Blog Updates 6/26-7/1/16

This was actually created on June 26, 2016 but since this stands as my most recent post, I'll amend it to include updates through today, July 1, 2016

I've tried to be a busy gal around here and get some things done. The following pages have been updated with current inventory, prices and categories, dead links removed and in some cases, new stores added.
Pigment Suppliers
Glitter Suppliers
Franken Polish Supply Stores
Matte Glitter Suppliers -Updated as of 6/27/16
SpectraFlair or Something Like It - Updated as of 6/29/16

Suspension Base Suppliers has been updated- prices and selections current, new sources for international customers and dead links removed.

Automotive Suppliers has also been updated somewhat. The stores are left as well as what type of item they sell but the prices have been removed since there are usually better, lower priced products from the cosmetic suppliers.

The entry, Chameleon Pigment Suppliers, has been reformatted, put in a table for neatness and a few new pigments added to the stores that have them, then turned into a page and had some more new inventory added from SpectraFlair4u and ColorCraze2000 as of 7/1/16

For those of you that access them, I hope they are helpful and lead you to something new and inspiring. Thanks for taking the time to visit and stay tuned for further updates. -MK

Solar Color Dust Swatches Part 2

This is part 2 to my review of Solar Color Dust's Chameleon pigments I purchased in January. This will be another long post full of pictures covering the remaining 11- the pigments on paper, dry on finger tips ala TKB Trading, and finally, the polishes swatched on black nails and white nails, photographed many times to capture the color shift- the right lighting made a lot of difference for that.

The pigments you'll see today are: Gold/Blue Violet (603), Blue/Green (611), Red/Green (592), Red/Blue Green (606), Cyan/Blue/Purple/Red (599), Orange/Blue (609), Violet/Blue Green (612), Red/Blue Violet (610), Blue/Purple/Red/Orange (600), Orange Yellow/Violet Blue (601), Indigo/Purple/Red/Orange (596).

Here's your teaser pic again. Although you cannot see all those numbers, the nail sticks are in numerical order from right to left.

As a reminder, the numbers in parentheses correspond to that number polish in my franken book and are there because the pigment names are far too long to write on any label.

Two more shots:

The picture below is of the pigments on paper- captured on double-sided tape and sealed with another piece of transparent tape. Unlike just looking at pigment dry, this has the effect of smoothing the surface and bringing out interference colors. This set was photographed with a combination of Ottlite and daylight.

I like finger shots, its always interesting to see how different pigments look in dry form but the color play doesn't always display well this way. This time the pigments are not in number order but in a loose color order, as much of one as is possible anyway.

Gold/Kelly/Green/Blue (595) & Blue Violet/Olive (607) seen in Part 1... and Gold/Blue Violet (603) and Blue/Green (611) 

Red/Green (592), Red/Blue Green (606), Cyan/Blue/Purple/Red (599), Orange/Blue (609) 

Violet/Blue Green (612), Red/Blue Violet (610), Blue/Purple/Red/Orange (600), Orange Yellow/Violet Blue (601)

Indigo/Purple/Red/Orange (596)

The bottle shot of the last 11 pigments used in polish.

Here the polishes are done over a white (closer to a natural color, really). You can see these are quite pigmented and look different over white, particularly striking are the colored powders. Photographed under the Ottlite & partial daylight.

Red/Blue Violet (610), Violet/Blue Green (612), Orange/Blue (609), Cyan/Blue/Purple/Red (599), Red/Blue Green (606), Red/Green (592)

Blue/Green (611), Gold/Blue Violet (603), Indigo/Purple/Red/Orange (596), Orange Yellow/Violet Blue (601), Blue/Purple/Red/Orange (600)

Because the angle you view a duochrome changes the color, I also photographed them in pairs, a more direct perspective.

Gold/Blue Violet (603) & Blue/Green (611)

Red/Green (592) & Red/Blue Green (606)

Cyan/Blue/Purple/Red (599) & Orange/Blue (609). The bumps in 609 are a reflection of my painting and apparently, a not-quite-clean bottle... or I dropped it while wet, also entirely possible.

Violet/Blue Green (612) & Red/Blue Violet (610)

Blue/Purple/Red/Orange (600) & Orange Yellow/Violet Blue (601) 

Indigo/Purple/Red/Orange (596)

But of course, as is true with most duochromes, the real beauty comes out when they are layered over black. First I'll show you a side shot of each pigment and after, composition shots to show off the color transition. Individual pictures here photographed in daylight, pairs with a combination of Ottlite and daylight.

Gold/Blue Violet (603)

Blue/Green (611)

611 & 603 

Red/Green (592)

Red/Blue Green (606)

592 & 606

Cyan/Blue/Purple/Red (599)

Orange/Blue (609)

599 & 609

Violet/Blue Green (612)

Red/Blue Violet (610)

612 & 610

Blue/Purple/Red/Orange (600)

Orange Yellow/Violet Blue (601) 

600 & 601

Indigo/Purple/Red/Orange (596)

596, photographed alone again but under the same lighting as the other side-angle pairs above.

Just like Part 1, the composition photos are broken into 4 columns for each set of nails- there was enough color variation depending on the lighting used that I included them all; it wouldn't really be an accurate presentation without including them all. Each comp has 4 columns, each column is one type of lighting. I can't remember the exact lighting for the first column, I didn't leave myself a note but it was afternoon. Column 2 is a combination of Ottlite and daylight. Column 3 is afternoon daylight. Column 4 is night time and under the Ottlite.

