Nubar Baby Sprout and Essie Kisses and Bises

Despite its imperfections (umm, I don't know why my Poshe has developed black lint... wtf??) I loved both of these NOTDs.

Nubar Baby Sprout

A little bit on the stark side, Baby Sprout is a light pastel green with very fine pearly shimmer. It does appear creme in lower lights but as soon as the sun hits it, the pearly finish comes out. This was three coats (on the second day of wear, I believe).

Nubar Baby Sprout and Essie Kisses and Bises

And I was just OBSESSED with this manicure. I had read that Kisses and Bises was really a very neat layering polish but I didn't think that this pink/purple shimmer in a mostly clear base would wow me as much as it did. It added such depth and interest to Baby Sprout! It's subtle and playful at the same time. Love it. I used one coat of Baby Sprout.

Closeup of Baby Sprout and Kisses and Bises

See! The fabulous! shimmer. :) Ignore the freakin' lint. :(

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An Avocado Green Comparison

Time for another comparison!  The other day was partly cloudy (yet still as hot as a furnace outside!) so I did a few comparisons.  They are good for partly cloudy days since I can go inside and type up my thoughts while I'm waiting for the sun to come back out for my sunny picture.  You should see me.  I jump up in the middle of typing to run outside and catch the sun.  It's pure comedy, especially if I forget to put on my shoes and I have to hop around on one foot trying not to burn my soles.  And if one of the cats accidentally gets outside?  Knee-slappin' fun.

I don't have a lot of avocado greens, but I compared all three of them for you.  Here's the cast of characters.

 I applied three coats of each, in the same order as above, from left to right.  I took this picture in the sun.

I took this picture in the shade.

And I took this picture with the flash.

The Nubar is the lightest of these three.  It's also got the least amount of yellow in it.  The formula is fantastic and if I'd been more careful, I could have gotten away with only two coats.  It's the most pigmented of these three polishes.

The OPI and the Nina are pretty darn close.  The OPI is slightly darker than the Nina, but I think they are so close that you wouldn't need both.  The formula on these two is very similar as well.  Both polishes are a bit streaky and watery, but look great with three coats.

I hope you enjoyed!  :o)

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Inglot 955 with Nubar 2010

Given how much I wanted Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure -- and never found it -- I thought I'd be thrilled with Nubar 2010, which is a pretty good dupe for it. I wasn't unhappy with it but I was not... over the moon for it like I thought I'd be.

Also, it's hard taking good flakey photographs. Witness:

Inglot 955 with Nubar 2010 in the sunlight

Where did all the flakies go?!

Inglot 955 with Nubar 2010 in the shade

Ah ha! There they are. This is two coats of Nubar 2010.

Inglot 955 with Nubar 2010 in the lightbox

At least this photo is more in focus, even though the flakies do kinda wash out.

Psst. Wanna see why we should always proofread our writing?

Yup. And I don't have a good photo of this but where you see the letters "ngeles" at the bottom? That's not short of "Los Angeles" where Nubar is based. That's a misspelling of "Ongles".

About 75% of my Nubar bottles have these misspellings on them but it doesn't look like there's any pattern to it. So I'm guessing they caught this one awhile ago but still have the misspelled bottles left over somewhere?

Aug 9th (45m cardio+strength), Aug 10 (60m cardio+strength), Aug 11 (25m cardio). I know I've been wimping out by just doing mostly cardio lately... but Aug 11th was really funny because I basically downloaded my powerpoint to my iPad and rehearsed my entire talk (while talking aloud, to nobody, in the exercise room in my apartment building) while on the recumbent bike. It worked pretty well!!

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Nubar Sparkles NOTDs and comparisons with Color Club Glitter Vixen

I ended up buying the entire Nubar Sparkles collection because it's glitter... but when I got it, I realized the obvious: it's just glitter. And they look a lot like other glitters I already own, namely the Color Club Glitter Vixen (which can be found at Ross for $8 per set). I didn't think any of them were going to be this dead on though:

Nubar Sky Sparkle on three fingers and Color Club Sexy Siren on one

Can you tell which one?

If you guessed index finger (the leftmost one), then you have sharper eyes than I do. They look like perfect dupes in person though they differ in application and in finish. The Nubar Sparkles I've tried so far are pretty gritty (not chunky but definitely gritty) while the Color Clubs are glossier. In this case, Sky Sparkle took four coats to opacity while Sexy Siren took three.

