Prices Accurate 12/11/13, Links checked 12/12/13
I received several different sets of pigment for Christmas, the
Sparks!,
Moon Dusts and
Star Bites collections from
TKB Trading. Although the sun is lacking, I took some photographs of the very-basic-recipe frankens (in bottles) that I made from them & their card swatches. I might've included manicure pictures but my fingernails have been in a sorry state since Thanksgiving so they aren't worth polishing.
The
Moon Dusts &
Star Bites are both duochrome collections but given the lack of proper lighting, I had difficulty capturing the color transistion. It's a little easier to see in the bottles but not much. In the case of the
Sparks!, there are a few that seem to have a very light duochrome appearance but it's not obvious at all and I'm second guessing myself.
I would've bought them eventually but two people deserve credit for influencing my decision- Kitties26 of
More Nail Polish & ferretkingdom as she is known on
Purse Forum.
- ferretkingdom's pictures of the Sparks, Moon Dusts and Star Bites can be viewed at
this post on Purse Forum. If you haven't already seem them, they are towards the bottom of the page.
- Kitties26 featured the
Star Bites in her frankens/Duochrome Top Coats
#2,
#3 and
#4. She shows off the Moon Dusts with her entries
Custom polishes - Moondust TKB pigments Part 1 and
Custom polishes - Moondust TKB pigments Part 2.
The Star Bites Collection
The
Star Bites are a spectacular collection. It says on TKB's website that they are still confirming that they are solvent resistent but I can assure you that they are. In the containers they are white like the Hilites but that's where the resemblance ends because these are a larger particle size and duochromes.
Cherika Moon, Marinda Star, Shanika Sun
On skin you can see how transparent they are and the color shift still doesn't appear but you can see how sparkly they are. The first is a macro, the second slightly out of focus intentionally.
Shanika Sun, Marinda Star & Cherika Moon
Below are polish pictures which, since I didn't use suspension base, have settled but I chose to leave them that way. The color is a bit easier to see than if you viewed them dry, plus the 3-dimensional view allows a bit more of the duochrome to show. They are in the order of Shanika Sun, Cherika Moon & Marinda Star.
The card swatches were photographed under the same lighting as the bottles but here they have been swatched over black and white.
My nail sticks, photos taken indoors, simulated daylight lamp. The nails are black acrylic thus you can say these are layered over black.
Shanika, Cherika & Marinda.
An outdoors picture, daylight without sun. Cherika, Shanika & Marinda here.
The Star Bites are $2.95 per sample, or a sample set of the 3 for $6.00. If you're looking to purchase an ounce, they are $15.00 each or $35.00 for the set.
The Moon Dusts Collection
The
Moon Dusts are another great collection of pigments from TKB Trading. Two of these have a similar color shift to the Star Bites- Crescent Crimson & Marinda Star, Aisha Gold & Shanika Sun but not only are the particle sizes different, the appearance is as well; the others are all unique (and none of the eight have the same color shift as any of the Travel to pigments).
Again, in containers they look Hilite-ish but their color extends beyond mere interference. Indu Rose, Lavender Luz, Aisha Gold, Crescent Crimson, Luna Blue.
Swatched dry on skin, they are still rather unimpressive if sparkly. The first is a macro, the second out of focus.
Aisha Gold, Crescent Crimson, Indu Rose, Lavender Luz, Luna Blue
Below are pictures in the bottle. As with the others, the contents have settled and I've chosen to leave them that way. The color shifting also comes out with a 3-dimensional view. They are in the order of Luna Blue, Lavender Luz, Aisha Gold, Crescent Crimson & Indu Rose.
The card swatches were photographed under the same lighting as the bottles but here they have been swatched over black and white.
My nail sticks, photos taken indoors, simulated daylight lamp. The nails are black acrylic thus you can say these are layered over black. Indu, Crescent, Lavender, Aisha & Luna
An outdoors picture, daylight without sun. Aisha, Luna, Indu, Lavender & Crescent here.
The Moon Dusts are $2.95 per sample, or a set of the 5 for $12.00. For an ounce, they're $15.00 each or $59.00 for a set.
The Sparks! Collection
The Sparks! Collection is not new
TKB Trading inventory but it
is new to me. A long time ago I elected not to buy it because I thought I had enough interference pigments, owning all the
Hilites along with the
Supernovas &
Frosty-named pigments from
The Conservatorie. I was satisfied with these until I saw ferretkingdom's swatch pics on Purse Forum.
It's not obvious in any of the pictures I have but Red Sparks
is a duochrome, similar in color transition to Travel to Mercury although transparent. It fits right in with the Moon Dusts. Blue Sparks also has a color shift from blue to purple, reminding me somewhat of TKB's Her Majesty but I've been unable to capture it in pictures or in a franken polish.
The container picture below doesn't do them justice. Left is Noble Silver, Red, Copper & Gold. On right are Green, Aqua, Blue & Purple.
On skin they are of course white with a sharper interference due to a larger particle size than their cousins the Hilites. An in-focus shot shows them just that way too so I included only the slightly blurry one.
Below are pictures in the bottle. As with the others, the contents have settled and I've chosen to leave them that way since the color shows more. They are in the order of Blue, Green & Purple on the left, Gold, Aqua & Copper on the right, Red showing on the bottom.
The card swatches were photographed under the same lighting as the bottles but here they have been swatched over black and white.
The Sparks as a collection are $10.80 per sample set or 1 ounce of each for $67.35. Sold individually, they are $1.50 per sample or $9.00 per ounce.
And go check out those other ladies fantastic pics too. -MK
