Gorgeous polish picks! Your Emerald City dupe was spot on! Absolutely the star from the Birthstone collection. I'm not trying to get you to spend money, but if you want a great black flake topper, check out Cracked Polish's Mascara Flakes. I'm someone who also loved flakie bombs, but I prefer more delicate toppers (I know you tend to with holo toppers). It has more irregular black flakes like Black Flake Taco but the pieces are a bit smaller. Caitlin Swatches has a video comparing BFT to MF and Cirque's Spotted. Just something to look into! The owner of Cracked, Monique, is also a green lover AND a prugly lover and she is always releasing greens. Right up your alley! Love your content!
small reminder also for the dupes of LE polishes and the fomo stuff!! if you reaaaaally want a LE polish but you just don’t have the money for it at that moment and can’t find a dupe that scratches the itch for you, lots of brands offer custom polish options. it’s a little more expensive, but it’s definitely helped me avoid fomo since i know i’ll have that option in the future! or even, heck it! you can buy the ingredients and make your own version if you wanted a little crafty moment!! (these are more solutions if you just don’t have money at that point in a month and you know you’ll have money later on)
I was fortunate enough to pick of three of the birthstone polishes in October: Gosh Garnet, Topaz Tears and Peridon’t Bother Me. Topaz Tears is my top polish of the year. 😊 Also I love Ginger Snatched! You were advised correctly to pick it for your birthday polish.
Topaz Tears is so beautiful 😭💕 I've purchased many many many MANY polishes over the last few months and need to be more mindful of what I already have. Luckily I don't suffer from FOMO 😅
Cristine posted a short about birthday collection sales data. She didn't give the order but the top 3 were Emerald City, The Price is Alexandrite, and Tanzanite Away. The bottom 3 were Ruby, Madly, Deeply, Crystal Mommy, and Topaz Tears.
Lovely choices! Emerald City is gorgeous. Knocked it out of the park with the dupe for sure. I picked up emerald city since it my birth month, gosh garnet, ruby deeply madly, and ride or diamond. Originally I wasn't going to pick anything up because I was saving towards black friday. I'm glad I got them. I'm really enjoying them. I went way overboard for black friday and put myself on a no buy for 2025 as a result that is until collab was teased (Darn you Cristine!). I feel like I need to start my own channel to support my nail polish habit.
I'm a September baby too. I need someone to do a head to head comparison between Playing With Sapphire and House of Hades. Polished_Yogi compared Playing With Sapphire to ILNP Nocturnal & Mooncat Midnight Rider, and said Emerald City had a similar formula to Mooncat's Maelstrom.
Love your choices! I missed out on the initial birthstone run, but I just picked up a few now that they're back up. I got Playing with Sapphire (also my birthstone, yay September!), Emerald City, Ride or Diamond, and Happily Ever Aqua. Peridont Bother Me is so gorgeous too, but I have something already similar. I'm getting several ILNP & HT's for Christmas, so I'm behaving on more purchases for now. Lol. 😅
I picked up two of the birthstone polishes when the vault opened up and they just arrived today! I got Emerald City and Topaz Tears. Super happy with both of them. Not putting them on my nails just yet, but they look gorgeous in the bottle!
I did a birthday brat dupe with pink steel, private villa, and silver flake taco!! I got the full collection plus a few other goodies I can't remember off hand. My favorites were definitely birthday brat, topaz tears, crystal mommy, and happily ever aqua (my birthstone). I wasn't happy with my bottle of PDBM and customer service is sending me another bottle! I also made sure to get spyglass FINALLY from the vault along with an extra teal no lies & some extra birthstone shades (March & October).
I did nail art in November! I have Orly’s bat topper and I did a late Halloween mani with it and my second ever gradient under the topper it turned out so much better than I thought it would!! I have confidence to do some Xmas nail art this week!
I love this collection!! I spent too much and got the whole thing. 😬 But, like you, I’m a Sept baby and love the sapphire one!! I’ve also worn Birthday Bratt & I couldn’t believe it lasted almost two weeks before chipping. Amazing!
