Hi everyone! Today I have a quick comparison post. A couple days ago I posted my mani with Blackheart Beauty Oil Slick Iridescent. As I was painting and posting I knew it reminded me of something. I had Orly Space Cadet in mind, but my friend Ariix from Vegan Claws mentioned on MUA that it looked like Masquerade from Cult Nails. I’ve actually posted Cult Nails Masquerade before on the blog. So let’s take a look and see which, if any, are dupes.
Well, the bottle shot above pretty much gives away the answer to which of these are dupes. You may be a little surprised to see them all up close and together.
All four of these polishes are pretty much made the same. They all have a teal base with rosy, coppery shimmer flecks. The shimmer is stronger on the Beetle/Space Cadet side and the teal base is stronger on the Oil Slick/Masquerade side. You can see just how different yet similar they are with these swatches on my white photo paper.
This is the same order as the bottles above:
- 1 coat Hard Candy Beetle
- 1 coat Orly Space Cadet
- 1 coat Blackheart Beauty Oil Slick Iridescent
- 1 coat Cult Nails Masquerade
When we look at the same polishes on a clear swatch wheel you can really see the difference the base/shimmer ratio makes.
My swatch wheel photos are in this order:
- 2 coats Hard Candy Beetle
- 2 coats Orly Space Cadet
- 2 coats Orly Space Cadet over black
- 2 coats Blackheart Beauty Oil Slick Iridescent
- 2 coats Cult Nails Masquerade
- 2 coats Blackheart Beauty Oil Slick Iridescent over black
- 2 coats Cult Nails Masquerade over black
Inside without flash…
Inside with flash…
Inside with sun through a window…
Beetle and Space Cadet are so close. The shimmer in Space Cadet may be just a little brighter than Beetle. Oil Slick and Masquerade are also so very close! The teal base on Masquerade is just a little brighter than Oil Slick, and Masquerade has more shimmer flecks than Oil Slick. Once you get them over a black base they really give off a very similar feeling, especially Space Cadet vs Masquerade.
So, which of these do you need in your stash? I’ll make it a little easier by saying Hard Candy Beetle is discontinued and very hard to find these days. Space Cadet I see still around in some unknown web stores (meaning I haven’t heard of them) and the prices are creeping up there. Cult Nails is out of business so Masquerade will never be available again. (Of course there is always Ebay, Amazon and blog sales/destash sales; things pop on those any and all the time). BUT the Blackheart Beauty should be pretty easy to find in Hot Topic stores for about $5!
Well, there we have it!
Thanks so much for stopping by!
The polish in this post is from my own collection and was purchased by me.
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About Me & My Blog
My blog is a beauty based blog, specifically about Nail Polish: Nail Polish swatches, Nail Polish comparisons, Nail Polish collections, my Manicure of the Day. All content and photos are my own property and cannot be used without my express written consent.
My name is Paula and I live in California right now with my hubby of many years and Chico my “baby”. You will see him featured periodically at the end of a post (the dog, not the hubby).🙂
I would love to hear from you!
Happy polishing!!
♥Paula
RealPolishFanatic 
Thanks for the comparison! Glad to see my instinct was pretty close! 😉
I need to get Masquerade out and wear it. Space Cadet too for that matter, it’s been a very long time!
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You really called it! There’s another similar polish coming from Orly for the Fall 2017 collection. I’m working on those now. Looks like Space Cadet but much more dense!
♥
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