Coastal Scents Now Selling Nail Polish

Just landed in my email box is an announcement from Coastal Scents that they are now selling their own line of nail polish. I'll tell you what, it's about to give me a heart attack because they have metallics, duochrome amd a green flakie!!!! Yes, I said it, a flakie!

All bottles, duochromes and flakie included, are selling for $3.95 each. This price might be considered steep by some as these bottles are only 6ml, roughly 2/3rds smaller than what we are used to. I was tempted to buy them immediately until I saw the price versus size.  Still, it is something to consider and perhaps they will broaden the line of colors given enough time. -MK

I Have a Project for You (Update 10/6/11)

Links checked 12/12/13

Updated 10/4/11 & 10/6/11
If you're new to this entry, don't forget to check out the reader comments because there's a lot of helpful information there! Thank you, ladies.

While it is sometimes disconcerting to realize I’m speaking to 70 something followers, this time I'm going to use that to my advantage. I have a project for you ladies but don’t worry, it’s a pretty easy one.

I like to shop, I like bargains and I like doing research but this time I’ve hit a road bump and perhaps you can help.

Nubar 2010 (the anniversary edition) is just one example of a fine “flakie” nail polish but the Nfu Oh brand is a much better example because it seems the selection is broader. I’ve been asked before and was unable to answer what these flakes are or where they could be bought and the ingredient list on the back of a bottle of Nubar 2010 doesn’t answer that either unless “mica” is what they are supposed to be.

I own one store bought polish that would qualify for a flakie polish though not as nice as Nfu Oh and that’s a polish from Studio M called Covered in Diamonds, picked up at Meijers several months ago.

On the back, the only possible ingredient that could be the flake is polyethylene terephthalate which means its polyester, PET plastic or, if you prefer, the same thing most of our glitter is made of.

So here’s your end of the project while I continue digging for information.

For those of you that own a flakie polish, check your ingredients and tell me if there is one that differs from a regular polish.

For those of you that have bought flakes for frankening that did or did not work, let me know.

Update 10/4/11
Ladies, I appreciate the info you have given me to work with, please continue to do so. I kept digging on the internet yesterday until I wanted to scream but was no closer to finding the answer or the supplier. I have emailed Nubar regarding the flakes in the 2010 anniversary edition as well as Nfu Oh about their flake polishes but I don't think I expect a response. It's probably a company trade secret knowing my luck. If they do answer, I'll let everyone know.

In addition to Nubar and Nfu Oh, I emailed Rainbow Turtle, one of the companies on my Glitter Supplier list. Somewhere on the website it was suggested that the flakes/glitters would work in nail polishes. My question and their answer posted below.

Q: In my experience a lot of glitters bleed when submersed in nail polish for long periods of time yet you suggest that your company's can be used this way. How do you know it won't bleed under those circumstances?

A: Hello, I actually do not know if they will bleed when submersed. I just know that we have many people that use it when doing their clients nails but I am not sure how they are applying it. We have others that use it in lotions however I still do not know if some of the colors or all of them would bleed. I would suggest always testing before making any final decisions. Thank you for asking, Rainbow 

Update 10/6/11
There has been no answer (yet) from Nubar and Nfu Oh regarding their flakes but I emailed Art Glitter the other day about the flakes they sell and received the following response.

Q: Would you know if the glitter flakes you sell are solvent resistant enough to be submerged long term in nail polish without bleeding? Thanks for your time.
A: Hi, I’m guessing you are referring to our Dazzler line of Flakes? They are polyester and should not bleed in nail polish. I’m afraid each color is different and we have found that a few of the darker opaque glitter colors will fade a little. However since the flakes are all transparent, they have a pretty good chance of not bleeding. I’m sorry I don’t have a definite answer for you, we have not been able to test our over 600 colors in this situation. Please take a look at a tutorial a nail artist did for us, it may be helpful:
http://www.artglitter.com/NailsByKae.html. Please let me know if I can be of any further assistance. Thank you for your interest in our fine art glitter products.

While researching I also realized that Fabulous Street, online seller of Nfu Oh polishes ($12.00 each) also sells Nfu Oh brand glitters, flakes and other nail art related products. Kerstin, below, mentioned this first but it escaped my attention.  While I don't know if these are the same flakes used in the actual polishes it might be worth buying some to try out so I purchased two flakes from the "Rainbow Series", Opal Glitter White and Opal Glitter Dark Green for $3.50 each. I have no idea what the weight or size of the jar is but if the flakes work, the price will be irrelevant.

What I learn I pass on to the next person because it all ends up on this blog. -MK

Hit the Duochrome Flakes tag for related entries.

Playing with Glitter Polishes

This summer, after taking photos of #360 Volcanic, a black based polish with orange glitter, I decided to play around with a few of the polishes I’d bought around the same time. I just layered a couple coats over Volcanic to see what they would look like and I was very surprised by the results.