Nubar Hyacinth on three fingers and Color Club Tru Passion on one

This one is much easier to see: the pinky (the rightmost one) is Tru Passion. Again, the Color Club was glossier while the Nubar was gritty. Tru Passion is also a smidge darker and the glitter is less uniform: there are some bigger and smaller chunks that makes it sparkle more than the Nubar Sparkle. Tru Passion needed four coats to opacity, Hyacinth needed three. I prefer the application for Hyacinth but I love the life that Tru Passion has.

So... $7.50 for one, $8 for the entire set of the other. I wonder which ones I would buy if I could do it over again...

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First Konad in about half a year...

I think I've forgotten how...

Sally Hansen Jumpin' Jade with Diamond Cosmetics Silver Brocade (using Konad M73)

Silver Brocade doesn't actually make a bad Konading polish but it definitely is a lot lighter than a straight-up metallic polish such as from the China Glaze Romantiques collex. Still, it did pretty well considering how fine this stamp was.

Sally Hansen Jumpin' Jade with Diamond Cosmetics Silver Brocade (using Konad M73), mattefied with Nubar V for Men

I think I like it better matte...

The main reason I've been taking up Konad again is because I want nearly all of those new plates that are coming out and I'm pretending like I do Konad enough to warrant buying more. :D

I'm on campus right now, desperately trying to procrastinate from reading. Why? I don't know. I actually like the discussion topic today (the development of theory of mind and language in children). And yet, I procrastinate. Go figure.

In other news, my index fingernail has broken partly and I'm hoping to salvage it for at least a week via the teabag method (use nail glue and bits of teabag to hold the nail together) before filing off more length in my nails. I don't wanna go back to nubbin. :(

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I don't generally like posting PR images but... Nubar is coming out with more glitters!! :D

*crosses fingers* I should receive these in the next two weeks to review. GLITTER! :D 

I promise I won't post too many PR images (unless I'm really, really excited about a collection and know there aren't that many out there yet). But I just love glitter! Click on the images for a much larger version.

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Nubar Prisms swatches, Part II

Finishing up what I started yesterday, here are the rest of the Nubar Prism collection polishes (courtesy of Nubar). Yesterday, I liked the chunky holos more than the smooth holos but today, I like the smooth ones far more than the chunky ones. FYI, none of these have topcoat except for the last one.

I think I also said that the smooth holos reminded me more of the China Glaze OMG collection. I thought about it more today and I think it reminds me more of the Kaleidoscope collection, in finish and coloring. It's not that continuous holo effect; it's more scattered.

(I'm playing with my new camera and still trying to figure it and my homemade lightbox out so these photos might look a bit inconsistent. Apologies for that!)

Nubar Jewel

A dark brassy brown with chunky holo. The middle picture shows how the light can change this somewhat cool brown into a more golden brown. Feels chunkier than the other holo polishes somehow. Before you ask, it's not like China Glaze Mahoganie, which is multisized chunky holo suspended in a mahogany-colored shimmering jelly. Two coats. I'm pretty "meh" about this one though it is supremely glittery.

Video of Jewel

Apparently, my new camera shoots videos in wide screen...

Nubar Essence

Another miss for me: shimmering golden rose with chunky holo. What was cool about Jewel (the brown one) was that the holo was contrasted with the dark shimmer base. Here, the lighter base just sort of swallows the effect of the holo and is, overall, less glittery in sunlight.

Video of Essence

(...goodness, you can view these in HD? No need to view these in HD!)

Nubar Brilliant

Smooth rosy pink holo (kind of a washed out magenta). Four coats to get rid of all VNL. This picture was taken on Monday, when there wasn't any sun out. I had all but despaired of photos that showed off the holoness of the polish! But while I was swaching Adoree (for which I didn't really need as much sun), the sun burst through the clouds for five minutes and I quickly put on two coats of Brilliant over Adoree Genuine Pink, which is a dusky mauve creme.

Nubar Brilliant over Adoree Genuine Pink

Obviously, the deeper color is due to the polish being layered over the darker creme but these show off the holo effect a lot better than the ones I took on Monday. Not a stunner but very subtle and probably work-appropriate... as long as you don't work in a sunny office next to a window. :)

Video of Brilliant over Adoree Genuine Pink

Nubar Absolute

A dusty sky blue when not in direct sunlight but naturally more vibrant and saturated in the sun, when the holo comes out to play! The first two photos were taken in my homemade lightbox that my SO made for me for our second anniversary. I had just finished putting topcoat on my mani. The second two photos were taken in the sunlight today when I wore it as my NOTD. The photos show just the teeniest bit of shrinkage since I always forget to wrap my tips. Though it was four coats, it was very easy to apply and it dried quickly with Diamont. I REALLY liked this one: it's a very delicate color and very wintery somehow. A completely worthwhile polish, IMO. It may, however, be dupey to China Glaze Kaleidoscope Him Out except the glitter was bigger in ChG KHO and the blue was slightly cooler, if I recall correctly.

