, as you're in the exact situation as me! Often we Singaporeans spend our days in air-conditioned offices, but still have to travel quite a bit in humid, sunny weather! It does make it trickier to find skincare and makeup products!

First off, I'll tackle the bit about humid sunny weather. Oil control is important over here, especially if you have oily skin. My favourite product for this is plain ol' silica powder spheres. It's just generic cosmetic grade silica powder, and it helps in oil control very well. The best thing about this is that it’s cheap and easily available – I got mine from Coastal Scents (you can probably get it from other cosmetics etailers and wholesalers as well), and a big bag cost me a few USD. If not, you can also get MUFE Microfinish HD Powder, since its just silica spheres as well, except that you'd be paying a lot more for a tinier amount (essentially you're paying retail price for a wholesale product). There are a few ways to wear this - some like to wear it as a finishing powder over makeup, and some (like me) mix it with a transparent powder for setting your makeup. I personally find it easier to use if I mix it with another powder, and buff in well. You'll have to play around a little to find out what works for you, application-wise, if you try this out.

I can't post pictures on my Formspring page, so I thought it would be cute if I interjected my Formspring response with a photo to show you just how much silica powder you can get in a bag. The last time I ordered silica powder spheres from Coastal Scents, I got 1 oz of powder, and it came in a huge bag! I had no idea that 1 oz of powder was THAT much! (The photo below is mine, but it came from my pre-blogging days so it isn't watermarked.) Best part was, I had to travel on an international flight soon, and I was worried that a customs official might open the bag and think I was trading crack or something, LOL. Fortunately all turned out well, and I brought my bag of powder back safely across continents.



So how long will that huge bag of powder last you? Well, it's been 3 years since I bought that bag of powder, and with daily use (and I do mean every single day - it's now a staple I can't do without), I've only used half of that bag. So there you go. That's my biggest makeup secret, and honestly the one thing that I think really helped my makeup stay on all day instead of melting off. It's not really a "secret" since silica powder has been around for awhile, but for me, it's really been a lifesaver. Before the advent of silica powder I had to touch up my makeup after lunch everyday, and at the end of the day. Now, I just put on my makeup once in the morning, and it lasts pretty much the way I did it until at night. It may not be for everyone, but for me it has worked wonders. But anyway. The fact I got that huge bag for like US$5 should make you enraged that MUFE is charging us so much more for so little powder...

Okay. But enough digressing. Back to the Formspring question.

Secondly, I still wear moisturizer. I know it sounds odd in Singapore, but just because your skin is sweating doesn't mean it's not dry, especially if you spend long hours indoors with air-con. So I still wear moisturizer everyday

My daily working routine consists of:
1. Pimple cream (cause you know, I still have spots although I'm working!)
2. Moisturizer (I use something light, The Body Shop’s Aloe Soothing Day Cream and Biotherm’s Aquasource Moisturizer for Oily Skin)
3. Sunscreen (I use Avene Very High Protection Spray with SPF 50+) (you guys will probably have read my Sunscreen Tips post)
4. Concealer ONLY where I need it (not too picky if it's just under eye, I use Laura Mercier, MAC or Kevyn Aucoin, but if I have spots I usually use Prescriptives or a brand that won't aggravate my skin further)
5. My finishing powder (silica powder + random loose face powder that is transluscent).

That's my "base" - after that I go on to apply blusher, lipgloss, eyeshadow etc if I feel like it. I don't know if this routine will work for you, but for me it works, because although the moisturizer and sunscreen can feel like a lot, once I add my finishing/silica powder it mattifies the skin while still feeling natural. Maybe you'll need to play around with a few products to see what works for you. I wish you good luck!

My First Franken! (In Which I Sort Of Dupe a Lemming)

Remember the last time I whined about how I couldn't get my hands on the Lunasol Nail Polish I really wanted? Well, after months of lemming from afar, I decided to take matters into my own hands, and franken something similar!

I knew I probably wouldn't be able franken an exact dupe, but that was okay with me. I really was just after the concept of a sheer white base with variously-sized gold glitter. And I had my own requirements too - the polish had to cover in 2 coats, and I was open to having not just gold glitter only. And i didn't want my franken to be so glitter-heavy that you couldn't see the white base. So with that in mind, I took out my various polishes and started to franken!



For this franken I used my Etude House Lucidarling Fantastic Nails in 04 Sequin Crystal Gold, Etude House Lucidarling Fantastic Nails in 01 Glittering Bare White, and my trusty Wet n Wild White. I used about 1/3 Etude House 01 Glittering Bare White, 2/3 Etude House Sequin Crystal Gold, and about 10 drops of Wet n Wild White. And this was the outcome!



Okay, so it's not really a dupe or anything. But it's not too bad right? I tried frankening once before, and that one sucked. This is a lot better, trust me. Here's my proud first ever (successful) franken on my nails!



Although it's not exactly a stunning dupe or anything, I'm happy with what I made. And it met all my franken requirements (cover in 2 coats, white base with variously-sized glitter, including gold). Maybe one day I'll put more gold glitter in there, just for more bling, but for now this is good enough. And I'm just glad that I did this all without making a huge mess of my desk! Do you guys franken? Any fun frankening stories to share? I'd love to hear them!



