DUPE ALERT!! Happy Birthday vs Gems

I have been on a serious glitter kick lately! I think the OPI Burlesque Collection got me started!

After I found the dollar store BSN glitter that reminded me of Deborah Lippmann's "Happy Birthday" I decided to go out and seek the real deal. I was considering spending $18 for the full bottle, but then I saw a cute little set of 3 mini DL polishes that came complete with a mini plastic carry case for $25. The colors were: "Happy Birthday", "Wicked Game", and "Dark Side of the Moon". While I am happy I finally got my hands on some DL polishes, I am SOOOO happy I didn't buy the full size of "Happy Birthday"!

I was at CVS yesterday and I saw a new display from Milani called Rockstar Heavy Glitter. The first one that caught my eye was "Gems". It was $4.99 and I knew I had to get it (along with the other glitters in the line)! These new Milani polishes are advertised as being a one coat glitter. Sounds good to me!

Here is a quick comparison between the two:

"Gems" is more dense with glitter than "Happy Birthday". The different sizes and colors of glitter are exactly the same except "Happy Birthday" has pink hexagonal glitter, while "Gems" does not. This is barely noticeable and only a true nail fanatic would notice such a difference.

Overall I think Milani did a great job with this color. I am surprised, but I think I like the Milani version better!

EDIT: If we are not basing it on price, I think I like Deborah Lippmann version better. Since it less dense than "Gems", "Happy Birthday" is better for layering over another polish. Although it isn't too apparent in my swatches, "Happy Birthday" has more of a rainbow confetti feel than "Gems". "Gems" has more of a Christmas feel, which I don't really care for. (Yes, I am a slight Grinch.)

Fuzzy Nails (or how I spent my Friday night)

I'm finally posting again! I have been on hiatus, and I'm happy to be back.

I have been sick this week with some kind of "respiratory ailment". I say that because I am not sure what to call it. It started as a cold and quickly progressed to a high fever, ear pressure, sore throat, and sinus/chest congestion. Yum. Hopefully I will be back to 100% soon.

One of my few outings I have made these past few days has been to the craft store Michaels. I was looking for some fine grain glitter for frankening, and in my feverish state I grabbed the wrong package. When I got home I looked at the package and realized it wasn't glitter at all, but something called "crushed velvet flock". Basically I had bought brightly colored fuzzy velvet lint.

I was planning on returning it but then I got an idea. What if I used it like I would use glitter on my nails? Felt nail designs?

This is the result. This is not my best design because I was working quickly. It was supposed to be a test run and I wasn't intending to post this, but I thought the result was unique and I wanted to share!

I was already wearing Milani's "Dress Maker" (which is a Chanel "Jade" dupe). I used Sally Hansen Complete Manicure "Pink Slip" (a light sheer pinkish white) to paint the designs and then I sprinkled the fuzzy stuff on it and pressed lightly and repeated as necessary.

I tested the durability by washing my hands a few times. It looses some of it's softness, but the effect still looks the same. The only one that was effected was the polka dot index finger nail. Most of the fuzz washed off the dots.

I'm not planning on keeping this on, but I do like the felt-like effect. My favorite nail is the thumb. I would definitely do a nice fuzzy heart on one of my nails again!

What do you think? Would you wear something like this as a manicure? Has anyone seen or done nails like this? I personally haven't seen something like this done, but I can imagine it already has been!