Sunday, July 24, 2011

Revlon Carbonite and Chanel Graphite comparison

So the trend now seems to be Chanel comes out with the season's new IT color, and then Revlon releases their dupe about a month later. First, we had Perplex, which was a pretty good dupe of my all-time favorite Chanel polish, Paradoxal. Next came Black With Envy, which was supposed to be a dupe of Chanel's Black Pearl, but from the pictures I saw, didn't capture the green tones in the polish. This time around, Revlon comes out with their dupe to Chanel's Graphite called Carbonite.

No, not that carbonite, fellow geeks!


In the bottle, they look very similar. Right away you can see that the particles in Graphite are slightly larger and reflect more gold and green than does Carbonite. Besides that, the base color is strikingly similar.


On the nail, they still look similar. You can still see the slightly bigger particles in Graphite, and Graphite seems to reflect a little bit more. The formulas are very different, though. Graphite applied beautifully and had full opaque coverage in two even coats. Carbonite also had full opaque coverage in two coats, however the formula was quite thicker and took longer to dry. It also dried a tiny bit bumpier than did Graphite.



However, having said all of that, the colors are very, very similar. Close enough to be deemed a dupe. Also close enough that if you love the color of Graphite but don't want to spend $25 on it, Carbonite will satisfy your lemming at a fraction of the price.

12 comments:

  1. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I hope I find Carbonite soon.

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  2. No problem! I found mine at Bed Bath and Beyond.

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  3. I've noticed that too about Revlon... however I don't own any of their polishes... I'm hooked on Chanel and have no need for dupes... I can't help being a nail polish snob :)

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  4. You know, I picked up Graphite after seeing swatches online and thought I would love it. But it's so... green! I much prefer Peridote.

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  5. It does have a bit of an olive-y tinge, but I do still like it. Although I love Peridot, too.

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  6. I just picked it up today. I'm in love!!!!! I also was in some run down store and they had Perplex! The nail polish Gods were smiling on me today!

    XOXO

    The Brainless Housewife :P

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  7. Wow, I haven't seen Perplex in the stores in quite awhile - that's quite a score!

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  8. It was one of those hole in the wall stores that no one goes into, I don't even know how they stay in business! The polish has been there a while. They even has some old OPI shades too! I'm keeping one and putting the rest on ebay.

    XOXO

    The Brainless Housewife :P

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  9. That must be the one place I haven't looked! I'm going to BBB tomorrow.

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  10. LOL for Han Solo picture! I own Graphite and love it but @21,5 Euro per bottle it's so pricey!

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  11. I picked up graphite, and love it, thanks for the comparison.

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  12. seriously LOL @ the Han Solo picture! Graphite does seem to have more of a foil color O.o but they seem like they would look similar enough from far away

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