Nubar "Walnut" Swatch

Ah Nubar, what can I say ... your color developer has a interesting/unusual/backwards eye.

Nubar Walnut appears perfect in the bottle, until you look closely. Walnut is a warm reddened brown lacquer, with the slightest hints of red and silver microglitter. Yes, silver.

It's savings grace is that the microglitter pretty much disappears once the lacquer dries.

Walnut appears to apply fairly evenly and dry very quickly. However, when the nail is backlit, you can see an extraordinary streakfest along the free edge. It is not at all obvious when looking at the color in any other lighting conditions.

Within 24 hours, I had a pretty chippy manicure. Between the chippies and the cool silver mixed with warm red color, this has landed soundly in the donate pile.

Nubar is another company that is getting placed mostly in the donate, rather than keep pile.  I believe I have less than 5 bottles of their polish remaining after my recent purge.

I do not like cool and warm mixes in my nail polish colors, and that is what I consistently see with Nubar.  If Walnut was a cool color, such as chocolate brown, I could understand the silver addition, but it is a warm color and should have gold added instead.  Harumph.

Lacquer Toxicity - 3-free formulae are NOT created equal

Skin Deep Toxicity Levels for Polishes taken from the Environmental Working Group's CosmeticsDatabase.com

CND - 3

Nfu-Oh - 3

Sephora by OPI - 3

American Apparel - 4

Misa - 4

Revlon - 4

Shades by Barielle - 4

Zoya - 4

BB Couture For Nails - 5

China Glaze - 5

Color Club - 5

Nubar - 5

OPI - 5

Rescue Beauty Lounge - 5

RGB - 5

Diamond Cosmetics - 6

Ginger+Liz - 6

Illamasqua - 6

NARS - 6

Orly - 6

SpaRitual - 6

The worst ingredient identified by Skin Deep is Triphenyl Phosphate, effects are listed as: Developmental/reproductive toxicity, Neurotoxicity, Allergies/Immunotoxicity; Occupational Hazards.

China Glaze, Illamasqua, Nubar, OPI, Orly, RBL, RGB, Shades by Barielle, and SpaRitual all contain Triphenyl Phosphate.

The list of ingredients below does assume that companies are not making massive changes from one batch to the next of their 3-free formula. I am surprised by the CND result of such a low toxicity reading. However, I suppose it makes sense, since these are one of the most recent releases. Which I also suppose makes Ginger+Liz high toxicity reading so surprising.

The most toxic ingredients as per "Skin Deep Cosmetics Safety Database" results are bolded in each of the lists below.

American Apparel Ingredients

Butyl Acetate, Ethyl Acetate, Nitrocellulose, Adipic Acid/Neopentyl Glycol/Trimellitic Anhydride Copolymer, Acetyl Tributyl Citrate, Styrene/Acrylates Copolymer, Stearalkonium Hectorite, Isopropyl Alcohol, Camphor, Benzophenone-1

BB Couture For Nails Ingredients

butyl acetate; ethyl acetate; nitrocellulose; acetyl tributyl citrate/phthalic anhydride/trimellitic anhydride/glycols copolymer; isopropyl alcohol; stearalkonium hectorite; adipic acid/fumaric acid/phthalic acid/tricyclodecane dimethanol copolymer; citric acid; titanium dioxide; red 6 barium lake; red 7 calcium lake; red 34 calcium lake; yellow 5 aluminum lake; yellow 10 aluminum lake; blue 1 aluminum lake; ferric ammonium ferrocyanide; red iron oxide; black iron oxide; guanine; bismuth oxychloride; mica; violet 2; polyethylene terephthalate; synthetic fluorphlogopite; Sucrose acetate isobutyrate; dimethicone; diethylhexyl adipate

China Glaze Ingredients

ethyl acetate; butyl acetate; nitrocellulose; propyl acetate; tosylamide formaldehyde resin; isopropyl alcohol; trimethyl pentanyl diisobutyrate; triphenyl phosphate; ethyl tosylamide; camphor; stearalkonium bentonite; diacetone alcohol; stearalkonium hectorite; benzophenone-1; citric acid; kaolin; dimethicone; mica; ferric ammonium ferrocyanide

