Hello out there and welcome to Dupe Week! Hopefully during this week I can give you some affordable alternatives to more expensive polishes....or just help you decide which brand is better for you! Keep in mind, I don't have more of the expensive alternatives, so putting brand against brand will not play a large part of this.
First up is Icing Force of Love, which is a close dupe of Deborah Lippman's Across the Universe, which has long been on my wishlist. I don't think the polishes are exactly the same, just close enough to fit your budget. It's a blue jelly base, packed with blue and green glitter. I found this version hard to work with and clumpy. But, it comes in a thin tube, so it could be part of the packaging. Like I said, I don't have the Deborah Lippman version to compare how easy the polish is to apply. Pictures is three coats.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb_cxfZ8T4iQPFj3he5obBhMgnyzm6cN6g5gijJdXEIemcNA-H1ExdvI6gCb_w2dlK9Rtbx6O_PIYE80eoKYR9VW4XfoKON-XXQvjEsUITT9y5fnGA0uVqyXGqeNaCspXslCfk7BvhJ28/s320/forceoflove_sunlight1.jpg) |
Sunlight |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZQJHedCzbSer9YNDuHYS9dG_3kuDHYwGRmAQ1L3Xafsbu_XlfbUp_0IcvGT-UDkRsfKsyHkc0zWLEPoX-79UIsJnNYxLVi9M3zvTGghDTadL0Yp2kmY4bVVNVLvRtT5T_mEu0qnt8Ljs/s320/forceoflove_sunlight2.jpg) |
Sunlight |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3AEHVmJP1udrab9Sg0ESQj5LPl_9XeP9qSlFsvDqD5hk7FgleFwAPPrERxK30ExfIVlACsmN4QGfJrwb0imGBkQ9zrHO5R0LDNLs-OSGYsEqtEOtXp_Tvc2oro4fDN5KvG7CQ9NMTm8M/s320/forceoflove_shade.jpg) |
Shade |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje2-Kub0WvOJAOhaWrb3K8Qz5eAzTXTiWjmgFUDXW9vm5h17107kiEJO5_wbV98a7lUmcqEbzhzU9-naZ9MrlulOopLNPLClp8ga32YM2fASodb3JaSaxf4eqxJsGR_nVJTdRw2d_hNwM/s320/forceoflove_flash.jpg) |
Indoors with flash |
As you can see on my index and middle finger, there are dips and bald spots in the polish. The base is very dense, so I don't know if I shuffled something the wrong way or pressed down with the brush too deep or what. At any rate, I also decided to try this over a base of blue. I used two coats of Jesse's Girl Girls Night Out from the JulieG collection.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaEyeC5AjB8Mn23yv4jmcybfkp7BVqcVjkJU0ydojeyi9q2-D03-GskSd-iViXsKW7Ebr_Sq_Hv1tlgMWO73U6v2WvUb7kM2OL3rKCdl0LBNoiL4j426kDfxHU6sJGRYGY2FefcKVuB-Q/s320/forceofloveoverblue_light2.jpg) |
Natural light |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgeOQ4Amb_Lf7Pi-gA8sapAXc-yjoC_yVj365QQNkYdy4IKM4ua8FRN36kbqQeZTj56r9oAt827rQfYsSOQdSdkRT8AKMqDBY8GokFIUOu7kIcz6Z6DHGh4x3HfAiiC9fk52Thp8o8Z34/s320/forceofloveoverblue_light1.jpg) |
Natural light |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuQRKPvdIdjm0oiLMiJRr1Ce5ZRhKppVXKexcECBJBqub5ziC4ZwScq8ycoXmO8LkGUWi93K35GYBCiq2q7uJgckdVN0cvTWe0UBaPbunTXiz6eLBNZVBByroCj3fQkKmcaqUkOiwgC-w/s320/forceofloveoverblue_flash.jpg) |
Indoors with flash |
Bottom line: This polish should do in a quick fix for ATU lovers. Especially if you can't afford it! Force of Love retails for less than $8 (I won this bottle in a giveaway), while ATU retails for $16-18. What about you? Do you have ATU or Force of Love? Both of them? Which do you prefer?
**DISCLAIMER** I was not paid for this review by anyone. I either purchased these polishes myself or were given gifts as friends because I could not find the particular shade I wanted myself. I am not a professional nail tech, nor do I want to be. I'm just someone who enjoys polishing my own nails :)