Beauty and The Beast (Dupes, but not at all) - Sally Hansen and Gallery Colours Red Glitter Polishes . . .

I wanted to get this Sally Hansen polish reviewed over the Christmas period because of its festiveness, but due to lack of Internet/time I haven't been able to accomplish much blogging/painting of nails. My second reason is that I just simply don't like it very much! I'm sorry to say this, and especially for fear of sounding ungrateful as I didn't pay for it!

I won the Sally Hansen polish in a competition that I wrote about here in "It's been a while . . ." and I have to say out of all the polishes in the Gem Crush collection, the one I got is the one I was the least keen on. It's the silver glitter that I just can't get past, and the fact that I recently bought a red Dorothy-like glitter from a brand I'd never heard about for 99p which fulfilled all my red glitter polish needs.

Anyway, given that these polishes are basically (not) dupes, and that the more I try to wear the Sally Hansen one, the more annoyed it makes me, I decided to do a comparative swatch and review and be done with it.

FYI - I recently found an amazing technique for the easy removal of glitter polish, because lets face it who doesn't dread removing it (if you don't, what's wrong with you?!). What's more, it's rather cheap and will last you a while - Non-Toxic PVA Glue! I won't go into all the details because Alanna over at Pretty Purple Polish has done a great PVA base coat FAQ here and a fabulous PVA base coat tutorial here.

Base Coat : PVA glue
Base Colour : China Glaze Liquid Leather 544
Glitter Polish : Sally Hansen Gem Crush Cha-Ching! 02, Gallery Colours Red Sparkle 421
Top Coat : Sally Hansen Complete Care

After I had prepped my nails with a base coat of PVA, I painted one coat of the China Glaze black on my middle and pinky fingers.

I then proceeded to paint two coats of the Sally Hansen glitter on my forefinger, but after those had dried I didn't feel happy with the finish so I went for a third coat (that didn't really help my sentiments).
I then painted three coats of the Gallery Colours glitter on my ring finger, it didn't need three by any means but I wanted to make it a fair comparison.
Once the black-based nails had dried, I painted one coat of the Sally Hansen glitter on the middle finger and one coat of the Gallery Colours glitter on the pinky finger.

On my thumb, I did one coat of each glitter side by side for colour comparison.

Finger nails (not thumb) with no top coat to show finish of polishes.

I finished it all off with two coats of top coat because the glitter was very porous and didn't retain much of the shine. I've read this elsewhere about the Sally Hansen, but found that the Gallery Colours was no angel either. In hindsight I'm wondering whether a PVA top coat would have been more suitable, as it would smooth the gritty glitter and gloss it on drying . . . if anyone tries this, be sure to let me know your findings!
UPDATE : If you did try the PVA top coat, I think it would be wise to still seal it once dry with your regular top coat. If I remember correctly, when we used it at school, it was pretty easy to wash off with water and soap - if you hadn't already peeled it off.

Overall I prefer the Gallery Colours because it is just a micro red glitter, it covers perfectly in two coats and is easy to apply. At 99p for 14ml it was a steal but the gritty finish lets it down. I also don't think it is readily available online, so it may be hard for people to come by. I bought it at Duty Free in the Manchester Arndale Centre.
The Sally Hansen comes in at second place for me because I don't like the small silver and micro red glitter combination. The RRP is £6.99 for 9.17ml, which I think is a bit of a rip off, but I have managed to find it at one of my favourite online beauty stores Fragrance Direct for £1.99, as well as the other shades in the collection which are much nicer (you can buy them here if you like). The finish is gritty and apparently some people got a wide and flat brush, mine however is slender and round making application a bit more troublesome.

Which of the two do you prefer?