Swatches: TKB's Reflecks Pigments

Links checked 12/12/13

In the first of my 2010 Christmas packages were the Reflecks Natural Glitter Sampler and the Planetary Sampler from TKB Trading. I haven't done much with these yet but I wanted to post some "preliminary" pictures of the Reflecks Sampler just to show how fantastic they are in person. They are on the pricier side so it was over a year before I got these but now that I have, I am more than satisfied.

In this collection are: Burning Leaves, Copper Reflecks, Bronze Reflecks, Gold Reflecks, Turquoise Tweak, Her Majesty and Pinky Pink.

The pictures in bags I took the day they arrived, indoors in sunlight. The finger swatches were taken today when it was daylight but overcast. Click pictures to enlarge.

Warm Colors

Below are from left to right: Burning Leaves, Copper Reflecks, Bronze Reflecks, & Gold Reflecks 

Cool Colors

 Below are (from left to right): Turquoise Tweak, Her Majesty and Pinky Pink.

This picture is of the Reflecks Collection used individually in a simple mix of Glam base and pigment. The nails were top coated before the picture was taken. From left to right: Copper, Bronze, Burning Leaves, Gold, Turquoise Tweak, Pinky Pink and Her Majesty.

The Reflecks are $2.95 per sample, or a set of the 7 for $9.00. If want an ounce, they are $12.00 each or $78.00 for the set.

BASF: Reflecks Brochure

Glitter Find

Links checked 12/12/13

Updated 11/18/11 It's a late realization but I'm fairly certain all of these bleed and/or turn into flecks. That includes the glitters from Sally Beauty and most of the Hobby Lobby vials.

I went out a few weeks ago to a couple stores with my sister, Sally Beauty, Garden Ridge and Hobby Lobby and while she isn't so artsy (she in fact inherited the brains in the family) we can both happily get lost in the craft stores for hours. 

We went to Sally Beauty because she was chasing after a holiday China Glaze and I found these down low by the counter.

At only $0.99 of course I bought them. I don't know how much they contain package wise but it's plenty to last quite a long time. Now according to the item #s on the bottom, the first is Lavish Lavender, and the second and third are Blue Lagoon- though you can clearly see they aren't identical. I labeled them simply C, A and B in order they appear here. The names are not listed on the package, I found that on Sally Beauty.

Photographed "dry", actually captured on double sided tape. You can see that Blue Lagoon is larger in size than Lavish Lavender. There will be further picture comparisons below.

It's a late realization but I'm fairly certain all of these bleed and turn into flecks.

In the Hobby Lobby while my sister wandered through Christmas trees and décor, I headed over to glitter and the like. I already have a lot of glitter, both craft and the cosmetic kind from TKB Trading and Coastal Scents  as well as UV neon glitter from Glimmer Body Art but there's no such thing as too much.

What I purchased was this: Mini Glitter Tube Set

The description says "Add some sparkle to your projects with this garment quality, color safe, non-toxic and acid free polyester glitter. The package contains 24 jars measuring about 1/2" in diameter x 2" tall. Caps have a 1/8" diameter hole for easy dispensing." $7.99 for the set of 24.

The picture below is to give you an idea of the size we're talking about. The first is Coastal Scents Sahara Sand (TKB's are the same size), in the middle is a random color from the package of 24 and the last is Lime glitter that I recently purchased from Glimmer Body Art. Neither the Hobby Lobby glitter or Glimmer Body Art packaging mention the size.

Coastal Scents states that their glitter is, ".004 particle size" while TKB Trading phrases it as ".004 hex size" (hex refers to the shape) but it all means the same thing. .004" is 101.6 microns or 0.1016mm, normally labeled as "Micro-fine" The Conservatorie lists theirs as being either .004" or .008" (depending on the glitter) which is 200 microns or 0.2mm, labeled as "Ultra-fine".

Another reason I am pleased with these new glitters are the containers themselves. The word "jars" in the item description is stretching it since they are more like vials, approximately 45mm long w/out cap and 12mm wide. (1 inch is 25.4mm).

As advertised they also have "a 1/8" diameter hole for easy dispensing."

