Accessorize Illusion Nail Polish Collection Swatches & Comparisons

Put the kettle on and get comfy!



When I first saw these polishes in Superdrugs, I was so excited that I picked up all the duochromes (the others are glitters and not very exciting ones)!  At £4 each and buy 2 get 1 free, how could I not?  Actually, I thought I'd picked up all the duochromes, but I somehow missed Aztec!  Luckily I found it a couple of weeks later (it's not in the bottle pics as I took them before I bought it).  They are so pretty, the same finish as the Orly Cosmic FX and Mac Disney Villains collections- those dupes which seem to have been polishes of the year for most companies, it's like grown up sophisticated glitter.  These are really similar to the Orly's, with that same uber sparkly duochrome (except for Bronze which is the odd man out as it's a smooth duochrome metallic).  4 of them are dupes, 2 real dupes and 2 that have slight differences.  Find out more and see comparisons after the swatches.

All swatches are 3 coats, some could have gotten away with just 2 but 3 gave more depth and coverage.  No base coat or topcoat was used, apart from Purple Dream which was a full mani.  All of these had great application, dried quickly and felt smooth.

Purple Dream: inky blue to violet to pink

Pink Spice: bright pink to amber to orange

Purple Passion: deep purple to pewter

Mermaid: green to turquoise though the green shows only in very low lighting

Electric Blue: bright blue to purple to pink, typically  my camera refused to capture it nicely

Aztec: pink to bronze to green

Bronze: pink to bronze to green in a smooth metallic finish, lighter than Aztec

Just to see how close the dupes actually are, I did a quick 1 coat swatch of everything on a piece of white paper (this is a handy trick if you're struggling to describe a colour, it makes it much easier to see).  I could see some differences on the paper, but few were visible on the nails side by side.

• Mermaid is an exact dupe of Halley's Comet (how many incarnations of this polish have we seen now?)
• Electric Blue is an exact dupe of Lunar Eclipse
• Purple Passion is an extremely close dupe of Out Of This World, the difference being the duochrome shift when you hold them very close to light. Out Of This World turns avocado green and Purple Passion turns to a sort of deep pewter with a green tinge. Also the base of the Orly is ever so slightly more of a blue-ish teal.  On the nail the difference is hard to see.
• Aztec is a close dupe of Space Cadet. Space Cadet has an ever so slightly lighter base. When you hold them close to light, Space Cadet shifts to a bright chartreuse whereas Aztec shifts to bright green. On the nail the difference is very slight.

• Pink Spice is meant to be a pretty good dupe for the much coveted Mac Bad Fairy, I don't have Bad Fairy to compare it with though so I tried OPI The Show Must Go On.  The OPI is deeper and brighter.
• I've heard Purple Dream is a dupe for Orly's Galaxy Girl but it's not remotely close.  Galaxy Girl has a green shift whereas Purple Dream shifts blue/purple/violet/pink.  A closer dupe of Galaxy Girl is Misa Embroidered Emerald (though it's not as glitzy) or Urban Decay Bruise, sadly both are htf now.  I couldn't find anything in my stash that was similar to Purple Dream.
• I couldn't find a dupe of Bronze but I'd guess Nubar might make one.  I used Misa Foxy & Folksy as a comparison of sorts, not at all similar but you'll see why I did it when you come to it.

In the comparison swatches I've left the Accessorize polish on the 2 outer nails with the comparison swatch on the central nail.

 Aztec with Orly Space Cadet in the middle.  Space Cadet is a touch brighter and the green flash is more yellow based.

 Electric Blue with Orly Lunar Eclipse in the middle, perfect dupes to my eyes.

 Mermaid with Orly Halley's Comet in the middle, perfect dupes.

 Purple Passion with Orly Out Of This world in the middle.  Very close but the Orly has more of a green flash.  In the bottle the Orly looks more pink, but that doesn't translate onto the nail.

Pink spice with OPI The show Must Go On in the middle.  The OPI is deeper, has more red in it and is more vibrant.  Cousins but not dupes.

Bronze with Misa Foxy & Folksy in the middle.  Not remotely dupes, but the pink is slightly similar.  It was the only thing in my stash that even vaguely reminded me of Bronze.  Can you see where I was going with it? 

Really subtle differences that no one would notice, much cheaper and easier to find in the UK, though you do get only 10ml whereas Orly give you a generous 18ml. You can pick them up on the Accessorize Website, in selected branches of Superdrugs and sometimes they have the odd 1 or 2 by the till in Accessorize stores.