Dupes and lookalikes in the Blue Cross Holiday Lights Nail Color Collection (swatches)

Let this post serve as a reminder for all us to never, ever, EVER dismiss cheapie nail polish collections at the drugstore. If I didn't have a blog, I might have given this display a casual glance and kept on walking. But since I tend to seriously examine every new product at the drugstore for the purposes of this blog, I discovered a little gold mine at Rite Aid today. I literally rushed home to swatch the polishes I purchased from the display so that I could get the word out to my fellow lacquer heads ASAP (there's only one of each color in this display so these will probably go quickly).

 Blue Cross Beauty Holiday Lights Nail Color Collection

(retail: $4.99 each at Rite Aid, 0.5 oz)

Unlike the Disco Lights Collection from Blue Cross Beauty, where the glitter polishes were kind of run-of-the-mill and similar to their Pumpkin and Snowman glitter polishes, there's a world of new, glittery beauty awaiting you in the Holiday Lights collection.

Keep reading for close-ups of each polish and swatches of the polishes I purchased...

First let's start with the traditional glitters:

(NOTE: these polishes don't have names)

 

A Deborah Lippmann Happy Birthday dupe:

Here's a flakie that looks more like Finger Paints Twisted than Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure (if you don't know what I'm referring to, click here to see what Twisted looks like compared to Hidden Treasure; one is multi-colored while the other is predominantly orange/gold/green). I think there are also small pieces of hex glitter floating around in this one:

A closer look to confirm that there are flakes in this formula:

Here's one that really caught me by surprise: a neon pink jelly with iridescent hex glitter (almost like someone mixed Jordana Lunar Lights in a neon pink base):

And here's the first of four polishes that reminded me of the Nails Inc. Sprinkles Collection and also Deborah Lippmann Candy Shop (more on that in a second). This one is a milky neon pink with multi-colored small and large hex glitter (I know that there isn't a neon pink in the Nails Inc. Sprinkles Collection but the milkiness of it gives off a similar vibe to me):

And now let's take a look at the three polishes I purchased from this collection:

Oddly enough, the first bottle in the pic above is the only one that comes with a light that actually blinks (the lights in the lids of the others bottles don't flash, which actually comes in very handy during application--they light up the nail quite nicely).

These polishes are 3-Free, but they do contain camphor:

Let's start with the lavender shade:

Two coats, no top coat (sorry for the sloppiness but I did these swatches as quickly as possible):

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This one reminds me of Sweets Way from the Nails Inc. Sprinkles Collection, but instead of pink, blue and silver glitter, it's got rainbow glitter (and also two different sizes of glitter). I hope you understand what I'm trying to say here--I don't think this is dupe by any means, but the base color gives off the same milky vibe as the Nails Inc. shade:

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Next up, the teal shade:

 

(Two coats, no top coat)  

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Again, not a dupe, but this one reminds me of Nails Inc. Pudding Way. It's got that same type of milky base, but obviously the glitter is larger, more sparse and multi-colored. 

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And finally, the pink shade (not to be confused with the NEON pink I showed you at the top of this post; this is a completely different polish):

(Two coats, no top coat)  

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If you don't already own Deborah Lippmann Candy Shop or one of its dupes (or a DIY version like the one I did here), there's now one you  can buy at the drugstore:

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All three polishes had fantastic dry-time and they removed easily as well (and the blue didn't stain my nails or leave me with "Smurf hands"). The lavender polish had the best application in terms of glitter distribution--no real fishing was required. The teal shade was the worst for glitter distribution. You really need to fish for the glitter because it's sparse and the base polish is pretty watery. The pink shade was decent but could have been better--I found myself having to push the glitter around on my nail to get it where I wanted it (due to the watery base).

Overall, if you're looking for a similar vibe to the Nails Inc. Sprinkles collection (glitter in a milky-jelly base) then I say pick some of these up if you spot them. For $4.99, they're kind of awesome even though they require some work. And if you don't already have a Deborah Lippmann Candy Shop dupe (or the real thing), I would definitely consider the pink shade in this collection.

I'm kicking myself for not getting the flakie top coat in this collection, and also the hot pink milky jelly with the irridescent glitter. I'm thinking the display will be wiped out by the time I can get back to Rite Aid this week. Darn. I really wish there was more than just one of each shade in this display!

Have you spotted the Blue Cross Beauty Holiday Lights display yet? Are any of these polishes catching your eye?