A royal flakey

Hi everyone :) I think I've discovered the best flakey combination ever, honest! ♥ I keep staring and staring and staring at my nails - people must think I'm weird for admiring my hands (HA! so they think) so much :P

I applied two coats of Chi Chi Hung up on to my nails before layering two coats of Nubar 2010 over it. SO. MUCH. LOVE. ♥♥♥ I really couldn't decide on which photos to show after taking millions of them, but at least I've narrowed it down to only five :P

The polish came out a little bluer than it really is, mainly because my camera spazzed and couldn't take the awesome that is this combo :) In real life, it's a redder purple shade and actually reminds me a bit of Nfu Oh #51, only not as jelly. Ok fine, they're not thaaat similar but I think this might satiate my lemming for #51!

It is indeed a royal layering, no? ^^ Hmm, I wonder what this looks like matte?

Thanks for looking!
~Sharon

Nubar Elegant Indigo

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I have one of the newer polishes on the list of things to show you today, Nubar Elegant Indigo from their Fall 2011 Polished Chic Collection.  It's a very well pigmented deep blue with a lot of sparkly shimmer bits, and not only did nobody tell me it's this cool, it looks far less impressive in the bottle than it is on the nail.

I used two very thin coats of Elegant Indigo over a base and finished it off with a coat of Poshe.  In applying the color, I found that one not-so-thin coat would have been enough, but I did two super thin since I have a better time controlling application with very thin coats.  The polish was easy to control and apply, and this manicure has no clean-up.

Indoors, it looks like a nice deep blue shimmer, and it's one of those where in low light you can see it has great direct light potential.  After it dried I went out into the sunlight and confirmed that it is indeed spectacular in direct light.  This is Elegant Indigo in the sun.

Nubar Elegant Indigo Nail Polish, Two Coats

I have a super close-up of the shimmer on part of a nail so you can see how lively the finish is.

Nubar Elegant Indigo Nail Polish, Close Up of Shimmer

In both pictures you can see how the polish just lights up and glows when light hits it - it's brighter and more blurple in the directly lit parts and a darker deep blue in the areas not directly lit.  I particularly like the shimmer in this one - normally, dark blues that look loaded with shimmer in the bottle take direct light and a lot of squinting to see any shimmer at all once they're applied, but this one is really pronounced.

That's Nubar Elegant Indigo and my manicure for the day, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!



*This product was sent for independent review by the manufacturer.

All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

Nubar Beguiling Carmine

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I wanted a traditional shade for something I have going later on today, and I figured it was a good time to show you a shade from Nubar's Polished Chic collection, and I went with Beguiling Carmine.  The premise of Nubar's Polished Chic is that it's modern classic shades, so it seemed like a good fit.

Beguiling Carmine is described by the manufacturer as "a brick red creme," and there's not a heck of a lot to add to that.  The color is a tiny bit muddier than a standard brick red, just enough to update the color but not enough to call it something else.  I used a base, two coats of Beguiling Carmine, and finished it off with a coat of Poshe.  The polish is well pigmented, where at one coat it's clear that two will do the trick, was easy to apply and control, and it has a good shine.  This is Beguiling Carmine after drying, in artificial light.

Nubar Beguiling Carmine Nail Polish, Two Coats

This is a good autumn red - it has enough brown to fit the season but is still distinctly red overall.  I noticed in looking through pictures that my top coat has some bubbles, which is kind of a bummer, but I'm betting that I'll get through the day just the same with or without them and leaving it alone.

That is Beguiling Carmine, my manicure for the day, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!



This product was sent by the manufacturer for review.

All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

Nubar Jeans

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I just got a promo image that's pretty interesting for Nubar Jeans, which they say will be online within the next two weeks.

Nubar Jeans Nail Polish Collection

Look familiar?  They look like dupes for Les Jeans de Chanel to me.  The only other info I have is that the set of three will be $19.99 and the colors are as follows:

Faded Jeans, a light blue shimmer
Boyfriend Jeans, a medium blue creme
Dark Wash Jeans, a dark blue creme

That's what I know, and now you do too.  Until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!


