Another Coastal Scents Sale

SALE EXPIRES 03/01/2012 AT 5:00PM EASTERN STANDARD TIME, USA. ORDERS PLACED PRIOR TO THIS ANNOUNCEMENT WILL NOT RECEIVE THE DISCOUNT. NO RAIN CHECKS. DISCOUNTS WILL BECOME VISIBLE DURING CHECKOUT. WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO CANCEL ANY ORDER DUE TO UNAUTHORIZED, ALTERED, OR INELIGIBLE USE OF OFFER AND TO MODIFY OR CANCEL THIS PROMOTION DUE TO SYSTEM ERROR OR UNFORESEEN PROBLEMS. 

All orders must be placed on our website. Please DO NOT call in to place orders. 

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TCP Global Traditional Pearls

Links checked 12/12/13

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong but I don't believe I ever posted this entry and that it was merely saved as a draft in the Dashboard. I keep track of all my posts and I didn't have this one listed but when I went to "publish" it, Blogger posted it in January's archive based on the date I saved it as opposed to a new posting. If this is a repeat entry and I'm just being dense, disregard it -MK

Time to show off more goodies from TCP Global, in particular the Traditional Pearls. All photos were taken under daylight-lamp light.

The containers shown are not what they arrived in; those are my “portables” from SKS Bottle.

Traditional Pearls

The reason I chose some of the traditional pearls were a) they appeared to have some color shifting properties and b) the price tag. These run $5.95-$6.95 depending on color, for a 1/2 oz. in a small jar. I found them rather boring- except for FP112 Orange Red (listed as Scarabis Orange/Green on their website) which I thought was downright ugly.

All the pearls (including color shifting) are together in this photo, taken under lamp light.

1. SP113 Blue Green
2. SP117 Red Green
3. SP118 Green Blue Violet
4. CSP85 Blue Gold
5. CSP83 Blue Red
6. CSP82 Green Purple
7. FP112 Orange Red
8. CSP81 Red Gold
9. CSP84 Green Orange
10. SP120 Red Violet

Just the Traditional Pearls

Red Violet, Green Blue Violet, Red Green, Blue Green, Scarabis Orange/Green

Red Violet has no interference and isn’t any different than most the reds that TKB Trading or Coastal Scents sells.

Green Blue Violet, dry, is a green pigment with a very strong blue interference, so strong that once swatched, it doesn’t appear green anymore.

Red Green, another green powder but this one with a pinkish-red interference.

Blue Green, the third green in the collection has an aqua-toned interference.

The last is the ugly one, Scarabis Orange/Green. Although it looks red toned with an aqua interference in the container, it comes across more brown with a green interference in real life. Not what I imagined at all.

Swatched on my arm dry, the greens come across as being very sheer and it doesn't improve the appearance of any of them but again, that's my opinion.

Red Violet, Green Blue Violet, Red Green, Blue Green, Scarabis Orange/Green

Swatched on fingers ala TKB, the pigments come out more even toned, the base color balanced with the interference color.

Scarabis Orange/Green, Blue Green, Red Green, Green Blue Violet, Red Violet

This pic is the only one where the pigments have been mixed with clear polish and swatched over both black and white, I didn’t make them into bottles. The notable thing here is that once mixed, it’s the interference color that comes through, not the pigment’s base color.

It’s an even mix of colors but as I said, nothing truly distinctive. -MK

It's a Man's World

There's an automotive painting/paint supply store near my home that we drive by on a regular basis and they have some colorful shapes up in their window that always catch my eye. I've been dying to find out what they are for years but until using automotive flakes and pigments in my creations, I didn't have a real reason to go in. On Saturday they close at 12p and this weekend I just happened to be out and about before then so I saw my chance and took it- went in by myself, dear ol' hubby waiting out in the car. That may not seem important but the two gentleman manning the shop acted like they never see a woman walk into the place and treated me accordingly; they were unfailingly polite but assumed I knew nothing about automotive paint and talked me that way. It was implied that I wouldn't have the money for a large quantity (like I didn't freaking know automotive flakes come in 2 or 4 oz and larger?) Okay, I'm not an automotive painter, I don't work in a body shop but I know brands, I know prices, I know enough to walk into an automotive store and talk intelligently. Hmm... and they were big enough to sell PPG products which you have to be an authorized seller to do, but they didn't know where to get SpectraFlair? Before I left, I asked if they minded if I "pick their brain" if I had questions and received the response, "If you spend some money here." and I did not take that as a joke.

Two somewhat good things came from this. One, those colorful shapes were shells for motorcycle gas tanks and now that I know, I can stop wondering. Two, one of the men had long curly dark hair and it brought back nostalgia for when my hubby did when he was in his 20s. Hair that gorgeous is wasted on men.

A side note: Just noticed a ton of Lynnderellas on eBay, prices on some just sickening. Someone is always trying ro score off another person's desperation.
-MK

Franken #469 Chrysocolla

Links checked 12/12/13

Hey there! Today is a nice weather day, hope you're having a good one too.

The name on this is a bit of a stretch if you know what the gemstone looks like since it can be both blue and green while my franken of the same name is technically a duochrome but here is Franken #469 Chrysocolla. While I'm not normally, this time I am extremely pleased with how everything turned out, paint job (even with the cleanup I missed) and pictures included.

Chrysocolla cabochon- the picture is from Gem Select and located here.

