Comparison Thursday: Purples with Holo Glitters

Tonight's Comparison Thursday is brought to you by the color purple!  The polishes for tonight's comparison are a mix of easy to find, discontinued, and hard to get because it's international.  Man, that's a mouthful!  So, let's get down to the nitty gritty!  Oh, and try to ignore the acetone ravaged cuticles... This was in the midst of a huge swatching spree, and I apparently didn't moisturize as well as I should have.  Ooops!

*I was not financially compensated for this post.  All items in this review were purchased by me for my own use.  The opinions are completely my own based on my experience.  For more information, please see my Disclosure Policy in the tab above.*

Kiko 255, China Glaze Grape Crush, and Zoya Aurora

All three polishes have a similar concept, purple base with holo glitters.  I'm talking dark purple.  Deep, luscious, delicious looking purple.  It reminds me of grape juice or grape jam.  Yummy.  Sorry!  Got of topic a bit!

Kiko 255

Kiko is an international brand that isn't easily accessible in the US.  However, if you have a friend in Europe that can pick some up for you or if you see them on blog sales, you need to snap them right up.  The formula for 255 was perfect. It applied easily, the glitters spread well, and it only needed two coats, which is a huge win in my book.  The purple is a little darker than the purple in Grape Crush and much darker than the purple in Aurora.  Lastly, it looked so much glossier than the other two even after top coat.

China Glaze Grape Crush

Grape Crush is a beautiful deep purple that leans a little red as compared to the others.  Unfortunately, Grape Crush has been discontinued for quite some time.  I found mine at a salon while I was out and about.  I tend to go into salons and purchase old polishes that are hard to find elsewhere, which is called dusty hunting or just dustying.  Anyway, application wasn't as nice as with the Kiko.  It was streakier and required three coats.  Also, the glitters weren't as in your face as 255 or Aurora.  It smelled pretty bad, too.  Womp womp!  It's still a pretty polish, but I vastly prefer Kiko 255 over Grape Crush.  If you're a collector, though, it's one you should have in your collection.

Aurora

Zoya Aurora is the outlier of the group.  It's a lighter purple that is jam packed with irregular shaped holo bits that provide a richness and depth that 255 and Grape Crush just don't have.  Application was easy, as with most Zoyas.  This is three coats.  Aurora came out at Christmas time last year, but you can still purchase it on Zoya's website and where Zoya's are sold.

Blurred to see the holo!

In the end, my favorite of the bunch was Kiko 255.  The application was far superior to both the China Glaze and the Zoya.  It was also well more opaque.  Lastly, I liked the effect of the glitters in 255 the best.

Which is your favorite?

*I was not financially compensated for this post.  All items in this review were purchased by me for my own use.*

Comparison Thursday: Neon Blue/Teal

Tonight's Comparison Thursday is brought to you by the color teal.  I have a comparison that I'm actually pretty excited to show you tonight.  One is an easy to find drugstore brand, while the other is a foreign brand.  I received both from swaps, and I really like both of them.  Without further ado, I present Sinful Colors Savage and Kiko 341.

I'm not sure why, but the colors aren't showing up very accurately.  My photos lean more towards bright blue than a solid neon teal, so keep that in mind when you're taking a look.

Savage is a true neon that dries matte.  With that, though, comes application issues.  Mattes are very tricky for me, for some reason.  If you don't go fast enough, you'll get clumping when you go back over semi-dry polish with fresh polish.  However, if you go too fast, you'll lose accuracy.  For the price, though, this polish is fantastic, and a great alternative to the next polish, Kiko 341!

Kiko 341 is an Italian brand polish that I received from a swap with an awesome lady in France.  It is so ridiculously pigmented that it looks great at one coat, but I used two for photos.  It dries super glossy and applies so easily.  I didn't use a top coat in these photos, so that gloss is all 341.  It is a touch darker than Savage, but they're close enough that Savage could definitely squash a lemming if you toss on some top coat!

Here are both topped with Lac Attack Jewel of the Nile, which is a fine matte polish with blue, yellow, and purple hexes in the style of Floam.

You can purchase Kiko on line here, or you can do what I did and swap someone for it.  You can purchase Sinful colors at Walgreens.

Which do you like better?