Two Cheap but Awesome Polishes: ULTA Lav-ish and Spoiled Jewelry Heist (picture heavy post)

I'm going to try to do the nearly impossible, for me and make this post light on the words. Let the pictures do the talking, etc. There are lots of them!

The first cheap polish I want to show you is ULTA Lav-ish. I think ULTA's store brand nail polishes are underrated/overlooked in terms of quality as well as the unusual options they offer. They go on sale all the time for super cheap. Right now they are 3 for $9, but I've got them for $2 in the past, too. Lav-ish is a dusty light purple with gold shimmer that looks pink in some lighting. It reminded me of the kind of something Zoya might make, so I compared it to Zoya Lotus. Obviously it's not a dupe, but it's in a same ball park - the Zoya is darker and just has pink shimmer, no gold. Check it:

Swatch of ULTA Lavish

1 Year Anniversary Giveaway: Fully-fucking-stocked makeup kit (15 pieces)

I've been fucking around here for a year now, so I'm celebrating by giving you a present. Well, one of you. I put together a makeup kit that has almost everything you need to do your face and claws. I tried to include an assortment of basics and neutrals that would suit just about anyone  - and for that reason I didn't include anything skin-colored, because I don't know what shade you are, mysterious future giveaway winner. Okay, so maybe the self-tanner isn't for everyone, but whatever. To make up for the lack of skin shit, I included an assortment of nail and lip products.

$2 dupe for Chanel Azure nail polish (picture heavy)

Disclaimer: This post contains an affiliate link.
People seems to be pretty fucking excited about the new Chanel nail polish, called "Azure". It's a greenish-teal-blue metallic duochrome - which, frankly, is not an original or unique shade of nail polish. It could be that this is one of those situations where you have to see in person to appreciate it's super-specialness, but I seriously doubt it. I think instead that this is a case of Chanel bringing its trend-making power to making an already common type of nail polish trendy (redundant much?). And then charging $27 for it. The formula isn't even anything special, apparently.

But I have a $2 nail polish that is mind-bogglingly gorgeous, and it looks like a dupe for the Chanel polish - or close enough. Check it out:

Nailed: Glimmery Zoya dupes(ish): Sienna, Meiko, Dannii, Charla

You can find dupes (i.e. duplicates) for expensive and popular nail polish colors all over the internet. Lots of bloggers will post comparison photos to determine if two polishes are really exactly the same or not. I’m not going to do that, because for the most part, I don’t buy expensive nail polish. I have an obscenely large collection (or at least verging on obscene), but it’s almost all drugstore stuff. The exceptions are a few bottles I got when Zoya and Butter London had their huge sales, or ones I got as gifts (I refuse to say “gifted to me”).

I had to stop looking at nail polish blogs every day, because doing so forced me (FORCED ME!) to make a list of polishes I want to buy, and it was getting really long. It was making me covet, basically. And I mostly can’t justify paying $8+ for a bottle of nail polish when I don’t have to. I’ve been able to cross four of the amazing glitter/shimmer (glimmer!) Zoya polishes off my list by buying cheap drugstore versions. That’s what I have for you today.

Note: I’m not too particular about whether or not these are exact dupes. To me, they are close enough, but they might be slightly lighter, darker, redder, bluer, etc. than the Zoyas. I’m posting pictures from reputable nail bloggers, so you can compare them yourself. What they all are is CHEAP. And BLINDINGLY SHINY.

Here are swatches of all four cheap polishes (3 coats each). From left to right: Wet ‘n’ Wild FastDry 9.0.2.1.Orange, dupe of Zoya Sienna (photo at The PolishAholic); Spoiled Shrimp on the Barbie, near dupe of Zoya Meiko (photo at Also Known As); Spoiled Are Mermaids Real?, dupe of Zoya Dannii (photo at Scrangie); and Essence Choose Me!, dupe of Zoya Charla (photo at Scrangie). ETA: Essence Choose Me! is no longer available. See here instead! The first 3 I bought at CVS for 99 cents - $1.99 each, and the Essence one from Ulta in a mini bottle for 99 cents.

Direct sunlight: