Sally Hansen Lustre Shine….
purchased by me
After hitting up 3 different Walgreens I finally got my hands on this collection! Much like the China Glaze Bohemian collection I have been lusting after these ever since Sally Hansen posted a teaser pic on their FaceBook page. Many people have been saying they’re going to pass on these because they are “dupes” of the China Glaze collection and at twice the cost I can see why people would want to dismiss them. But I hate to say it, they’re not, with the one exception of Scarab, that’s an exact dupe of ChG Deviantly Daring. Also, there have been rumors that there’s actually two more colors to this collection and according to the numbers on the bottles (number 2 and 4 are missing) it does indeed look like two more color *should* be released (now I’m not saying they will definitely be released because I don’t know but I can’t imagined they’d have an incomplete collection).
So anyways, here they are…
I used 2 coats of polish for every swatch shown..
Moonstone is a beautiful Opal. It doesn’t really have a color “shift” it’s more iridescent so you see hints of blue and pink coming through the white base. This is not a sheer polish and was opaque in 2 coats.
Firefly is a coppery, reddish gold with a subtle shift to green. This one was very surprising because in the bottle you see green lining the sides making it appear that it has a green color shift, but sadly the green shift only appeared in the underwater shot (although in the right lighting you might be able to see it).
Plume is gold with a subtle green shift. In the bottle this looks like yet another Chanel Peridot dupe, however, the main color of this is a warm gold not green.
Do you hear the angels singing? If not, you need you hearing checked because this color is a bottle of awesomesauce! Lava is an reddish orange microflakie with a yellow color shift. Yes a duochrome flakie, nothing gets more awesome than that!
Scarab is a beautiful teal. The color shift in this one, like ChG Deviantly Daring, is very minimal. It does have an ever so subtle shift from blue to teal but let’s face it, it’s teal.
Copperhead is a reddish brown with a hint of gold shimmer. I was very meh about this color but it’s actually very pretty and perfect for fall.
Now here’s some comparisons…
SH Moonstone vs Pixi Opal Sheen
I almost didn’t compare these because they looked so different in the bottle(Opal Sheen has a strong pink undertone whereas Moonstone is more blue/pink iridescent). Yet they photographed very similar, although you can see that Opal Sheen is far more pink. The only big difference is Moonstone has a frosty appearance where Opal Sheen is very smooth.
These look nothing alike (lol). I only compared them because I figured people would want to know if they look alike, they don’t. Now you may ask why I didn’t compared it to Unpredictable and the answer is because even in the bottle they look nothing alike, not even similar.
So here’s the big comparison! Plume vs ChG Rare and Radiant and as you can see the base color is totally different. In fact, they’re opposites! While Rare and Radiant is a green that shifts to gold, Plume is a gold that slightly shifts to green.
Again these look nothing alike but I didn’t want poor Lava to be left out of the comparisons lol.
Ok, so here’s the only dupe. If you already own ChG Deviantly Daring you DO NOT need to spend $9 for the same polish. The *only* difference is Deviantly Daring is slightly sheerer, I used 2 coats each to swatch but if I did 3-4 of Deviantly Daring I would have the same intensity of Scarab.
If you recently picked up the new Maybelline Color Show polish in Downtown Brown and thought that Copperhead looked like it, think again. Even though I swatched using MAC Blue Brown pigment it’s very similar to Downtown Brown (MAC Blue Brown pigment is more of a redder brown). While Copperhead has the red brown thing going on it doesn’t have a blue shift, instead it has subtle gold shimmer.
Overall: These had a great formula, not thick or brush-strokey. They applied smooth and even and are very pigmented! You only need 2 coats to achieve full color opacity. They have an average dry time only if applied in thin layers, If you apply too thick they seem to never dry. I applied each color over WnW Black creme so you could see the duochrome color and I also applied a matte topcoat. Unfortunately the matte top coat did nothing but dull it so I’ll have to experiment more with that.
Price: I bought these for $8.99 a piece at Walgreens, but Walgreens prices are always high(to me at least). I think when these come to places like Walmart they may be a couple dollars cheaper. Bu for now if you could only get a couple from this collection I would say the must haves are definitely Lava followed by either Copperhead or Firefly.
Hope you enjoyed and happy shopping! 😉
5-Free nail lacquer by The Polished Mommy
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I must have Lava and your underwater shots are so cool, I love that idea!!!
Thank you for your swatches and comparisons! I’m glad I found your post before I bought them because I already have ChG DD at home! Looks like I’ll be going back for Lava and Copperhead and I can safely pass on the rest. ^_^
I love the list of all the dupes, helpful that I don’t make the mistake of buying the same and I can save money going with the less expensive. I have enjoyed your blog for awhile now, I am newer to this type of blog myself, I have a party/event planning and baking business that I have blogged about recipes, photos of my cakes and events along with interior decorating which is a passion of mine. I have been reading the nail, beauty, fashion, craft and other blogs for awhile and was inspired to start my own with things I love. I was recently awarded this butterfly award by Talon a fellow blogger. I have to regift it to 10 bloggers and picked you as one. The link is: http://dlitefultrends.blogspot.com/2012/09/butterfly-award.html there you will see what exactly it is about. I was excited to be chosen then it is exciting to share it with others. Thank you for posting amazing posts I enjoy your blog and all your photos. Have a great weekend and if you don’t follow me yet I would love to have you follow me=). Thank you
Thanks for listing dupes. I won’t pick scarab and I was totally planning on getting it.
I am so disappointed now. But glad you posted these before I found them at any drugstore. There is not one I am wowed by at all. I like my OPI Pearl of Wisdom over Moonstone. The others – well I cannot wear any teals but cream for some odd reason – they all look horrible on me. And the other shades just not anything I expected from the SH bottle graphics…but then I know not to believe graphics – they always look so different (better and worse) than the real product does. Now it’s on to looking to see what the ChG holo collection for early 2013 is going to bring – my guess is they won’t be anything new – won’t be what we see coming out of Brazil. ChG tried it before and got it wrong with the Bohemia collection & probably will get their next holo collection wrong too – I do have all of the OMG and Tronica but I think I am more going for great one shades now days vs. complex duochromes. So not liking the strong metallics that really are frost and not what I call metallic. You saved me a ton of $ -thanks.
How do you take your pictures underwater?? They look so gorgeous :]
I fill up a glass container with tap water, place it over an extra white piece of foamcore board (from my lightbox) then put my hand fully underwater. I always take my pics outside so the lighting is from sunlight, to get “shade” I lean over the bowl as I take the pic. This really helps show off the color shift because light comes in from the sides but there’s shade on the top. Hope that made sense =)
Wow, awesome technique! I will definitely try that out – thanks! :]
Wow is right – thanks for explaining your talent here. I cannot get good shots period let alone in water!