Chanel in #583 Taboo Comparisons

Indirect natural light, left to right: Chanel in #583 Taboo, China Glaze in Let's Groove, Misa in Uptown Glamour, Illamasqua in Baptiste

I've got six polishes to compare with Chanel in #583 Taboo today. Sunlight has been really scarce in Minneapolis for the last couple weeks, so I rushed to do these swatches in about an hour when the sun finally showed up - sorry about any sloppy application. My Taboo finger looks a little jenky because I just slapped on a third coat so it wouldn't be dull compared to the other polishes (since I'd been wearing it for a few days) and it got a little thick on the nail. On my nails I compared the two polishes I most often hear asked about: China Glaze in Let's Groove (a 99% dupe for Nars in Purple Rain) and Misa in Uptown Glamour (a dupe for OPI in Every Month is Oktoberfest), and because Illamasqua in Baptiste is very close to Let's Groove, I compared that as well.

You can see that none of these is close to Taboo. Uptown Glamour has an extremely similar base, but at two coats, it takes on a completely different look as a blackened burgundy. Let's Groove and Baptiste are pretty similar; Let's Groove is a bit brighter and warmer (Baptiste can look black in very low light). Additionally, none of these polishes have the larger flaky shimmer that Taboo does.

Indirect natural light, left to right: Chanel in #583 Taboo, China Glaze in Let's Groove, Misa in Uptown Glamour, Illamasqua in Baptiste

After I took these pictures, I compared Taboo with all my other polishes, and I found a few others that were close enough to be compared, including the polish that is closest to a dupe. You'll see those pictures after the jump. I apologize for not getting a picture on my nails with the other polishes, but there just wasn't enough time with the sun sprinting across the sky.
The picture below is just to show you how similar the bases of Uptown Glamour and Taboo are. The only real difference is in the type of shimmer in the polishes - amazing that they end up looking so different!

Top to bottom: Misa in Uptown Glamour, Chanel in #583 Taboo

Indirect natural light, left to right: Chanel in #583 Taboo, China Glaze in Let's Groove, Misa in Uptown Glamour, Illamasqua in Baptiste

Direct sunlight, left to right: Chanel in #583 Taboo, China Glaze in Let's Groove, Misa in Uptown Glamour, Illamasqua in Baptiste

Indirect natural light - indoors, left to right: Chanel in #583 Taboo, China Glaze in Let's Groove, Misa in Uptown Glamour, Illamasqua in Baptiste

Indirect natural light, left to right: Chanel in #583 Taboo, China Glaze in Let's Groove, Misa in Uptown Glamour, Illamasqua in Baptiste

Direct flash, left to right: Illamasqua in Baptiste, Misa in Uptown Glamour, China Glaze in Let's Groove, Chanel in #583 Taboo

Indirect natural light, left to right: Chanel in #583 Taboo, China Glaze in Let's Groove, Misa in Uptown Glamour, Illamasqua in Baptiste

I also compared Taboo with Orgasm in Dripping Wet (I know I know about the name - it's Scrangie's fault!), which is another dupe with Let's Groove/Purple Rain. Now for the closest polish: Finger Paints in Icy Iris is pretty close, but it only has purple flaky shimmer and is a bit brighter, more purple, and less vampy. I have more detailed comparison pictures of Icy Iris and Taboo later on in this post. I included Chanel in #483 Vendetta to give you a comparative purple vampy. Vendetta almost always looks black except in direct sunlight, unlike Taboo (Taboo is a moderately dark vampy).

Direct sunlight

Finger Paints in Icy Iris was, unfortunately, a limited-edition polish; it is also a dupe for OPI in Visions of Sugarplums, which was also limited-edition. I know this doesn't help people who don't own either of these polishes, but hopefully some of you who do will be happy. Taboo and Icy Iris definitely aren't dupes as Taboo is darker and more complex, but they do share that flaky shimmer in similar bases. From a distance they look more similar, which you can see above, and they look even more similar in lower lights. Taboo does always look a bit more sophisticated, vampy, and complex, but some of you might be satisfied with this alternative!

Direct sunlight, left to right: Chanel in #583 Taboo, Finger Paints in Icy Iris

Indirect natural light, left to right: Chanel in #583 Taboo, Finger Paints in Icy Iris

So, what do you think? Are any of these polishes good enough for you? Which is your favorite? And do you think Icy Iris is close enough?