The glitter came out and poured into my polish bottle easily with the help of a small paper funnel (without it I made a mess) which the glitter did not stick to. It's made out of polyester which is the same material as those sold by the aforementioned stores.

The size of the vial makes it easy to take along with you, unlike the 4oz. jars the rest of my glitters and pigments are stored in, which made me wonder if they would be good for pigment too? They are small but hold enough for many bottles of polish. Those 4oz containers aren't exactly portable when there are so many. I haven't yet found any empty vials to buy but I'll continue to look.

So you can see how all the glitters compare in size…

I'd seen these when I was actually at Hobby Lobby but put them back… I knew when I did I'd be sorry and was, so I went and ordered them online. Disco GHT, Disco ZHT, Disco VHT

picture from website

swatches of actual glitter

The description (and price) is the same for all three:

Poly Flake is the glitter that makes you a pro. It's made with water and solvent-resistant coatings making it mixable with most paints and adhesives (always test a small amount before starting your project). It's perfect for fabrics, ceramics, fingernails, floral, cards, school projects, crafts and stamping. Non-toxic, non-tarnish and washable. Package contains 21 grams of glitter (about 3/4 ounce). $3.47

Update: This pertains to the glitters above. I tried them today in regular clear polish (as opposed to TKB's Franken Base) with very disappointing results; rather than a brilliant Sally Hansen Disco Ball effect, the glitter turned into white flecks, without iridescence, no sparkle. The same was true for both clear polish and colored polish and all three glitters did it. Since using them in polish didn't work, I tried painting my nail with one coat of clear polish and sprinkled the glitter on and this did provide brilliant results. Thus far I only did my thumbnail to test so I'll have to complete the job to post pics. The Fairy Dust glitter from Coastal Scents, both hex sizes, will also become white flecks when used directly in a bottle of polish.

I've used all my glitters in polish to varying degrees of success and am of the opinion that when you use "too much" of Coastal Scents or TKB Trading's glitters they appear gritty, rather like grains of salt whereas the Hobby Lobby glitter seems to lay down a little smoother because it is larger. But that may have more to do with my formulation than the glitters.

Below are the glitters swatched in polish along with a few store bought glitter polishes for comparison. As a reminder, Sally A & B are "Blue Lagoon". Vial F & A are from the Hobby Lobby 24pk. The final polish swatch is one of my own that I named Carousel and it contains a little of all the vials as well as Sally A, B & C.

Related Entries:

Cosmetic Glitter Swatches

Franken: #235 Capricorn Blue

Links checked 12/12/13

As with all pictures, click to enlarge if desired.

TKB Trading's astrological themed pigments are among my favorites, particularly Capricorn Sea so I've chosen #235 Capricorn Blue for this franken polish post.

Capricorn Blue is composed of two TKB Trading pigments, Capricorn Sea and Indian Blue as well as clear polish and a small amount of Sinful Colors Love Nails. I use Sinful Colors brand often because they are available for $2.00 in my local Walgreens and they seem thicker compared to other drugstore brands which helps when you thin it back out by adding clear. Similar colors would be Color Club Emerald Depths or NYC East Village.

For reference: the bottom container is Capricorn Sea with Indian Blue on top. Sinful Colors Love Nails is shown next to #235 Capricorn Blue. You can see from the picture that while Capricorn Sea and Indian Blue are very similar, Capricorn Sea has the more dramatic color shift from blue to green and larger particle size making it more sparkly than Indian Blue.

After adding the typical two BBs I filled the bottle ¼ with Sinful Colors Love Nails and the other 2/4s with clear polish, in this case Wet 'n Wild Wild Shine but any will do.

Because I created this for myself and before the blog, I didn't measure the amount of pigment used but Indian Blue was first, used to strengthen the base color of the Love Nails/clear combo and make it less sheer. The Capricorn Sea was added second but in a slightly larger quantity making it the dominant color in this one.

Photographed outside in sunlight.

Photographed indoors, indirect sunlight.

There is a color-shifting effect but it's proven difficult for me to capture it in a photograph. Photographed indoors, indirect sunlight.

