Duochrome Flakes

Links checked 12/12/13

This is intended as a follow up to October's entry I Have a Project for You which was about the color shifting flakes in some of our most popular polishes.

In October, I gave you all the assignment of looking at the ingredients list of your flakie polishes and reporting back the unusual which you did; some of you apparently did your own research on the subject as well. This generated lots of suggestions and ideas but no solid answers.

Thanks to other women's blogs and the internet, I was able to find ingredients lists to these flakies- Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure, Nubar 2010, a brand called Joe with their polish Twilight, Coastal Scents' solitary Cosmic, my own polish Covered in Diamonds from Studio M, and finally a generalized list from Nfu Oh. I compared them side by side, looked up and identified every ingredient but found there to be no relevant or potential one that they all had in common. Rather than narrowing the field, this left it wide open. The general consensus seems to be that these mysterious flakes, rather than being polyester based like glitter, are likely some form of coated mica flakes but I haven't been able to confirm this. This is made more likely by the fact that TKB Trading’s Travel to’s are mica coated with titanium dioxide (a whitener), Silica, and Tin Oxide. Their Star Bites and Moon Dusts, also duochromes, have similar composition.

Out of frustration, I eventually emailed Nubar and Nfu Oh regarding the flakes but as expected (and two months later), I still haven't gotten a response, not even a generic one. I had also emailed the owner of BlingFlake who seemed quite willing to assist and have his brain picked but he didn't respond either. Good job ignoring customers there people. That’s a real turn off.

I have continued to do research and hunt for possible flakes for purchase but have found only the same link each time, one that a lot of you has also found.

The company, Guangzhou Sheng Zhu Daily Pigments Co., Ltd., is a manufacturer in China that makes irregular mica flakes "specially formulated for nail polish" and by description, many of these color shift. They have a chemical composition similar to the pigments mentioned above. However, being that they are a manufacturer, the minimum order is 1 kilogram which is a lot for end consumers like us- 1 kilogram works out to be slightly over 2 pounds for us Americans.

I'm now working on motivating a company to buy these for resale so go check out the flakes at this link and tell me what you think. More importantly, exclaim long and loud about how you love duochrome flakie polishes and would love to buy the dry flakes for yourself, if only we could find the things. The point of this? It's an investment and regardless of a company's buying power, they aren't going to buy unless they believe the demand is great enough and there's money to be made. Remember, we're trying to influence companies here.

While I wait for a response to my product suggestion/request, I emailed Guangzhou Sheng Zhu Daily Pigments Co., Ltd. myself and requested further information, possibly pricing if they are willing to speak with me. We shall see. -MK

Related Entries:
I Have a Project for You
Nfu Oh Flakes

Hit the Duochrome Flakes tag for other related entries not listed above

Nfu Oh Flakes, Updated

Links checked 12/12/13

10-10-11
I got a lot of feedback from you all regarding what those duochrome flakes were in Nubar and Nfu Oh polishes (and a few other brands) but Nubar and Nfu Oh themselves so far have declined to answer. The other glitter companies I emailed about their own products weren't able to tell me if they were colorfast, let alone duochrome, so I won't be wasting money on a big order.

Without a definitive answer, the possibilities include mica, both synthetic and natural, mica flakes coated with titanium dioxide, mylar and polyester/PET (cosmetic & craft glitter).

I decided to try some of the Nfu Oh flakes (Opal Glitter) made for nail art on the off chance they may be the same type of flake that Nfu Oh actually puts in their polish.  I have no idea if they are "multichromatic" nor if they are colorfast once submerged in polish. I bought them from Fabulous Street but they don't list the ingredients and they aren't listed anywhere else. I purchased two flakes from the "Rainbow Series", Opal Glitter White and Opal Glitter Dark Green for $3.50 each.

Although tracking says delivery will be tomorrow, I'd say there's a good chance they will come today. I mentioned this purchase only briefly in my entry I Have a Project for You so if you don't know what I'm talking about, don't feel like you missed something. As soon as they get here, I intend to test them out so hopefully when I update this entry, I will have positive news, swatches to share and not another entry on my Bleeding Glitter List.

10-11-11
Eh, I didn't realize it was Columbus Day yesterday so the Nfu Oh flakes arrived today, not yesterday as predicted. The results of the bleed test I will save for the end but here are some preliminary pictures.

Opal Glitter Dark Green & Opal Glitter White

Indoors Sunlight.

Lamp light.

Opal Glitter Dark Green shown next to a quarter for size.

Opal Glitter Dark Green 

Lamp light but slightly blurry I know, sorry.

Opal Glitter White

Also under lamp light.

Each container is densely packed full so there's plenty of flake to play around with although it does not have a weight listed. Individual flake size is mixed but small enough to fit easily in any bottle. The flake material itself feels stiff, stiffer than what I expected and I doubt they would lay flat against the nail if the flakes were bigger. Both are iridescent and the Dark Green looks like it might even be a duochrome. As many of you said, they look promising.

showing loose flakes

The bad news is that Opal Glitter Dark Green failed the bleed test within 45 minutes and because it bleeds, I am not going to bother testing Opal Glitter White. 

