Trying to franken dupe and a super long post for the weekend!

Early post today! Why so early? Well, my old man and I are going to take the kids on a long weekend to Ruidoso, NM. Sort of to celebrate the end of summer vacation and to relax for a bit. The kid are registered and their shots are up to date and we've gotten most of the back to school shopping done. They start on the 23rd and since the weekend of the 21st and 22nd are the Tax Free weekend, we're going to finish up our shopping then.

So that means, other than daily stresses and problems, we can relax! Before I go though, I wanted to leave you with some stuff from July and a franken I recently mixed in an effort to try and dupe a long and probably pointless (cause I'll probably never get it in real life) lemming of mine, Starry Starry Night.

So first, the stuff from July. My NOTD was OPI's Catch Me In Your Net. So beautiful! I don't have Zoya Charla, so I can't compare. But I'm pretty happy with this! This is 3 coats of Catch Me In Your Net, except for my ring finger. Which is one coat of Catch Me In Your Net over Black Onyx.


Now for a small haul and comparison. I actually posted this in my livejournal, so if you've seen it before, I apologize! But I hauled a few things in July from my Chanel counter and was pleasantly surprised to find a dupe for MAC's Moth Brown eyeshadow.

So here they are, Chanel Jade Rose, Chanel Paradoxal and Chanel Taupe Grise eyeshadow.

Then here are some comparison shots of Taupe Grise and Moth Brown. The only difference really is in texture and finish. The Chanel eyeshadow is softer in texture and is not as frosty. Which is what I think is the reason why Moth Brown has more of a purple sheen to it at certain angles. Because of the extra frostiness. But they're basically the same base color and if Taupe Grise were frostier, I'm sure it'd also have that same purple sheen that Moth Brown has. But honestly, blended into the crease, you can't even tell the difference! I used Moth Brown on one eye and Taupe Grise on the other and no one could tell they were different. So booya! Dupe :D In all the skin swatches, Taupe Grise is on the left :)



And now my franken. Please keep in mind I've never seen Essie's Starry Starry Night in real life. So my attempt to dupe it could be completely off. But from what I've seen in pictures, this was as close as I could get it. I might just cave and have my family in California pick up some Chinoiserie for me so I can compare Stellar Night to my franken. But that might not be for a few months. So until then, this will have to satisfy my night sky needs. The best part is, it was pretty cheap to make! Here's what I used:

WnW Nocturnal
CQ Clear Top Coat
Orly Tiara

This was mostly top coat, as I learned from user Love8Brain on makeupalley, to make a jelly polish, you need mostly top coat. Here's her tutorial on makeupalley. But for the most part, I like it a lot! I'm going to have to franken myself another bottle probably, because this was so easy and it's going super quickly! But if it is a close dupe, then do the math. I spent less than $10 to buy the polishes needed to mix this bad boy together. That's a heck of a lot less expensive than the going price of the real thing nowadays! So if you're like me and you really really want SSN, but can't shell out the money for it, get yourself to your nearest drugstore and Sally's and buy those 3 polishes and mix till you're satisfied!

Well I will see you guys next week. I hope you have a wonderful weekend and great manicure days! :D