Dupe Or No Dupe?: Revlon Smoldering vs. Wet n Wild's Gray's Anatomy

Hello!

Welcome to my first installment of 'Dupe Or No Dupe?', where I will compare similar polishes to see exactly how similar--or not--they are.

If you're anything like me, you don't have an unlimited amount of money to spend on nail polish. You probably have other things like rent, car payments, etc...all annoying little 'necessities' that get in the way of what's truly important. Given my lack of unlimited funds, I often have to buy fewer polishes than I would like to...sigh. Sometimes I want to buy two polishes that are close, but different in an important way. Sometimes it's not worth it. And it certainly is never worth it to buy two polishes that are the same accidentally. So, whenever I have the opportunity to compare two similar polishes for you, I'm going to do just that. :)

First up are Revlon Smoldering vs. Wet n Wild Gray's Anatomy. I had a feeling these were similar but I wasn't sure how similar. A fellow blogger verbally assured me they were close, but different. Let's take a look, first at the two bottles:

Left: Revlon Smoldering. Right: Wet n Wild Gray's Anatomy

Hmm, interesting. Revlon seems to be a bit more subdued, and Gray's anatomy seems to have some cool green and blue stuff going on. Let's take a look at them on the nail.


In all pics, I have the following:

Index: Smoldering, 2 coats
Middle: Gray's Anatomy, 2 coats
Ring: Smoldering, 2 coats
Pinky: Gray's Anatomy, 3 coats

Straight on, up close

With a little tilt, to enhance the duochrome

In direct sunlight

So...Dupe or no dupe?

Definitely NO DUPE. There are several differences here. First, Smoldering covers completely in 2 coats, while Gray's Anatomy takes at least 3, probably 4; that erases any difference in price between the brands, since the cheaper Wet n Wild takes more coats to cover. But more importantly, these two definitely differ in color; Smoldering has more of a purple/blue to the silver base, while Gray's Anatomy has more of a pink/lavender. Also, Smoldering has a spray of tiny glitter in it that gives a more textured finish and more sparkle, while Gray's Anatomy has a more smooth, glassy finish.

So, my conclusion is, if you want to, you can certainly justify owning both. But they are close enough that if your budget doesn't allow for both, whichever one you have a preference for will do you fine. 

Me personally? I'm glad I have both. :)

Stay tuned for my next installment of 'Dupe Or No Dupe', where I will compare China Glaze's Man Hunt with Revlon's Royal!

Thanks for visiting,

M. :)