17 January 2014

Comparison : Save the drama

I had part two of my KBShimmer post ready to go but then there was some drama on Facebook this morning so I thought I'd post this instead.

There's been some discussion today about the difference between Pretty Serious Naughty Night Shift Nurse (NNSN) and Colors by Llarowe Hellcat and whether or not they are dupes. For those that don't know, NNSN was released in extremely limited quantities and was in very high demand. I have a crazy generous friend that sent me a bottle for Christmas and I had ordered Hellcat during the pre-order so I thought I'd do a comparison.

As you can see in the first picture, NNSN is far more sheer than Hellcat and the base colour is more of a dusty mauve while Hellcat is most definitely purple. NNSN also has frost whereas Hellcat does not (as far as I can tell.) Hellcat is quite a bit thicker than NNSN but I wouldn't call is goopy by any stretch. NNSN took three coats to become opaque while Hellcat was opaque in two. If you were to wear NNSN on its own, it is definitely different than Hellcat. They look a little more similar when NNSN is over black but still, I would not call them dupes.

Please note, I am not affiliated with either brand in any way and think both make quality products. I simply wanted to highlight the differences and help to clear up any confusion. This post will be picture heavy but I wanted to try and catch different angles.

Naughty Night Shift Nurse is shown on the middle finger and pinkie and Hellcat is on the index and ring fingers.

1 coat NNSN and Hellcat

3 coats NNSN and 2 coats Hellcat
3 coats NNSN and 2 coats Hellcat
3 coats NNSN and 2 coats Hellcat

2 coats of NNSN over black and 2 coats of Hellcat

2 coats of NNSN over black and 2 coats of Hellcat
2 coats of NNSN over black and 2 coats of Hellcat
2 coats of NNSN over black and 2 coats of Hellcat

Do you own either? Both? Would you call them dupes?


5 comments:

  1. No, I wouldn't call them dupes, but they are too close for comfort. I have seen one too many polishes coming from CbL that look like other polishes that indie makers have made. Honestly I feel like she takes too much influence from others makers and gets very very close to duping other polishes that are on the market.

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    Replies
    1. If close matches are your argument, then you should be upset with every polish maker on the planet. There is no way to ensure that your polish is 100% original, and there are going to be unintentional dupes and/or similar shades and finishes. It's going to happen, and it's nothing to get bent out of shape over. If you don't like it don't buy it! I mean for goodness sakes, Julep Blakely came out in July and then OPI and Essie both released straight up DUPES in their fall collections a few months later. No one freaked out about this, but it's okay to blast an indie polish maker for having something slightly similar to another indie maker? I call BS.

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    2. I agree only because she is VERY open about purposely duping polishes. In one of her question/answer threads on Facebook, she said that if she sees a polish she wants, she doesn't buy it, she just dupes it herself. I'm sure some of these dupes that she makes for herself have made it into her line.

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  2. Polishes on there own are the only way you can compare "dupes", in my opinion. You can put a polish over any base and force it to look similar to another polish. First photo - CLEARLY not dupes. There is a finite number of colors on the colors, and only so many ways to combine glitter...with so many indie polish makers, I think we are hitting maximum capacity.

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  3. I agree that they look similar when NNSN is done over black, but I would never call these dupes! Without the black base, I actually like Hellcat more. The drama is crazy. NNSN is nearly impossible to find (I know, I've been looking forever!), so even if it was done intentionally, it makes me happy that there is something similar out there that I can get my hands on. But again, in my eyes, Hellcat is definitely not a dupe.

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