First comparison post - Orly RIP vs. KB Shimmer Jack

Hey there all!
When I held my giveaway recently, I asked what you guys would like to see more of on the blog, and while I heard a lot of suggestions, one that came up a few times was more comparison/dupe posts. I realized I have NEVER done one! And recently, I got some nail mail that made me consider it.

You all know I swatched Orly RIP as an accent in my recent post here. So I was beyond excited to pick it up. Another polish that I was super excited to receive in the mail was KB Shimmer Jack. I totally SWEAR, I did not think of each polish when I bought the other one - I don't know how, but the similarities really didn't occur to me. When I got Jack, I decided it was time to do my first comparison/dupe post!

And now for the photos! It was a terribly cloudy, rainy, dreary day today so I did my best with the lighting.

I did 2 nails with each polish - can you tell the difference??

 From far away, unless you really study each nail, these polishes are remarkably similar. I asked the boyfriend to guess which two were pairs, and he guess wrong three different times, lol.

I added a cute little pumpkin stamp to complete the mani!

I know they look similar from far away, and my boyfriend failed miserably, but I'm sure all your polish-trained eyes can see the differences by now. If not, here's a close up.

My pinky and ring finger are 2 coats of RIP and Jack over Milani Black Swift, while my middle and index finger are 3 coats of each alone. There was almost no different whether you layered these polishes over black or build them up. I personally like to do less coats of polish to save dry time, etc, so I like layering better.

The differences are pretty obvious when you look up close. RIP has the medium sized orange hexes and orangey copper micro hexes - that's it. Jack has got bigger orange hexes plus the medium sized hexes, tiny orange micro hexes that appear much brighter than RIP's in my opinion. Jack has also got little tiny micro bars in it, AND it's got black hexes and shreds. I swear they are in there - but they do kind of get lost when layered over black. You can still see them a bit more when Jack is worn alone - see the index finger (far right) to see what I mean.

And, just to clarify even MORE - here's a macro shot of each polish:

I personally think I like Jack better. The colors seem more vibrant, there are more shapes and sizes, and it just translates as more multidimensional for those reasons. But, that being said, the overall look of these polishes is VERY similar and the black jelly base was exactly the same for both of these polishes, in my opinion. 

So, overall, my stance is, you really don't need both. UNLESS, of course, you are an avid polish collector (like me) and you want them both for their somewhat subtle differences. But I personally think if you have one and not the other, there's no reason to lose sleep over it. You'd get the same overall look either way.

Orly Flash Glam FX polishes retail for (about) $7.99 - $8.99 each at your local Sally's Beauty or Ulta.

KB Shimmer retails for $8.50 each + shipping.

So, what did you all think of my first comparison post? Any feedback/suggestions?

Would you get both of these polishes, or just one? Let me know! :]

Kelly