It wasn't a complicated formula or a big one- it was made in a 6ml Elizabeth bottle from TKB Trading, and without any suspension base, not because I don't have any but because it doesn't bother me to shake, shake, shake. The recipe is comprised of: 1 drop each of TCP Global's Kamen Blue and Intense Green flakes which are holographic, 6 drops of their Blue Green flake which color shifts, and 1 drop of Shanika Sun from TKB Trading's Star Bites Collection. The base is aqua tinted clear polish, very lightly tinted as you'll see later.

Intense Green, Kamen Blue, Blue Green, Shanika Sun & Chrysocolla. All the flakes are .015" hex cut.

For the rest of the manicure, I chose to layer Chrysocolla over Wet 'n' Wild Black Creme but not on my thumb since I was color testing. Quite a difference in appearance when used alone... I don't like pastels.

Photographed in sunlight

Various pics in daylight or sunlight

Sunlight

Daylight (yes, it's blurry).

And the duochrome effect, some anyway.

And because nothing shows sparkle like movement, view the video clip on YouTube. The first displays the green side of the franken, the second clip displays the aquas. 

Video #1, Greens

Video #2, Aquas

-MK

Innate: Store Review

Links checked 12/12/13

Unless you're into the automotive paint industry, you've probably never heard of Innate but they are a company worth mentioning and I'll tell you why. The name of the company is actually Innate Technologies but as I have a habit of using the shortened version of names, Innate is what I'll continue to call it.

Innate, like many of the other companies I've purchased from last year, sells the typical variety of paints: ghosts, candies, pearls (including PearlEx pigments) and automotive flakes. What sets them apart from their competition is that they sell products from Old School Flake and Xotic Colours which are only found in a couple other places online.

Since it was prior to Christmas, I had the chance to get some frankening supplies I'd been wanting, had settled on color shifting materials but not what company I would buy from. Innate came up due to the Magic Flakes they sell which are actually Old School Flake's Ghost Flakes- five transparent color shifting flakes in .008". There are very few "in use" pictures of these on either company's website but Innate gives a good color description and clearly states that they are transparent.

Autumns Rush- A Blast of Bright Fall Colors Fades Gold to Red to Green

Purple Haze- Purple That Fades To A Dazzling Transparent Sparkle!

Rio Carnival- A Rainbow Of Ever Changing Colors That Will Amaze All!

Lime Lights- Lime Green That Fades to Bright Blue

Sea Scapes- Blue Green That Fades to Deep Purple

The visualization I had was of the Poly*Flake Disco glitters and the original white flakes I sent back to Bling Metalflake. We know what they did, they turned into nothing so I sent Innate the following email:

I have a question you may or not be able to answer. I make nail polish using a variety of pigments and glitters but of late it has been automotive flakes, those from the Alsa Corporation or Bling Metalflake for instance, and while there have been some issues with bleeding with other glitters, the automotive flakes usually don't.  Polyester glitters that are transparent tend to bleed into nothing when submerged long term in nail polish and the Magic Flakes are transparent as well- I'm wondering how solvent resistant they really are. Buying 4 ounces to test only to find out it will not work could be a lot of wasted money so does anyone know what they will do in nail polish? What they are made from? Is anyone willing to test it out? Thanks in advance for your time.

I sent the email assuming that even if I got a response, they wouldn't know and probably wouldn't go to the trouble of testing anything but I was wrong. The email I got back asking me to "call about it" wasn't very encouraging but when I did, I found out the owner, a gentleman named Nate, had done some testing for me. He tried one of the Magic Flakes in (urethane) paint thinner with positive results and then tried another color in acetone I believe it was, again with positive results- no bleeding or discoloration although he did note that the thinner had become slightly milky.

Given my experience, I continued to express my concern that they would bleed in nail polish and he told me that if I would buy one color at the full price plus shipping, he would send me the other four free to test. Full price was $17.95, shipping via Ground $9.97 and it was still a deal. He shipped them out quick and they arrived shortly after, packaged in the small bottles shown below. 

Now for the good news and the bad. Lime Lights turns into colorless white flecks within minutes. Rio Carnival, which normally looks a lot like the glitter in Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Disco Ball, is a half flecker which is to say that the warm colored glitter disappeared. Autumns Rush, Purple Haze and Sea Scapes are ok.

Innate ranks high on my list of good companies now for obvious reasons. The owner spent quite a while on the phone with me and went out of his way to answer my questions, testing his products even though it had the potential to cost him a sale. Along with the excellent customer service, Innate has a pretty good selection and the prices aren't half bad. They are definately worth checking out. -MK

Latest News from the Bermuda Triangle of Ky

I'm an erratic poster anyway so I probably don't but I feel like I owe my readers an explanation as to why I've posted none of what I said I planned on and why I probably won't anytime soon.

We, my husband and I, had been talking about moving deeper into Kentucky, perhaps looking into buying a house and getting out of this small apartment and my boys out of this useless school system- we were going to go look this weekend. However, earlier last week my father, who is in a wheelchair to start with, severely injured himself and is now in the hospital and has been since Wednesday. From there he will go to in an in-patient rehab center for 7 to 14 days. He lives alone so who knows what will happen then. Around the same time, I, like a dumb ass, fell and twisted my ankle which is the worst timing possible. My father was difficult before and this only adds a new layer of complication to everything. In short, I am a tad stressed, overwhelmed and simply not inclined to involve myself in anything. I have no energy to do so. I'm sorry, I hope this will eventually resume some semblance of my normal life but who knows when that will happen.

As an aside, my site has gotten a lot of traffic and probably a lot of new followers due to mentions on forums, other's blogs and just because my blog is listed on someone's side bar. Just wanted to let you know that I do notice and I do appreciate them, thank you.-MK