Layering Nail Of The Day plus Random Eye of the Day!

Need to take a little break from doing spring/summer collection reviews. I still have a lot of things left to post until I'm all caught up, but right now I just want to post something fun and random. How about a manicure and an eye look from last week? I really liked these...


Nubar Ruby Red Glitz (one coat) over BB Couture Laced Corset (two coats). I started out with Laced Corset... It was the last thing I swatched (hope to have that review finished soon XD) and I left it on because I liked the color so much. But then I was thinking... It needs more sparkle. I wanted red. I actually wanted to do Revlon Slipper over it, but I couldn't find it. Ruby Red Glitz caught my eye and I decided on that. It turned out to be exactly what I wanted. The purple still shows through the red sheer base of Ruby Red Glitz, and the glitter in Ruby is sparse enough to not completely cover the base with chunky opaque glitter. Dare I say... this combination even looks a little 230-ish? Of course, nowhere near being a dupe or anything, but that red sparkle on top of purple with hints of gold sure makes me think of 230.

This is the eye look I was playing with last week:

This was:
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Wet n Wild Blue Had Me At Hello Palette:
Left Side Browbone shade on lid
Left Side Eyelid shade on outer lid
Left Side Definer shade in crease
Right Side Eyelid on lower lashline
Urban Decay 24/7 Shadow Pencil in Clash on lower lashline (as a base for Wet n Wild Eyelid)
Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liner in Indigo
Cargo Highlight from the Warm Neutral Essential palette as highlight
Revlon Grow Luscious Mascara

And hey... My brows are almost entirely grown back now! That took a while.

I've been doing variations on this look for the past couple weeks, trying it with different colors of upper and lower liner... Adding glitter... I love that Wet n Wild Blue Had Me At Hello palette. Those shadows are amazing, Except... like Color Club Nothing But Truffle, this palette has accidentally given itself a new name due to the filename of a photo of it: Blue Had Meat Hello. Blue had meat, hello? Blue had Meat Hello? It's stuck. I can't help myself.

Nubar Spring Garden Collection Spring 2011 Swatches and Review

Here's Nubar's spring 2011 collection, "Spring Garden". A set of pastels that are a little different from all the ones we've seen lately. They're kinda dirty (in a good way) and each shade except Honeysuckle has a silvery hidden shimmer.


Baby Sprout. Not the mint green clone I was expecting! This is just barely green, like a creamy white with a bit of green cast to it. It's lighter than China Glaze Groovy Green. Really pretty color, though unfortunately it gives me mega lobster hands.



Blue Hydrangea. This is a pastel blue- it's like a dark baby blue or a pale sky blue. It is the only one that actually looks shimmery, the shimmer in the rest of the colors is more of a secret shimmer. The shimmer gives it a reflective pearl finish.



Earthen. A dirty, murky grey! I like. It has a little bit of a taupe tone to it, but it looks mainly grey on my skin. The very fine shimmer softens the color a little bit so it looks sort of... fuzzy? It's ever-so-slightly pearly, but only in certain lights.


Honeysuckle. Here's the obligatory Pantone 2011 Color of the Year honeysuckle shade. It's the only true creme in the collection and it adds a jarring pop of bright color amongst all these faded, dusty pastels. It's bright and clean and surprisingly nice; it has a subtle jelly look to it, though I wouldn't call it a true jelly finish (it's too opaque). Oddly, I never think of this color when I think of honeysuckle flowers. The honeysuckles I remember from my Grandma's garden were all white and yellow.


Pink Lily. Light, peachy pastel pink. Slight subtle pearl finish from all that fine silver shimmer in there.


Purple Aster. A light lavender pastel. Not quite as blue toned as it looks here, but still slightly blue toned in real life. I had about two seconds of sunlight to take this picture, I think it shows how subtle the shimmer is. Only a hint of silvery frost, you would never know if you didn't see it in direct light.


White Peony. This looks like a pure clean white in this picture, but in real life it has a bit of a dirty look to it. Not enough to call it off white or ivory, but it looks slightly faded and really creamy. I can't tell if this one has shimmer or not, actually... At some angles it looks like it, but my eyes hurt from staring at it!


Yellow Primrose. Very pale butter yellow. Lighter than Nubar Lemon Sorbet and Maybelline Banana Pudding. Very cute, very springy. The shimmer in this is almost invisible, but it softens the look of the color so it doesn't look chalky.

