Diamond Cosmetics: Monarch Masquerade and Nubar: Purple Beach

So a few weeks ago I did some swatches of my new Nubar polishes and discovered they’re all quite sheer (they all required 3-4 coats for full opacity). Not having that kind of patience, I decided to do an experiment: I’d start off with an opaque polish with the same undertones as the Nubar polish I wanted to use and then layer the Nubar polish over top.

Diamond Cosmetics’ Monarch Masquerade appeared to be a good candidate to pair off with Nubar’s Purple Beach; both have a reddish purple undertone. And here’s how it turned out:

What surprised me was that I only needed one coat of each polish to achieve this! One coat each! MM was virtually opaque in one coat; and even though PB is on the sheer side you’d never guess this was one coat judging by the amount of duochrome that still comes through! I’m very impressed with both polishes; both went on very smoothly, evenly… no application issues whatsoever.

The only downsides of these polishes are that MM has a rather dull finish; and PB is quite sheer, so it’s unlikely I’d ever wear either of them alone for a mani. But together I think they’re a knockout!

Ratings:
Diamond Cosmetics: Monarch Masquerade: ****
Nubar: Purple Beach: ****

China Glaze: Pool Party

Today’s beauty is China Glaze’s Pool Party. This was 3 coats I believe over Barielle’s Natural Nail Camouflage with Barielle’s Ultra Speed Dry Manicure Extender as my top coat (Barielle is my go-to brand for base coats/top coats). Application was on par with other neons: a bit streaky with the first coat but built up nicely with three coats and not too difficult to work with. I just wish my neon pinks would retain the same shocking pink on my nail as you see in the bottle; they all turn red or coral red (albeit a gorgeous bright shocking red) once on my nails. I need to try this mani again with white polish under the neon pink and see how that goes…

Rating:
China Glaze: Pool Party: ***

Nubar Haul

After reading so many wonderful things about Nubar nail polishes I finally treated myself and got some. The polishes are wonderful! The shopping experience was not. I’ll get to that later. First the beauty shots.

left to right: Indigo Ocean, Peacock Feathers, Moon Shadow

left to right: Purple Beach, Iris Dust, Pink Flame

I haven’t had a chance to actually try these out yet, but I was so excited to finally get them I just wanted to show off my new babies!

Now for the not so wonderful part: the online purchase. I ordered them from Fernanda’s, a manufacturer and wholesale supplier of beauty supplies located in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. I inquired about pricing and was told they were $4.50 each if you purchased 6 or more. Kawabunga! So I ordered eight polishes! They don’t have online ordering; you need to call their 1.800 number. Shipping wasn’t too bad… around $11 Cdn. Communication (via phone and email) was very pleasant and courteous and they replied promptly to all queries.

I placed my order on September 29, 2010 and was told they should arrive by October 8, 2010. I expected to receive a receipt via email but never got one. When I contacted them I was informed it would be in my package. Ok, fair enough. When it didn’t arrive by October 8th, I contacted them again. I was provided with a tracking number which stated it would be delivered on October 12, 2010. Not quite what they first told me but at least now I’ve got a firm delivery date.

When my package finally arrived I opened it up to discover there were only 6 of the 8 polishes I ordered (actually only 5 since they sent me Indigo Ocean instead of Indigo Illusion), with no explanation provided as to where the missing 2 were. Plus, on the receipt they had charged me $4.75 for each polish instead of the $4.50 that they had previously quoted.

After a few quick emails everything was sorted out. They would refund the difference due to the price ‘faux pas’; but I told them to keep the remaining 2 polishes (which were apparently on backorder… would it have hurt them to let me know?). I decided to keep Indigo Ocean since I wasn’t up for more aggravation and yeah, it’s kinda pretty!

So yeah… that’s my experience with Fernanda’s. Great prices on Nubar polishes for sure, but so many glitches and mishaps! GAH! I’m not sure it’s worth the headache.

