comparison swatch: opi mrs. o'leary's bbq and opi vampire state building

opi mrs. o'leary's bbq is widely reputed to be a dupe for the htf opi vampire state building. in my opinion, however (and unfortunately for those of you seeking a more easily accessible alternative to vampire state building), the two polishes aren't actually identical.

in the following photos, i have vampire state building on my index (leftmost) and ring fingers and mrs. o'leary's bbq on my middle and pinky (rightmost) fingers. i did three coats of each polish, although mrs. o'leary's bbq (owner of one of my favorite polish abbreviations ever, "molbbq") only needs two if you let it dry a bit longer than i did.


vampire state building and mrs. o'leary's bbq have completely different undertones, and the difference between the polishes is visible in regular natural light. vampire state building's undertones are brown, while those of mrs. o'leary's bbq are purple. the two shades are closer on the nail than in the bottle, though.

vampire state building and opi a man in every port-ugal look closer in the bottle than vampire state building and mrs. o'leary's bbq do (leaving aside a man in every port-ugal's subtle shimmer); i'll comp them at some point.

here's a lighter (albeit slightly washed out) pic to better show the different tones of the two polishes:


btw, for those of you who are interested, i posted a full mani with molbbq here.

swatch: opi mrs. o'leary's bbq

totally gorgeous, easy to apply, and opaque in two coats. although the name is a little odd... i told my friend i was wearing "mrs. o'leary's bbq" and his response was "wtf? you're wearing a nail polish inspired by the great chicago fire?"


molbbq is reputed to be a dupe for the htf opi vampire state building... i purchased the former and then was actually able to get my hands on vsb just a couple of weeks later. a comp post is in the works!

update: i've posted a comparison between opi mrs. o'leary's bbq and opi vampire state building here.

swatch: rescue beauty lounge atame

for a few days after i wore misa dying love i had on opi red hot ayers rock, and now i'm wearing rbl atame:


atame is patchier than most of my other rbl polishes, requiring three coats for opacity. its consistency is very smooth and easy to work with, and it still applies fairly well, but when i use an rbl i hope for the richly pigmented, almost-a-one-coater formula of polishes like teal, orbis non sufficit, and mismas - and atame unfortunately doesn't compare in that regard. still, it's a nice color, and i'm always happy to add to my rbl collection.

bf says: "blluhhh-dh!"

swatch: zoya sam

i was in the mood for a vampy yesterday, and this zoya (one of the polishes i got in their recent bogo promotion) didn't disappoint. it's reminiscent of dried blood and went on smoothly in three thin coats.

btw, this photo is in indirect sunlight... the polish looks quite a bit darker indoors.