There's one more color in this collection- a coordinating glitter topcoat called Dewdrop. It doesn't really show up well alone, so I've only photographed it layered. It's a pastel opal glitter in a clear base, reminds me of something like Color Club Bishop's Weed or China Glaze Glacier.

I've done one coat over each color, no topcoat.

Dewdrop over Baby Sprout.

Dewdrop over Blue Hydrangea.


Dewdrop over Earthen.


Dewdrop over Honeysuckle.


Dewdrop over Pink Lily.


Dewdrop over Purple Aster.



Dewdrop over White Peony.


Dewdrop over Yellow Primrose.

The formula on all of these was good. It was thinner than usual but still nice and even, not runny. These weren't as opaque as previous Nubar cremes, I found that I needed three coats on all shades to get them completely even. Drying time is good. Bottles and brushes were all without defect.


These pastels are a little bit different from all the other pastels this year. I really like Earthen and Yellow Primrose, and White Peony is a nice white for wearing alone since it's not quite as chalky looking as other whites.

These will be available soon on ByNubar.com, though I don't know the exact date.

(These were sent to me for review.)

Nubar Spring Garden Collection

Have you seen this yet? If not, I'll post it here...

I can't help but think of this Chinese restaurant I used to go to when I see the name! Now I'm hungry!

Click to enlarge, of course...

The Spring Garden Collection

Take a leisurely stroll down the Earthen path through The Spring Garden, the scent of Pink Lily in the air. The fresh colors of early Spring abound, with the soft green of the Baby Sprout, gentle shade of Blue Hydrangea, delicate Yellow Primrose, silky Purple Aster, fresh White Peony, and the lively Honeysuckle, each enhanced with the elegant sparkle of Dewdrop.

Always free of formaldehyde, phthalate and toluene, the nail lacquers in nubar's The Spring Garden Collection are:

1. Pink Lily – vibrant pink creme

2. Earthen – subdued earthen grey creme

3. Baby Sprout – soft pastel green

4. Blue Hydrangea – muted pastel blue

5. White Peony – ivory creme

6. Yellow Primrose – delicate pale yellow

7. Purple Aster – dusty pastel purple

8. Honeysuckle – cheerful honeysuckle

9. Dewdrop – fine glitter top coat

nubar nail lacquers feature an ergonomically designed cap and a 299 bristle brush built for comfort and performance.

Nubar Holiday Jewel Basket Set for Winter/Holiday 2010

I'm glad the Finest Silks collection didn't end up being the actual Holiday collection.... A holiday collection just isn't right without a little glitter!

Nubar is now offering the Holiday Jewel Basket gift set for holiday- it consists of all re-promoted colors, but they are being offered at a discount.

Here's what it has:


Competition Red. A medium red creme. Lately I really love red cremes, but this one isn't doing it for me- it's too 'medium'. It's not crisp looking, it's a little softer. It's not really bright or saturated, it seems faded. Maybe it's just my skintone, but this red is just very soft and mild. Applies really smoothly, though!

Gold Glitter. Is this a photogenic color or what? So gorgeous. This is just a plain gold glitter in a clear base. Very opaque, covers completely in two coats. One of the best gold glitters in my collection. On top of having great coverage, it also dries smoother than a lot of other glitters.


Grass Green Glitter. Oh no... I think this has been reformulated! It doesn't look like I remember it. It's more blue-toned now, the particles are a little bigger and now there are flecks of gold glitter mixed in. It's still pretty, but it doesn't look like this anymore:


(I know, I know, horrible picture! The lighting is all wrong and what on earth am I doing with my fingers? But look at how small and green the glitter is.)



Pixie Dust (two coats over black). This is a very, very delicate and subtle glitter for layering. The particles are tiny, thin and shiny- they're pretty much clear- but they add a nice sparkle. Think Zoya Sparkle Gloss topcoat- but this seems less dense. I couldn't capture it alone- I had to layer to get it to show up on camera. Very pretty and snowy, definitely not a flashy type of glitter. Reminds me of ice crystals on a window.


Silver Glitter. Pure silver, nothing else. I dig it. I do have a fondness for silver glitters... The color may not be unique but the formula is really nice. Totally opaque in two coats, dries quickly and seems uncannily smooth for a glitter. Extremely sparkly and shiny.


Ruby Red Glitz. Yes, it is a Ruby Pumps clone, but there's nothing wrong with that. Ruby Pumps is freakin' gorgeous and so is this. I've actually been wearing this for a few days and I'm really in love with it. It only needs two coats, it dries super fast and is extraordinarily smooth for a polish with so much glitter. The red jelly base combined with the red-gold glitter is just such a captivating combination... looks like it's on fire.



