Nubar 2010 VS Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure

Here's a comparison of two very similar flaky topcoats: Nubar 2010 and Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure. I chose purple and red as the base polishes because I think each one brings out different colors from the iridescent flakes.

Purple: Orly Charged Up; Red: Sally Hansen Cerise Noir.

I also compared the two flakies over another pair of purple and red polishes which are slightly lighter. To be honest, I'm not really sure what my logic was at the time. How is this more helpful than the last picture? Who knows! But I might as well show you all the pictures I took in case it might be useful somehow! =)

Purple: OPI Funky Donkey; Red: OPI Manicurist of Seville.

One of my first observations is that Nubar 2010 is not quite as dense as Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure. It's a very subtle difference, but still there. I'm not sure if this is because HT has more flakes packed into the formula, or if it's due to the overwhelming mop-like brush that the Complete Salon Manicure has. I definitely prefer Nubar's brush to Sally Hansen's. Aside from that, I think the two polishes are basically identical. They both seem to have the same spectrum of iridescence and react to the light in the same ways.

Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure was a limited edition release a couple years ago, but Nubar 2010 is available on their website for $7.50. The ease of obtaining 2010 is another point in its favor, I think!

Zoya Cheryl with Art Deco inspired nail art

The rich brown sparkle of Zoya Cheryl makes me think of elegant dark wood furniture in Art Deco styles. That's what inspired this experiment in nail art, which is not particularly good but why not show it to you anyway? I used a striping brush and Cover Girl Bronze Beauty.

And here is each polish on its own:

Zoya Cheryl is another one of Zoya's gorgeous glass-fleck sparkles. It takes two coats for opacity and applies easily. Cover Girl Bronze Beauty is also opaque in two coats, and gives no trouble with application. It's a sort of pale gold with coppery bronze flecks which give the shade complexity.

Orly Sugar is a golden, sweet topping

Just one coat of Orly Sugar gives you a dense but delicate layer of tiny golden flakes. This polish is perfect for adding golden sparkles to any color you want. I added Sugar to my William Tell Me About OPI manicure.

I purchased this bottle several years ago at the beginning of my nail polish obsession. Since it has a black rather than silver cap, I think that indicates it as an old non-B3Free formula. I don't know if this polish was limited edition, or if Orly reformulated it and added it to their permanent line. There might be a CND Effects topcoat that would be similar, though I don't own any myself for comparison.

OPI William Tell Me About OPI

My manicure today is this super dark, vampy red from the Fall 2010 Swiss Collection. William Tell Me About OPI basically looks black in low lighting, but if you were to hold your nails up to something actually black, you would see a difference.

The formula for this color is quite nice, and I had no trouble controlling the application. Two coats gave opaque coverage. These pictures are without topcoat, so you can see the finish is very glossy even on its own. I think this color has a very rich, luxurious feel.

OPI Red is actually pretty great!

You could say OPI is notorious for making too many reds. Sometimes it seems like half their seasonal collection is variations on the shade. (Although very recently they have been laying off the excess reds.) I understand why they make red, it's THE classic shade for nail polish and I'm sure it sells better than any other color besides sheer pink. I think OPI considers red to be somewhat of a brand signature, and I have to give them credit for doing a very good job with their extravagant array of red polishes. And if red is their signature color, OPI Red must be their signature red. It looks boring in the bottle, but once it was on my nails it really started to win me over.

I started to warm to this color when I was applying the first coat. This polish really almost applies itself. It flows easily and absolutely refuses to be anything but perfect and streak-free. It's not quite opaque enough in one coat, otherwise you would not need to apply a second one at all. In addition, it dried quickly. It has a hidden shimmer that you can just see when it catches the sunlight. This shade is well balanced between warm and cool tones. Given how easily it applies and how quickly it dries, OPI Red is the most convenient red I've ever tried. It also looks pretty classy, too!