CND Ingredients

butyl acetate; ethyl acetate; nitrocellulose; acetyl tributyl citrate; phthalic anhydride/trimellitic anhydride/glycols copolymer; isopropyl alcohol; titanium dioxide; adipic acid/fumaric acid/phthalic acid/tricyclodecane dimethanol copolymer; adipic acid/neopentyl glycol/trimellitic anyhydride copolymer; sucrose acetate isobutyrate; stearalkonium hectorite; citric acid; ethyl tosylamide; iron oxides

Color Club Ingredients

butyl acetate, ethyl acetate, nitrocellulose, acrylic resin, isopropyl alcohol, camphor, benzophenone #1, may contain: D&C Red #6, D&C Red #7, D&C Red #34, iron oxides, titanium oxide, ferric ferrocyanide, trimethyl pentanyl diisobutyrate, bismuth oxychloride, D&C Yellow #5

Diamond Cosmetics Ingredients

Butyl Acetate; Ethyl Acetate; Nitrocellulose; Acetyl Tributyl Citrate; Phthalic Anhydride/Trimellitic Anhydride/Glycols Copolymer; Isopropyl Alcohol; Stearalkonium Hectorite; Adipic Acid/Fumaric Acid/Phthalic Acid/Tricyclodecane Dimethanol Copolymer; Citric Acid; colorants; Polyethylene Terephthalate; Calcium Sodium Borosilicate; Titanium Dioxide; Tin Oxides Silica; Aluminum Powder; Iron Oxides; Aluminum Powder; Fragrance 

Ginger+Liz Ingredients

Butyl Acetate; Ethyl Acetate; Nitrocellulose; Acetyl Tributyl Citrate; Phthalic Anhydride/Trimellitic Anydride/Glycols Copolymer; Isopropyl Alcohol; Stearalkonium Hectorite; Adipic Acid/Fumaric Acid/Phthalic Acid/Tricyclodecane Dimethanol Copolymer; Citric Acid; colors; Polytheylene Terepthalate; Calcium Sodium Borosilicate; Titanium Dioxide; Tin Oxides Silica; Aluminum Powder; Iron Oxides; Aluminum Powder; Fragrance

Illamasqua Ingredients

ethyl acetate; butyl acetate; nitrocellulose; propyl acetate; tosylamide-formaldehyde resin; isopropyl alcohol; triphenyl phosphate; trimethyl pentanyl diisobutyrate; stearalkonium bentonite; ethyl tosylamide; camphor; diacetone alcohol; benzophenone-1; citric acid; dimethicone; titanium dioxide; mica; bismuth oxychloride; ferric ferrocyanide; aluminum powder

Nfu-Oh Ingredients

Ethyl Acetate; Butyl Acetate; Nitrocellulose; Acetyl Tributyl Citrate; Isobutyl Acetate; Isopropyl Alcohol; Adipic Acid/Neopentyl; Silica; Styrene-Acrylates Copolymer; N-Butyl Alcohol; Cl 26100

Misa Ingredients

butyl acetate; ethyl acetate; nitrocellulose; adipic acid/neopentyl glycol/trimellitic anhydride copolymer; acetyl tributyl citrate; isopropyl alcohol; red 5 lake; acrylates copolymer; yellow 5 lake; stearalkonium bentonite; red 7 lake; styrene/acrylates copolymer; n-butyl alcohol; silica; benzophenone-1; titanium dioxide; trimethylpentanediyl dibenzoate; polyvinyl butyral