All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

Seeing red

Hi ladies~^^ For me, I find red too bright of a shade to wear on my nails and that it draws too much attention. I felt like being brave the other day though and decided to once again step outside my comfort zone.  For this manicure, I applied two coats of Orly Ruby to my nails. Ruby is an opaque creme polish and not too bright too ^^ On my accent nails I applied three coats of OPI The one that got away. I've been looking for an excuse to wear this again - the duochrome is a beauty ♥ On to my middle finger, I applied one thick coat of Nubar 2010 for some flakey goodness :)

What do you think of red nail polishes? It's such a classic shade, but for some reason I can bring myself to wear it too often :P Don't forget to check out my Blog Birthday giveaway too!

~Sharon

A product was provided for consideration. For more information, please see my disclosure policy.

1 year blog anniversary!

Hello everyone~ :) You've probably gathered from my post title but today's my one year blog anniversary! I'm really happy to have made it this far and I want to thank each and every one of my lovely readers who read, follow and/or comment! I seriously wouldn't have continued blogging if there was no one reading so it's definitely thanks to you all for your continuous support ♥ I'm in the midst of putting together a giveaway to celebrate this huge milestone and it will hopefully be up shortly!

But of course, a post can't be left without mani photos so I'll show you yet another layering I've done with the pretty Nubar 2010. I layered one coat of this beautiful flakey over two coats of Orly Prince charming. Prince charming has been a long time brown nail polish lemming of mine and I love it on my tips!

And because flakies look fantastic matte, here it is with a matte topcoat.

I think I'm rather digging the matte look of this :D What do you think, matte or glossy?

~Sharon

A product was provided for consideration. For more information, please view my disclosure policy.

Flakey layering

Hey everyone~ It's been such a windy and cold day today - brrrrr, still freezing! And so I battled the cool weather with my warm, navy blue and topped it with some gorgeous flakies. I love me some flakies :D. Shown is two coats of China Glaze First mate and one coat of Nubar 2010 layered over it.

Gosh, I can't get over how fabulous flakies look. If Nfu. Oh's were cheaper, I'd have bottles of flakies hoarded up. If only. Nail polish companies need to start the flakey trend, I'm starting to get really sick of crackles... >< What do you think of the beautiful Nubar 2010?

~Sharon

Duochrome duo anyone?

After my franken failed at showing it's duochrome I needed my duochrome fixGood old Nubar to the rescueI used Nubar Indigo Illusion with an accent nail of an old Nubar Shock in Iris DustOh yeah that's what I'm talkin' aboutIndigo Illusion is more of a pale blue teal with a lilac shimmering duochromeIris dust is a gorgeous wine with a bronze to pink duochromeI love these so much as you can see by

Nubar Yellow Primrose & D26

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today seemed like a good day for more stamping, so that's exactly what I did.  I started with a manicure of Nubar Yellow Primrose, then I picked out the full nail pattern from D series stamping plate D26, which I used with Yellow Konad Special Polish.  A coat of top coat to seal it, and I was finished.

Nubar Yellow Primrose Nail Polish and Stamping Plate D26

It looks like retro kitchen decor to me, but oddly enough, that's a good thing.  That's what I know this morning, Dear Reader, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Nubar Marble Tower & D09

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I finally decided to take a breather from things that sparkle today, but I didn't take a break from fun manicures.  Today I figured I'd try out a few patterns from the D-series nail art stamping plates, which I've only seen at Chez-Delaney.com.  I went with plate D09, which is one with several stamps of iconic celebrity pictures.

For a the stamps, I thought black would be best, and I decided to use Nubar Marble Tower, a light grey creme, as the base color.  Here's what I ended up making.

Nubar Marble Tower Nail Polish with Nail Art Stamping Plate D09

Starting at the top, that's Clint Eastwood on my thumb,  Jim Morrison on my index finger, The Blues Brothers, Audrey Hepburn, and Sylvester Stallone in Rocky.  Audrey won the prize in a battle against Bob Marley for her spot - he's also an option on this plate.

I've been reluctant to try these because the Chez-Delaney.com owner only sells this series as a substantially discounted set, stating that several of the patterns within the set don't work.  With these particular images being so detailed I thought there might be troubles, but there wasn't a single one.  I'll probably play with stamping plates for a few days since I'm so completely enamored with this manicure.