Rating:
Fernanda’s: **

Orly: Space Cadet and Misa: Love Bite

Out of all the polishes from the Orly Cosmic FX collection, I was most excited about the infamous multi-chromatic Space Cadet. I ordered it recently from Head2Toe Beauty along with some other polishes. I was a little concerned when I first swatched it that it would be really sheer and require umpteen coats, so I just used it on one nail and did the rest with Misa’s Love Bite, a deep dried blood red creme, which I figured was a worthy companion.

Application of both polishes was great; nice and smooth… no issues. I ended up only requiring 3 coats of Space Cadet and stopped at 2 coats for Love Bite; although next time I’ll use 3 coats to even out the coverage a bit more. I think they look lovely together.

I couldn’t end this post without a closeup of Space Cadet. She’s sooo purdy!! How to describe… it shimmers a rosy pink above a base that seems to shift from gold to olive-green to teal at the very edges… but at other angles the shimmer shifts to orange and gold! Mesmerizing!

Ratings:
Misa: Love Bite: ****
Orly: Space Cadet: *****

Color Club: Pucci-licious and Sally Hansen: DVD

I was somewhat surprised by Color Club’s Pucci-licious. Since it’s part of the Poptastic Collection, which is virtually all neons, I assumed it would be much, well… lighter and brighter! It’s still a pretty colour though. I’d describe it as a mid range purple. It was virtually opaque in one coat but I did 2 to make sure everything was evened out. Application was no problem; smoother than other neons… but then again… I don’t think this one classifies as a true neon.


After a few days I decided to jazz up my mani a bit so I added a coat of Sally Hansen’s HD polish in DVD: a sheer lavender based polish packed with glass-fleck shimmer that shifts from aqua to pink. I’m not a huge fan of Sally Hansen; especially her nail treatments which do unspeakable things to my nails (they peel horribly!!) but when I saw those HD polishes… I caved and bought three of them: DVD, Laser and Byte. And since my intention was to only use them for layering over already polished nails I figured I’d be safe from any bad reactions. The result was pretty cool. A blurple which flashes aqua or pink depending on the direction of the light.

Ratings:
Color Club: Pucci-licious: ****
Sally Hansen HD: DVD: ****

China Glaze: Kaleidoscope Him Out

China Glaze’s Kaleidoscope Him Out has got to be one of my all-time favorite polishes… so far! It’s a light blue large particle holographic that screams ‘party!’ on your nails! I looove these kinds of holographics because they’ve got all the bling of glitter without any grittiness or tough removal. This is 3 or 4 coats… I can’t remember… but it dries really fast so it’s a non-issue with me.

The first few coats are a little tricky; I get bald spots if I brush over the same area more than once, but by the 3rd-4th coats (if desired; I find the more coats the better it actually looks) it ceases to be an issue and it tends to even itself out to a smooth finish.

I always wear base coat and top coat, even with holos. I don’t find one layer of top coat affects the brilliance of these polishes, although two definitely does; and the added protection ensures my mani–even with holos–lasts at least a week (I wouldn’t know how much longer since I do my nails once/week).

A few things I love about all holos/kaleidoscopes I’ve tried: they make my nails fees really strong and hard; and they seem to make all my nails look so beautifully uniform in shape. I’m thinking it’s got something to do with how the holographic effect tricks your eyes; you just don’t notice any mis-shaped nails like you might with other finishes.

My only wish is that there were more of these super glittery large particle holos. I was only able to snag 2 of China Glaze’s Kaleidoscopes before they were virtually sold out (I joined the nail polish obsession party a little too late!) And if any nail polish manufacturers are listening… I’d love to see some kaleidoscopes and holos in super-saturated and vampy shades!!

Rating: *****

Finger Paints: Icy Iris

Finger Paints’ Icy Iris is a gorgeous deep slightly warm purple with fine purple micro-shimmer. This is 2 coats with basecoat and topcoat. Application (like all Finger Paints I’ve tried) was smooth and very workable.

Rating: ****