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Friday, October 25, 2013

Dupe: Chanel Vendetta vs. Barry M Plum



Why, hello my fellow beauties!

As you might have guessed by the title, I have something a little bit different for you today. I was painting my nails the other day and when I admired my work absentmindedly, for a moment, I wasn't quite so sure which nail polish I had actually used, Chanel or Barry M.
And that basically screams a comparison of the two, doesn't it?




Colour: 
First things first. The most important thing about a proper dupe is, does it look like the original. Well, there's a bit to be said for those two fellows.
Vendetta is in fact one of my favourites nail polishes ever. It holds a very special place in my heart because it was the first high end product I ever purchased and I think its shade is pretty hard to match. It is a very dark purple, almost black, but with very fine milled red shimmer particles. It's not a mother-of-pearl like shimmer but just small particles you can see in the light.
The colour of plum is pretty similar but lighter and without any shimmer. If I had to describe the two colours as waters, I would say Vendetta is very dark but clear whereas Plum is a bit muddy. Do you know what I mean? It still has a glossy finish but the colour isn't as clear which is perhaps why it looks lighter than Vendetta. 
I'll be totally honest with you, if you hold your hands into the light and examine them you will see the difference. But if you're just going about and acting normal or even are inside where there isn't as much light, they do look the quite the same. No one will be able to tell from afar, even I need to concentrate to remember which nails are painted with which colour. And what I always forget to tell myself, I won't wear them both at the same time ever again, so there's no direct comparison anyway.




Quality: 
If you're not new into the beauty business you will know what you get when you buy a Chanel nail polish. If you're not, don't be fooled by the big brand name and the general hype about their products. You don't buy Chanel nail polishes for quality but for colour.
In general, the quality is terrible, at least for the price you pay. I do take care of my nails and manicure and I don't manage to make Chanel last longer than three days at the most before it starts chipping. The handling can be a little bit tricky as well; I know no colour that you can wear with a single layer but as it takes relatively long to dry, people tend to put the second one on too fast which can lead to a somehow strange finish and little bubbles suddenly appearing on the nails and all kinds of not so nice stuff. I wouldn't say Chanel is for pros, but I wouldn't recommend the brand to an absolute beginner, either.
Barry M is quite contrary to that. Although I don't like the Barry M brushes, because they are very thing and never seem to have quite the right amount of product on them, putting the nail polish on is quite hassle-free. If you only take one layer this particular colour can look a bit streaky, but as soon as you put on another, it will be completely opaque. It dries really fast as well, the Plum being part of the Gelly Hi-Shine range, the finish still feels like it's not dry for some time and looks the same. Do you know what I mean? That state of drying nail polish where you can walk around with it but you better not bump your nail on something? That's what it looked and felt like for a few hours after I put it on although it was already dried. Another plus on the Barry M side is that it almost took me a whole week to chip my nails and I was working in the lab again, handling disinfectants and alcohol and everything you wouldn't want near your nails.




Price: 
A point almost as important as the colour is the price. Wonderful if you have a totally matching product, if it's even more expensive than the original one there's not much dupe going on.
This is definitely not the case with these two beauties. 
Chanel nail polished lie around 18 £ or 24 € which is an awful lot considering that you only pay for a beautiful colour. You can get Barry M nail polishes for 2,99 £, however, and they often do special offers like 3 for 2 which makes them even cheaper.



Alright, considering that you won't see a difference in the colour unless you look for it and examine your nails thoroughly, Barry M has a better quality and costs only a fraction, I would definitely classify Plum as a dupe for Vendetta. It's not a 100 % but I'd say it's good enough.
Would I buy Vendetta again? Haha, certainly! That's the point with Chanel, once you fallen in love with the colour there's nothing to be done, this is no rational decision.



What do you think? Dupe or not? Any other dupes you know? Tell me, I'd love love love to know!


Have a most wonderful day and a lovely weekend! 
xx

6 comments:

  1. Love the Barry M color. Your right about Chanel polishes chipping :(

    Kristen @ Your Beauty Fix

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's such a pity they're not able to do a better quality :(

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  2. Agreed, concerning the colour this is my favourite of all the ones I own!

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  3. that barry m polish is lovely!

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    from helen at thelovecatsinc

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  4. i like o much the chanel nail polish ;) gorgeous color ;)
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