Nubar Elegant Indigo

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I have one of the newer polishes on the list of things to show you today, Nubar Elegant Indigo from their Fall 2011 Polished Chic Collection.  It's a very well pigmented deep blue with a lot of sparkly shimmer bits, and not only did nobody tell me it's this cool, it looks far less impressive in the bottle than it is on the nail.

I used two very thin coats of Elegant Indigo over a base and finished it off with a coat of Poshe.  In applying the color, I found that one not-so-thin coat would have been enough, but I did two super thin since I have a better time controlling application with very thin coats.  The polish was easy to control and apply, and this manicure has no clean-up.

Indoors, it looks like a nice deep blue shimmer, and it's one of those where in low light you can see it has great direct light potential.  After it dried I went out into the sunlight and confirmed that it is indeed spectacular in direct light.  This is Elegant Indigo in the sun.

Nubar Elegant Indigo Nail Polish, Two Coats

I have a super close-up of the shimmer on part of a nail so you can see how lively the finish is.

Nubar Elegant Indigo Nail Polish, Close Up of Shimmer

In both pictures you can see how the polish just lights up and glows when light hits it - it's brighter and more blurple in the directly lit parts and a darker deep blue in the areas not directly lit.  I particularly like the shimmer in this one - normally, dark blues that look loaded with shimmer in the bottle take direct light and a lot of squinting to see any shimmer at all once they're applied, but this one is really pronounced.

That's Nubar Elegant Indigo and my manicure for the day, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!



*This product was sent for independent review by the manufacturer.

All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

Nubar Beguiling Carmine

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I wanted a traditional shade for something I have going later on today, and I figured it was a good time to show you a shade from Nubar's Polished Chic collection, and I went with Beguiling Carmine.  The premise of Nubar's Polished Chic is that it's modern classic shades, so it seemed like a good fit.

Beguiling Carmine is described by the manufacturer as "a brick red creme," and there's not a heck of a lot to add to that.  The color is a tiny bit muddier than a standard brick red, just enough to update the color but not enough to call it something else.  I used a base, two coats of Beguiling Carmine, and finished it off with a coat of Poshe.  The polish is well pigmented, where at one coat it's clear that two will do the trick, was easy to apply and control, and it has a good shine.  This is Beguiling Carmine after drying, in artificial light.

Nubar Beguiling Carmine Nail Polish, Two Coats

This is a good autumn red - it has enough brown to fit the season but is still distinctly red overall.  I noticed in looking through pictures that my top coat has some bubbles, which is kind of a bummer, but I'm betting that I'll get through the day just the same with or without them and leaving it alone.

That is Beguiling Carmine, my manicure for the day, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!



This product was sent by the manufacturer for review.

All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

Nubar Jeans

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I just got a promo image that's pretty interesting for Nubar Jeans, which they say will be online within the next two weeks.

Nubar Jeans Nail Polish Collection

Look familiar?  They look like dupes for Les Jeans de Chanel to me.  The only other info I have is that the set of three will be $19.99 and the colors are as follows:

Faded Jeans, a light blue shimmer
Boyfriend Jeans, a medium blue creme
Dark Wash Jeans, a dark blue creme

That's what I know, and now you do too.  Until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!


All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

Nubar Yellow Primrose & D26

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today seemed like a good day for more stamping, so that's exactly what I did.  I started with a manicure of Nubar Yellow Primrose, then I picked out the full nail pattern from D series stamping plate D26, which I used with Yellow Konad Special Polish.  A coat of top coat to seal it, and I was finished.

Nubar Yellow Primrose Nail Polish and Stamping Plate D26

It looks like retro kitchen decor to me, but oddly enough, that's a good thing.  That's what I know this morning, Dear Reader, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Nubar Baby Sprout & Konad m83

Good morning, Dear Reader!

My Konading streak continues today with Nubar Baby Sprout, the green one from Nubar's Spring Garden Collection.  It's a very delicate barely-green with just a hint of shimmer, just enough to keep it from looking like pastel chalk.  I think I used two coats here (I'm a couple days behind on showing you pictures).

Nubar Baby Sprout Nail Polish, Two Coats

I added the fern pattern from Konad plate m83 in Konad Green Special Polish to it.

Nubar Baby Sprout with Konad m83

Again, it's a little loud after stamping, but this one was fun to wear.  That's just about all there is to tell you today, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Nubar Blue Hydrangea & Konad m60

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today I have Nubar Blue Hydrangea to show you, one from their Spring Garden Collection.  It's a very light blue with just a hint of shimmer.  It went on well, and I think I used two coats (the pictures are from a couple of days ago so I don't remember with certainty).

