Continuing my series of comparison posts to the ever-elusive Ninja Polish Mystic Glacier:
Part 1 is here,
Part 2 is here, this is Part 3, and
Part 4 is here.
For this next round of Mystic Glacier comparisons, each of these polishes have the same original "unicorn pee" pigment in Clarins 230, but each additionally have something different enough to MG to make them unique. Prismatic Spring is sprinkled with iridescent flakies, Bo'dier Baby is a jelly so sheer it's effectively a topper, and I'm Mary Poppins Y'all is an opaque crelly.
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| indoor, bright CF lighting |
As with the rest of this series, all photos below were taken after my standard nail prep (clean nails & basecoat under each), and are in the same order as these bottle shots above:
- index finger = Baroness X Prismatic Spring
- middle finger = Ninja Polish Mystic Glacier (NB: my watermark is always on this one)
- ring finger = Don Deeva Bo'dier Baby
- pinky = Bee's Knees I'm Mary Poppins Y'all
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| indoor, bright CF lighting - one coat |
At one coat, all 3 dry more shiny than MG, and all level more evenly.
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| indoor, bright CF lighting - two coats |
On the second coat, Prismatic Spring has the closest base color & formula to Mystic Glacier. Bo'dier Baby is significantly more sheer, while I'm Mary Poppins Y'all is more opaque and creamy as well as being a much paler blue.
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| indoor, CF lighting - two coats |
As with the previous comparison, the quantity of shimmer and how much that sparkle shifts is already very apparent at only 2 coats. Again, none are as densely shimmery or as shifting as MG.
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| indoor, bright CF lighting - three coats |
By the third coat, IMPY is almost 100% opaque. MG and PS work well here, but BDB remains significantly more sheet with very visible VNL. BDB's base color now also leans a bit more teal than the others, though PS was the only one originally described as teal rather than blue.
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| indoor, CF lighting - three coats |
All 3 contenders now show some degree of shift (above) and a nice degree of sparkle (below), but still nowhere near MG's amazing fire.
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| indoor, bright CF lighting - three coats |
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| indoor, bright CF lighting - four coats |
Since none of them were fully opaque, I went ahead for a 4th coat all around. At this point, all are visibly opaque except for BDB, still with very prominent VNL that's not only related to how the camera sees a jelly polish. PS's base color is only the very slightest bit deeper than MG, and is by far the closest color in my entire stash.
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| indoor, CF lighting - four coats |
I know I sound like a broken record, but it's true: of all 3 contenders, nothing is as fiery as MG
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| indoor, bright CF lighting - four coats plus topcoat |
As with the prior round, topcoat enhances the shimmer for all of them. At this moment, Prismatic Spring is the closest to duping Mystic Glacier's base color, with just a few glints of iridescent flakes peeking out and just a little less 230-type shimmer.
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| outdoor, shady daylight |
Outdoors in natural light both shady (above) and full sun (below), PS utterly snaps to teal instead of blue, and BDB retains that teal leaning.
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| outdoor, bright direct sunlight |
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| outdoor, bright direct sunlight |
Interestingly, this round, none of the 3 I'm comparing hit exactly gold and then green at the same point as Mystic Glacier - I'm assuming this is where the difference in formulas or added flakies becomes clear. All do shift beautifully, just not 100% at the identical time.
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| indoor, bright CF lighting |
Prismatic Spring was super close in appearance in indoor lighting but lacked the same degree of fire as Mystic Glacier. To see if we could nudge that just a little closer, I topped PS with one coat of Indigo Bananas Fwaygo (a clear-based Clarins 230 topper). All of the rest of the pics are 4 coats PS + 1 coat Fwaygo on the index finger next to 4 coats MG on the middle finger (with watermark).
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| indoor, CF lighting |
YES. That additional bump of sparkle and shift dials PS up to a very close contender to MG... at least indoors.
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| outdoor, bright CF lighting |
In natural outdoor lighting, though, this PS + Fwaygo combo remains visibly more teal than MG - still no dupes here. I think I might get closer if I started in with crazy layering - perhaps one coat of Phoenix Kyanite, 2 of Bo'dier Baby or one each of PS then BDB, then one of Fwaygo? - but nothing so far gets anywhere near replacing Mystic Glacier on its own.
Where to buy: Don Deeva has occasionally re-released Bo'dier Baby
at her store, but this one isn't always available. Baroness X released Prismatic Spring as 2018 group custom, which has
since been available in her store, so jump right on that one. Bee's Knees released I'm Mary Poppins Y'all as part of this year's Marvel Universe themed mystery bags, which are sold out as of this writing.
~Michelle
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