So... my final honest opinion on this collection? I would have happily purchased Gem, Prize and Absolute at full price ($8)... and would've gritted my teeth through the shipping. I would've definitely skipped Essence and Jewel. As for the rest the rest, I would have been happy to pick them up at a discounted price. All in all though, it's a cohesive collection: it's definitely got a theme to it and I like that four holos are chunky and four holos were smooth. A few too many beige and rose colors for my taste but that could be said of any collection from anywhere anyway.

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Nubar Prisms swatches, Part I

Eep! Eep! Holos! A collection of holos! Eep!

As I mentioned yesterday, Nubar's PR sent me their new Prisms collection (due out New Year's Day, 2010... omg, it's practically 2010). The Prisms are made up of four chunky holos and four smooth holos. The smooth holos somewhat resemble a dusty pastel version of the China Glaze OMG collection (though with more scattered holo) while the chunky holos resemble holos like Massini Slammin' Red and some of the new China Glaze glitter polishes like Mahoganie. They are not that much like Nubar Reclaim, which is sad because that is one of my favorite polishes.

Nubar Spark

Spark is a good example of a subtle, work-appropriate color (golden beige) that is non-holo in most lights but turns beautiful when the sun hits it. I had to swatch this twice yesterday. The first time I swatched it, it was overcast out and I barely got ANY holo anything. Then, right after I finished swatching for the day, the sun came out! GRR! I quickly re-swatched Spark during this time and caught a video of it. Three coats, great application. One of those polishes you could apply half-asleep in the dark. It's more saturated and sparkly than its close cousin, Color Club Love 'Em, Leave 'Em, a light champagne holo with very little holo to speak of.

Video of Spark

Spark was my NOTD yesterday afternoon and dried lightning quick with Diamont. (I did three hours of housework about half an hour after putting it on. I got a couple of bubbles because layered on too much Diamont but besides that, the mani was impeccable the rest of the day.)

Nubar Treasure

Smooth light purple holo. A little sheer at three coats and could've used a fourth. Like Spark, it also has a cousin in the Color Club Wild at Heart collection: Wild at Heart. Except this is the weaker cousin this time: more sheer, less saturated, less in-your-face holo. When not in the sunlight, the color is actually more like a dusty lavender.

Nubar Gem

I think this is my favorite one of the collection. There's something really unexpected about this polish. First of all, it looks like it's a cool champagne-mauve duochrome shimmer base with chunky holo glitter. What is this color? Who knows! It changes with every sort of light: not only is the glitter color not stable, the base color isn't stable either. And I LOVE it. It's so wonderfully weird. But even though it's chunky holo, it's fairly smooth (all these photos are without topcoat). It glitters like crazy no matter what light you're in. Three coats, could've used four.

Video of Gem

And finally, the polish that made me squeal when I saw it in the bottle:

Nubar Prize

A prize indeed! A chunky cherry red holo! This is what I wanted Massini Slammin' Red to be like: I wanted it to be pretty and for it to be red. For those who have followed the blog for awhile -- can you believe it's been only five months? -- you might remember that one of my first posts was Slammin' Red. And slammed it I did: it was a dull bumpy nightmare. Three, four coats of topcoat didn't do a thing to even that sucker out. Nubar Prize, however, was a tad chunky but nowhere near as lumpy as the Massini and it does gorgeous things even in low light. It does need at least one coat of a thickish topcoat because it does dry a bit bumpy but that's normal for this type of glitter. SQUEE! Red holo! It's as true a red as I've seen a holo be (which is to say a teensy tad pink, but nowhere as pink as the other red holos out there).

Video of Prize

That's it for today! Because of the overcast conditions yesterday and my little access to sun, a lot of my photos came out dull. I'm hoping that today will bring sunnier skies and that I can reswatch the second half. Either way, the other four polishes will be reviewed tomorrow! I did my nails in the blue holo, Absolute, last night and I'll have some thoughts on how it wears as an NOTD with the next post. :)

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