That's all for this morning, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Nubar Baby Sprout & Konad m83

Good morning, Dear Reader!

My Konading streak continues today with Nubar Baby Sprout, the green one from Nubar's Spring Garden Collection.  It's a very delicate barely-green with just a hint of shimmer, just enough to keep it from looking like pastel chalk.  I think I used two coats here (I'm a couple days behind on showing you pictures).

Nubar Baby Sprout Nail Polish, Two Coats

I added the fern pattern from Konad plate m83 in Konad Green Special Polish to it.

Nubar Baby Sprout with Konad m83

Again, it's a little loud after stamping, but this one was fun to wear.  That's just about all there is to tell you today, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!

OPI & Nubar mani + giveaway update :)

Hi everyone~ Woahhh my prac is over now! Time to relax and enjoy life again...not :(. I come back to three assignments all due by next Friday, how awesome is my uni?

Anyway. Today I ditched my work appropriate colours and reached for my dark, vampy purple - OPI Siberian nights. I love this deep rich plum shade which can only be viewed in its fullest glory under direct sunlight. Looks even more beautiful with Nuber 2010 layered over it :). For my accent nail I applied two coats of OPI Meet me on the star ferry.

I took a lot of photos and couldn't decide which one to use so I'll just spam this post lightly with pics :P

In the sun, to show off the glorious plum shade.

And once more, indoors under natural light to see the flakies better.

My Thank you-Sorry giveaway here is ending tonight at 11pm - that's exactly 6 hours and 8 minutes from now! So get your entries in if you haven't already :)

~Sharon

Nubar Blue Hydrangea & Konad m60

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today I have Nubar Blue Hydrangea to show you, one from their Spring Garden Collection.  It's a very light blue with just a hint of shimmer.  It went on well, and I think I used two coats (the pictures are from a couple of days ago so I don't remember with certainty).

Nubar Blue Hydrangea Nail Polish, Two Coats

I stamped it with the argyle pattern from Konad plate m60 using Konad Blue Special Polish.

Nubar Blue Hydrangea with Konad m60

I like it.  That's just about all there it today, Dear Reader, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Nubar Purple Aster & Evil Angel nail art

Nubar Purple Aster from the Spring Garden collection is a sweet pastel purple creme with a subtle secret shimmer. I added a little nail art using some SmArt nails image design templates and a beautiful franken from Kae ( TheHungryAsian ) that she made just for little ol me! XDIsn't that the sweetest thing ever?!Look at EvilAngel close up....so pretty!Thank you Kae!This is 2 coats of Nubar Purple

Here today...Aragon tomorrow

Hello everyone~ :) I've been on a layering kick lately and have found some beautiful combos one of which I will share today. OPI Here today...Aragon tomorrow was one of my first OPI purchases waaay back in September last year and I can't believe I have never worn it as a full mani before!

Shown is two coats of HTAT with no top coat. It's a really dark mossy green and looks almost black in dimmer lightings.

I then layered on one coat of Nubar 2010 and darn it, look at the squishy jelly <33. It's really surprising for me since I'm not normally a jelly fan but I loooove how this mani turned out.

Polishes used~

And a magnificent macro of the final outcome. HTAT came out almost black here but trust me, the green definitely shows up in real life.

Have a look at my Thank you-Sorry giveaway :) here ^^
~Sharon

Nubar Spring Garden Collection- Blue Hydrangea & Baby Sprout

I'm a day late but this is also my Autism awareness mani for this weekBlue Hydrangea is a soft pastel blue with a very subtle secret silver shimmerBaby sprout is a super mutes pastel green also with a secret shimmerIn most pictures these will look like plain cremes but if you look closely and most definitely in personyou can see a very subtle silvery shimmer...if you aren't a shimmer person,

Nubar Purple Aster

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I just finished my back-to-the-office manicure, and I went with Nubar Purple Aster from this season's The Spring Garden Collection.  The collection was sent to me for review before it came out, and I discovered that getting a decent picture of a washed-out pastel on super pale hands is quite a feat.  I actually swatched the whole thing twice and took pictures of all eight with and without the glitter top coat (Dew Drop), but the sunlight pictures made the polishes all look off-white and my hands look really red, even though it didn't look that way in real life.  It was frustrating (especially since I didn't have the good sense to import and check the first picture on the second round of swatching - what a dummy!), but I finally got a good picture of Purple Aster, so all is well.