NARS Ingredients

ETHYL ACETATE ; BUTYL ACETATE ; ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL ; ADIPIC ACID/NEOPENTYL GLYCOL/TRIMELLITIC ANHYDRIDE COPOLYMER ; NITROCELLULOSE ; TRIPHENYL PHOSPHATE ; TRIMETHYL PENTANYL DIISOBUTYRATE ; CALCIUM ALUMINUM BOROSILICATE ; ETHYL TOSYLAMIDE ; STEARALKONIUM BENTONITE ; DIACETONE ALCOHOL ; TOSYLAMIDE/EPOXY RESIN ; SUCROSE ACETATE ISOBUTYRATE ; BENZOPHENONE-1 ; STEARALKONIUM HECTORITE ; ETOCRYLENE ; CAMPHOR ; CITRIC ACID ; DIMETHICONE ; SILICA ; MAY CONTAIN: MICA ; CI 77891 (TITANIUM DIOXIDE) ; CI 77491 CI 77492 CI 77499 (IRON OXIDES) ; CI 19140 (YELLOW 5 LAKE) ; CI 15850 (RED 6 LAKE, RED 7 LAKE) ; CI 15880 (RED 34 LAKE) ; CI 77510 (FERRIC AMMONIUM FERROCYANIDE) ; CI 75170 (GUANINE) ; CI 77163 (BISMUTH OXYCHLORIDE) ; CI 77000 (ALUMINUM POWDER) ; CI 73360 (RED 30 LAKE) ; CI 60725 (VIOLET 2) ; CI 47000 (YELLOW 11) ; CI 26100 (RED 17) ; CI 17200 (RED 33) ; CI 45370 (ORANGE 5) ; CI 42090 (BLUE 1)

Nubar Ingredients

Ethyl Acetate; Butyl Acetate; Nitrocellulose, Adipic Acid/Neopentyl Glycol/Trimellitic Anhydride Copolymer, Isopropyl Alcohol; Triphenyl Phosphate; Trimethyl Pentanyl Diisobutyrate; Butyl Alcohol; Stearalkonium Hectorite; Citric Acid; Benzophenone-1; Dimethicone; Mica; Titanium Dioxide; Black Iron Oxide, Red Iron Oxide; FD&C Yellow #5; Ferric Ammonium Ferrocyanide; Bismuth Oxychloride; D&C Red #7; D&C Red #6; D&C Red #34

OPI Ingredients

ethyl acetate; butyl acetate; nitrocellulose; propyl acetate; tosylamide/formaldehyde resin; isopropyl alcohol; trimethyl pentanyl diisobutyrate; triphenyl phosphate; ethyl tosylamide; camphor; stearalkonium bentonite; diacetone alcohol; stearalkonium hectorite; benzophenone-1; citric acid; dimethicone; alumina

Orly Ingredients

butyl acetate; ethyl acetate; isopropyl alcohol; nitrocellulose; adipic acid/neopentyl glycol/ trimellitic anhydride copolymer; triphenyl phosphate; trimethyl pentanyl diisobutyrate; stearalkonium bentonite; ethyl tosylamide; tosylamide/epoxy resin; sucrose acetate isobutyrate; stearalkonium hectorite; etocrylene; benzophenone-1; citric acid; acetyl tributyl citrate; aluminum powder; water;calcium sodium borosilicate; dimethicone; polyethylene phthalate; polyvinyl butyral; propyl acetate; silica; styrene/acrylates copolymer; synthetic fluorphigopite; tin oxide; Trimethylsiloxysilicate; mica; bismuth oxychloride; ferric ferrocyanide; ammonium ferrocyanide; titanium dioxide

Rescue Beauty Lounge Ingredients

ethyl acetate; butyl acetate; isopropyl alcohol; adipic acid/neopentyl glycol/trimellitic anhydride copolymer; nitrocellulose; triphenyl phosphate; trimethyl pentanyl diisobutyrate; stearalkonium bentonite; diacetone alcohol; ethyl tosylamide; sucrose acetate isobutyrate; tosylamide/epoxy resin; stearalkonium hectorite; camphor; etocrylene; benzophenone-1; citric acid; aluminum powder; polyethythene terephthalate