TLDR mooncat has a great gitd formula and I’m now a stan. I’ve never tried gitd taco. I bought Green Eyed Monster from Mooncat and the glow is awesome. The green shimmer makes it look like a normal polish in the day time and I don’t need a white base to make it pop. When I go to bed at night my nails glow for a good 10 minutes after I turn out the lights. It also lasts 5-7 days on my nails without a base coat. I usually have to change my nails every few days even with a long lasting base coat because it has chipped or I have peeled it off. I have very short nails (reformed nail biter) and I like opaque polishes because visible nail line tempts me to bite. I never understood reviewers who described a nail polish as not opaque but with enough things going on that it distracts from the visible nail line but that’s what GEM is like. I wear it in three coats plus top coat because the polish is gritty. It hasn’t stained my nails. GEM is my first and only polish from Mooncat. I was pretty skeptical if it was worth the price point even on sale, especially because the owner’s swatches are so misleading. I know polishes from lots of different brands can be hit or miss but this one knocked it out of the park for me. With the longevity might it be the best polish I’ve ever owned. I will probably get more polish during their next sale.
I raided the vault. 😋 I got the same polishes you did except the emerald, sapphire, and GITD. Then I also got Sugar Rush as my birthday gift. I'm so excited to get them!
I heard Orly’s GITDs are really good! I was tempted to pick them up since they have aqua and purple instead of just green, but I don’t wear gitd enough to justify them 😭 such a gorgeous haul though! And so fun to see the side by sides with your dupe attempts too, I wonder if you layered the SH green over a darker base, it would’ve been closer to Peridon’t ?
October I wore Mooncat Sagebrush with Moondust, then Chinaa Glaze I'm With The Lifeguard with black cracked taco and moondust. last mani of the month was Birthday Brat, Peridont Bother Me skittle and on thumb I had Crystal Mommy. lol it was to match my Madhatter costume. I'm not on no buy, but I want4d to share anyways lol. I dont have many people to talk nail polish with.
I had a successful low buy October. I even made a presson Halloween set but got lazy and never posted it. maybe i'll post it on Christmas day just to be trolly
As for a glow in the dark taco- i don't know if Catrice is available over there BUTT🍑 they have this beautiful glow in the dark topper with these flakies in it, and it's a pretty affordable drugstore brand here in Europe! If I remember correctly it cost 3 euro something ~
yo that emerald dupe is insane, really well done on that one
thank you!
Gorgeous polish picks! Your Emerald City dupe was spot on! Absolutely the star from the Birthstone collection. I'm not trying to get you to spend money, but if you want a great black flake topper, check out Cracked Polish's Mascara Flakes. I'm someone who also loved flakie bombs, but I prefer more delicate toppers (I know you tend to with holo toppers). It has more irregular black flakes like Black Flake Taco but the pieces are a bit smaller. Caitlin Swatches has a video comparing BFT to MF and Cirque's Spotted. Just something to look into! The owner of Cracked, Monique, is also a green lover AND a prugly lover and she is always releasing greens. Right up your alley! Love your content!
small reminder also for the dupes of LE polishes and the fomo stuff!! if you reaaaaally want a LE polish but you just don’t have the money for it at that moment and can’t find a dupe that scratches the itch for you, lots of brands offer custom polish options. it’s a little more expensive, but it’s definitely helped me avoid fomo since i know i’ll have that option in the future! or even, heck it! you can buy the ingredients and make your own version if you wanted a little crafty moment!!
(these are more solutions if you just don’t have money at that point in a month and you know you’ll have money later on)
so true! and making your own polish could be so much fun!
Your dupes on this one were 💯 ❤❤glad you got your faves from the collection!
I was fortunate enough to pick of three of the birthstone polishes in October: Gosh Garnet, Topaz Tears and Peridon’t Bother Me. Topaz Tears is my top polish of the year. 😊
Also I love Ginger Snatched! You were advised correctly to pick it for your birthday polish.
Topaz Tears is so beautiful 😭💕 I've purchased many many many MANY polishes over the last few months and need to be more mindful of what I already have. Luckily I don't suffer from FOMO 😅
Cristine posted a short about birthday collection sales data. She didn't give the order but the top 3 were Emerald City, The Price is Alexandrite, and Tanzanite Away. The bottom 3 were Ruby, Madly, Deeply, Crystal Mommy, and Topaz Tears.
I’m so impressed by your dupes
Lovely choices! Emerald City is gorgeous. Knocked it out of the park with the dupe for sure. I picked up emerald city since it my birth month, gosh garnet, ruby deeply madly, and ride or diamond. Originally I wasn't going to pick anything up because I was saving towards black friday. I'm glad I got them. I'm really enjoying them. I went way overboard for black friday and put myself on a no buy for 2025 as a result that is until collab was teased (Darn you Cristine!). I feel like I need to start my own channel to support my nail polish habit.
doooo it. Good luck on your no buy! I wish you all the strength!