2010 (index and middle finger in first photo, on the right in the second photo). Hm... I thought I had a picture of 2010 all by itself, but apparently I don't! 2010 has become one of Nubar's most popular shades in a very short period of time- it's only been out for a few months but already almost everyone I know has it! It is similar to Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure (as seen above) and also GOSH Rainbow (which I have just recently acquired- thanks Helen!). It's an opal flake in a clear base- it reflects red, gold, green, orange and sometimes a little pink and blue depending on the angle. It is excellent for layering and looks good over pretty much any color.


The Holiday Jewel Basket set also comes with a bottle of Foundation basecoat and a bottle of Diamont topcoat. I have to warn you- something bad happened to Diamont. I had been hearing that it was reformulated and wasn't the same as before, but I hadn't tried the new formula until now. You all were right- it's horrible. It never dries and it's so thin and watery! Why on earth would they reformulate such a perfect topcoat?! I loved Diamont so much- it never, ever shrank on me no matter how many layers I used. It wasn't the fastest drying topcoat but it was definitely the most durable. I sincerely hope that Nubar brings back the old formula cause I'm pretty sad about this terrible new one.

The formula on these was great. I had zero application problems. All the glitters were smooth and opaque (except Pixie Dust, which is for layering). Everything was as it should be, application-wise.


So, overall, nothing new here (except the new Diamont formula) but it's still a nice collection of festive glitters with excellent formula. I don't believe that anything in this set is limited edition and all of the colors are sold individually so you don't have to buy the whole set if you already have some of these. It's available now on Nubar's website for $49.95- it claims to be the most "deeply discounted" set they have, but it's the same price as all the other sets (it does contain one more bottle than the rest of the sets, though). However, today is the last day to use the NOV3030 code for 30% off orders of $30 or more, so you can get a little extra discount!

(These were sent to me for review.)

Nubar Finest Silks Collection Winter 2010

I don't think this is intended to be a winter-themed or holiday-themed collection, it just happens to be being released for winter. More thoughts on this collection after the pictures!





Charmeuse. A soft coral-mauve creme. On the warm side. Looks like dark muted pink with some orangey tones. A little too dated for my tastes but it may look good on someone with a warmer skin tone.



Chiffon. Soft, muddy, mousy grey-taupe. Love these types of colors. Looks more grey in the picture than it does on me in real life- it's more tan toned in real life.



Marabout. Another gorgeous taupe-grey-muddy color. This one is darker than Chiffon, more purple toned (but not purple-looking) and less warm. This one seems to suit my skin tone better but they're both nice.



Moire. This is an odd color! It's a brown-toned medium pink nude... Very difficult to describe. It's fleshy and earthy. It's like coffee with cream mixed with the color of ham. It's breakfast colored!



Organza. Sheer pearly white shimmer. More of a pearl than a frost. Still has the same brushstroke issues as frosts do but it has that shiny, smooth pearl-like reflection on it. I'm sure this is meant to be worn sheer and I think it would actually look better sheer. I bet you could layer it to add shimmer to these colors as well.



Pekin. The lighter of the two reds in the collection. It's a medium bordering on dark red and it seems blue based to me.




Sateen. This is the darker of the two. It's a red wine color with a hint of brown undertone.



Taffeta. Soft warm milky brown with a touch of warm orange or pink in it. Not a pure milk chocolate color, it's more of a pink chocolate. Or perhaps... a brown peach? Skintone shade- most likely intended as a nude color for a deeper, warmer skintone than mine.


The formula on these was just perfect. Dreamy. Flawless, effortless application. Excellent coverage on all shades except Organza (I used three coats to build opacity, it's probably intended to be worh sheer). Drying time is good and I experienced no problems with the texture, application or brushes. The formula was really, really great, I am impressed with it more than I am with the colors....

These are all very soft, conservative, office-appropriate types of colors. Nothing fun or wild or attention-grabbing. I don't believe they were intended to be. Normally I would blast a collection for being this bland and safe, but in this specific instance I'm not going to. The press release states that they were aiming for a collection of timeless colors for every skintone with the benefit of a two-coat coverage formula, and that's exactly what they've created. Seems like Nubar is trying to expand their line lately- adding lots of shades in the same color family but with that lovely new formula. Reds, the greys, the greens, the corals, the purples, the browns....

