31DC: Delicate Pattern

Today is a total cheat.  I admit it, right up front.  I tried to do monarch nails.  I tried a china pattern.  I tried a dandelion and dragonflies.  I failed across the board.  A "delicate pattern" was brutal because I can't stamp.  I have a couple of plates and have tried a few times, but I cannot get the image to transfer--it dries too fast to stick.  This is a bit shameful, but I had to really reach for this one.  I had 4 untrieds today, though!

*1 coat Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Hardener base
*3 coats Claire's Candy Shop
*3 coats Revlon Whimsical
*3 coats Revlong Starry Pink
*3 coats Revlon Scandalous
*3 coats Revlon Sparkling
*1 coat Seche Vite

These are all polishes that I bought because they are rumored and/or confirmed Deborah Lippmann dupes.  I decided to show these because I know dupes and copying polishes is a very delicate subject (see what I did there?!).  I did 3 coats of each because they needed it.  In the future, I think I will use a base under Whimsical, Candy Shop and Sparkling to make the colors stand out more and to eliminate any nail lines. 

 

 

Clearly I don't really have qualms about buying dupes.  In fact, I hunted two of these down because they are dupes (Candy Shop and Sparkling).  I do feel a little bit of conflict about this.  Someone (Deborah Lippmann) worked very hard to come up with these colors and combinations.  They were imagined and crafted and marketed.  And then, they were semi-stolen.  I know that there is not a legal issue, or lawsuits would have been filed.  This is really more of a murky moral area.  Do you feel good about making money off of a copy of another person's work?  As a teacher, student and writer who is VERY conscious of plagiarism, this hits a sore spot for me.

 

 

The other side of the argument is that these originals are really expensive polishes!  For many of us, the price makes them inaccessible.  Is that really fair?  That goes into that murky moral ground of what you feel good about at the end of the day.  After your hard work, are you okay selling it at a price that many who love your work cannot pay?  Especially with the rise of the indie polish world, I know that this all very hard to navigate and can make for some very big messes. 

What are your thoughts on this "delicate pattern" of creating dupes?  Is it fair?  Is is stealing?  Do you buy them?  I am really interested to know what the consensus of the polish world is on this really tough subject.