Anyway, jumping right into it, remember when I swatched Butter London Knackered earlier last month and how I wasn't all too pleased with how similar it seemed to all the other purple/green/grey multichromes (duochrome? But "duo" only means two!) I already had in my stash? Well, this curious cat needed to know exactly just how close it compared. I don't happen to own all of the other duo/multichrome polishes that share the same color family so this is, by no means, an exhaustive list for comparison. Off the top of my head, I'm missing Deborah Lippmann Wicked Game and OPI Not Like the Movies but as you'll see in a bit, the others I do have sort of make up for it.
The contenders. Let's get ready to rumble!
***All swatches are done over a layer of black polish (Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Blackout) to deal with opacity issues and two coats of each color on top.
Nubar Purple Beach
Essence Where's the Party
Wet N Wild Fast Dry Grays Anatomy
Butter London Knackered
I decided to layer the contenders over black just so we have consistent opacity across the board. I felt that having varying levels of opacity if the number of coats were, say, pegged at only three would result in a lackluster show of the duo/multichromatic aspect for some of the nail polishes. We know how notoriously sheer some duochromes can be! (Knackered and Grays Anatomy, I'm look at you two.) Off the bat though, you'll notice striking differences among the four. Purple Beach (PB) has a more olive toned duochrome compared to the green shift of the other three that even has a faint bluish cast at the extreme edges. It also has what looks like a warmer, more red leaning purple compared to the rest. Knackered has the tell-tale sprinkling of fine holographic glitter. Grays Anatomy (GA) seems more silvery and paler in contrast to Where's the Party (WTP).
From left to right: Butter London Knackered on index, Wet N Wild Grays Anatomy on middle, Essence Where's the Party on ring and Nubar Purple Beach on pinky.
With the light source at a different angle.
Capturing the shift from purple to green.
The green shift.
(From left-right: Nubar Purple Beach, Essence Where's the Party, Wet N Wild Gray's Anatomy, Butter London Knackered)
I apologize for the orange looking fingers but I had to enhance the comparison photos to better show the differences among the four. When seen together, PB is obviously the odd one out. It's just too warm leaning compared to the other three. If Knackered didn't have the fine glitter, it would probably be a very close match to GA as both have that brighter, silvery look to them. WTP's grey shift is more of a subdued steel grey color compared to Knackered and GA. And since it's been said that GA is a very close (if not actual) match of Deborah Lippmann Wicked Game, if you own either of the two, you can achieve the same look that Knackered has with a layer of fine holographic glitter top coat (like Orly Crazy Shine on Diamond or China Glaze Fairy Dust).
So really, unless you have an uncontrollable need to own every single duochrome nail polish known to (wo)man, I'd go with either Wet N Wild Grays Anatomy or Essence Where's the Party. Both are ridiculously affordable at less than $2 for a bottle so you can save your money for another polish on your wishlist (or get back ups for your back ups, if you so prefer). Also of note, between the two, GA has the same sheerness that plagued Knackered, so you might like it better if you're into sheers. On the other hand, WTP is more opaque, requiring only 2 coats for full opacity, although it lacks the lightness/airy feel that silvery Knackered and GA possess.
Hammie and I had so much fun doing this comparison post! We're already planning the next few ones down the road but if there's a comparison you're more interested to see, do check our stash to see if we have whatever it was you wanted to compare.
Hooray for the three day weekend! Any big plans? I heard the weather is going to be phenomenal! I know a few friends who are heading out of town for a mini-getaway. Mr. J and I were thinking about a jaunt to Niagara but we were just there a few weeks back so we're probably just staying closer to home (or at home, haha!). Whatever it is you're doing, I hope you have a blast! But first, tell me: do you have colors you tend to gravitate towards that result in you getting nail polishes that look very similar (or exact dupes)? How do you keep a catalog of your collection?
