Dior Bird of Paradise 001 Samba Nail Lacquer Duo for Tips & Toes, Swatches and Comparison

The day before yesterday I went to Breuninger Stuttgart to return my Clinique Chubby sticks for eyes which I got last Saturday. I was so excited that they eventually arrived to Germany and got three of them at once. Unfortunately my excitement faded away once got home and started applying the first one. A big chunk broke down and fell on my trousers by the first application. Wish I would have taken a photo of that, it would make a good post and discussion here but I was so disappointed to ever think of that. First thing to do was to clean the trousers and second was to run to the counter to return them all. To make myself feel better about it, I was thinking about getting the Armani Face & Eyes Palette from summer collection instead, which I was successfully skipping since days, telling myself that I have Armani palette No. 10, which is supposed to be very close in terms of colors and textures.

On the way to Armani counter, passing by Dior, I have seen something new...

Bird of Paradise Summer 2013 collection was there!

I was waiting for it to arrive since February after seeing two nail polish duos in green and blues as well as a gorgeous blush/bronzer duo in Dior catalogue. Which brings us to today's post, presenting the first item I got, Bird of Paradise Nail Lacquer Duo for Tips & Toes 001 Samba

Usually I don't like the idea of duos, since I find it hard to love both of the colors they offer. This is why I missed many duos from YSL, but this one offers two colors right up my alley, a gorgeous mint green creme and a lovely mid-toned metallic teal. As the spring eventually arrived, can you think of prettier colors for nature to reach your hands and feet?

These come in 7ml as opposed to regular 10ml Dior bottles but the price is fair too. For 14 ml in total it costs 29 Euros in Germany, which makes them slightly cheaper in terms of price per ml. First I reached for creme mint green in number 402.

Such a pretty color, not very dark, not very light, not very yellow... Despite the smaller brush than usual, the application was easy, no troubles with pooling or sheerness, the swatches are all done with two coats. This one had to be photographed on a spring background too.

Going through my stash, I found nothing close to Dior 402. I picked up four nearest shades, Illamasqua Nomad, Dior Waterlily from last year's spring collection and legendary Chanel Jade.

A closer comparison shot should be helpful to reveal that Waterlily and Jade are both more yellow and Nomad is brighter and lighter.

Next comes the gorgeous metallic teal, again great formula, no streaks, opaque in two coats.

Nature was also calling this shade thus another photo had to be taken. Under the sunlight, it has a  gorgeous reflective property. I was always complaining that the teals I had were much too dark to wear in summer and spring (e.g. Viridian from Illamasqua) but this one is just perfect.

Once I have seen the first swatches, I thought this one would be close to Azure from Chanel summer collection. Once they are side by side, Azure pulls more blue. Butter London Bluey is also more blue and it is darker.

The nail polish on the left is a surprise addition to my stash from a few days ago, when I was on duty to find a dupe for Chanel Azure. I went to drug store with a nail wheel and tried around fifteen colors. This one, although not being very close and being a bit more green than Chanel Azure, was the closest one I found. It costs around one Euro, so it came home with me. I was a bit disappointed by the greener undertone so never posted about this but now it matched almost perfectly to Dior's metallic teal No. 794!

For those of you who have access to P2 polishes, if you are looking for a budget alternative to No 794 of Dior, I strongly recommend you check this one out. Although it is a bit more streaky once applied, and a tad lighter in color than Dior, on the nails, they look almost identical.

P2 is a German drug store brand, everyone else may get it from eBay. I have heard that they are not doing animal testing.

Before I conclude I would like to shortly write about an issue I had with the metallic teal from Bird of Paraside duo of Dior. It was very hard to remove properly. I wouldn't say it stained but to remove the grayish color it left behind, I needed to go over it a few times with polish remover. I haven't had this problem with Azure or any other teal color (including P2!). I strongly recommend applying nail polish base under this one.

Final thoughts: Very pretty duo, gorgeous colors and nice quality, as is expected from Dior. These are slightly cheaper than regular ones in terms of ml prices. Metallic teal can be duped with P2 nail polish called "Lost in Paradise", I don't know of any dupes for the mint one yet. Nail polish base is recommended under metallic teal to make it easier to remove.

Have you checked Dior's Bird of Paradise? Are you getting anything from this collection?