Nubar Blue Hydrangea Nail Polish, Two Coats

I stamped it with the argyle pattern from Konad plate m60 using Konad Blue Special Polish.

Nubar Blue Hydrangea with Konad m60

I like it.  That's just about all there it today, Dear Reader, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Nubar Purple Aster

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I just finished my back-to-the-office manicure, and I went with Nubar Purple Aster from this season's The Spring Garden Collection.  The collection was sent to me for review before it came out, and I discovered that getting a decent picture of a washed-out pastel on super pale hands is quite a feat.  I actually swatched the whole thing twice and took pictures of all eight with and without the glitter top coat (Dew Drop), but the sunlight pictures made the polishes all look off-white and my hands look really red, even though it didn't look that way in real life.  It was frustrating (especially since I didn't have the good sense to import and check the first picture on the second round of swatching - what a dummy!), but I finally got a good picture of Purple Aster, so all is well.

Purple Aster is a pale lavender with a very delicate white shimmer.  I like it - I think it's a nice twist on the usual pastels, being much paler and a shimmer, and I really love pastels in Spring.  I know pastels in Spring are considered by some to be predictable and boring, but I love them, and I think the fact that they evidently sell well enough to continue to produce them for Spring indicates that I am not alone.  Purple Aster is extremely pigmented, and one coat would be plenty for a base for layering (I prefer the shine of two coats using it alone).  Here it is finished with a coat of Diamont under artificial light.

Nubar Purple Aster Nail Polish, Two Coats

You can see how stubby my poor pinky nail is here, but we'll just have to ignore that for now.

I think Purple Aster manages to be understated,  feminine, and Springy without being little-girl.  I'm pleased with it.

That's just about all there is to tell you about today, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Plate XL A - The Puzzle

Good morning, Dear Reader!

My Gelicure mani is still hanging in there, so I'm still changing it around to keep it interesting.  For yesterday's variation, I brought out the XL plates and looked for something to do in white, and I chose the puzzle pieces tip pattern.

I stamped that in Konad white, but it still looked a little plain, so I hunted down some nail art pens to fill in a few of the pieces.  I added Color Stay top coat and Poshe, and this is what it looked like when I was finished.

Stamping Plate XL A - Puzzle Pieces and Nail Art Polish

I really like how this one turned out, and to be honest, I was surprised to see a few tiny smudges in the nail art polish when I was selecting a picture - I can't see them even when I'm looking for them.

What I'd forgotten about changing color once a week is how much I hate it when it looks grown out.  Yesterday was the five days of wear, and I was reminded by my own annoyance that it's always around the fifth day of a manicure that it starts to bug me with the line at the cuticle.  However, the soak off gel has otherwise been so painless that I'm going to let it slide until tomorrow.  Other than the giant gap, it looks just like it did right after I applied it.

That's today's variation on the Hot Pink theme, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!  

My Impressionist Funky French

Good morning, Dear Reader!

After using a dotting tool for the dots I added to the chevron tips I showed you yesterday, I got to thinking that filling in my tips with just a bunch of tiny colored dots might be interesting.  I gathered about a zillion nail polishes that are Springy and opaque, got the dotting tool and a paper plate, and had at it (this was from a few days ago, so the gap at the cuticle's small).

As I was placing the dots, I thought it looked like an Impressionist's rendition of a Funky French, being characterized by bright color, open composition, and super tiny brush strokes.  Here's what I came up with.

Impressionist Funky French over Hot Pink Nubar Gelicure

I think under many circumstances, I could look at the finished manicure and say, "Yes, I see how that could be an Impressionist mani."  Unfortunately, I can't.  As I looked at the manicure after sealing it with top coat, I could think of one and only one think that's set apart by the use of bright colors and an ornately orderly multicolored edge, and that's folk socks.

The price I'm paying for reading too much Interweave Knits Magazine is that my brain now perceives my manicure in terms of socks.  That's an unexpected outcome!

I think we can all agree to pretend that this manicure is actually a deep, meaningful artistic statement, connecting an innovative 19th century Parisian art movement to the crafting traditions of the back hills of Appalachia.  I'll have to go ponder the meaning of existence for a bit to come up with something equally profound for tomorrow, so until then, love and nail polish to you!  