RGB Ingredients

ethyl acetate, butyl acetate, isopropyl alcohol, nitrocellulose, adipic acid / neopentyl glycol / trimellitic anhydride copolymer, trimethyl pentanyl diisobutyrate, triphenyl phosphate, stearalkonium hectorite, diacetone alcohol, citric acid, dimethicone, benzophenone-1, red iron oxide, ferric ammonium ferrocyanide, mica, titanium dioxide

Revlon Ingredients

Ethyl Acetate; Butyl Acetate; Nitrocellulose; Tri-Benzoin; Isopropyl Alcohol; Propyl Acetate; Acetyl Tributyl Citrate; Stearalkonium Bentonite; Serica (Silk Powder); Dimethicone; PPG-2 Dimethicone; Triacetin; Citric Acid; Malic Acid; Tetrabutyl Phenyl Hydroxybenzoate; Stearalkonium Hectonite; Calcium Sodium Borosilicate; Silica; Alumina; Polyacrylate-4

Sephora by OPI

butyl acetate, ethyl acetate, nitrocellulose, tosylamide/epoxy resin, acetyl tributyl citrate, isopropyl alcohol, stearalkonium bentonite, benzophenone-1, silica, trimethylpentanediyl dibenzoate, polyvinyl butyral, cl 77891, cl 15850, cl 77491, cl 77120.

Shades by Barielle Ingredients

ethyl acetate; butyl acetate; isopropyl alcohol; nitrocellulose; polyester resin; trimethyl pentanediol diisobutyrate; triphenyl phosphate; stearalkonium hectorite; benzophenone-1; ferric ammonium ferrocyanide; titanium dioxide; bismuth oxychloride; mica

SpaRitual Ingredients

ethyl acetate, butyl acetate, nitrocellulose, adipic acid/neopentyl glycol/ trimellitic anhydride copolymer, isopropyl alcohol, propyl acetate, trimethyl pentanyl diisobutyrate, triphenyl phosphate, butyl alcohol, stearalkonium hectorite, stearalkonium bentonite, benzophenone-1, citric acid, dimethicone, ethyl tosylamide, tosylamide/epoxy resin, sucrose acetate copolymer, acetyl tributyl citrate, polyvinyl butyral, trimethylsiloxylsilicate, titanium dioxide, mica, silica, bismuth oxychloride, ferric ammonium forrocyanide, aluminum powder, tin oxide, water

Zoya Ingredients

butyl acetate; propyl acetate; ethyl acetate; nitrocellulose; isopropyl alcohol; polyester resin; camphor; stearalkonium hectorite; benzophenone-1; titanium dioxide; iron oxide; ferric ammonium ferrocyanide


The polishes in the picture are:

China Glaze V

CND Guava

Misa Dirty, Sexy, Money

Nfu-Oh 124

PeaceKeeper Paint Me Patient

OPI My Private Jet (original)

Orly GingerLily

Rescue Beauty Lounge Starfish Patrick

RGB Cognac

Revlon Peach Nectar

Shades by Barielle Driven

Sephora by OPI Brainiac

SpaRitual Fall in Love

Zoya Austine

The Recent OhNos Polishes

For lack of great swatches, rotten to non-existent descriptions, and/or manufacturer blobs, every polish order inevitably reveals some OhNos upon package opening.

OhNos are polishes that make you want to cry because they either: 1) are so totally NOT your color, OR 2) are so close but still lots-o-ugly on the nail.

I'm packing up my latest OhNos collection for delivery to the local nail salon, so without further adieu, that which made me cry ...



















Nubar Dark Plum on pinky and middle.















Zoya Kierra on ring and pointer.

Both of these were a thin streaky mess to apply. The first coat was atrocious, but they both settled (mostly) with coat two. I suspect polish addicts would want a third coat.

I can't see myself in either the way too purple leaning Dark Plum nor the magenta of Kierra.



















SpaRitual Pinks: Love Your Mother (darker middle and pinky) and Weathered the Storm (the carnationy color on pointer and ring)

These both applied nicely but had the typical slow dry of SpaRituals.

Weathered the Storm is a slightly "warmed" pink that I would never be caught with on my fingers. A real clash with the yellow.

