How to save $10 (maybe more, maybe less) when buying nail polish...

I originally posted this on the Nail Board but not everybody who reads blogs also reads NB so... NB'ers, forgive me for being repetitive.

We all know that the price we pay for cosmetics items is marked up way over the cost of manufacturing. That's fine. That's the way it works. We also often suspect that prestige and luxury brands are also probably not that much better than the cheapie stuff... that is, proportional to the price differential.

So it's incredibly funny to me that my love of "cheap thrills" could have been my love of expensive polish in this one case: Priti. Priti markets itself as an "organic" cosmetics line (and I wonder if that's just supposed to mean "B3F") and their polishes are often sold at higher end spas and healthy alternative living stores for at least $12 each. (They're $12.50 on the Priti website.)

$12.50 is a lot to pay for a polish.

But $2.00 isn't. And what company makes awesome polishes for $2?

Diamond Cosmetics. My favorite cheap thrill. :D

When All Lacquered Up posted about Priti's teal-colored Tulip Tree polish, someone on NB commented that it looked a heck of a lot like Diamond Cosmetics' Don't Teal My Heart Away. Same color, same shaped bottle. Combined with someone's recent experience going into Henri Bendel's and being led to a display of overpriced "organic" polishes, only to find one called Never So Ever-Green, it didn't take long to develop the opinion that Diamond furnishes Priti's private label polishes. Even little polish dollops on the Priti website look identical to the little polish dollops on the Diamond website. Check out the Tulip Tree dollop and the Don't Teal My Heart Away dollop. The Bluestar dollop and the Oh Tiff! dollop. The Lambstail Cactus dollop and the Chainmail Charm dollop.

So for anyone who sees a Priti polish that they REALLY REALLY want, here is a handy dandy little conversion chart based on matching the dollops to help you save money. ;) (There are more but I got tired of looking at dollops and some of the Priti polishes are missing dollops.)

Priti	Diamond
A Times Rose	Warm Coral
Aureola	Honey Glace
Baby Toes Cactus	Lemon Yellow Zest
Bachelor's Buttons	Not Just Your Hum Drum Plum
Bella Donna Lily	Pink Starburst
Blue Moon Clematis	Iced Plum
Blue Parrot Tulip	Very Berry Smoothie
Blue Poppy	Blue Diamonds
Bluestar	Oh Tiff!
Bristol Beauty	Twilight Violet
Cambridge Scarlett	Smokey Rose
Chelsea Star	Midnight Passion
Cherry Ripe	Mulberry Mayhem
Chilean Bamboo	Cafe au Lait
Chocolate Cosmos	Cherry Tobacco
Constant Nymph	Mystical Nights
Cornflower	Metallic Blue
Crown Imperial	French Beige
Dandy Dahlia	Tropical Dreams
Darjeeling	Mauve
Dreamland Tulip	Sun-Kissed Coral
Fireglow	Orange You Sexy
Flamingo Flower	Romance
Floral Dance Matte	Matte Burgundy
Goldilocks	18K Gold
Great Maiden's Blush	Iced Pink Parfait
Hardy Water Lily	Party Hearty
Iberica Iris	Decadence
Iced Maiden Violet	Lavender
Japonica	Raspberry Ice
King Protea	Bubbly
Lady Derby Hyacinth	Rose Suede
Lady Killer Crocus	Joust for Kicks
Lambstail Cactus	Chainmail Charm
Lucida Waterlily	Fuchsia Flash
Magic Pink LIly	Pink Ribbons
Mountain Laurel	Playful
New Dawn Rose	Golden Beige
Nigra	I'm Raven About You
Old Man Cactus	Silver Brocade
Oleaster	Matte Smoke
Paperbark Maple	Nice N Naked
Peekaboo Rose	Baby Bloom
Purpurea	Hue Are You
Queen of the Pink Hyacinth	Velvet Rose
Queen Victoria	Rubies & Diamonds
Ruby Giant	Matte Mulberry
Ruffled Velvet Iris	Monarch Masquerade
Schwarkopf	Midnight Blue
Sexy Rexy Rose	Tickled Pink
Silver King	Glitter Silver
Snapdragon	Raging Orange
Spring Song	Tira-mi-su
St Catherine's Lace	Roasty Toasty Taupe
Stemless Gentian	Crushed Velvet
Sugar Daddy	Amethyst & Diamonds
Sugar Daddy Petunia	Sparkling Sherry
Sunrise	Olivia Orchid
Super Purple Daylily	Darkest Desire
Susan Azalea	Twinkle Twinkle
Tulip Tree	Don't Teal My Heart Away
Water Hyacinth	Canyon Sunrise
Water Poppy	Life's a Beach
Widow Iris	Mudd
Zoja Violet	Free N Easy