Nubar Gelicure Soak Off Gel Polish

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today I have something a little different for you, something which I never thought I'd try: soak off gel polish.  I've seen various reviews in the year or so since OPI's Axxium and CND's Shellac made a splash, which had me interested enough to see what was out there and whether I was willing to try any of it.  Reviews on OPI's Axxium seemed to all have at least one person chime in with a complaint saying that her otherwise strong nails were damaged by the removal, which made me afraid of soak off gel in general, and the Shellac reviews said that product came off well, but I've never had success with CND products for natural nails, so I took that as hope for soak off gel and moved on.  Several other brands who do mainly fake nail stuff had a good selection of colors (IBD, EZFlow, Harmony,...), but  I settled on Nubar's Gelicure as the one to try just as a personal preference - my experience with their products is that they're kind to my nails (the only acrylic patches I've ever been able to grow out and to remove without damage were with Nubar acrylic), and I trusted that it would really soak off.

I did do a test of the gel removal before applying the gel polish (I trust no brand that much!), and I found that I could remove the gel with relative ease in 10 minutes, and that it pretty much fell off when I touched it after 15.  The dissolved gel is really weird - it's like older rubber cement got kind of wet.  I know that's an odd description, but I'd bet if you tried this you'd see exactly what I mean.  Anyhow, knowing that I could take this stuff off when I wanted to, I went ahead and applied it.  I've never applied gel before (heck, I've never seen it in person before), so it's not the best application ever, but it shows some real potential for the product for me.  I'll show you the picture of my Gelicure mani first, then tell you how I put it on and why I'd want to.

Nubar Gelicure Soak Off UV Gel Polish in Hot Pink

It's not too bad for a first shot at gel, I think.  The trick thing about it for me was that gel polishes say that they go on like polish, but I discovered that's true only in the narrow sense that they're both applied out of a bottle with a brush.  What was strange to get used to was the fact that after touching the product to my nail, I had all the time in the world to get it perfect since it doesn't cure at all until it's under the UV light.  There are a couple of preparatory steps for the nails (primer and a bonding agent), then I applied the clear base coat gel.  I made it as thin as humanly possible and cured it.  Then I added color, also doing the super thin coats, but employing a kind of a completely rookie way to go about it.  I was applying as thinly as I could, then wiping the brush off in the bottle and then using it to take a little off each nail.  That just meant I put the gel polish on too thinly and needed more coats.  The last step was to seal it with top coat sealer and cure the sealer.  For curing, the directions said two minutes under the UV light to cure each coat, I gave it three for each just because that was how the light was set and I didn't want to mess around with it.

Why would I possibly want to wear a colored gel polish that doesn't come off for weeks, you ask?  Lots of reasons...

The gel functions as an overlay, and my opposition to overlays in the past has been functional rather than aesthetic - my experience with having acrylic overlays for a few days and acrylic patches here and there shows me that they diminish sensation in my nails, and when your nails do a lot of the work that fingertips do for people with short nails, changing how they feel doesn't work well.  Acrylic isn't that durable for color changes, either.  With this gel, my nails have as much feeling and as much "give" (like bending a little when pressed) as without, it just takes a little more pressure, and I can polish at will.

The gel keeps pigment from ever touching my nails, which would seem to indicate that there's hope to completely and permanently grow out the stains on my nails.  In applying the gel, I was instructed to wrap my tips with base, color, and sealer, and with the edges protected my guess is that tears and breaks won't happen and that my nails might wear evenly (typing makes all of them wear more on the pinky side of the nail).  I have no ambitions to give Lee Redmond a run for her money even though I'm a fan, it would just be nice to quit having my blog and photo accounts look like a flip book of nails growing and getting chopped.

As for the monotony of wearing one color, that's not a problem.  I'm sure of that because I applied the gel on Saturday, although yesterday's polish is the only picture I've shown with it on.  I polished and top coated over the gel and later used acetone remover (not recommended by the manufacturer!) to remove the polish, and the gel looks exactly like it did before the polish.  So polishing over gel works, and I really like the idea of having the base for nail art ready all the time.  I can embellish the gel polish with Konad or whatever and just remove it later.  That's handy.  In fact, here's my first shot at adding a bit to the pink.

Nubar Hot Pink Gelicure Soak Off Gel Polish with Chevron Tips in Nail Polish

That's just black and white nail polish with top coat added to the gel, and I can see doing stuff like this for a while before getting bored.  The shine on the gel is really amazing, too, and it feels like a new plastic coating it's so smooth.