Love Your Mother is a mauve that I'm iffy over. I still can't see myself reaching for it. So I should get rid of it, or should I? Maybe the name is giving me trouble. I have a good relationship with my mother, so I can't donate "Love Your Mother?" It could be 100% psychological.























Nfu-Oh 31, a peach ... with pink shimmer. Ick.

Great application from what I remember.

No longevity reading since I pulled it off after 5 minutes.





















One coat of Nfu-Oh 46 ... magenta base.



















Nfu-Oh 46 with two coats.

I ordered this after seeing it described as an "orange" based red. So totally NOT orange based.

The lacquer base is a deep magenta, which places this firmly in the "cool" portion of the red spectrum.

However, having worn several Nfu-Oh flakies, I have come to the conclusion that there are two flakie types: cool flakies and warm flakies. The cool flash blue and green. The warm flash green and orange.

The flakie of Nfu-Oh 46, as well as most of the other non-blue/purple colors, is the warm based flakie that flashes orange and green. As such, I suppose I can see why someone would label this a warm polish, though I disagree.



















Zoyas Demi, Ciara, and Coco ... all red-violet based colors ranging from very purple to very red, with the muted Coco reaching the plum definition.



















Zoya Ciara, a very red leaning red-violet. I would be comfortable calling this a berry color. Pretty, but also pretty bright, and not a color for which I would ever reach.



















Zoya Demi, a very purple leaning red-violet. Again, another pretty, though bright color. If it will only collect dust in my own drawers, why not give it a chance to live on another nail?











Zoya Demi on left, Ciara in middle, and Coco (the one I kept) on the right.

Brown Ombre Gradation Manicure

Fam's comment, "Did you have to pay extra for that?"

Revlon Sheer Nude (thumb)
CND Desert Suede (pointer)
SpaRitual InnerSanctum (middle)
Revlon Totally Toffee (ring)
Nubar Milk Chocolate Creme (pinky)















(Really bad bathroom light pic in an attempt to get all the fingers in one shot!)
































I wore this gradation for three days before anyone noticed the oddity.

It blended well enough that I'd almost consider this work appropriate, depending on your field.

All of the colors wore really well, and the small bit of chipping that occurred could be completely blamed on moving family to a new house.

The colors were not a perfect mix, but "close enough."

I've never done a full mani of any of these lacquers, so no true longevity readings.

Nail Treatments: what works, and what works best ...

Once you start polishing your nails, you kinda need to keep up with it. Even the "safest" polishes stain my nails a rather sickening yellow color.

In all my 'net searches for "how do I keep polish from staining my nails," the gurus say use a base coat. In my experience, it doesn't work. I've never gone without a base coat, and I still have staining. Maybe you need two coats of base, but that's an extra step (and dry time) I haven't tested yet.


To this point, I've used -


Base Coats -
Zoya Anchor
OPI Nail Envy Formaldehye Free
Nubar Nu Nail
Nubar Foundation

They all work. I don't think the base coat does much more than smooth out the nail bed and give some gripping surface to your lacquer. You are paying for their advertising, so I'd go with the cheapest 3-free base you can find. In my case, either Zoya Anchor at $8 or Nubar Foundation at $7 depending on the deals I find during polish acquisitions. I suspect Revlon offers a reasonably priced 3-free base.

As with every treatment, finding 3-free is getting easier, but even the companies that tout their 3-free lacquer are selling 3-full treatments. Buyer beware.


Top Coats -
Zoya Armor is pretty much the only slow dry top coat I currently have ... it was a freebie with purchase. It didn't get regular use until I started topping my manis with Nubar Diamont.

Being that top coats have a very similar ingredients list to base coats, I'd find the cheapest 3-free and use it for both base and top. Once again, I suspect Revlon has a good candidate.


Quick Dry Top Coats -
This is where companies have to stretch the imagination of their chemists.

