DAVIDsTEA Teal Nail Polish Search and Comparison

Holy nostalgia Friday Batman, I totally found my old Livejournal and now I wish I still wrote in it. It was GOOD reads and I wish I still maintained a blog like that. Ah well, I have you guys, right? Except, I have no idea where I am going to post my review of Animal Crossing. I'll find SOMETHING! Anyway, today I have something that has been in the making for a little while now. As you know, I have been on the search for the perfect DAVIDsTEA teal nail polish! Oh man, it's been so hard to find it but I think I've found something close.

Hint? It only came out recently.

So here's a look at the candidates for the search for America's Next Top-I mean, DAVIDsTEA teal:



Recognize any of them? Have yourself a guess at what you think is going to be close to a DAVIDsTEA teal. From left to right:

Wet N Wild Fergie Miami Spirit
Joe Fresh Turquoise
Sally Hansen Insta-dri Mint Spirit
OPI Fly
Jordana Boy Oh Boy
Essie Naughty Nautical

Got your guess in? Maybe this will help:



Here's our candidates once again next to a DAVIDsTEA retail bag, a button from their "free tea for nurses" day, and lastly, a paint chip off their wall because well it was on the floor and no one was going to pick it up. Here's my Top 4 picks for the Search for the Perfect DAVIDsTEA Teal:



I think the answer is already pretty obvious but I am going to go ahead and still write as if it's suspenseful (now I know how reality TV writers feel!). So, from the left to right, I have Wet N Wild Fergie Miami Spirit, Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Mint Spirit, Jordana Boy Oh Boy and Essie Naughty Nautical. I am going to admit that this was very difficult to photograph. The objects have different levels of reflection and may look brighter than they are. I'll do individual reviews for each of the polishes eventually of course, so I'll try my best not to comment on the formulas.







Alright, so the truth is that there are the slightest discrepancies between the samples of the DAVIDsTEA teal that I am using so we could throw this whole comparison out the window and say "GOOD ENOUGH!" but I'll try not to.

Wet N Wild Fergie Miami Spirit dried too dark in nature but in regards to hue, it might have been there. Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Mint Spirit was close and had the right "brightness", but it was a tad too much on the green tones. Jordana Boy Oh Boy that was explored on this week's Cheap Polish Tuesday was also fairly close, much on the same closeness of brightness as Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Mint Spirit, but tilted too much on the blue end. Essie Naughty Nautical, which was just released last month seemed to get the memo. Compared to the retail bag and nurses button, the colour seems to be a match. Of course, the button and bag were a little more reflective. In comparison to the paint chip, it was a little too green. I find the paint used in the shop to be a little more blue. Perhaps this is to compensate for the type of lighting used? Because it really depends.

The winner? Essie Naughty Nautical. Check out how well it does against the nurses button and shopping bag:





I wish that Essie Naughty Nautical lacked the shimmer else it could have been right there and perfect. For now, this is as good as it's going to get until, well, DAVIDsTEA takes my request and make a nail polish. (Not going to happen.)

Have you found the perfect DAVIDsTEA teal? Or are you more on the hunt for a perfect Starbucks green? Haha! What do you think of the above comparison?

Jordana Nail Polish Boy Oh Boy Swatch and Review

I hope my fellow Canadian homies had a good Canada Day - I am... STILL OFF! Mwahaha, seriously I took another vacation day so I am just catching up on the blogs here and there so I'll be back tomorrow! Prepare for my verbose comment spam on all your posts soon! Anyway. We're here on Cheap Polish Tuesday and in my humble-ish opinion - this Cheap Polish Tuesday takes the cake... Not in price, but in where I bought this from... THE DOLLAR STORE! What! I said I'd never! Alas, today I have a polish from Jordana Cosmetics and unfortunately the dollar store charges more than a dollar for some things these days so this one was $3.

Here's Jordana Boy Oh Boy, and boy oh boy, what a stupid name for a polish! Boy Oh Boy is a blue leaning teal creme. Formula wise, it's actually great. It could have been a one coater, similar to the opaque coverage from a Sally Hasen Insta-Dri but I did two coats for good measure and for an even look. I will have to admit, this one is a stainer. Just like a lot of blues and turquoises, this one was fairly messy on removal and my nails are a bit stained. Here's two coats and no top coat:









I know what you're probably thinking and I was thinking it too... But-but Melissa, what about all those cheap chemicals that you're exposing yourself to? Well, this surprised me just as much as you but Jordana advertises their polishes as 3 free. It's loud and proud on their website and their bottles:



For funsies, I spiced up Jordana Boy Oh Boy with Rainbow Honey Magic Cake. I figure these two would make a stunning pair with vibrant properties from each polish! Here's one coat of Magic Cake, with a slick coat of Seche Vite:



And I am giving Revlon's matte top coat a break this week and switching back to GOSH, which is also an affordable matte top coat and can be found on sale for under $5 sometimes at Shoppers Drug Mart. Definitely a fine choice for an affordable matte top coat alternative. Love that a matte coat really brings out the Magic Cake shimmer:



Anyway, what possessed me to pick up yet another shade of teal? Well, I had to be sure. I've been talking about this for a while but I think I finally found it.... I have been in the search for a DAVIDsTEA teal nail polish. (Spoiler alert: This is not the winner.) I'll be posting my findings at the end of the week (granted I struggled with the photography) but pics or it didn't happen? Here's Jordana Boy Oh Boy against a DAVIDsTEA "We Heart Nurses" badge. (This is directly from DAVIDsTEA!):



Look carefully and you'll notice that Jordana Boy Oh Boy is slightly too blue for DAVIDsTEA teal and it needs to be a liiiitle more on the green side! Definitely a match on depth of colour and vibration though!

Have any of you made the plunge with a DOLLAR STORE nail polish? Any good findings? Any flops?