I'm a September baby too. I need someone to do a head to head comparison between Playing With Sapphire and House of Hades. Polished_Yogi compared Playing With Sapphire to ILNP Nocturnal & Mooncat Midnight Rider, and said Emerald City had a similar formula to Mooncat's Maelstrom.
Love your choices! I missed out on the initial birthstone run, but I just picked up a few now that they're back up. I got Playing with Sapphire (also my birthstone, yay September!), Emerald City, Ride or Diamond, and Happily Ever Aqua. Peridont Bother Me is so gorgeous too, but I have something already similar. I'm getting several ILNP & HT's for Christmas, so I'm behaving on more purchases for now. Lol. 😅
The emerald dupe is crazyyyy!
I picked up two of the birthstone polishes when the vault opened up and they just arrived today! I got Emerald City and Topaz Tears. Super happy with both of them. Not putting them on my nails just yet, but they look gorgeous in the bottle!
I did a birthday brat dupe with pink steel, private villa, and silver flake taco!! I got the full collection plus a few other goodies I can't remember off hand. My favorites were definitely birthday brat, topaz tears, crystal mommy, and happily ever aqua (my birthstone). I wasn't happy with my bottle of PDBM and customer service is sending me another bottle! I also made sure to get spyglass FINALLY from the vault along with an extra teal no lies & some extra birthstone shades (March & October).
I did nail art in November! I have Orly’s bat topper and I did a late Halloween mani with it and my second ever gradient under the topper it turned out so much better than I thought it would!! I have confidence to do some Xmas nail art this week!
leeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeettttssssssss gooooooooooooooo hype hype hype!
I love this collection!! I spent too much and got the whole thing. 😬 But, like you, I’m a Sept baby and love the sapphire one!! I’ve also worn Birthday Bratt & I couldn’t believe it lasted almost two weeks before chipping. Amazing!
TLDR mooncat has a great gitd formula and I’m now a stan. I’ve never tried gitd taco.
I bought Green Eyed Monster from Mooncat and the glow is awesome.
The green shimmer makes it look like a normal polish in the day time and I don’t need a white base to make it pop.
When I go to bed at night my nails glow for a good 10 minutes after I turn out the lights. It also lasts 5-7 days on my nails without a base coat.
I usually have to change my nails every few days even with a long lasting base coat because it has chipped or I have peeled it off.
I have very short nails (reformed nail biter) and I like opaque polishes because visible nail line tempts me to bite.
I never understood reviewers who described a nail polish as not opaque but with enough things going on that it distracts from the visible nail line but that’s what GEM is like. I wear it in three coats plus top coat because the polish is gritty. It hasn’t stained my nails.
GEM is my first and only polish from Mooncat. I was pretty skeptical if it was worth the price point even on sale, especially because the owner’s swatches are so misleading.
I know polishes from lots of different brands can be hit or miss but this one knocked it out of the park for me. With the longevity might it be the best polish I’ve ever owned. I will probably get more polish during their next sale.
I raided the vault. 😋 I got the same polishes you did except the emerald, sapphire, and GITD. Then I also got Sugar Rush as my birthday gift. I'm so excited to get them!
I kind of want all of them. This is a problem.
hopefully we will see them stick around til next black firday
I heard Orly’s GITDs are really good! I was tempted to pick them up since they have aqua and purple instead of just green, but I don’t wear gitd enough to justify them 😭 such a gorgeous haul though! And so fun to see the side by sides with your dupe attempts too, I wonder if you layered the SH green over a darker base, it would’ve been closer to Peridon’t ?
I tried to find the Orly's but I think they are discontinued /cry. I'll have to try that combo!
I used emerald city last week as the base coat to my tree art after watching your video!
100% yes to the pee polish 💛 i need that one in my life 🤤
October I wore Mooncat Sagebrush with Moondust, then Chinaa Glaze I'm With The Lifeguard with black cracked taco and moondust. last mani of the month was Birthday Brat, Peridont Bother Me skittle and on thumb I had Crystal Mommy. lol it was to match my Madhatter costume. I'm not on no buy, but I want4d to share anyways lol. I dont have many people to talk nail polish with.
okay, but black flakie is awesome.
I picked it up during black friday its so cute!
I had a successful low buy October. I even made a presson Halloween set but got lazy and never posted it. maybe i'll post it on Christmas day just to be trolly
wearing emerald city right now, lol
Sounded like you said “Ginger Snitched” 😅
eyo am early as frick
As for a glow in the dark taco- i don't know if Catrice is available over there BUTT🍑 they have this beautiful glow in the dark topper with these flakies in it, and it's a pretty affordable drugstore brand here in Europe! If I remember correctly it cost 3 euro something ~