Comparison: Chanel Taboo & Nails Inc Regent's Palace



Today I have a new comparison to show you - Chanel Taboo vs. Nails Inc Regent's Palace.  I'll start by giving away the ending - these are not dupes.  However, it's worth taking a closer look, the comparison isn't as crazy as you might first think.

Readers of this blog will know that I have never been so excited, or so disappointed by a polish than I was with Chanel Taboo (my Taboo review and swatches).  I won't repeat my review here but the main reason for my disappointment was the vast difference between the in-bottle and on-nail impact of this polish.  In the bottle it looks like instant galaxy nails - it's utterly packed with phenomenal looking colour, sparkly bits and what-not.  On the nail, it looks for the most time, like a dull dark black/purple.  The 'pop' in the bottle is only seen in flash, and direct sunlight, and even then only when you're really looking at it.  The formula is also pretty pants, quite gloopy.

So I wondered - supposing you don't want to spend £18 or can't get a hold of this limited edition.  What else could you get that would look as good or better?  Step up to the plate Nails Inc Regent's Palace....



Chanel Taboo (index, ring) vs. Nails Inc Regent's Palace (middle, pinkie)
Natural Light

In close up here you can see some evidence of the sparkly bits in Taboo, and you can also see it's in a much darker base than RP which has a fairly indigo base to it.  Both polishes have a lovely shimmer, but the brighter toned base of RP means that this shimmer is much more evident on-nail in a variety of lighting conditions.  Pictured here is two coats each of colour atop a Nail Envy base.  There's no top coat here.

Chanel Taboo (index, ring) vs. Nails Inc Regent's Palace (middle, pinkie)
Flash

When you look at these under flash, you can see more of the bottle-beauty of Taboo coming out and the tonal difference in the bases is more pronounced.  I don't often take swatch pics with flash on because a) it makes me look like a scary albino lady and b) 99% of the time you're not going to be looking at your polish by flashlight so it's not really a fair test of how pretty it will look (I wouldn't have had such a lemming for Taboo if I had seen it in more natural lighting pics I think).
Taboo does have more sparkle than RP for sure, although bear in mind that this sparkle is not actually visible by eye a lot of the time.  So to add some extra zing to the RP I then popped on a thin coat of Max Factor Fantasy Fire (possibly the best layering polish of all time, there is nothing that this won't make more fabulous.  It's like the mani equivalent of bacon).
 


Chanel Taboo (index, ring) vs. Nails Inc Regent's Palace with Max Factor Fantasy Fire (middle, pinkie)
Natural Light 

Wowza! Regent's Palace on its own is a fabulous metallic purple shade (see my purple metallics comparison post here) but layered with Fantasy Fire it's stunning.  Again, not a dupe for Taboo, but certainly punching far above its weight in terms of price comparison and on-nail 'pop factor'.
Finally with flash, it's the return of the albino:



Chanel Taboo (index, ring) vs. Nails Inc Regent's Palace with Max Factor Fantasy Fire (middle, pinkie)
Flash

In terms of on-nail impact, sparkle, and purple-ness (I know that's not a word, but it should be) for me Regent's Palace plus Fantasy Fire is a clear winner.  In terms of price it's also a no-brainer: the Chanel will cost you £18 but it's Limited Edition so if you miss out in store I've seen this changing hands for £30-£50 which is just insane.  I got the Nail's Inc in a set of 3 from TK Maxx (bargain polish heaven) for £9.99 which by my maths makes this £3.33, but full price would cost you £11.  Fantasy Fire is £3.99 in Boots/Superdrug for a mini bottle.

So for my mani that's £7.32 vs £18, or full price it would be £14.99 vs £18.  At full price the argument is less compelling, but Regent's Palace is one of the few Nails Inc polishes that I would be happy to pay full price for.  Even on it's own, without the Fantasy Fire topper, I feel that Regent's Palace is a better all-rounder than the Chanel.  Blasphemy I know, but there you have it.