Cosmetic Glitter Pictures (in containers)

This post was written in 2010 and these glitters are no longer being sold by either company.

The following picture is of my cosmetic glitters photographed outside in natural daylight, shown both in containers and from above. These were purchased from Coastal Scents (black lids) and TKB Trading (white lids). All have a particle size of .004

Top Row from left to right: CS Sahara Sand, CS Golden Fairy Dust, CS Jade Green, CS Emerald, CS Ocean Blue, TKB Blue and CS Purple Punch.
Bottom Row from left to right: TKB Holographic Holla Glow, CS Tinsel, CS Fairy Dust (an Aurora Borealis appearance like some beads), CS Pinky, CS Crimson, CS Ripe Orange and CS Black Magic Hologram (unlike the Holographic Holla Glow glitter, its tones are black, orange and green).

All of TKB Trading's cosmetic glitters are $2.95/ounce with the exception of the Holographic Holla Glow which is $4.95. Coastal Scents' cosmetic glitters are $3.95/ounce. They also sell a silver holographic glitter but with a size of .006.

Most of these have worked as expected in polish but Jade Green decided to “go bad”. The bottle has already been cleaned out or I’d show you what I meant by that but if you look at the container pic below you can see what appears to be two colors, a darker green glitter and a lighter green “dust”. In the bottle these two substances separated and no longer looked glittery. In dry form however it is a beautiful glitter.

The Crimson glitter had a different issue. In dry form it is a beautiful rich red but the polish shown below looks like silver and red glitter mixed- it’s not. For whatever reason the red has bled off some of the Crimson glitter.

Black Magic Hologram I’ve included extra pics of just to show the orange/green variation in color. I also had issues using this in polish with much the same result as Jade Green.

I stated that the Fairy Dust glitter had an Aurora Borealis effect (think Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Disco Ball) like that seen on beads. Please click on pic to enlarge. Inset shows a Swarovski Crystal bicone bead with an AB effect. 1/26/11: This glitter, both hex sizes, will become white flecks when used directly in a bottle of polish.

Thank you for reading this blog entry and check back again soon for more swatches. -MK

Related Entries:

Glitter Find

Why Good Polish Goes Bad

Links checked 12/12/13

I’ve been “frankening” nearly a year, have made 223 bottles and over that time there’ve been a few pigments that refuse to cooperate; instead of being a pretty polish it turns into a chemical disaster. So far this has happened to me 14 times or, 14 wasted bottles. I want to discuss which of the pigments do it and the reason why it happens. So you can see what I’ll be talking about, please refer to the pictures.

The uncooperative pigments I’ve come across so far are: CS’s Metallic Olivia and their Metallic Copper, TKB’s Crucible Gold, Crucible Red, Crucible Khaki (nearly identical to CS’s Metallic Olivia) and Forged Gold. I have used those pigments (separately) in different polish bases- clear polish, Wet ‘n’ Wild Steel, (part of their Precious Metals line), L.A. Girl Metallic Silver and Love My Nails Platinum, all with the same results, the gold color became greenish and the polish itself turned into a dry powdery looking substance that will never mix up again.

My picture shows two of those disasters. The open bottle is “Forged 24k Gold”, a combination of TKB’s Forged Gold (seen on the right) and CS’s 24 Karat Gold (not shown). The second bottle is “True Crucible K”, a combination of TKB’s True Yellow & Crucible Khaki. The thinking was that if I used another yellow to color the polish, I could then use less of the metallic pigment which I did but it still didn’t work. As you can imagine this irritated me more with every bad bottle.

I thought maybe I made a mistake and they weren’t approved for nail polish but I double checked and just like it says on the Metallic Olivia label, they were all “approved for use- eyes, lips, face, nails”.

I emailed first Coastal Scents and then TKB Trading when CS couldn’t help me but unfortunately TKB couldn’t explain it either so I’ve done my own research. I haven’t come up with a concise answer but I’ve found enough to support my theory which I’ll share with you.

I thought, based on the pigments’ names, that it was some reaction between the polish and the metallic element in the pigment so I compared the ingredients. What all these pigments have in common are Copper Powder or Bronze Powder which have the same CAS#, whatever that means and Silica or Silicon Dioxide which according to Wikipedia is pretty much the same thing. Since store bought nail polish has silica listed in its ingredients I turned my attention to the copper and bronze powders; logic dictates that if it isn’t one it must be the other.

