Celebrate the Olympics with 5 Silver Medal-Inspired Hues

Luckily, none of these picks are runner-ups–they’re just absolutely gorgeous takes on silver! (Because gold isn’t for everyone!)

• Make Up For Ever #M2 — metallic platinum silver gloss
• Illamasqua DWS — silver-gray cream
• Bare Escentuals Deja Vu — bright cool-toned silver with a metallic flash
• Nubar Twilight — matte glittering silver
• Inglot #448 — medium silver with a metallic sheen

What’s your favorite silver-hued beauty product?

Nubar Sun Gold Nail Lacquer

Nubar Sun Gold Nail Lacquer ($8.00 for 0.50 fl. oz.) is a fiery orange-red with golden orange shimmer. This is a duochrome finish, so depending on the viewing angle, the polish can look more like a pink-red that fades to orange or more of a gold, orange, and tangerine quality. The strength of the duochrome is nice–you can definitely see it and have fun with it in all types of lighting. I could not think of a dupe for this one! The duochrome really does make it a more unique shade. Nubar Pink Flame was the only thing that came to mind, but it is very different (though it is a duochrome), because it is much, much redder.

Nubar has an excellent formula that wears well–a full week with very minimal tip wear and no chipping–and is one of my favorites. The consistency isn’t too thick or too thin, which enables the polish to apply evenly without streaking. Sun Gold was opaque in two coats.  This kind of shade will naturally flatter those with warmer, yellower undertones, but I think the play of pink and red in it may still make it wearable even on cooler skin tones.

Nubar Sun Gold Nail Lacquer

Nubar Sun Gold Nail Lacquer

Nubar Sun Gold Nail Lacquer

Nubar Sun Gold Nail Lacquer

Nubar Sun Gold Nail Lacquer

Nubar Duochromes: Midnight Glory Nail Lacquer

Nubar Midnight Glory Nail Lacquer ($7.49 for 0.50 fl. oz.) is a duochrome-finished shade. It shifts from blue to gold to pink, while the polish itself is very sheer. I swatched showing three coats, and there is still a lot of visible nail line. The base color is more of a robin’s egg blue while the shimmer is pink, copper, and almost gold. The base color isn’t as opaque or as intense as Nubar Blue Hydrangea but bluer than Chanel Riva. I don’t have anything like this, because of the duochrome finish.

Nubar’s polishes are formaldehyde-, toluene-, and phtalate-free. The rubberized cap is one of my favorites, because it’s very comfortable to hold and provides good grip for more precise application. I typically get a week of wear with minimal tip wear from Nubar’s polishes–they’re some of my favorites. The formula on Midnight Glory is on the thinner side, which fits given the sheerness overall.

Nubar Midnight Glory Nail Lacquer

Nubar Midnight Glory Nail Lacquer

Nubar Midnight Glory Nail Lacquer

Nubar Midnight Glory Nail Lacquer

Nubar Midnight Glory Nail Lacquer

Nubar Midnight Glory Nail Lacquer

Nubar Pink Flame Nail Lacquer

Nubar Pink Flame Nail Lacquer ($7.49 for 0.50 fl. oz.) is a red and orange duochrome. First it’s a vibrant, pinky-red, then it shifts to a coppery orange. I love the intensity of the polish; it’s so vibrant that it looks like it glows, which is difficult to capture in a photo! It’s shimmering without being metallic or overly frosty. The formula was a good balance between thick and thin, so the polish flowed easily and evenly across the nail and yielded opaque results in two coats. I usually get a full week of wear with minimal tip wear with Nubar’s polishes, including Pink Flame, which I tested a few months ago (and yes, only just reviewed now).

Nubar Pink Flame Nail Lacquer

Nubar Pink Flame Nail Lacquer

Nubar Pink Flame Nail Lacquer

Nubar Pink Flame Nail Lacquer

Nubar Pink Flame Nail Lacquer

Nubar Pink Flame Nail Lacquer

Nubar Jeans Collection

Available later this season, Nubar’s Jeans collection contains three shades that will retail for $19.99 at bynubar.com.

Jeans Collection ($19.99)

• Faded Jeans Light blue shimmer
• Boyfriend Jeans Medium blue creme
• Dark Wash Jeans Dark blue creme

Nubar Polished Chic Collection for Fall 2011

This season, Nubar brings you eight new and enticing fashion forward colors of our premium carcinogen and cruelty free nail lacquer with the Polished Chic Collection. Offering contemporary colors perfect for work, casual daytime wear, and even a night out, every woman can look to Nubar’s Polished Chic Collection to update her look.

