TWO comparisons!

I am on a roll tonight! I finally got my cleanup method refined a little, and all the acetone I used today helped me find a really painful cut on my middle finger, hooray!

I told you guys a while back I don't have many comparison posts to do, mostly because being on a budget, I'm extremely conscious of buying things that are close to what I already own. I'm not a 'Brand Girl', so I don't need a pretty Chanel if its available elsewhere for way less money. The ones I have tonight were by sheer accident, but I did want to share.

First up is a comparison swatching of Essie Sand Tropez from the Spring 2011 Collection 'A French Affair, and L'oreal Tea and Crumpets from the Fall 2012 London collection. I got Sand Tropez in a birthday group, and Tea and Crumpets smacked me in the face while at CVS the other day. I'm a nut for creamy nude shades, they're a perfect base for glitter when you don't feel like being bright (as seen in my last post).

Front

Side

Index and Ring fingers are Tea and Crumpets, Middle and Pinky are Sand Tropez

I didn't take many shots of this, as I'd only been charging my poor battery for about 30 seconds, but this is basically all she wrote. They're extremely close, Essie being just a SMIDGE darker. Close enough I'd say that you don't need both unless you're a complete fiend for nudes. Application was pretty much even; creamy, even, self-leveling coats that dried in about 5 minutes (I do slightly heavy handed coats)

Next up is a comparison of Essie Stroke of Brilliance and Milani Jewel FX in Lavender.

I picked up Stroke of Brilliance tonight while waiting for my dinner order from 5 Guys. I hadn't seen it in the wild, so I jumped on it.

Front

Sides

Milani: Index and Ring 

Essie: Middle and Pinky

Essie on the left. Milani on the Right.

Milani

Essie.

All swatches are two coats over a bare nail, one coat of Grand Central Station

Ok, so these are pretty different. Essie has three sizes of hex glitters in a periwinkle color, and Milani has two sizes of hex in (shocker, based on the name) lavender. They are close overall, but not at all the same. The white balance in the pictures may seem a little off, it is, because I had to adjust to reflect the true color of the polish as opposed to the true color of my pale...pale skin.

Hope you guys enjoyed this one! Trying to be a little more active here, so I figured three posts in one night fit that bill.

I love you guys like a glass of milk and Oreos :D