A Side Note: Asian (or just Etude House, really) Nail Polish Naming Conventions

For Etude House nail polishes, the naming conventions for these are really complex. Basically Etude House has a few "product ranges" of polishes, usually with different price points (e.g. Lucidarling Fantastic Nail, Nail Decoration, Dear Darling Nails, etc - and no I'm not making any of the names up), and under those range of polishes, each shade will have a number (e.g. 01, 02, 03 etc) and a shade name (e.g. Rosy Pink, Bare White, Coral Jewel, Tender Mint, etc). So in order to make sure I'm describing the exact shade name, I use the brand name (Etude House) followed by the product range (Lucidarling Fantastic Nails) and colour name and number (01 Bare White). Sometimes, like in the case of the Lucidarling Fantastic Nail range, they have product "sub-ranges" (e.g. Sequin, Glittering, Shimmer etc), so this complicates things a little more - the real shade names should be Etude House Lucidarling Fantastic Nail Sequin 04 Crystal Gold (using the format of brand, product range, product sub-range, product name and number). But because it confuses some readers, and because some websites jumble up the sub-range and product name, I choose to lump the sub-range and product name together to form a super long product name (hence 04 Sequin Crystal Gold instead of Sequin 04 Crystal Gold). For Asian readers who buy your polish in person, it probably isn't a big deal, but I imagine it can cause a lot of confusion for someone in the West buying polish sight unseen, and online. Hope this helps my confused Western readers who may be buying nail polish online!

Old vs New Essence of Beauty Crease Brush Duo: A Comparison

One of my missions when I visited the USA earlier last month was to get backups of my Essence of Beauty Crease Brush Duo. After all, I've been raving so much about the EOB Crease Brush Duo, and it has become such a staple for all my eye looks (it even made it onto my Top 10 of 2011) that I really, really, really needed a backup. So I went to CVS, all full of grabby-handed excitement, and went straight to the Essence of Beauty display. And then I saw this:



Huh, I thought. What on earth was that? The last time I saw the EOB brushes, they looked like this (pic shamelessly stolen from my old blogpost):

Okay, I thought. So they rejigged the brushes with cool black handles and loud red packaging and all. But same company, same name, same product right? So I bought two sets of the Brush Duos, hoping they would work the same magic as my original set.

And I'm glad to say, for me, they are still the same! I received a few queries about whether the new brushes are different from the old ones, so here's a comparison. So here you go!

For both brushes, the general difference noted was that the bristles on the new brushes were slightly longer, and slightly less dense. The type of bristles appeared to be the same, though. Now whether this change is a good thing or not would depend on what you've been using the brush for - in my experience, longer, less dense bristles make for better blending, but make the brushes less great at packing on colour.

For the larger domed brush, my main use for this brush is really to blend out tight areas with little space (like my entire eye area, LOL - thanks, tiny eyes), so the new bristles work well foe me too. The brush head is still the same size, so it still fits tight corners, and the longer bristles make for slightly better blending. So I'm happy with the changes made to the brush.



For the smaller brush, I tend to use this to apply colour to the outer V of my eye, and to other tight areas (e.g. inner corner of eyes). I don't really use this brush for blending. The longer, slightly sparser bristles don't really have much impact given how I use this brush - after all, I just want a brush that will apply colour in a precise manner. So I don't feel too much difference between the new and old brushes.



So, after this comparison, I feel like the new Essence of Beauty Crease Brush Duos are still as good as the old ones. Other than the differences in the bristles, the brush handles, despite the different colour, still to be about the same weight and size, so other than the bristles, functionally, not much has changed. Unless you're a super pro user (which I'm not), chances are you may not notice too much of a difference between the new and old duo sets.

Dupes or Not: Sally Hansen Gem Crush Glitz Gal vs China Glaze SomeLikeIt Haute

One of my recent buys was Sally Hansen's Gem Crush nail polish in Glitz Gal. It was a gorgeous sheer black polish with awesome holographic glitter! Exactly my kind of polish! I thought it was a dead ringer for China Glaze's Some Like It Haute, which I already bought previously, so I thought I would do a little compare and contrast for you guys. And no, I don't know why I felt compelled to get two of the same thing. It must be the holo glitter, I tell ya. Holo glitter is evil.

Anyway, up for the comparison. In the bottle, both polishes look pretty much identical. Same sheer black base, same awesome glitter.



On the nail, they're also pretty much alike. I think they're pretty much dupes, although I feel like Some Like It Haute is a tad blacker(?). It looks a little darker somehow, by a teensy bit, but to be honest I probably wouldn't notice the difference if I wasn't splitting hairs.

L-R: Some Like It Haute, Glitz Gal, Some Like It Haute, Glitz Gal

Otherwise, both polishes are pretty much identical. Other than the colour, the brushes are different - China Glaze has the typical nail polish brush with straight ends, while Sally Hansen's Gem Crushes have a brush edge that's more curved and more flat. I personally prefer the Sally Hansen brush, but both work well either way. Perhaps if you have a strong preference for one brush over another, this could sway your decision.



L-R: Some Like It Haute, Glitz Gal, Some Like It Haute, Glitz Gal

So, do you need both? Nope. Which should you choose? Well that would depend on the price and availability of each polish in your area (e.g. if you are not in the USA the Sally Hansen one will be hard to get), as well as your brush preference. If all else fails, toss a coin. Either one is great and won't disappoint. As for me, I am keeping both, because I, uh, "need backups". (I swear it's not my glitter-hoarding tendencies kicking in!)