SHINE, SHIMMER & SPARKLE

Hello!

All my chums (even the MAs I purchase from often!) know of my undying love and devotion to anything turquoise - teal, aqua, blue-green whatever you call it, if its in that shade, it has the ability to immediately draw and hold my attention.Make that a sparkly, shimmery turquoise and I fall hook, line and sinker :P

When OPI premiered its SUMMER FLUTTER COLLECTION in 2010, I immediately lemmed and ran out to buy OPI CATCH ME IN YOUR NET which I've used repeatedly. Then when I had the chance to purchase some ZOYA polish earlier this year, I searched the racks for ZOYA CHARLA and picked that up too because I just loved the shade. And then, Iris, knowing my love for turquoise (and is quite the turquoise lover herself), picked up this beautiful polish from ACCESSORIZE in MERMAID for me on her last trip to UK.

PS: You can check out Iris' entries on the various ACCESSORIZE nail polishes she picked up in UK HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE

Let's check them out :)

ZOYA CHARLA and OPI CATCH ME IN YOUR NET have often been compared and touted as dupes. They really are really super similar and unless you stare at them, squint and nit-pick, the differences really are minute and oh-so-subtle. In most cases, I think if you have one, you likely not need to have the other(s).

Let's look at comparison swatches (2 coats each, no top coat). I have tried to take these pictures as accurately as I can but my camera, like me, goes a little cuckoo when it sees any turquoise shade (tends to capture it a shade more blue)

• Zoya Charla and OPI Catch Me In Your Net are slightly sheerer than ACCESORIZE MERMAID - there is Visible Nail Line (VNL) for both Charla and Catch Me In Your Net.  The nail line is not visible with Mermaid

• While the VNL is more visible in photos than in reality, Zoya Charla and OPI Catch Me In Your Net look better with 3 coats for even, opaque coverage

• Accessorize Mermaid achieves full opacity in 2 coats - the formula seems a little thicker than the other 2

• Zoya Charla pulls slightly more greenish than OPI Catch Me In Your Net and Accessorize Mermaid

And if you look at this particular shot of the 3 bottles, I think it shows why Zoya Charla pulls slightly more green - all 3 are packed with fine gold flakes but there seems to be more gold in Charla

I love all 3, but of the lot, Accessorize Mermaid has the deepest, strongest, most saturated turquoise blue hue and looks particularly stunning for a pedicure (which I am sporting right now).

Its also relatively easy to paint in that I only need 2 coats of polish but the stubby bottle cap and relatively short brush take a little getting used to.

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And I leave you with a shot of my Turquoise Treasure Trove ...

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Thanks for stopping by and have a great, bright week ahead!