Today, on my fourth day of having the gel on, it looks like it'll last me about a total of a week before it starts getting too grown out looking.  Test removal and this application took just about an hour, which really isn't too much effort for me once a week - that's exactly what my routine was for about twenty-five years to change a manicure without quick-dry top coat.  With the ease of application and removal as well as all of the benefits of soak off gel, I really think I've been converted to it.  Now all the people who've asked me about fake nails, to whom I've consistently and emphatically replied "Never!!!", can mock me for wearing gel all they wish - I have it coming.

So that's the recap of my four-day experience with Nubar Gelicure and my first with soak off gel.  Before I do the complete removal and next application, I'll take a new picture of the gel alone so we can all see the before and after of how the poor mistreated gel holds up.  Until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!  

Broken Hearted & Fault Line

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I did a little playing around with some China Glaze Crackles, Broken Hearted and Fault Line.  When I first unpacked and examined the Crackles, my first thought about Fault Line was that it's similar to Nubar Pasadena purple, and this manicure is where that thought took me.

I started with a base coat, and for the base color I alternated nails with Nubar Pasadena Purple and Nubar Hollywood Pink (both from their California Dreamin' Collection) - I went hunting for a pink similar to Broken Hearted, and Hollywood Pink is close in color but is a shimmer.  After two coats of color, I top coated it to dry it.  For the Crackle, I alternated nails with those as well, putting Broken Hearted over the Pasadena Purple nails and Fault Line over the Hollywood Pink nails.  After letting it break up for a minute or two, I added a coat of Gelous to smooth it out and a coat of Poshe to dry it.  This is what the manicure looked like completely dry.

China Glaze Broken Hearted and Fault Line over a Pink and Purple Base

I like it.  At first glance, the colors confuse my eye as it tries to discern which colors are where, and I like that.  As to the color choice in general, my affinity for violet and bright pink together comes from my childhood.  Last week I mentioned that my dad would take us to school in the morning, but when he dropped us off we didn't get to go straight to school (the "get to" will become clear, and young childhood is always "us" for me since my sister and I were a package).  We'd get there at about 7:05, an hour before the school's doors were unlocked, and the rule was that the early kids had to go to daily Mass.  After a few years of being in Mass six days a week (my mom took us on Sundays), it was sometimes more than I could bear to go in, but the principal would come out and herd kids into the church periodically, so there was no escaping it.  The principal was also the one with the keys to the school, so there was no hope of the school doors opening early.  So I'd sit in Mass, appropriately bored out of my skull for a kid, but during Advent the officiant would mix things up a bit with the violet and pink stoles (that's the long silk scarf thing that a priest wears over his robe to say Mass), and the church would be all decorated in violet and pink, all of which was light at the end of the tunnel for me - the minute Advent ended, I was on Christmas break and free of it all for a couple of weeks, so those colors together are always a happy sight for me.

Christmas Break Countdown

That's the update for today, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!  

Nubar Conserve

Good morning, Dear Reader!

No early February list of Produce I Wish I Had would be complete without one thing:

Asparagus!

Asparagus is probably my favorite Spring food.  During one recent summer, I think I made asparagus and broiled salmon three times a week and never got sick of either.  There are no asparagus stories, and I've never even grown it, I'm just a huge fan.  Few things in the world can beat a plate of steamed asparagus with just enough sweet butter to make a little bit of salt stick to it.  Wow, I really, really want some now!

For the manicure, I decided to just do an accent nail.  I wanted to make the asparagus from the same color as I used the other nails, so I chose the very pigmented Nubar Conserve as the main color.  I thought I knew the location of some nail art brushes, but I really only knew the location of some dotting tools.  I'd already set up the billion colors I used, so I just went with the dotting tools.  It's not the best job ever - without the picture above, I doubt anyone would guess what it is, but that would be reasonable.  How often would "asparagus" be a good guess for anything related to a manicure?

Nubar Conserve Asparagus Manicure

Nubar Conserve Asparagus Manicure, Closer Look

I think it looks more like an especially crappy bunch of flowers, but that's alright for one day.  The good thing about nail polish is that it comes right off!

That's what I have for you today, Dear Reader.  Until tomorrow, love and nail polish to you! 

OPI Black Shatter & Hot Green

Good morning, Dear Reader!