Gold/Blue Violet (603) & Blue/Green (611)

Red/Green (592) & Red/Blue Green (606)

Cyan/Blue/Purple/Red (599) & Orange/Blue (609)

Violet/Blue Green (612) & Red/Blue Violet (610) 

Blue/Purple/Red/Orange (600) & Orange Yellow/Violet Blue (601) 

Indigo/Purple/Red/Orange (596)

I haven't yet tried to mix these pigments up with other colors so that they don't have to be layered over black and without diminishing the color transition but I assume it's possible.

If you haven't already, check out Solar Color Dust Chameleons: Part 1. -MK

Solar Color Dust Swatches Part 1

The store review for Solar Color Dust was posted without nail swatches so it wouldn't be loaded with pictures but with 21 pigments, I make no such promises for this entry, even with it split in half. I have for you today lots of pictures of 10 of the chameleons from Solar Color Dust-  the pigments on paper, dry on finger tips ala TKB Trading, and finally, the polishes swatched on black nails and white nails, photographed many times to capture the color shift- the right lighting made a lot of difference for that.

Call this your teaser picture. 21 different colors of duochrome, damn near every color in the rainbow and many in combinations I didn't have before. Although you cannot see all those numbers, the nail sticks are in numerical order from right to left.

For today, I'll be covering Olive/Red (Pearl) (594), Fantasy Chameleon (593), Olive/Violet (605), Mauve/Red/Orange/Yellow (598), Red/Orange/Yellow/Kelly (597), Olive/Red (608), Blue Green/Orange Yellow (602), Blue/Yellow (604), Gold/Kelly/Green/Blue (595) and Blue Violet/Olive (607). The numbers in parentheses correspond to that number polish in my franken book and are there because the pigment names are far too long to write on any label.

Two more shots:

The picture below is of the pigments on paper- captured on double-sided tape and sealed with another piece of transparent tape. Unlike just looking at pigment dry, this has the effect of smoothing the surface and bringing out interference colors. This set was photographed with a combination of Ottlite and daylight.

Like other times I have tried to photograph color shifting pigments dry on my fingers, the color shift doesn't play well, especially the white ones but that's ok here,  I just like to show pigments in all their forms. This time the pigments are not in number order but in a loose color order, as much of one as is possible anyway.

Olive/Red (Pearl) (594), Fantasy Chameleon (593), Olive/Violet (605), Mauve/Red/Orange/Yellow (598)

Red/Orange/Yellow/Kelly (597), Olive/Red (608), Blue Green/Orange Yellow (602), Blue/Yellow (604) 

Gold/Kelly/Green/Blue (595), Blue Violet/Olive (607)... and Gold/Blue Violet (603 and Blue/Green (611) which you'll see more of in the next post.

The requisite bottle shot.

I do the nails on both black and white (closer to a natural color, really) but because the colored powders are quite pigmented and look different over white, I have the over-white nails below. Photographed under the Ottlite & partial daylight.

All over white, photographed under the Ottlite & partial daylight.

All over white. Left to right: Olive/Red (608), Red/Orange/Yellow/Kelly (597), Mauve/Red/Orange/Yellow (598), Olive/Violet (605), Fantasy Chameleon red/green) (593), Olive/Red (Pearl) (594)

Blue Violet/Olive (607), Gold/Kelly/Green/Blue (595), Blue/Yellow (604), Blue Green/Orange Yellow (602)

Because the angle you view a duochrome changes the color, I also photographed them in pairs, a more direct perspective.

Olive/Red (Pearl) (594) and Fantasy Chameleon (red/green) (593)

Mauve/Red/Orange/Yellow (598) and Olive/Violet (605)

Red/Orange/Yellow/Kelly (597) and Olive/Red (608)

Blue Green/Orange Yellow (602) and Blue/Yellow (604)

Gold/Kelly/Green/Blue (595) and Blue Violet/Olive (607)

But of course, as is true with most duochromes, the real beauty comes out when they are layered over black. First I'll show you a side shot of each pigment and after, composition shots to show off the color transition. Individual pictures here photographed in daylight, pairs with a combination of Ottlite and daylight.

Fantasy (red/green) (593)

Olive/Red (Pearl) (594)

594 & 593

Olive/Violet (605)

Mauve/Red/Orange/Yellow (598)

605 & 598

Red/Orange/Yellow/Kelly (597)

Olive/Red (608)

597 & 608

Blue Green/Orange Yellow (602)

Blue/Yellow (604)

602 & 604

Gold/Kelly/Green/Blue (595)

Blue Violet/Olive (607)

595 & 607

The composition photos are ever so slightly more complicated- I found so much color variation depending on the lighting I used, I didn't feel this would be an accurate presentation without including them all. I have photographed them in pairs again to save some space in this post and each comp picture has 4 columns, each column is one type of lighting. Honestly, I don't recall the exact lighting for the first column, I didn't leave myself a note but it was afternoon. Column 2 is a combination of Ottlite and daylight. Column 3 is afternoon daylight. Column 4 is night time and under the Ottlite.

Olive/Red (Pearl) (594), Fantasy Chameleon (593)

Olive/Violet (605), Mauve/Red/Orange/Yellow (598)

Red/Orange/Yellow/Kelly (597), Olive/Red (608)

Blue Green/Orange Yellow (602), Blue/Yellow (604)

Gold/Kelly/Green/Blue (595) and Blue Violet/Olive (607)

Ok, so that's it for today. If you haven't already, check out Solar Color Dust Chameleons: Part 2 -MK