It's time for another edition of Dupes Up!  Today I have a set which I already KNOW are not dupes.  I know this because one contains glitter and the other does not. However, the purpose of today's dupes post is not to confirm or deny the dupiness of the two, rather, it's to determine if having both is needed.  One thing I'll point out to start is that this bottle shot is making the bL seem MUCH redder than it really is.  On with the post...

Contenders for today:

butter LONDON Scuppered from the 2012  Holiday Collection

Retail cost: $14

vs.

Barry M Copper

Retail cost: £2.99

Here's a close up shot of the two.  Again the butter London is photographing much more warm toned than it is in reality. It does seem to have a lot more red/pink shimmery bits in it than the Barry M which I think is what caused the problem.  Both have an overall copper tone to them and then green and pink bits throughout which catch the light for a super sparkly look.  They are nearly indistinguishable in person, even with the tiny green glitter bits in the butter London. You can see them in this picture (it's on the right). Despite them though, it's hard to tell the difference from a distance.

Here's a picture of them on the nail.  We have the Barry M on my middle and pinkie finger and the butter LONDON on the others.  You can see in this picture that the base on these is basically exactly the same and the difference lies instead in the green glitter in Scuppered. Honestly, while it's fairly obvious in this picture, even in bright lights it was hard for me to tell them apart in person on my nails. In low lights...it IS impossible. I avoided getting Scuppered for awhile because I already have both this Barry M, and his dupe-y USA counterpart, OPI's Warm & Fozzie.  But they're still both stunning polishes!

Here's a close-up sun shot for you. You can see that the polish bases are sort of different. The Barry M has larger flake type shimmer which is mostly coppery and gold.  The butter LONDON on the Other hand, has finer glitter and has a smoother appearance close up.  That said, with your naked eye: the effect is the same. 

Verdict: Close enough that you only need one!!  These are not dupes but you definitely don't need them both. That is...unless you're a crazy polish hoarder like me! :P

Availability: butterLONDON is a Seattle, WA based brand which can be purchased in high end retailers and at Ulta Beauty stores. Snag them online at Nordstrom.com or butterLONDON.com.  Barry M is a London based polish brand which can be purchased at Superdrug, Boots and BarryM.com.

If you liked Tuesday's post, you're going to love todays!  Because today I'm going to tell you how you can score Nails Inc. Pudding Lane for a mere £2....sort of! That's right, it's time for another edition of Dupes Up! 

This weeks contenders are:

W7 Mosaic

Retail Cost: £2 (approximately $3.16)

vs.

Nails Inc. Pudding Lane

Retail Cost: $9.50

When I picked up this Nails Inc. polish the other day at Sephora, it completely slipped my mind that I had the w7 in the mail!!  Even still, I thought there might be some slight differences.  Even when I got the w7 out of the package I thought it might be a bit different.  In fact, I thought it might have been the answer to the issues I had with Pudding Lane.  Both are cyan blue polishes with dark blue and gold hex glitters, but as you can see in the picture below, it looks like the glitter in Mosaic is a bit more sparse than in Pudding Lane.

It's not a TON of difference but there is a noticeable concentration of glitter in the Pudding Lane (right) where the Mosaic (left) is a bit less so.  This is sometimes an illusion with glitters though, since in a lot of cases its really that the glitter in the polish has stuck itself to the side of the bottle.  And...it seems that might be the case with Pudding Lane.  Here are the two on my nails:

Here we have Nails Inc on the index and ring and Mosaic on the middle and pinky fingers.  As you can see, they're exactly the same.  This is two coats and because of the jelly nature of the base you can see that there is still a BIT of balding in places and there is minimal VNL.  The glitter concentration seems to vary depending on how you fill the brush and you can see that difference on the ring finger where I swirled the brush around the bottle rather than dipping it straight in.  But otherwise, these two are exact dupes. If you live in the UK, where w7 is readily available and Nails Inc can retail for £11 or more, this is your lucky day!  If you live in the US, where Nails Inc are $9.50 and w7 is only available online (with overseas shipping! Ouch!) you may be better off to just visit your local Sephora counter.  BUT if you have a few other things on your overseas shopping list, you might still make out!! 

Verdict: Dupes.

Availability: w7 is available in drugstores across the UK.  Nails Inc is available in the US at Sephora, Sephora.com, and select drugstores in the UK.

It's time for another edition of Dupes Up! This weeks contenders:

China Glaze Rare & Radiant

Retail Cost: $5.99

vs.

OPI Just The Spotted Lizard

Retail Cost: $8.50

The other day my husband surprised me by purchasing the entire China Glaze Bohemian collection for me.  It was a nice gesture, though I have to say I'm fairly dissapointed in the collection as a whole.  That aside, when I got them swatched I realized that one of them was VERY similar to another polish I already have!  So I decided to swatch them together and see if I was right.  You can see that in the bottle the two look exactly the same, thought the China Glaze seems a bit more coppery owing to the bottle shape. So how do they look on the nails?

You guessed it: exactly the same.  The formula is very similar on these as well. The China Glaze was a hair thinner but the application was the same.  This is two coats of each.  Obviously the OPI has a larger brush and the China Glaze is a bit easier to obtain but other than those differences, these are exact dupes. Exact.  I'm not really sad about owning two of these because it's a lovely color and neither color is core so now I sort of have a back up!!  But if you were searching for the OPI you can now buy the China Glaze and save yourself the silly online prices or the hassle of hunting it down!