In a moment when my mind drifted off yesterday, I reflected on how much fun I had matching the last two Black Shatter manicures to a hair band and considered a few other neons and whether a related image came to mind.  I immediately thought of two more, and figured it might be fun to do an impromptu theme week (well, work week).  I have several newer polishes I want to show you, but they've all been released so it's not a race to swatch in time for a release date, and I'm having a good time. ☺

So the first color I thought of, as you've guessed by now, was green.  This is the first thing that came to mind:

Although C.C. DeVille was apart from Poison on Monday, since he's been in two out of three you might be thinking I was a huge Poison fan.  I wasn't.  I've concluded that my knowledge of images associated with them is God's way of punishing me for relentlessly mocking them at the height of their popularity.  I can't remember this much about bands I liked!  But since C.C.'s showing up today by means of his "music" on this album (the quotes probably bought me another five years of remembering these pictures), I thought I'd toss in the C.C. DeVille story.  It's mildly amusing at best so feel free to skip the next paragraph if you don't care.

My sister's the  key player in this one.  She's almost a year older than me and quite pretty, and really, really funny.  She'll say completely outrageous things to strangers when it's funny enough (and sometimes when it's not).  The rest of the setup, I'll do in the style of Sophia Petrillo.  Picture this: downtown Chicago, late 1980's, in then-trendy now-long-gone club I can't remember the name of...

My sister, MM, goes to the club with some girlfriends, and they're given access to the VIP area.  She figured out early on that by identifying the head bouncer and then flirting with him, it's easy to get access to the VIP room (I didn't believe her that it was that easy but tried it anyhow - it really does work).  As they assess the crowd, MM sees a striking woman on the other side of the bar and notes how strangely pretty she is.  She and her friends continue milling about, and throughout the evening MM keeps seeing this striking woman wherever she goes.  Finally, she goes to get a fresh drink, and the striking woman approaches her and offers to buy her drink, but it was in a man's voice, completely throwing her off.  Not knowing what this person's deal is, she politely declines and is answered with an indignant, "Do you know who I am?"  She replies that she does not, so he tells her his name: C.C. DeVille.  MM continues to look at him with a blank stare, and he goes on to say that he's the guitarist in Poison.  She breaks out into uncontrollable laughter (who do you think I was mocking Poison videos with?), this huge throw-your-head-back-and-belly-laugh kind of laugh that she and I have, and is completely unable to regain her composure, until C.C. finally walks away.  The End.

That was our storytime, so here's the manicure.  For the green, I used Nubar Hot Green because it's a 2-3 coater (2 medium, 3 thin), then Black Shatter.  This time, I used a coat of Gelous to smooth it out before a final coat of Poshe.  Gelous didn't work as a base coat for me (I had major chipping in hours), but it works well as the fill-in coat over polishes that suck up a lot of top coat.  Here it is after it dried.

OPI Black Shatter over Nubar Hot Green

It does work for the album cover colors, but if you recall, for the previous two I showed you the image that came to mind looking at the finished manicure.  As I was taking pictures of this, I thought, "This looks like Bruce Banner blew out some black pants."

So now even I'm not sure what the theme is - hair bands or what the manicure brings to mind... I found a bonus picture while looking for a Hulk picture that's only barely related if you think about it long enough, but I'm tacking it on anyhow.

Until tomorrow, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you! 

Color Club Snowflakes over Nubar Baby Blue

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Last night I decided to break into that bottle of Color Club Snowflakes from the Color Club Enchanted Holiday mini set, and the manicure ended up being one of those rare instances in which the finished product is just what I had in mind at the outset.  To refresh your memory if you didn't feel like clicking on the link, Snowflakes is the white glitter in the set, and my plan for it right away was to layer it over a pastel blue.

I started by selecting the blue for the base color, and I'd mentioned OPI's What's with the Cattitude when I was tossing the idea around.  It turned out that the OPI was a hair darker than I had in mind, as was Color Club Take Me to Your Chateau.  I settled on Nubar Baby Blue, the whitest pastel blue I had handy.  It's a good one for layering as well - it's super pigmented, so it's two thin coats with exceptional drying time.

I had the Nubar handy because I just stocked up on some staples and replaced some colors I've almost finished with their current sale, and I noticed that the new bottle of Baby Blue has a new brush.  Honestly, the brush might have changed a while back without me noticing, so I don't know if that's news (I try to pay attention, but when I'm swatching I'm looking at the colors more than the brush).  The new brush is a bit flatter and wider, and the cap it's attached to is different - the old had no rounding of the edge at the top of the cap, while the new one has the edge rounded.  I did like the old brush, but even though I didn't notice a difference in using the new one, the new seems to work better for me - my application was very thorough and tidy with little effort, so it seems the change is an improvement for me.  Anyhow, I did the two coats of Baby Blue.

