Dupe of Chanel Frenzy Nail Polish?

I hope you will forgive me for this rather provocative title. If you've been reading my blog for a while, you will have noticed that I am a big fan of budget makeup. I will admit that many times, I end up being disappointed by the quality of inexpensive makeup, but there is nothing like the thrill of an inexpensive find which you fall in love with. I am a firm believer that when it comes to nail polish, once it has dried on your nails, no one but you can really tell whether the polish you're wearing is budget or very high end. People will notice your application skills, the colour and the finish of the polish, if you have some chocolate brownie stuck under your index finger but they rarely can't tell how much I've spent on the nail polish I'm wearing.



Now this is precisely why I love MUA nail polishes. Today, I have a little beauty to share with you. It's shade 19 and it's a gorgeous. Like other MUA polishes, the polish really feels budget. It's almost like the travelodge of nail polishes: there are no frills there, the brush is very basic and the formula applies a little bumpy at first. But once dried it's just beautiful.









Nude polishes are notoriously hard to find. It might look ok in the bottle but you won't know until you've applied it on your nails, set against your skin if it’s the right shade for you. The wrong colour will make you feel like you have corpse hands (nails inc caramel anyone?), the right shade will make you feel elegant, polished and give the illusion that your nails are longer. Shade 19, you are a beauty and I you.







You can see what Chanel Frenzy looks like on here.
what? MUA Cosmetics nail polish in shade 19
how much? £1
Where: Mua Cosmetics online and Superdrug stores nationwide

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The Chubby sticks of the poor: just bitten, just landed …

and just swatched.


For months now, the American have been teasing us with the Revlon 'Just Bitten' Kissable lipbalm stains. The wait is over and those of us living in the UK, can have finally have our grubby mitts on them now.




What are the Just Bitten kissable balm stains (again)?
They say: A pampering balm fused with a lightweight lipstain that gives you softer, smoother lips with a flush of shiny color that lasts hour after hour. The smooth and moisturizing gel formula glides on beautifully with a light peppermint fragrance for truly kissable lips – no sharpener is required!

The shades have all been named around the theme of love. My own ‘personal’ Superdrug received 7 shades, but I am not sure how many shades in total the UK will receive. Here are some quick swatches for you:







Just Bitten lip balm stains are usually sold at £7.99, but there is a special introductory offer. Boots being Boots, you need to purchase 3 to be able to use the offer (3 for 2 on selected Boots products) while good old superdrug lets you buy only one if you want at £5.99.

   

Will you be checking them out? Which is your favourite shade?

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Releasing my inner Minaj

I can't believe how hot and sunny it has been lately and I have got just the brightest polish to give the bright sun a run for its money. This is aciiied from Models Own.





It's definitely not safe for office work, it's loud, in your face and it reminds me of Nicky Minaj luridly bright hair, outfit and makeup. In fact it's too bright for me and had I seen swatches of this 9 months ago, I probably wouldn't have bought it. Yes this is how long it has taken me to play with it.






Aciiied offers a superb coverage (the photos show 2 coats of polish) but application was a bit laborious. It's not streaky, nor patchy but the formulation is quite thick and I found it quite hard to control the flow and place the polish where I wanted to. It felt as if the polish was controlling me. My first attempt at painting my nails was a disaster. The second one was much better: I had to take my time, I made sure the brush was lightly loaded (I usually load it up and wack it on) and just go very slowly basically.








If you like bright acid green verging on neon yellow, you'll go past the distinctively strong smell of the polish and its application woes. I think it would make a perfect dupe for OPI 'did it on em', but at half the price.  Aciiied made me realise that I'm much more a lime green type of person and that my favourite lime green to date was not so bad after all.


what: Models Own Aciiied Nail Polish, NP 114
how much: £5
where: Boots nationwide and Models Own online.

