Wet n Wild Fergie Emerald Rock City

There's no question that I'm a polish addict, but I have a few weird sub-addictions.  One of them is comparisons.  A lot of people steer clear of polishes they think might be too similar to something they already own.  I've bought more than a few because they look like something I own.  When G. of Nouveau Cheap announced that the Heavy Metal holiday collection from Wet n Wild's Fergie line had what seemed to be repromotes or dupes of the Pick Your Poison collection, I had to see it for myself.  Once I had tracked the display down at a local Rite Aid, I knew I had to do a comparison of Emerald Rock City and Poison Ivy.  They looked close in the bottle, but not identical.  So yes, I bought Emerald Rock City specifically to see how it stacked up to Poison Ivy.


Emerald Rock City is a dark emerald green shimmer with a scattering of green microfleck.

As far as the comparison goes, the description kinda tells the story if you know Poison Ivy well.  Review first though...  Emerald was supposed to be the color of the year, but we haven't seen all that much of it.  I can't be too disappointed when one of the results is something as beautiful as Emerald Rock City.  The combination of fine shimmer and microfleck gives it a twinkling look that makes it very festive.  This is three coats.  It applies smoothly and evenly, but is a bit sheer.  I think the sheerness works in its favor, giving it a bit of depth.  It catches the light beautifully.

It's green and twinkly enough to be festive, but bold and interesting enough to not just grab you by the ears and scream "XMAS" in your face.  I won't feel weird at all wearing this outside of the season, but it will also be perfect next month when things really get going.

So that comparison?  Well...  I knew before I even got Emerald Rock City home that they weren't dupes.  The shimmer in Emerald Rock City is different and chunkier.  I wasn't ready for just how much lighter it would turn out to be.

Poison Ivy (on my ring finger) has a black base instead of green, making it considerably darker.  It's also opaque in two coats instead of three.  If Poison Ivy looked black on you or was darker than you expected it to be, you'll probably like Emerald Rock City much more.  I like both.  Poison Ivy has that glow that Emerald Rock City lacks, but the newcomer shimmers more strongly.

Bottom line: I don't know if you *need* both, but I feel like they're different enough.  If you missed Poison Ivy, Emerald Rock City might be close enough for you, but I know it wouldn't slay my lemming if I didn't already have the older shade.

I wound up buying Mozel Tov Madness yesterday, but I've shortened my nails since taking these photos.  It'll get its own post sometime soon.