All photos show polishes in the same order, going clockwise from thumb: Wet ‘n’ Wild 9.0.2.1.Orange, Wet ‘n’ Wild Teal of Fortune, Wet ‘n’ Wild Ocean Grotto, Pure Ice Oh Baby and Pure Ice Rio.

All have incredible sparkle and all three Wet ‘n’ Wilds come across with an almost metallic appearance when layered this way but it is the two Pure Ice that capture my attention. They are duochromes. This is most obvious in the difference between the sunlight shots and the lamp lighted shots.

Outdoors in shade.

Outdoors in sunlight.

Indoors under lamp light.

-MK

Bling MetalFlake Replacements

Links updated 12/12/13

My replacements for the bleeders arrived yesterday, maybe a couple days ago? from Bling MetalFlake and I wanted to share some preliminary pics. The sunlight wasn’t out when I took them so these are lamp light pics at my little “workstation” which is actually our dinner table/kids computer desk. I did find a setting on my camera however that appears to offset the yellow tint of lamplight.

Top Row: Copper Penny. 008”, Orange .008”

Bottom Row: Yellow Gold .015”, Holographic Gray .008”, Emerald .004”

Copper Penny .008” is exactly the color of a newly minted penny and also happens to be my favorite shade of copper.

Early results for the bleed test are encouraging. It’s been 3 days but it shows no signs of bleeding. There were a few violet glitters from Kit Kraft in here that finished bleeding and lent the pinkish hint to the copper coloring.

#30 Orange .008” is a vivid orange but not sure how it compares to Coastal Scents’ Ripe Orange glitter which is also very bright.

The bleed test has been positive, minor bleeding but barely noticeable and the color has remained vivid orange.

Yellow Gold .015” is the largest glitter I own from Bling MetalFlake, quite a bit bigger in particle size compared to everything else I own. This size is not listed on their website but is in the eBay store. I have yet to find a large gold that doesn’t bleed though so I’m eager to see how the bleed test goes.

Yellow Gold also appears to bleed slightly but not enough to worry me. Minor bleeding is tolerable as long as the glitter stays the color it was supposed to be and this stays/has stayed bright.

Holographic Gray .008” is not listed on their website, Mr. Fourman was nice enough to throw that one in for free. It’s definitely not silver but its more than gray, maybe a dusky blue tone.

I have not done a bleed test on this one, don’t feel the need. The worst it could do would be to bleed to silver and that’s not a big deal but I don’t expect that.

#27 Emerald .004” was sort of accidental. I ordered the .008” size but got the .004” instead but while the size matches Coastal Scents Emerald glitter, I don’t think the colors are quite the same.

This one does not bleed.

Bearing in mind that the bleed test is just 3 days old, these will be updated if necessary.

Reading the micro-sized ingredient list on the back of a clear polish, there are a couple different alcohols in it (and in colored polish too) so I’m guessing that it is the long term submersion in these alcohols that aid in the bleeding of a glitter.

If it says anything at all about alcohols, recently I broke an ink pen and got red ink all over my hand. Going into the kitchen to wash it off, I brushed my hand against my green recliner, giving my chair a nice vivid red stripe. I was able to remove most of it by blotting the stain with paper towels wet with rubbing alcohol. -MK

Related Entries:
Bling MetalFlake: Swatches
Bling MetalFlake: Store Review

Franken #360 Volcanic

Links updated 12/12/13

Most everyone has heard of China Glaze’s Wagon Trail, a black based polish with deep gold shimmer (I don’t own it, I don’t usually buy what I can dupe). Well, this franken polish, #360 Volcanic, was based on that idea but orange. The supplies nor the recipe are elaborate but I’m satisfied with how it turned out.

Shown here are: In the larger containers, TKB Trading’s Bronze & Copper  and Burning Leaves Reflecks. Standing in front are Coastal Scents’ Ripe Orange glitter and two vials from the Hobby Lobby glitter set I showed you in my entry Glitter Find.. L.A. Colors Black Velvet and Volcanic are also shown, Black Velvet being your typical black polish.

In addition to those above I used clear polish, about a 1/2 bottle. I didn’t measure the Reflecks or glitter like usual, just dropped it in until I liked the appearance.

The following photos were taken outside this past summer a couple days after the paint job but its good enough you get the idea.

It doesn’t look like much in the bottle…

 or in the shade…

 but in the sun it sparkles!

And a couple more pictures to round things out.

As I said, I personally am happy with how it turned out. One of the reasons I like the Reflecks collection is because they sparkle like glitter but the smaller particle size allows it to apply smoother than ordinary glitter. -MK

Color Recipes 3

Links checked 12/12/13

I didn't mean to post this entry but what the heck, I'll go with it.

Since these recipes were made before TKB Trading's Pops! pigments were discontinued please see my entry Alternatives to TKB's discontinued Pops.