Verdict: Dupes.

Availability: OPI Just the Spotted Lizard was part of the SpiderMan collection and has limited availability at Ulta and drugstores where OPI is sold.  China Glaze Rare & Radiant is to be released in August at Sally Beauty locations nationwide and will also be available online and at Ulta.

It's time for another edition of Dupes Up! Today's contenders:

Barry M Copper

Retail Cost: £2.99 (approximately $4.75)

vs.

OPI: Warm & Fozzie

Retail Cost: $8.50

Another of the new Barry M collection and yet another discontinued OPI!  Coincidence?  Well...OK probably...maybe...it's likely!  I couldn't help but notice how similar Barry M Copper was to my already acquired Warm & Fozzie when I got it in the mail recently.  It looks a BIT more sparkly and seems to have a more overall copper tone in the bottle, but as I learned with the previous Barry M vs. OPI dupe...it's mostly down to the bottle shape.  Here's a close up of the two:

You should be able to see more what I'm talking about here.  the OPI has an overall more deep goldish green look in the bottle while the Barry M has more of an overall copper tone.  BUT, see that coppery streak down the middle of the OPI  bottle?  You'll also notice the green-gold halo around the edge of the Barry M  bottle.  It's the same tones just displayed in different ways.  Simply the way the light reflects off the bottle. On the nails?  Different story:

See?  If you can tell the difference between these than kudos to you.  This is taken in natural light.  The shift on the nails is the same.  They're both sort of a warm mahogany jelly, jam packed with tiny flakes of green, copper, and gold.  The Barry M is on the index and ring finger, while the OPI is on the middle and pinky.  There is literally no difference in the formula on these either.  I didn't notice any additional wear on one versus the other and both require a minimum of three coats for full opacity.  Here's another comparison for good measure:

This is the same lighting but a different angle.  In the other picture the OPI looked a hair darker but here you can see they're the same.  I will say the Barry M had a slightly better finish. It seemed more sparkly when it dried and more shiny.  A quick top coat of Seche Vite evened them out but it seems strange that the OPI finish would be sub-par.  Personally, even though Barry M is a drugstore brand, I prefer it to a lot of salon brands because I think it has a great formula!  These new colors are really making me love them even more!! 

Verdict: Dupes.  These are definitely the same in my book. Same color, same formula, slightly different on the finish but with a topcoat they are indistinguishable.

Availability:  Barry M Copper is available at Boots, Superdrug, and BarryM.com. OPI Warm & Fozzie is no longer available in stores but can be had for a reasonable price at many e-tailers including Amazon.com. 

It's time for another edition of Dupes Up! This weeks contenders:

Barry M Silvery Lilac

Retail Cost: £2.99 (approximately $4.75)

vs.

OPI: Not Like the Movies

Retail Cost: $8.50

I just recently got this Barry M and a lot of people online have compared it to butterLONDON's Knackered which I have yet to snag.  When I got it though, I was more drawn to a different polish in my collection: Not Like the Movies.  Now, I'll start by saying there are TWO versions of the OPI color Not Like the Movies.  One is a duo chrome which was released with the original Katy Perry Collection.  The other is a silver version which came a bit later.  I have the duo chrome version and that's the one I'm comparing today.

Here is a close-up of the bottles.  Both have a silver base with a lilac/green duo chrome.  The OPI looks like it has MUCH more of a color change in this shot. You can clearly make out the purple as it shifts from green to silver.  The Barry M looks more of a silver/lilac without much change in between the two.  They both also have silver micro glitter throughout.

So here's the lowdown:  First of all, the Barry M had a much better formula, which is surprising given it's a drugstore brand vs. a salon brand.  I only needed two coats of the Barry M for coverage and I needed three of the OPI.  Both were still a smidgen sheer but I think that's just the way this polish is meant to be.  This photo was taken in natural light.  Both have a silver to lilac shift, shimmery silver flecks, and a slight greenish tinge at the edges.  I showed them to numerous people and none could tell a difference, not even my husband who is well trained in the art of differentiating polishes from one another!  The Barry M is on the index and ring finger, while the OPI is on the other two. The OPI looks a BIT darker in this photo but it's not really. If you blow this up (just click it!) you can see that they're the same.  You'll also notice the OPI is a bit streaky though it's not noticeable in person.  There is also a VERY slight shift more towards green on the OPI where the Barry M is more lilac than greenish.  But for all reasonable intents...these are the same in my book.

Verdict: Dupes. Yes there are some VERY SLIGHT differences (the streaks in the OPI, the TINY shift more towards green.)  but honestly, on the nails the differences are not noticeable at all. So I feel comfortable labeling these dupes.

Availability: Barry M Silvery Lilac is available at Boots, Superdrug, and BarryM.com.  OPI Not Like the Movies was part of the now defunct Katy Perry Collection and can no longer be purchased in stores.  It has limited availability online but there are TWO versions.

Wondering how these stack up against another silvery lilac duo chrome, Zoya Ki? Debbie has you covered over at The Crumpet!