Here are the flakes right after I put them in the bottle at 11:14a.

Somewhat transparent but brightly colored, as it should be.

(10/11/11) By 11:54a, what I had was this:

10/12/11, 9:43a

My conclusion? Like all the other bleeders, these flakes are fine if you're the patient type willing to place them on your nails by hand but they aren't going to withstand submersion in nail polish. This was very disappointing but pretty much what I expected to happen. Nfu Oh makes flakes for polish and polish with flakes in it- the two aren't the same, clearly, no pun intended. Another entry for the bleeder list. -MK

Hit the Duochrome Flakes tag for related entries

I Have a Project for You (Update 10/6/11)

Links checked 12/12/13

Updated 10/4/11 & 10/6/11
If you're new to this entry, don't forget to check out the reader comments because there's a lot of helpful information there! Thank you, ladies.

While it is sometimes disconcerting to realize I’m speaking to 70 something followers, this time I'm going to use that to my advantage. I have a project for you ladies but don’t worry, it’s a pretty easy one.

I like to shop, I like bargains and I like doing research but this time I’ve hit a road bump and perhaps you can help.

Nubar 2010 (the anniversary edition) is just one example of a fine “flakie” nail polish but the Nfu Oh brand is a much better example because it seems the selection is broader. I’ve been asked before and was unable to answer what these flakes are or where they could be bought and the ingredient list on the back of a bottle of Nubar 2010 doesn’t answer that either unless “mica” is what they are supposed to be.

I own one store bought polish that would qualify for a flakie polish though not as nice as Nfu Oh and that’s a polish from Studio M called Covered in Diamonds, picked up at Meijers several months ago.

On the back, the only possible ingredient that could be the flake is polyethylene terephthalate which means its polyester, PET plastic or, if you prefer, the same thing most of our glitter is made of.

So here’s your end of the project while I continue digging for information.

For those of you that own a flakie polish, check your ingredients and tell me if there is one that differs from a regular polish.

For those of you that have bought flakes for frankening that did or did not work, let me know.

Update 10/4/11
Ladies, I appreciate the info you have given me to work with, please continue to do so. I kept digging on the internet yesterday until I wanted to scream but was no closer to finding the answer or the supplier. I have emailed Nubar regarding the flakes in the 2010 anniversary edition as well as Nfu Oh about their flake polishes but I don't think I expect a response. It's probably a company trade secret knowing my luck. If they do answer, I'll let everyone know.

In addition to Nubar and Nfu Oh, I emailed Rainbow Turtle, one of the companies on my Glitter Supplier list. Somewhere on the website it was suggested that the flakes/glitters would work in nail polishes. My question and their answer posted below.

Q: In my experience a lot of glitters bleed when submersed in nail polish for long periods of time yet you suggest that your company's can be used this way. How do you know it won't bleed under those circumstances?

A: Hello, I actually do not know if they will bleed when submersed. I just know that we have many people that use it when doing their clients nails but I am not sure how they are applying it. We have others that use it in lotions however I still do not know if some of the colors or all of them would bleed. I would suggest always testing before making any final decisions. Thank you for asking, Rainbow 

Update 10/6/11
There has been no answer (yet) from Nubar and Nfu Oh regarding their flakes but I emailed Art Glitter the other day about the flakes they sell and received the following response.

Q: Would you know if the glitter flakes you sell are solvent resistant enough to be submerged long term in nail polish without bleeding? Thanks for your time.
A: Hi, I’m guessing you are referring to our Dazzler line of Flakes? They are polyester and should not bleed in nail polish. I’m afraid each color is different and we have found that a few of the darker opaque glitter colors will fade a little. However since the flakes are all transparent, they have a pretty good chance of not bleeding. I’m sorry I don’t have a definite answer for you, we have not been able to test our over 600 colors in this situation. Please take a look at a tutorial a nail artist did for us, it may be helpful:
http://www.artglitter.com/NailsByKae.html. Please let me know if I can be of any further assistance. Thank you for your interest in our fine art glitter products.

While researching I also realized that Fabulous Street, online seller of Nfu Oh polishes ($12.00 each) also sells Nfu Oh brand glitters, flakes and other nail art related products. Kerstin, below, mentioned this first but it escaped my attention.  While I don't know if these are the same flakes used in the actual polishes it might be worth buying some to try out so I purchased two flakes from the "Rainbow Series", Opal Glitter White and Opal Glitter Dark Green for $3.50 each. I have no idea what the weight or size of the jar is but if the flakes work, the price will be irrelevant.

What I learn I pass on to the next person because it all ends up on this blog. -MK

Hit the Duochrome Flakes tag for related entries.