Face-Off: KBShimmer You Go Ghoul! vs. China Glaze Howl You Doin’

I’ve swatched China Glaze Howl You Doin’ multiple times now, and it’s just one of those polishes that, at least in concept, I keep wanting to come back to. The main issue with this polish is that the formula and execution was never my favorite, and it’s gotten extremely clumpy with age in a way that doesn’t seem to improve adequately even with nail polish thinner. If any of you have any suggestions for improving this polish, please leave a comment! I want to save my bottle if at all possible…if nothing else, I may combine it with something else and franken it. I’m just not one to throw nail polish away!

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Sloppy (I can't ever concentrate when I paint my nails with other people somehow) comparison swatch of 2 coats #KBShimmer (@kbshimmer) You Go Ghoul! on all nails, except the middle finger, which is 2 coats #ChinaGlaze (@chinaglazeofficial) Howl You Doin', which is old and clumpy, unfortunately, and hasn't improved much with nail polish thinner. I might keep trying later though. Anyway, topped with KBShimmer top coat and crappy photo taken in outdoor natural light. Trying to stay inside with all the bad air from the fires, unfortunately, so it was rushed. Will try to get a better photo someday. #nailpolish #nailpolishaddict #nails #glitter #halloweenpolish #jelly #indiepolish #notd

A post shared by UO₂ (@eternaldecember) on Oct 28, 2019 at 9:54pm PDT

Anyway, this year, I picked up KBShimmer You Go Ghoul! (all fingers other than the middle, 2 coats plus top coat), which is a black jelly with variously sized grape-purple, orange, and berry-colored glitters. It’s not a dupe of Howl You Doin’, but it’s got a similar black/purple/orange kind of color scheme, and it has a similar jelly + glitter texture. That’s about where the similarities end, though. You Go Ghoul! applies must better than Howl You Doin’, for one, and the glitter is also much more visible. Durability is good (about 5 days, I think, which is typical for me), and it dries faster than average. Removal is like a glitter, so I soaked for 10-12 minutes to get it off.

I won’t go too into detail about Howl You Doin’ (middle finger, 2 coats plus top coat) because I’ve written about it in more detail in prior posts linked above, but it has a grape-purple base (not black like You Go Ghoul!), and the purple and orange glitters are much finer. I mentioned in my earlier entries about this polish that the glitter isn’t especially visible in this polish, and it continues to hold true (and probably got worse) with age, since it now mostly looks gritty and sandy, almost like a textured polish, instead of glittery and shiny. Application was difficult, to say the least; clean lines were virtually impossible, at least with my level of patience. It also doesn’t help that the polish starts chipping really quickly, like after one day. Ugh.

I have one other revelation about Howl You Doin’ – it stains! I don’t remember if this happened to me before or if I just didn’t notice. After removing this manicure, I saw that the nails with Howl You Doin’ (probably because of the purple base) were stained orange. Yuck. You Go Ghoul! did not stain.

I may be giving up on Howl You Doin’ for now. You Go Ghoul! isn’t a dupe, but it gives off a similar vibe and has similar colors, only it’s better in every way, in my opinion. One day, if I manage to get my hands on Merry Midnight, I’ll have a more similar replacement, but until that day, I’m pretty satisfied with You Go Ghoul as a substitute Halloween favorite. 🙂

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