These quick dries are either 3-full or simply don't work:
Seche Vite
Posche
Zoya drops
Qtica drops

If you still insist on putting a layer of silicone (dimethicone, etc.) on your drying nails, it would be less expensive to pick up a bottle at the hardware store.


My two HG speed tops are:
CND Air Dry
Nubar Diamont

CND Air Dry was my favorite for a long time. It drys to a hard coat in about 30 minutes. I had to be careful, but could return to typing within minutes of an "Air Dry" coat. This is the mani that could be extended for seven days. Every once in a while, I'd follow an Air Dry mani with Zoya top coat and the sides of my mani would give before the tips would.

Air Dry plays nicely with tops coats, though it takes a while to dry to a hard enough finish for normal or extreme use.

Awesome longevity.


Nubar Diamont now edges out Air Dry for ease of returning to normal activity. This is, literally, a half hour mani (tops) from start to finish. However, I sacrifice longevity. Diamont is the dominatrix of the treatment bunch. She doesn't like ANYONE on top. Not even herself.

Diamont with a Zoya Armor layer two days later will peel within a day. Ruined mani.

Diamont with a second Diamont layer two days later does not hold or look good. Another ruined mani. She's particular.

The only way I've been able to extend my Diamont mani (from two to four days) is with a topcoat underneath Diamont.

So this is how I've arrived at my current "pressed-for-time" layer system:
1 base
2 lacquers
1 top
1 Diamont
- maybe four days of wear


If I'm not in a hurry:
1 base
2 lacquers
1 Air Dry
- add top coats every three days or so to extend mani for upwards of seven days

To be honest, I end up with enough bare nail near the cuticle with my "Air Dry" system that even though the polish is in good condition, it just looks odd. And I change my polish based on nail growth, rather than polish aging concerns.

Polish Swatch - Nubar Cinnamon

Nubar Cinnamon. Looks nothing like.

Depending on the lighting, two coats of Nubar Cinnamon look yellow, gold, or beige. And the microglitter mixes gold and light red. It is not a duo, just very susceptible to light changes.

It is not a very attractive color with my skin tone. Perhaps it would be better as a top coat or in a frankenpolish.

It did seem to have staying power. Even after four days I couldn't find noticeable chips.

Funky French - Polish Swatch - China Glaze Yee-Haw and Nubar Mon Amour

I'm not a big fan of the basic french or american manicure. I think they are boring, predictable, and utterly passe.

However, I do like a funky french on occasion, and my first trial in a very long time is below.

The tip color is China Glaze Yee-Haw and the nail color is Nubar Mon Amour. The Nubar is so colorless that I see no difference between a painted nail and a non.

China Glaze Yee-Haw is a frosty tanned apricot. Strongly recommended for the sunny days of spring and summer.

Polish Swatch - China Glaze Oh How Street It Is

For the first couple of days wear, I swore that China Glaze "Oh How Street It Is" was too orange. But it has grown on me.

It is right on that line of being a more reddened orange than an orange-red. Definitely one of the most orangey colors I have.



















Unfortunately, I can't recommend the longevity. I have obvious tip wear by day three. Which is when these photos were taken.




















In an attempt to make them last a couple more days, I added a coat of Nubar's "Gilded Gold." Which is my new favorite effects coat. It really looks like an aging Tuscan finish, where part of the gilded outer layer has worn away to reveal the base color.

I bought it to wear over my cremes. I've given up on finding a orangey-red frost or microglitter. But if I can find the creme, I can make it a microglitter. And this does it one better. It is a lovely effects coat. I suspect this is one bottle I will use up.

Nail Polish and Customer Service ... Rant!

I love nail polish. Fun colors that catch the light and brighten your day. Dull colors to calm a wild wardrobe choice. Deep, dark shades that give winter mystery. And the unending search to find the perfect orange-red for that bit of pop when I'm feeling down.

Nail Polish companies, on the other hand, make me want to tear my hair out in frustration.

I've emailed CND once for suggestions regarding their new line. No response.

