Happy Monday! I’m very excited because this week is Dare to Compare Week here at Adventures in Polishland! One of my highest requested blogs is the comparison post, so I figured I would dedicate this week to that. From today until Friday I will share three nail polishes from a color family each day and see how they match up. I tried to pick a variety of colors from a mix of brands so that everyone can find something within budget. First up is dark purple, a color I have a lot of in my collection. Let’s see how the first three compare!
Today’s Dare to Compare polishes are (from left to right) OPI in Lourve Me Lourve Me Not, Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Pronto Purple, and elf in Royal Purple. As you can see, they look quite similar in the bottle. Each is a dark purple with shimmer. The true test comes when they are on the nails! First I’ll show you each polish individually, and then how they look side by side.
Polish Name: elf in Royal Purple
Price: $2.00 [Buy HERE]
Coats Needed for Opacity: 2
Formula: Good — brush strokes visible
Color Description: Dark purple that leans towards magenta, with magenta and silver shimmer
Bonus: Very strong shimmer effect!
Polish Name: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Pronto Purple
Price: $4-6 in drugstores and department stores [Buy HERE]
Coats Needed for Opacity: 2
Formula: Amazing! Lives up to fast dry name.
Color Description: Very deep purple with magenta shimmer
Bonus: I love the wide brush!
Polish Name: OPI in Lourve Me Lourve Me Not
Price: $8 at Nordstrom Rack or on Amazon [Buy HERE]
Coats Needed for Opacity: 2
Formula: Flawless! High gloss shine when dry.
Color Description: Dark purple with magenta shimmer
Bonus: This is the first OPI I ever owned and is from a discontinued collection!
Above you can see each polish side by side. From left to right is the elf, the Sally Hansen, and the OPI. These polishes are not dupes [“dupe” = duplicate in nail polish lingo!], but they are very close. Elf’s Royal Purple is definitely the lightest shade of the bunch, and has the most shimmer. Pronto Purple from Sally Hansen is clearly the darkest of the three. Although these do vary from one another in terms of color, you may find you prefer one shade over the rest. However, if you are looking for a great dark purple in general, I don’t think you can go too wrong with any of these! The elf formula wasn’t the best, but with a $2 price tag it is not much of a compromise. If I had to choose just one, I would personally go with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Pronto Purple, for the great formula and mid-range price tag!
Which dark purple nail polish is your favorite?! What is more important to you, price or formula?!
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