I do like a couple of the colors- Chiffon and Marabout of course, but I'm also intrigued by Moire. While the collection doesn't suit my personal tastes, I gotta say that the formula was amazing. Their creme formula seems to have been perfected- comparable to Rescue Beauty Lounge's perfect creme formula. So, if you are looking for colors like these I'd recommend based on formula alone.

Though, I must say I was really looking forward to some sort of sparkly, glittery colorful winter/holiday type colors for their winter release.... I am a bit sad that they've done nudes and wines for the winter collection instead. Oh well... Maybe they'll have something more edgy and fun for Spring!

(These were sent to me for review.)

Nubar Night Sky Collection Spring 2010

The Nubar Night Sky collection is a set of three mattes and a bottle of Diamont Seal and Shine topcoat (which is pretty awesome topcoat, I'm a Diamont fan) so you can do a mixed-finish manicure like a matte french with shiny tips or whatever creative idea you can think of. Pics first, my thoughts second.


Midnight Matte. I'm not sure if the name is Midnight Matte or Midnight (matte). The label says Midnight Matte, but I wasn't sure if it was like Borghese's letters (like Espresso Brown F) or Sally Hansen's finish declarations (Trendy Creme!). Anyway. Charcoal matte with lots and lots of silver sparkle. Little bit like Orly Iron Butterfly, but lighter.


Sunset Matte. Medium orange-brown gold with lots of shimmer. Maybe it's just my skintone skewing it, but sometimes it looks like an antique brass shade on me, while in other lights it's definitely gold.


Twilight Matte. Medium silver-grey matte with lots of sparkles. Lighter than Zoya Loredana.


And of course, with topcoat:

Midnight Matte with Diamont

Sunset Matte with Diamont

Twilight Matte with Diamont

With topcoat they transform into super-sparkly foil like shades. Kind of a cross between OPI Suedes and Orly Matte Metals. Lots and lots of shimmer.

And since I had my bottle of 2010 (which is Nubar's 10th anniversary special polish- a flaky opal topcoat) next to me on the table, how about with 2010?

Midnight Matte with 2010

Sunset Matte with 2010

Twilight Matte with 2010

I must say, 2010 looks incredible over these. Instead of being super flashy and obvious like it is over cremes (especially dark ones), it lends a subtle yet fascinating iridescence on the top of the polish without changing the color. I actually wore each of these as a full manicure with 2010 over them and I couldn't stop looking at my nails. It's just really interesting, it looks magical and you just kinda want to look at it for a while to figure it all out.

The formula on these was awesome. These are the best formula mattes I've used. They don't dry while you're applying them so they are very forgiving. They're thin like normal polish, not super thick like some mattes. They dry very quickly and the matte finish is a true matte, none of that sorta-matte satiny rubbery halfway stuff. Opacity is good- I did two coats but if you're careful you can probably do only one coat with Midnight and Sunset.

My first impression of the set was, "More mattes? And not even unique colors. Gold, silver and black. You can already get a gold, silver and black matte from other brands!" And that's when it dawned on me. You can get them from other brands. Lots of people have been getting into the matte thing lately. It's only natural for brands to want to secure a place for themselves. While I would have liked to see more interesting and unique matte colors, I understand why they did these. The formula is at least better than average. And I'm not even sure why I complain about mattes not being unique shades when I have at least six different brands of matte topcoat to mattify any color I want.... I'm rambling now. Deep thoughts about matte polish.


(These were sent to me for review.)

Comparison: Nubar 2010 Versus Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure

Index: One coat of Nubar 2010
Middle: One Coat of Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure
Ring: Two coats of Nubar 2010
Pinkie: Two coats of Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure
(All over one coat of Wet n Wild Black, no topcoat, no basecoat.)


Both of these are red/orange/gold/green duochrome flakies a la Nfu Oh suspended in a clear base.

As you can see, they're quite similar. They're not 100% the same, though. The flakes in Nubar 2010 are smaller and less densely packed and don't show as much green duochrome compared to Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure.

Here's a gigantor pic of the bottles to further illustrate the differences:


Sally on the left, Nubar on the right.

I think the Nubar looks much prettier in the bottle. The Sally shows more duochrome effect in the bottle, but the Nubar looks like magic. It's swirly and sparkly and flickering... I could just stare at it forever. You can see the difference in flake size this way as well. Nubar's are more irregular, some are bigger, some are smaller but overall they're smaller than Sally Hansen's flakes.

Formula is similar. Dry time is similar. Overall effect over black is similar. Price is similar. Unless you're like me, you probably don't need both. They're not 100% identical, but obviously they're on the same wavelength.