Franken: #236 Duocrome Taurus

Links checked 12/12/13

Years before I ever heard the term franken polish, I was referring to mixed polishes as mutts. After all, a mutt was a called a mutt because it was a mix of breeds and the breed didn't have a name of its own. These days we have such illustrious breed names as a "cockapoo", "bullweiler", "English mastweiler", "labradoodle"… not purebreds to be sure but the names exist. It seemed perfectly logical to me at 11 years old to call my mixed polishes "mutts", particularly since my own dog was half Husky, half German Sheppard with one blue eye and one brown. I did not call him some silly name like a shusky nor do I name my polishes silly names…usually.

You'll see I've taken a different approach to nail polish photography, substituting a ring holder for my own hand. The reasons for this are simple: my actual nails are frightening looking when not painted, I don't paint my right hand well with my left and I cannot photograph my own hand with one hand.  

As with all pictures, click to enlarge if desired.

The name of this one, like them all, comes from the pigments used to create it, one that I can read and remember instantly. #236 Duocrome Taurus, a combination of Coastal Scents Duocrome Iridescent Green Gold pigment and TKB Trading's Taurus Orion pigment.

The picture was taken in sunlight outside (on my balcony). Coastal Scents Duocrome Green Gold is the bottom container, TKB Trading Taurus Orion is on the top.

After adding two BBs I filled the bottle roughly ¼ with a lime-green Bon Bon polish, very similar to Sally Hansen Extreme Wear Ivy League but thinner and less pigmented. I also added 15 drops of Pure Ice Excuse Me, a very bright shimmery yellow and filled it to the ¾ mark with a cheap clear polish. Yes, sometimes I mark the bottle in fourths with a permanent marker.

I did not measure the amount of pigment I used but it was enough to make it a three coat-er (any more pigment than that makes it too thick- and this was made by me before there was a suspension base available from TKB). It is primarily Taurus Orion, the Duocrome Green Gold served to lighten it and add a bit more shine. Taurus Orion by itself in polish has an almost matte finish so it would need a high shine top coat.

If the light is lower and indirect it appears to look more Duocrome Green Gold. Photographed indoors, no sun.

In bright or direct light, particularly in sunlight, the Taurus Orion side comes out and you can see the multi colors of green. Both pictures taken outdoor in sunlight.

Macro shot to show dimension in color. Ignore the smudges.

Franken Polish Base Update

Links checked 12/12/13

Updated 4/26/12- Don't forget to check Suspension Base Suppliers for all possible sources.

I have news for you today in case you haven't checked TKB Trading's website in the last couple days.

Yesterday they updated their frankenpolish supplies again and added 4oz quantities of their various Franken Polish Bases. This drops the price for 1 ounce/1 bottle considerably, making it more affordable for me and anyone else creating polish en masse.

The 1oz size is enough to fill 2 regular polish bottles while the 4oz is enough for 8 bottles. I've broken it down to what you'll pay per ounce of base and per bottle of nail polish (before adding other things).

Clear Coat

1oz $3.95              4oz $10.00

($1.97/bottle)         ($1.25/bottle, $2.50/oz)

Luster Base/Glamour Base/Matte Base

1oz $5.50              4oz $12.00

($2.25/bottle)         ($1.50/bottle, $3.00/oz)

Colored Bases

1oz $5.75              4oz $14.00

($2.88/bottle)         ($1.75/bottle, $3.50/oz)

On the Franken Polish Bases page, they say they'll be offering 16oz/1 pint in the near future which I'm sure will drop the price even more.

Thank You Mrs. Westerman/TKB Trading for keeping your customers needs in mind. -MK

Related Entries:

Franken Polish Bases by TKB Trading

TKB Franken Polish Bases

Franken Polish Base Experiments

Franken Polish Bases by TKB Trading

Links checked 12/12/13

Updated 4/26/12- Don't forget to check Suspension Base Suppliers & Notes for all possible sources.

Amended 11/30/10

We all wanted it, we've all been waiting for it and TKB Trading has finally started selling their Franken Polish Bases but I said before that their not mentioning a price made me nervous- and with due cause because I was looking to purchase enough to fix 260+ bottles I'd already made.

