You've Got Duped - Skin Food Pink Milk Vs Mecca Cosmetica Celia

I did the side by side of Skin Food Pink vs Mecca Cosmetica Celia. I was really hoping that Pink Milk would be a dupe because it's under $5 and available to my overseas readers, versus Mecca, which is only available in Australia and is $22.

Whilst the lighting is different in these photos, I can say with a good level of certainty that Pink Milk is a great colour dupe, albeit it is, like I suspected, marginally lighter. But both are cremes. Both are deep-ish pinks.

However, given the application problems I've had with both Skin Food lacquers this week, I've got to be honest when I say I'd prefer to use Mecca Cosmetica, even though it's hideously expensive. The formula is better on Mecca and I much prefer the finish.

So what do you think, ladies. If you loved Celia, and I know alot of you did, then Pink Milk is a cheap alternative. But could you tolerate the application issues to get that colour payoff?

Skin Food - Pink Milk

The second Skin Food I am trying this week is Pink Milk.

This is just like its name suggests. It's a gorgeous, candy pink that would suit almost any skin tone and would be perfect in almost any situation - whether it be work, a wedding, Sunday brunch with the girls. It's extraordinarily versatile and a beautiful colour.

Unfortunately, application wise, this was even worse than Ice.

I'm thinking that part of the problem is the brush. The brush is small and rounded at the end. The polish tends to 'ball' on the end of the brush so, when you apply to the nail, the lacquer just plops onto the nail and, depending on how you have your hand positioned, it runs. At least, that's my theory.

Once again, despite the application problems, this is a beautiful colour that I imagine I'll be wearing a fair amount during the summer.

I also think this might be a dupe for Mecca Cosmetica's Celia? Albeit I think Pink Milk is marginally lighter. I'll do another side by side and see how it works.

You've Got Duped - Skin Food Ice Vs Eyeko Pastel Polish

Mmmm, so I decided to do that side by side of Skin Food's Ice vs Eyeko's Pastel Polish.

I think the colours are reasonably close, however, there are some really obvious differences.

Firstly, the Eyeko is a 'truer' blue than Ice, which is paler and cooler in tone.

Also, while Ice is a true cream, Pastel Polish has a definite shimmer to it.

Finally, I much prefer the finish on the Pastel Polish than Ice. The Eyeko shines and gleams whilst the Skin Food looks alot 'thicker' on the nail and a little dull.

But they are close and, if you weren't looking for the differences like I am, I don't believe you could tell these two apart.

Having said that, these polishes are both available for under $5 at the moment so, if the point of a dupe is to find a cheaper option, then you're really only saving pennies here. And, if you're like me - a lacquer-holic - you'll probably end up buying both, right?

Skin Food - Ice

Skin Food is a brand which I've raved about here and here, albeit I'm not a fan of the weird naming conventions they have (ie many of the polishes have no names - they're just inventory labels).

I'm trialling another two of their lacquers this week, this time from their Pastel Rainbow Collection. These lacquers are smaller than the ones I've tried so far (8mls versus 13mls), and they're marginally more expensive.

On the bright side, though, at least these have names! And the bottles are just too cute. They are like little medicine bottles.

Ice is an icy blue creme. I really like this colour and can see it becoming part of my regular rotation for the upcoming summer.

But.... the application on this is HIDEOUS. It takes three coats for this to become opaque, which I don't mind, however the formula is thick and gloopy. If I didn't wait until it completely dried between coats, the formula would drag and I would be left with bald spots. And, because it took three thick coats to get opaque, this took forever today, even with some Seche Vite magic.

I also found the formula difficult to control. Despite many attempts to control the brush, this still seeped into my cuticles at every opportunity. Although it cleaned up easily enough with some q-tips, it's something that annoyed me and extended my manicure time from 20 minutes to an hour.

Being the sucker for colour payoff that I am, however, the application problems won't stop me loving this colour like I love my kids. It's just too gorgeous.

I'm sitting here wondering if this could be a creme dupe for Eyeko's Pastel Polish? What do you think? Should I do a side by side and see?

Skin Food - BR601

One of my favourite parts of Fall is the crunchy leaves on the ground. It entertained me as a child to stomp through the leaves - delighting in the crunch they made - and it entertains me now.

Skin Food's BR601 reminds of those leaves. I tossed up whether to classify this as a bronze or an orange and, eventually, decided on orange. But this is, realistically, so much more than an orange.

When I wear this, I feel like Beyonce in the Work it Out video. Totally and absolutely Foxy Cleopatra.

Like RE107, application of this is fantastic. If anything, application is a little easier than RE107. Brush strokes are super forgiving (no streaks, bald spots or sticking) and it dries very quickly.

Where this falls down is on tip wear. The tips started to wear on Day 1, which made me nearly cry because I loved how this colour looked on my nails. However, that wasn't all the lacquer's fault. I had failed to apply a top coat. Once I did that, my tips were good to go until Day 3 before they started to wear again.

All up, I won't say this is my favourite fall colour, but it's definitely up there. It's cheap, applies well and looks gorgeous.

Skin Food - RE107

Skin Food is a Korean based cosmetic brand, which I discovered whilst trawling through Nail Polish Ninja. I was instantly taken in by the cute bottles and luscious colours.

RE107 (someone please explain to me why Asian lacquer brands have such unsexy naming conventions) is a deep red jelly.

Fine glitter particles seem to light the polish from within. When I applied it, it was almost like the glitter was suspended in the nail polish. I couldn't help but stare at my nails all day.

Application was a breeze with this. It dries super fast so, by the time you've finished the first coat, your nails are ready for the second.

It takes two coats to become opaque although, if you really want no visible nail line, I'd recommend three coats.

Longevity is ok. This lasted about two days before I started to see some minor tipwear. But that was easily fixed with a quick touch up on the tips and a further topcoat. This is the kind of polish you can put on on Monday and still be wearing on Friday.

Best of all about this? It's a pretty good - and far cheaper - dupe for Bloom's Sangria.

I've lined up both polishes side by side and, really, in the photos there is minimal difference between the two.

In person, RE107 is more of a 'true' red than Sangria, which has huge dollops of pink and gold running through it.

However these differences are only perceptible if you are really looking for them. You could easily get away with wearing the RE107 (which is much, much cheaper - I paid $3 for RE107 on eBay) rather than Sangria, and save yourself a few dollars.

So what do you guys think? Do you like RE107 from Skin Food? Do you think it's a good dupe for Sangria?