More color recipes made from both TKB Trading and Coastal Scents pigments in addition to some eyeshadow sets, L.A. Colors Tease Collection and Almay Trio for Greens. I’ve purchased the 5 spoon set TKB Trading sells for this purpose. I won’t claim that these recipes I made are “outstanding” but they are definitely different.

When it comes to cooking I never follow a recipe to the letter and I feel the same about color recipes. Feel free to tweak the recipe to suit yourself.

In each picture is the recipe from above, small finger sample ala TKB Trading and a swatch in polish below that. I'm aware I need better pictures.

(from Tease collection)   

(from Trio for Greens)

Color Recipes

II- “Coral”

2x LAC pink eyeshadow

(from Tease collection)

2 pinch (CS) Duocrome Red Orange

2 pinch (TKB) Sparkle Rose

2 pinch (TKB) Lemon Drop Pop

                      

 JJ- “Shimmering”                      

Almay dark green eyeshadow

(from Trio for Greens)

2 drop (TKB) Pisces Blue

2 pinch (TKB) Emerald

1 tad (TKB) Apple Green Pop

1 tad (CS) Crystal Ice

2 smidgen, 2 drop (TKB) Hilite Green

KK- “Princess”                           

4 dash (CS) Blue Claret Pearl

4 dash (TKB) Scarlett O’Hara

1 smidgen (CS) Cerise Flambe

1 smidgen (CS) Crystal Ice

1 smidgen (TKB) Hilite Red

1 drop (CS) Sparkle Gold

2 smidgen (CS) Hot Side Pink

              LL- “Forest”               

2x LAC-A (green)

(from Tease collection)

2 pinch, 2 drop (TKB) Apple Green Pop

3 dash Blackstar Green

1 smidgen (TKB) Green Apple

2 drop (CS) Majestic Green

1 drop (CS) Paradise Diamond Pearl

MM- “Echo”                              

1 dash (TKB) Pisces Blue

2 pinch (TKB) Apple Green Pop

4 dash (TKB) Blueberry Pop

NN- “Spring Thing”                  

Almay-A (light green)

(from Trio for Greens)

3 dash (TKB) Green Apple

4 dash (CS) Summit Turquoise

OO- “Hilite Lime”                    

2 drop, I dash (TKB) Hilite Green

2 drop, 1 dash (TKB) Hilite Gold

PP- “Hilite Peri”                        

2 dash (TKB) Hilite Violet

2 dash (TKB) Hilite Blue

QQ- “Hilite Pink”                      

1 dash (TKB) Hilite Violet

1 dash, 1 drop (TKB) Hilite Red



-MK

Related Entries:

Color Recipes 1

Color Recipes 2

The Arrival of SpectraFlair

Links checked 12/12/13

Updated 10/6/11 to include both grades of SpectraFlair.

09/21/11: Just a brief post today. I finally got my hands on some SpectraFlair courtesy of Kitties26 from More Nail Polish and I wanted show you how brilliant this stuff is and also show you its particle size relative to the holographic flakes I’ve purchased recently. I haven’t made anything with it yet but already feel it was worth its premium price.

Why the premium price? is a question I believe I can answer, at least partially. The majority of glitter, specifically the cosmetic, crafting and automotive glitters I own, are PET plastic (polyester) based. They start out as a polyester film that is dyed and then cut, the smallest size I've found being .002" or 50 microns. But JDSU says this about SpectraFlair®: "SpectraFlair® pigment, introduced in 2002, is a multi-layer thin-film flake comprised of magnesium fluoride and aluminum." Metal versus plastic, of course SpectraFlair® is more expensive!

Here’s the SpectraFlair by itself, still in the container(s) she packages them in. Photographed indoors from multiple angles to show the play of color.

The SpectraFlair here is in the middle. Starting from the 12 o’clock position (and going clockwise): TKB’s sample I refer to as Silver Disc glitter, the three grades of Alsa’s hex cut flakes, TKB’s Holla Glow glitter and a holographic glitter sample from them, Bling MetalFlake’s Holographic Silver and the silver hex cut glitter from the set I purchased from Ester’s Nail Center.

10/6/11: I have purchased the fine grade of 1500-14 SpectraFlair from Tracy's (The Trace Face Philes) friend and wanted to include pictures of it compared to the coarse grade, 1500-35 SpectraFlair that I got from Kitties26.

Here are the initial pictures I took, the container being my 4 grams of coarse grade, the bag being the fine grade.

This second set was taken after transfrerring the fine grade to a matching container. Coarse grade is left, fine on the right.

Extreme close up.

For further comparison, this shows the difference in particle size between the two grades. These are clear base SpectraFlair top coats, coarse grade on top, fine on bottom in both pics.

On another holographic note, crackle polishes have become a booming trend recently so how come no one has made a holographic crackle yet? I may have to buy one just to do so.

Now maybe I’ll get motivated to make something pretty. Stay tuned. -MK

Related Entries:

SpectraFlair or Something Like It