Color Splash: Sephora's "Figue" versus ELF's "Cranberry"

For the Thanksgiving holiday, I did seasonal nails. I wish I had taken a picture (and I may redo them and post an edit with a pic) because now they're a little chipped from all the hard work I did in the kitchen for T-Day. But I chose to compare Sephora's polish in "Figue" and ELF's in "Cranberry", which is so close to Figue that it could be a dupe (make sure to do 2 coats). I also did one accent nail on each hand, and for that, I used ELF's glitter polish in "Golden Goddess".

After the usual cut and file, I did a base coat (for that, I used Rimmel's base/top coat formula, which, btw, is awesome). Then I did two fingers on each hand in figue and two in cranberry. Then the accent nails in Golden Goddess. I've been wearing the polish for 3 days and I cooked, washed dishes, and washed my hands a million times, so they were put to the test! Each polish had up and down sides.

Sephora's Figue: After just one coat, this polish was very deep in color. No need for a second coat! Unfortunately, it was a bit on the runny side, and that made it pretty difficult to apply. It ran into the edges of my nails on some fingers and into the cuticle on others. Boo for that. It also took an extremely long time to dry, and when it seemed dry, it wasn't, and smudged. Double boo. The redeeming factor for this polish is the staying power. I did not do a top coat, and it was still very chip-resistent. Yay!

ELF's Cranberry: This color could be a dupe for figue, but it would require two coats in order to get the same depth of color. There is a slight difference in that cranberry has a little bit of a goldish shimmer, but it is so subtle that I forgot which fingers were done in which color. The formula was less sticky/runny than Figue, and it dried quickly. I actually only did one coat with this as well (even with one coat, I had trouble telling the two polishes apart, but two coats of cranberry would really deepen it to match figue even better). I love fast-drying formula, and most of the ELF polish (since they redid their formula, I think) does dry quickly. Unfortunately, it chipped super quickly, too. I think a second coat of this plus a top coat would have helped.

And the winner is...

*drum roll!*

Figue!

I really like both, and it was a bit hard to decide a winner. But Sephora's polish won this round. The consistency of the formula was a little more difficult to apply and took a long while to dry, but after you get used to it, you get the hang of it (just make sure to really wipe the excess off the brush when you dip into the polish). It really came down to the resilience of the polish. If I had added a top coat and sealed the edges (a technique to help reduce chipping- look for it in the upcoming tutorial), figue would likely be flawless on my nails right now, and it takes only one coat of color. Even without a top coat, it only has a tiny chip on the very edge, and along the top edges you can see a little white, but it's close to unnoticeable. Again, I've worn these colors for 3 days and did a lot of activities that contributes to chipping, and while ELF's really shows some wear, Sephora's still looks good. :-)

Interested in more nail-related info and products? Watch for my upcoming manicure tutorial! Learn about cuticle care, how to soothe cracking fingertips/hang nails, how to seal the top edges to reduce chipping, and more!

'Til then,

XoXoMuah!