Purple Aster is a pale lavender with a very delicate white shimmer.  I like it - I think it's a nice twist on the usual pastels, being much paler and a shimmer, and I really love pastels in Spring.  I know pastels in Spring are considered by some to be predictable and boring, but I love them, and I think the fact that they evidently sell well enough to continue to produce them for Spring indicates that I am not alone.  Purple Aster is extremely pigmented, and one coat would be plenty for a base for layering (I prefer the shine of two coats using it alone).  Here it is finished with a coat of Diamont under artificial light.

Nubar Purple Aster Nail Polish, Two Coats

You can see how stubby my poor pinky nail is here, but we'll just have to ignore that for now.

I think Purple Aster manages to be understated,  feminine, and Springy without being little-girl.  I'm pleased with it.

That's just about all there is to tell you about today, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Nubar Spring Garden Collection- Honeysuckle Hotness

Nubars Spring Garden Collection is Hot Hot HotI immediately went for Honeysuckle because it is bright pinky and well do you know me?!This is 2 coats of Honeysuckle with a thin coat of Top Beauty 3D Fireworks on my middle finger(the 3D is from my beloved Sarah of Them Pretty colors)This is in indirect light which softens it a bitThere was no sun to capture the awesome holo micro glitter in

Plate XL A - The Puzzle

Good morning, Dear Reader!

My Gelicure mani is still hanging in there, so I'm still changing it around to keep it interesting.  For yesterday's variation, I brought out the XL plates and looked for something to do in white, and I chose the puzzle pieces tip pattern.

I stamped that in Konad white, but it still looked a little plain, so I hunted down some nail art pens to fill in a few of the pieces.  I added Color Stay top coat and Poshe, and this is what it looked like when I was finished.

Stamping Plate XL A - Puzzle Pieces and Nail Art Polish

I really like how this one turned out, and to be honest, I was surprised to see a few tiny smudges in the nail art polish when I was selecting a picture - I can't see them even when I'm looking for them.

What I'd forgotten about changing color once a week is how much I hate it when it looks grown out.  Yesterday was the five days of wear, and I was reminded by my own annoyance that it's always around the fifth day of a manicure that it starts to bug me with the line at the cuticle.  However, the soak off gel has otherwise been so painless that I'm going to let it slide until tomorrow.  Other than the giant gap, it looks just like it did right after I applied it.

That's today's variation on the Hot Pink theme, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!  

My Impressionist Funky French

Good morning, Dear Reader!

After using a dotting tool for the dots I added to the chevron tips I showed you yesterday, I got to thinking that filling in my tips with just a bunch of tiny colored dots might be interesting.  I gathered about a zillion nail polishes that are Springy and opaque, got the dotting tool and a paper plate, and had at it (this was from a few days ago, so the gap at the cuticle's small).

As I was placing the dots, I thought it looked like an Impressionist's rendition of a Funky French, being characterized by bright color, open composition, and super tiny brush strokes.  Here's what I came up with.

Impressionist Funky French over Hot Pink Nubar Gelicure

I think under many circumstances, I could look at the finished manicure and say, "Yes, I see how that could be an Impressionist mani."  Unfortunately, I can't.  As I looked at the manicure after sealing it with top coat, I could think of one and only one think that's set apart by the use of bright colors and an ornately orderly multicolored edge, and that's folk socks.

The price I'm paying for reading too much Interweave Knits Magazine is that my brain now perceives my manicure in terms of socks.  That's an unexpected outcome!

I think we can all agree to pretend that this manicure is actually a deep, meaningful artistic statement, connecting an innovative 19th century Parisian art movement to the crafting traditions of the back hills of Appalachia.  I'll have to go ponder the meaning of existence for a bit to come up with something equally profound for tomorrow, so until then, love and nail polish to you!