Back in April I came across a company called Eckart who manufactures pigments including those for cosmetics. Among those is the Mirage line that Coastal Scents sells as well as another line called Visionaire® metallic pigments with copper and bronze colors that contain large amounts of copper and bronze. In a pdf file relating to these pigments (that I can’t seem to locate now) was a page titled, “Compatibility of metallic pigments – limitations” and on this page it said, “Visionaire® Copper / Bronze powder pigments: preferential use: water-free or silicone based systems, powder applications – not appropriate for nail polish or carbomer containing systems.”

While I can’t find that particular link today, I did find this on Eckart’s Cosmetic FAQ page.

Can I use any ECKART effect pigment for nail varnish applications?

No, for nail varnish applications, the choice of effect pigments comprises the PRESTIGE® pearlescent pigment range, METALURE® Aluminum Pigment Dispersions and with some exceptions the VISIONAIRE® metallic pigment range. VISIONAIRE® copper effect pigments are not compatible with nail polish formulations, since the nitrocellulose will cross link in the presence of these pigments. The stability of VISIONAIRE® gold effect pigments depends on the formulation and the copper content of the respective pigment. Carmine containing pigments are not recommended for nail varnish, as the carmine may fade over time under light exposure.

Are VISIONAIRE® metallic effect pigments suitable for any kind of system?

No, VISIONAIRE® Bright Champagne and VISIONAIRE® Silver Sea should only be used in anhydrous systems due to their reactivity in contact with water. For VISIONAIRE® copper effect pigments, water-free systems are recommended as well as the addition of antioxidants especially in combination with vegetable oils.

I think the obvious conclusion is that the metallic pigments’ copper or bronze powder is reacting with the nail polish which for the record if you didn’t already know, is comprised of nitrocellulose dissolved in a solvent (and other things).

I have also recently contacted Eckart about this so perhaps they can explain it, will update this if the company responds.

Still a work in progress...

Good afternoon. Welcome back if you’ve been here before, welcome for the first time if you haven’t.

It's a new day and I've been plugging away at this all morning but as you can see it is still a work in progress (although it turns out to be a good thing that I've had a website before and so know a bit of html and all that good stuff). I've managed to get the general idea, have arranged things, added some links to my favorite stores and links to some of my favorite polish blogs- though the list is nowhere near complete.

If you’re looking for nail swatches of store bought polish, I’ll refer you to the wonderful blogs I have listed to the right. I’ve chosen to focus on the pigments-in-polish end of things which is vastly more entertaining to me and hopefully for you as well.

The swatches I plan on having here will be of the pigments I’ve purchased from TKB Trading and Coastal Scents along with a few color recipes I’ve whipped up from pigments from both companies. (TKB Trading had an elaborate list of color recipes on their site but naturally made only from their pigments.) I’ll show you how they look in polish as opposed to in dry form as well as polishes I’ve made from them. At some point I’ll also have color comparisons because in many cases the colors are so similar that I’ve ended up with several that look the same.

Since I am a bargain hunter, there will be a separate list of stores to buy pigments from, other stores with spectacular colors. Coastal Scents and TKB Trading are my preferred companies only because of the price versus size (and aside from selling retail they also do wholesale which I’m sure effects their prices). You’ll find a similar list for fingernail polish with an emphasis on cheap, cheap being a low price, not necessarily low quality. Yes you could find this information in other places but I intend on putting it all in one place.

Check back periodically for these things and more. Until then, thank you for visiting. -MK

New Member, "site under construction"

Allow me to introduce myself here as MK seeing as how it's what I sign all my art with. I have many hobbies and interests but in the case of this blog, it will be geared towards, as the title implies, polish and pigments. There are already a few polish blogs that delve into the subject, the most in depth that I've found so far being that of Dr. Frankenpolish on WordPress. It's in my nature to tweak colors anyway being an artist but Dr. Frankenpolish taught me a new way to look at fingernail polish and I've enjoyed my little venture very much. Along the way I've learned quite a bit, not all these things addressed on the internet and sometimes had to solve my own problems. It is due to this that after much debate (with myself) I decided to start my own blog to pass along that information and those ideas.

The hour is late here so I hope you'll excuse me for the night. Obviously there is much work to be done here and much to be said but it will have to wait until tomorrow. In the meantime thank you for visiting with me. -MK