They have at this time 9 different bases available in 30ml/1oz. bottles: a clear top/basecoat for $3.95, a suspension base for mica, a different one for glitter, and a mattifying base, all $5.50 each and 5 different colored bases at $5.75 each. TKB states "Each bottle contains 30ml, enough to fill two regular-sized nail polish bottles." This means none of the bases are meant to be diluted, that they must be used from the start rather than added later.

What this means for me personally is that those bottles I've already made cannot be "fixed", that the settling issue cannot be resolved. Had it been a powder rather than a liquid base, there might be room in the bottle to add a little and ease the problem even if it couldn't be corrected entirely. I don't know that it could be made into a powder- even what Merck/EMD Chemicals manufactures, the way I understand it, is not in powder form.

This raises a few questions for me. Why is the price higher than that of some professionally manufactured polishes? Considering only the colored ones, what's the difference between me buying and using one of those or a colored store bought polish? Do they contain a different suspension agent? This is a hobby that will keep me hopelessly in the hole financially if I want to go about it "right". If I was making polish to sell or gift out, I wouldn't hesitate to spend that per bottle but that's a bit high to purchase for myself.

John Matarese closes his news segments by saying, "Doesn't that stink?" Well I'm saying, isn't that a bummer?

Isn't it a bummer that no one else sells a nail polish suspension agent? TKB Trading will do price matching but since there is no one else that sells it, there's no other price to match. Competition drives prices down, that's an unavoidable fact.

I decided that I'm going to buy Magnesium Stearate and try it in polish as a suspension agent. TKB Trading, Coastal Scents and The Conservatorie all sell it but only The Conservatorie includes the tempting line in the description, "and in the suspension of pigments." The company couldn't tell me if it might work but they didn't say it wouldn't either so I have nothing to lose in trying it.

I will still buy some of TKB's Franken Polish base- after all they are providing something no one else does- but I think I will experiment with diluting it in varying amounts because if it can be effectively diluted and still work, it would cut down on the expense. With the way it is priced currently, it costs $2.75 for a bottle of polish (before adding pigment and factoring in the cost of an empty bottle) and I can buy China Glaze for less than that. Why is it always China Glaze I use as a comparison? Because it seems like a quality "professional" polish at a fairly reasonable price and I actually own a few.

TKB Trading says they will be selling larger quantities in the future so, like buying most things in bulk, hopefully that will lower the price. -MK

Related Entries:

Franken Polish Base Update

TKB Franken Polish Bases

Franken Polish Base Experiments

Suspension Agent Follow Up

Links checked 12/12/13

Updated 4/26/12- Don't forget to check Suspension Base Suppliers & Notes for all possible sources.

Follow up to: Nail Polish Suspension Agent

As mentioned in the entry above, I sent this message to The Conservatorie on 11/15/10:
          Yes, I do have a question. I make fingernail polish out of pigments and oftentimes, clear polish. Clear polish however doesn't seem to have the common suspension agent stearalkonium hectorite and non-commercial people can't buy this. So far, I have found no other suggested alternatives so my question is this: In your description of Magnesium Stearate its says... "and in the suspension of pigments." so do you know if it would serve that purpose in fingernail polish? Thanks in advance for your time.

I received my response from The Conservatorie yesterday.
          At the present time we do not carry and are unfamiliar with nail products. We would like to answer any questions you have, but we would not want to provide you with incorrect information. If you should have any questions regarding our cosmetic products, we would be more than happy to assist you. Please let us know if we can be of further assistance. Thank you, Customer Service.

So as I expected they were not able to answer my question but I'm not about to give up on a problem that's been irritating me over a year and neither am I patient enough to wait for TKB Trading to start selling their MyMix Luster Base. Besides, they don't mention a price and that makes me nervous.

I have continued to research alternatives, including Magnesium Stearate but have found absolutely nothing- and nothing to say that it wouldn't work. So I may buy a sample and try it.

Related Entries:

Nail Polish Suspension Agent