I've emailed Zoya half a dozen times requesting color suggestions. They have NEVER responded. I guess I'm much too small potatoes for a happening company like Zoya. Grrr. I'd probably buy more if I could get some half-way decent color suggestions. Which brings me to my second gripe.

Apparently Nail Polish companies are far too busy creating for their pink powderpuff customers, that the rest of us get left in the cold. I happen to know some of those pink powderpuffs, and I am thrilled that they can instantly find a color by closing their eyes and running a hand down a display, "Eeny meeny miny moe, with which one of these pinks shall I go?"

What about me? I can't wear pink. And don't tell me about all the "warm pinks" available. They are pink. I don't wear pink, I have too much yellow in my skin tone. I wear peach. Which brings us to Nubar.

I can, at least, get Nubar to answer my emails. But I'm not sure that puts them ahead of Zoya. This is how a recent exchange went ...

Me, "Salutation, etc. I need warm, spring and summer polish suggestions. I cannot wear pink or orange, instead I need peaches and and other orange based reds. The best examples I can give you are China Glaze's Yee-Haw and Zoya's Amber. I like both shimmer and cremes. I've got an abundance of fall and wintery dark shades, but my lighter colors need some expansion."

Nubar CS, "Check out the Corals Collection."


Okay, let's look at what a coral shade is ... orange. Can we see what I wrote above, I cannot wear orange. Obviously, I've run into another Customer Service group that either: 1) cannot read the email for all those pesky letters, or 2) is where the familial problem child is placed so that he/she cannot cause business difficulties.


Additionally, since Nubar's cart wasn't working, I had to place my order by phone (I detest those infernal devices). AND they sent me the wrong shade. They were quick to fix it, but ... mistake.

I'm not sure what I have learned from this little experience, regardless, couldn't someone who knows basic color theory and mixing describe polish colors on the website itself? Act like monitors still come in shades of green. Spell out for me what your polishes look like.

Zoya's site IS coming along. I've seen a great deal of improvement since I started ordering several years ago. They describe the color, opacity, and skin tone family. But you still can't do an indepth search. If I want an opaque cream ... I'm out of luck unless I want to go through the website bottle page by bottle page. Their search engine is limited to: color family and finish. And that is a pretty restricted list on both sides.

If I were selling polish, I'd have: a great color description, a swatch of the color in natural light, skin tone designation, opacity/translucency characterization, an awesome search engine that allows you specific requests, and shading suggestions (i.e. this color looks great on light warm skin tones OR this color looks best on dark cool or strongly tanned skin tones).

I wish, I wish, I wish ...


Anyone have a good orangy-red peach suggestion in 3-free formula?

NP - Nubar Options

Ah, HA! I've found it. A wonderful matte polish that is free of currently known nasty chemicals.

Introducing Nubar's Matte Finish Nail Protector






























It dries quickly and lasts for a while. I recommend it for: when you want a fast protective nail coat with no shine, and when you want to mattify your polish.


I also found a polish that I've been searching for forever (meaning at least 10 years). When I was in HS, Cutex had this clear red polish. One of the only polish bottles I've ever emptied completely through constant use.

I've been searching for something similar from a 3 free company: zoya no dice, likewise OPI, and Revlon's options are disappointingly narrow ... enter Nubar.

Here is Bon Bon French Manicure:


This lovely, mild orange looking polish goes on with a deep sheer peach effect. My favorite of the two polishes I ordered from Nubar. It helps hide the fact that my nails beds are purple.









Here is Mon Amour French Manicure:


This color, which looks like clear red (more like the Cutex I remember) goes on almost color-less. I was expecting something with a little more pigment. Needless to say, this is not a favorite, and will probably be finding a new home.







Chipping and wear with such sheer shades is almost impossible to see, so this is a mani that lasts for a week or more with me. Wear seems no better or worse than any other "new" formula.

I've looked at their color cards and thought of ordering more. BUT, since they don't do ingredients lists on the bottle or on their propaganda ... I'm hesitant. They do say they are big 3 free, but what are they hiding???

Nubar Nail Polish - Check it out for yourself