Nail Lacquer ($7.49)

• Classic Camel Updated buff creme
• Faded Putty Modern pale putty creme
• Edgy Umber Deep brown creme
• Beguiling Carmine Brick red creme
• Vogue Vert Contemporary light green creme
• Mod Aqua Light turquoise creme
• Stylish Peacock Perfect teal creme
• Elegant Indigo Sparkling blackened blue

availability: September/October 2011, bynubar.com

See more photos! 

5 Brands Worth Tracking Down

These brands are impossible to find, and with so many brands online, it’s easier than ever to find niche beauty brands. These are five brands that you just won’t find in stores all over the place but are worth buying sight unseen.

Le Metier de Beaute is a beautifully done line with really nuanced colors, well-thought out formulas, and full range of products. I fell in love with the brand a couple of years ago after stopping by one of a handful of counters in New York City. Their distribution has increased tremendously in the past year, but they are still harder to find in stores. My favorite products are their blushes and Lip Cremes.

Burberry created a line with a surprising amount of success–it does not feel like they rested on their brand name to carry them forward. They created a color range that worked with the brand’s image–simple, elegant, timeless. The textures equally in line with their image; silky, smooth, never too shimmery or too much. My favorite products are their eyeshadows, blushes, and lipsticks. Burberry Trench is my go-to highlighter.

Rescue Beauty Lounge is a brand that is so relatable. The creator, Ji, interacts with fans and customers so well and thoroughly that you feel like you are following her on her journey of creating new shades. There is truly something special about the way Rescue Beauty Lounge listens to their customers and finds ways to give them yet one more reason to love the brand. Many of the polishes have subtlties that make a shade unique–on top of an excellent, long-wearing, beautifully-applying formula.

Paul & Joe Beaute has such darling packaging but the products inside are equally, if not more so, deserving of praise and attention. There is a certain softness to their range, with some playfulness, and always enough creativity to keep the brand elevated from same ol’, same ol’. My favorite product is their eyeshadows!

Nubar is a brand I know I would have never heard of had i not been a beauty blogger or thoroughly immersed in the online beauty community. It is a brand that does nail polish exceptionally well. I always feel like Nubar does their own thing; you never quite know what to expect from them–sometimes it seems fitting to the season, other times they create shades you may not think you’d wear.

Nubar Spring Garden Collection: Part 2

Nubar Spring Garden Collection ($7.49 for 0.50 fl. oz., each) includes eight color shades, plus a glitter top coat (which I will review tomorrow, separately from the colors). This post features: Pink Lily (vibrant pink creme), Purple Aster (dusty pastel purple), White Peony (ivory creme), and Yellow Primrose (delicate pale yellow).

• Pink Lily is a soft, pale pastel pink with faint white micro-shimmer. Two coats. It’s a little lighter than China Glaze Something Sweet.
• Purple Aster is a warmed, pastel purple cream with faint white micro-shimmer. Two coats. It’s subtly warmer than China Glaze Light As Air.
• White Peony is a soft, warmed ivory with faint white micro-shimmer. I used two coats and there was very slight visible nail line but it was nearly opaque. It’s a little whiter than Essie Marshmallow.
• Yellow Primrose is a warmed, pale, pastel butter yellow with faint white micro-shimmer. Two coats. I can’t think of a dupe for this shade.

my thoughts on the formula: The formula on these was a little thicker than I expected, but it was also quite pigmented. They applied smoothly, without bubbling, and two coats was perfect for opaque color on all four shades. I typically get a week of wear with Nubar’s polishes.

Nubar: Pink Lily, Purple Aster, White Peony, Yellow Primrose

Nubar: Pink Lily, Purple Aster, White Peony, Yellow Primrose

Nubar Pink Lily Nail Lacquer

Nubar Pink Lily Nail Lacquer

Nubar Pink Lily Nail Lacquer

Nubar Pink Lily Nail Lacquer

Nubar Purple Aster Nail Lacquer

Nubar Purple Aster Nail Lacquer

Nubar Purple Aster Nail Lacquer

Nubar Purple Aster Nail Lacquer

Nubar White Peony Nail Lacquer

Nubar White Peony Nail Lacquer

Nubar White Peony Nail Lacquer

Nubar White Peony Nail Lacquer

Nubar Yellow Primrose Nail Lacquer

Nubar Yellow Primrose Nail Lacquer

Nubar Yellow Primrose Nail Lacquer

Nubar Yellow Primrose Nail Lacquer