Dupe test: Girly Bits 'Shift Happens' vs Max Factor 'Fantasy Fire'

Hello ladies! Today I have a comparison to show you of two fabulous topper polishes: Shift Happens (love the name!) by Girly Bits and the famous Fantasy Fire by Max Factor.  I know that the Max Factor is about as easy to come by as leprechauns outside the UK, whereas Girly Bits is a US brand (and cheaper by the ml to boot!).  So perhaps this comparison will help you get the topper effect you want without breaking the bank or paying to import...

Looking at these in the bottle, its not obvious that there should be any similarity between them
 - Shift Happens has a soft opalescent rainbow effect in the bottle, whereas Fantasy Fire has a strong indigo background with pink and purple shifts.  From the bottle you'd guess that the Girly Bits polish would give you a soft pearly shimmer in a whole rainbow of colour and the max factor would give you purple or pink sparkle only.  If you guess that, surprisingly, you'd be wrong.



left: Shift Happens right: (l-r) Fantasy Fire and Shift Happens

Without further ado, let's see these on the nail (please excuse the splodgy mess I made of my index finger when I was getting out the camera...) All swatches are in artificial light:


index: black base + SH, middle: black base + FF, ring: EMIO + SH, pinkie: EMIO + FF

I chose two different base colours to compare these on: plain black (No7 "Just Black") and a purple based shade (OPI "Every Month is Oktoberfest").  I used one coat of each undies shade, and one coat of each topper.  I was keen to see whether having a purple base shade would make the indigo based FF appear different to SH.  In fact, from this you can see that they are practically identical.  The main shade that I got from both these toppers was this gorgeous cinnamon shimmer.  By changing the angle of the light source this deep russet shade shifted through gold, amber and right through to green:



index: black base + SH, middle: black base + FF, ring: EMIO + SH, pinkie: EMIO + FF

The green was a big surprise for me, coming from the Fantasy Fire.  I see absolutely NO evidence of green in the bottle, no matter which way I turn it, yet it's clearly right there on the nail!



(l-r) SH over black, FF over black, SH over EMIO

Seen here in closeup of my middle finger, you can see those green and gold shades popping from the FF and it's just stunning.  Both of these polishes were like pure bottled Autumn leaves....gorgeous.

I would say that IMO these two polishes, at least over the two shades I tried here, are close enough to be dupes.  Certainly I wouldn't advise that you shell out for both of them if you have neither (personally I'm always keen to save my polish funds for something new, I'm always sad when I find I've accidentally bought a dupe, as in this case).  

In terms of value for money, Shift Happens is a full size polish and I picked mine up for £10 from Rainbow Connection. The Max Factor (in the UK) can be bought in any Boots/Superdrug etc for £3.99 for the mini size bottle (with its fiddly brush).  So the Girly Bits is cheaper by the ml, but depending where you live you might find one easier to find than the other (and really who of us will manage to use up even a mini size topper polish? Not me!).

Later on I'll post a fabulous mani I did with Shift Happens on top of OPI Germanicure, which was all kinds of warm toasty brown cinnamon loveliness...until next time :)

Comparison: OPI Germanicure, Every Month is Oktoberfest and Chanel Malice

Today's post is a comparison of some of my absolute favourite polishes from 2012, and actually these might be some of my favourites ever: Chanel Malice, and two from OPI - Germanicure and Every Month is Oktoberfest.  I've been meaning to dupe test these for a while, and you can see from this bottle shot why I thought they'd be pretty similar....

L:R - Chanel Malice, OPI Every Month Is Oktoberfest, OPI Germanicure - sunlight

Malice was the limited edition Christmas release for 2012 from Chanel.  The OPI polishes - Every Month is Oktoberfest (EMIO) and Germanicure are part of the Fall 2012 'Germany' collection.  The Germany collection is my favourite OPI collection since the legendary Russia Fall collection in 2007.  I'm definately a Fall/Winter shades kind of girl, I much prefer vampy juicy Fall colours to insipid Spring pastels and these three polishes are right up my alley.

There is significant debate online about the similarity between the two OPI shades.  Germanicure has also been touted as a dupe for the HTF Malice.  So...on with the comparison!



Chanel Malice (index finger), OPI Every Month Is Oktoberfest (middle), OPI Germanicure (ring finger) - sunlight

Immediately you can see that these couldn't be more different.  Malice is a lush blackened burgandy with incredible shimmer, EMOI has an inky violet base with golden fiery shimmer and Germanicure has a dusky brown base with golden fiery shimmer.  The in-bottle similarity of the OPI's I think is because the shimmer particles look the same to me, and its the base colour that differs.

Chanel Malice (index), OPI Every Month Is Oktoberfest (middle), OPI Germanicure (ring) - articifial light

Pictured here I'm wearing one coat of Nail Envy as base, and two coats of each colour, with no top coat.  These polishes are beautifully glossy on their own.  The formula on the Chanel is incredible, this is pretty much a one-coater its so pigmented, but I'm a habitual two coater regardless.  No streaks, perfect leveling, top marks.  The OPI's are both pretty streaky on the first coat, but the second sorts that out completely for a smooth finish.

For giggles I then layered these with another firm favourite from 2012 - Fantasy Fire by Max Factor.  This is the ultimate layering polish - its too sheer to be much use on its own (it took 5 coats to get the in-bottle colour on my nails).  It's a violet base with pink, purple and gold shimmer particles.  So it layers brilliantly with any colour that has any of those three colours as a base....

Chanel Malice (index), OPI Every Month Is Oktoberfest (middle), OPI Germanicure (ring) - all layered with one coat of Max Factor Fantasy Fire - sunlight

Phwoar! As if any of these shades needed something extra, the Fantasy Fire just gives these an extra edge of sparkle. 

For my manicure this week I picked my favourite and painted the rest to match: OPI EMOI with Fantasy Fire...love it! This is the fourth time I've used EMOI since I got it, which makes it officially my most used 2012 polish.  It's like they designed this one with me in mind.  Can't wait to see what OPI brings out this Fall!

Nail Envy (1 coat), OPI EMOI (2 coats), Max Factor Fantasy Fire (1 coat) and Seche Vite (1 coat)

OPI Every Month Is Oktoberfest - layered with Fantasy Fire - sunlight

OPI Every Month Is Oktoberfest - layered with Fantasy Fire - indirect sunlight

What were your favourite polishes of 2012? Do you wear Fall shades all year round or are you a seasonal girl?