As for Color Club Snowflakes, I was concerned that it may either (or both, for that matter) too white or too dense with glitter for good layering.  It is quite thick, but I found that in applying it, it was easy to spread it thinly and evenly for a good layer of glitter that did not alter the base color, and it shows pink, blue and white glitter.  It looked a little gritty when I finished, so I used two coats of Seche Vite (my thickest top coat) to smooth it out.  A few hours later, after the SV had dried all the way, it was still not smooth to the touch, so I added two coats of Barielle Manicure Extender.  Those last two coats of top coat were not needed, but they were the difference between whether the manicure I'm wearing looked exactly like what I had in mind or falling a bit short, so I added them.  Now it's glassy smooth and the glitter even sparkles by candlelight.

Color Club Snowflakes, One Coat, over Two Coats Nubar Baby Blue

The picture's by artificial light, which always washes out the sparkle of glitter.  It looks like that, only sparklier!

I'm still toiling away at my little domestic project, so I've only been changing my nail polish when it chips.  I'm really hoping that this one holds out for a few days, because I really like it and it's just right for the weather.  I think the pastel blue with glitter looks cold like winter, but not stark cold.  More like when it's 25° at night and snowing big fluffy snowflakes that melt during the day, not like a -10° January day with the wind cutting through your very soul.  It looks like the part of winter that I like.

So that's my Snowflakes manicure, and that's the update for today.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!  

Konad Plate M56

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Konad plate m56 is my favorite tip pattern plate, but I haven't used it in a long time because I haven't been able to find the plate.  After many, many months, I finally bit the bullet last week and got a replacement, so I have two manicures using m56 to show you today.

First up is one using two patterns from m56.  I started with two coats of Nubar Barricade, then stamped the free edge with the swirly pattern on the plate in Konad Pink, then did the little ribbon and bow pattern at the nail line in Konad Black Pearl.

Konad m56 over Nubar Barricade Nail Polish

I'm not as wild about that one as I'd hoped to be, but I guess I just won't love them all... It's more about how the colors look together than the patterns though.  I'll likely try the same thing again with different colors to see what I think.

The second one, I like a lot.  For this one, I started with four coats of China Glaze Shocking Pink.  Four coats is high maintenance, but Shocking Pink is worth it to me.  I then painted my tips white, gave them a minute to dry, and stamped the white part with the checkerboard tip pattern using Konad Black.  I really like the outcome, and it's what I'm wearing today.

Konad m56 over China Glaze Shocking Pink Nail Polish

The picture here just hints at how truly retina searing Shocking Pink is, and with the black and white checks, it's a little hard on the eyes!

That's what I have for you today, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!  

Nubar Venetian Glass Collection

Good morning, Dear Reader!

The manicure I had planned for today was thwarted yesterday when samples of Nubar's Venetian Glass Collection for Fall 2010 came from the manufacturer yesterday.  I wanted to swatch them right away despite the fact that I didn't have enough natural light for pictures, so I used artificial light.

The collection is eight colors, all opaque glass flecked polishes, with five kind of leaves-changing-color shades and three that are just really cool.  I was excited about opaque glass flecked polished, since most glass flecked are pretty sheer on me.  I did two coats for all, I think one or two might have been better with a third.

Oro is a yellow gold, with an almost foily finish.

Nubar Oro Nail Polish, Two Coats

Caramello is a browner golden shade, also almost a foil.

Nubar Caramello Nail Polish, Two Coats

Bronzo is a coppery bronze.

Nubar Bronzo Nail Polish, Two Coats

Arencia is a Fall orange.

Nubar Arencia Nail Polish, Two Coats

Rosso is a pink red, and sorry about the sloppy swatch on this one.  I wear out doing eight!

Nubar Rosso Nail Polish, Two Coats

Those were the five I think of as fall leafy colors.  The other three are my favorites, I think.

Vino is a great burgundy.

Nubar Vino Nail Polish, Two Coats

Vaso is a great light purple glass fleck.

Nubar Vaso Nail Polish, Two Coats

This last one is a complete manicure with top coat.  Verde is a deep green with visible green, blue, and gold flecks.

Nubar Verde Nail Polish, Two Coats

That's Nubar's Venetian Glass Collection for Fall 2010, available June 30.

I should have more swatches for you this week, too - notice for another mystery package was left when no one was around to sign for it.

That's the scoop for today, Dear Reader.  Until tomorrow, love and nail polish to you!