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The Dusk about Barry M : Hype and Sensitivity around dupes

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When someone decides to make a remix of a popular track and commercialise it, they usually need to ask permission to the author and pay some rights. From this alone, I reckon, ABBA must be absolutely minted and probably never have to work again. But how does it work when a makeup company decides to recreate a popular makeup product from a very well known brand? How did it work for example, when Models Own recreated 3 shades from Chanel Khaki Collection and many companies (Barry M, Models Own, Revlon, and lately Asda to name a few) took their take on Chanel Paradoxal? Did they need to pay rights to Chanel? Did they need to ask permission beforehand? If this is the case, how long after the public release of the original brand do they need to wait before the release of their duplicate? Is this detrimental to brand or highlighting the pure genius of a brand, who ‘inspired’ so many companies. 



When Chanel released their Paradoxal Nail Polish on that Friday 13 August, I am not sure anybody was ready for the stir it was going to create among the blogosphere and makeup lovers around the globe. For the purpose of this blogpost, and by curiosity, I wanted to track down the actual date when Barry M released their version of Chanel Paradoxal, their 'Dusky Mauve' but I hurt a brick wall. I googled first of all in the hope to find an answer, but alas with no success. Then I tried to see which blogger blogged about it first to see if they had the answer, again no luck there.


So I bit the bullet, the horn and everything (however the expression goes) and decided to ring Barry M to see if they would tell me. Another brick wall. The lady was nice enough but terribly protective of the information: 


'Why do you want this information' she asked.
Me: 'Oh just by curiosity' Her: 'Please give me a moment'.
At her return: 'We're not able to give you this information'.
Me: 'Oh, is that because you don't know or you are not allowed to tell me'?.
She goes: 'Well it depends why you need this information for'.
I went 'Oh i have this small blog on internet and I wanted to provide this information for my readers'.
'Oh' she says (tone of voice changes as it is now more acceptable to ask)

So this is when I asked myself 'what does it matter why i want to know this information for? The date is not to going to change depending on what I know to know it more, does it?


Anyway, she comes back and says something like

'It was in September'.
Me 'Thank you, would you have the exact date please?'
She goes 'We can't give you this information'.
Me again 'Is that because you don't know or you're not allowed to say'.
Her: We're not allowed to say.

I thanked her, and ended the conversation.

My google researches already led me to end of September, all I wanted to know was the exact date. Why so much secrecy? Maybe the lady didn't know and didn't have the courage to say 'To be honest, I haven't got a clue'.
Or maybe it has something to do with the fact that it's a dupe of Chanel Paradoxal and there is some senstivity there?
Meh, I don't know.


Very late after the party, these are my swatches of the much talked about and very difficult to source, Barry M, Dusky Mauve released at some undefined date at the very end of September but which really took the blogosphere by a storm during the month of October.






Is it worth the hype?

As my friend ellie said, I think this polish has been a bit too overhyped. It is nonetheless a gorgeous colour on the following conditions: If you're after this polish to admire this gorgeous & precious light purple shimmer shining through it, then don't bother. You'll have a nightmare to:

1. capture it on photos, and facing a dilemma trying to share with others its elusive beauty.
2. actually see that shimmer for yourself.
   

The reality of this polish is that it's a dusky mauve and that's that. Buying this polish to see the gorgeous shimmer in it, it's like going to the cinema to see a 3 hours movie to see a fleeting 2 seconds appearance of your favourite actor. I saw that shimmer, and it really fascinated me, but the following day it was gone, in the same manner as the freshly polished lustre of any polish would go after 1 day. Even during that one day, I was failing to see that gorgeous shimmer, in most lighting conditions my nails were exposed to.




 

Am I glad I bought this polish? Hell yeah. I am 500% happy with it and I love it to bits, but I accept it for what it is: a greyish purple, a stunning one, but with not much chance to see that most talked about shimmer in it. I am a big fan of Barry M polishes (their formula, ease of application and amazing bargain price {£2.99} and value for money) but there are not many shades for me (too many cremes, not enough shimmers and duochromes) so Dusky Mauve for me is a delight and was a very welcome and unique addition to my growing collection of nail polishes.





Is it worth ruining a friendship? Definitely not. If you see it in your local Boots or Superdrug, get it, this polish will enchant you. I am totally under the charm.

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