nubar Purple Aster

Press Sample
I don't know what happened in December. Granted, it was my 37th birthday in there somewhere, and there was Christmas and New Years and things just kind of melted together. Another thing that happened was my 8th wedding anniversary and to celebrate, we had family portraits taken by Sweetest Snaps Photography. I found Ashlee through a mom friend who has a daughter the same age as my middle son. I saw a photo in their house that was just breathtaking of her and her two girls and I asked who did them and she told me about Sweetest Snaps.

nubar Royal Charlotte Pink

Press Sample 
To celebrate the birth of the new Princess Charlotte of Cambridge, nubar came out with a mini bottle aptly named Royal Charlotte Pink. This is in the same line as their shade Royal George Blue mini which was introduced after his birth.

I used a base coat of Duri Rejuvacote, 3 coats of polish and finished with Digital Nails Ain't Nobody Got Time For That. This is a very sheer polish, even with three coats and has small and medium opaque pink glitter.

Here in my light box you can see just how sheer it is. It's almost a Barbie pink base but it's almost more of a jelly than anything else. 

Same story here in the sun. The glitter wasn't too hard to work with. I dabbed the polish on first, then brushed it on, so that some of the glitter would come back onto the brush, but not all of it.

Not much variation here in the shade. I didn't have any issues with the glitter sticking up after just one layer of top coat.

Indoors with indirect light and it's just all the same story - sheer, glitter, jelly-like. I'm not sure how many times I'll be wearing this polish. It's a nice novalty and it's the only pink glitter I can think that I own, but I'm not biggest fan of the jelly like formula.

The Royal bottles are available for a limited time for $5 each. Because the nubar website is having problems here at press time, your best bet for ordering is to call them directly at 818-241-0519.

nubar [Website | Facebook | Twitter] can be purchased on their website for $8.00 a bottle in the US.  They do have international retailers in Russia, Sweden and the UK.  

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

nubar Sweet Hue

Press Sample
This fall, nubar came out with their FALLing In Love collection - 8 new colors made with mica to give it a shimmer. Sweet Hue is this fantastic melon pink, leaning neon almost, with a slight gold shimmer. I used a base coat of Cult Nails Get It On, 2 coats of polish and finished with Digital Nails Ain't Nobody Got Time For That. There was a little bit of VNL (visible nail line) after 2 coats but I didn't notice it until later.

The sun was the only place I could really see the shimmer and even then it's a bit more pronounced in the bottle than on the nail. It reminded me of the China Glaze Strawberry Fields originally but not as much once I wore it.

In the shade, this color was just ridiculously amazingly pretty. The shimmer is more of a reflective quality than a standout feature.

Here in the indirect light, you can finally see that VNL that I was talking about. The shimmer is just a tiny bit more pronounced as well.

nubar [Website | Facebook | Twitter] can be purchased on their website for $8.00 a bottle in the US.  They do have international retailers in Russia, Sweden and the UK.  

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

CPNA: nubar 2014

I always enjoy seeing the nubar booth at Cosmoprof. Their booth is located right by the entrance to the press room, so it's typically one of the first ones that I see each year. This year, Aimee sat me down to talk about her new collections and we tossed around a few ideas.

This summer, they launched their Social Butterfly collection which isn't on their website at this time, but you can always order by calling them using the number on their website.

For the World Cup (which was going on during Cosmoprof North America), nubar packaged some of their core colors into a special set that would allow you to recreate all the different flags around the world. This is a great collection for someone wanting to get started with nubar and need some core colors.

Launching this fall is the FALLing In Love collection - 8 new polishes all made with mica for a great shimmer. Names were not available at press time.

Also coming this year from nubar - a matte top coat launching in fall and a new PoliCure top coat. Use it over any polish brand and it will cure in the sunlight (no lamp needed) to a gel like finish in both durability and shine. To remove, use regular nail polish remover - no buffing or drilling needed.  Considering that the big thing at Cosmoprof this year was gel-like polish systems (Ever Glaze, Caption, Bio Seaweed Gel), it's really neat to see just a top coat that can be used over ANY polish brand that will give you the look and feel like gel without being a gel.

Live from Cosmoprof North America 2013!

So after missing my flight, being rerouted 5 hours out of my way, and showing up 7 hours late, having my laptop wireless card go southside, my iPad not charge and a migraine the size of Texas, I am in Las Vegas for the Cosmoprof North America show!

Yesterday I met with a large diverse group of brands - NCLA (yes, it's in all caps!), China Glaze (Gelaze anyone?!), OPI (item coming this fall that I am jumping up and DOWN for!), Barielle (great story line behind each collection), Seche (much more pigment and boldness!), ORLY (flakie IN matte top coat!), Jessica (glow in the dark snowman ornaments anyone?), nubar (where have they been), and much more.

Tonight I have more meetings set with brands like essie, and CND plus something extra special that I hope I can talk about. Unlike last year, more items are embargoed this year... some I can't talk about until December! Some I couldn't photograph. But despite that, just know that this is the place to learn about new nail trends ... when I can talk about them!

Be prepared, tell your friends. 

Cosmoprof posts are coming!

Happy polishing!

nubar Fall 2012 & Gelicure

Photo Courtesy of nubar Facebook Page

I finally found my missing camera pictures from Cosmoprof North America, which included my visit with nubar nails.  nubar is a cruelty free, vegan, big 3 free brand that is available only through their website for $8 a bottle.  They also have treatments (I tried the cucumber cuticle oil!), nail art tools & accessories and their own line of gels called Gelicure.

I also took a few pictures of some of their collections.

Then I got to see the new fall collection, Simplicity Meets Elegance.  It's a great collection of cremes that are available now.  I reviewed Romance earlier this month.

Now Gelicure soak off gel polish.  This line launched at IBS 2010 Long Beach, can be cured in a UV or LED lamp, lasts for 3 weeks with no chipping or peeling and soaks off in just 15 minutes.  Because I knew I'd have a lot of nail polish to wear, I opted to just have one nail done.

First my nail was cleaned and prepped.  Then the base coat was applied and placed in the LED light for 20 seconds (would be 1 minute for UV light).  Next we went with 2 coats of Purple Aster NPG037, a lavender creme.  Each coat was cured for 30 seconds in the LED light (120 seconds for UV).  Then we added a coat of Purple Pyrotechnics NPG046, a very glitter purple.  Finally the top coat was added and that was only 20 seconds as well.  We finished off with the cucumber cuticle oil.

24 July 2012: Freshly done

Nine days later on 2 August 2012...

The thickness compared to my natural nail

As you can see, I've had very little lifting (only on my side where a bit of gel got on my skin), no chipping and no tip wear.

On 7 August, I decided it was time to remove, only because my nail had grown so much - you can see the gel is still fine.  The main issue was that I was getting my hair caught under the gel where it had grown out.

First I used the nubar VIP file to remove the Gelicure Top Coat Sealer from the nail surface to expose the color and assist in the soaking procedure.

Now, honestly, I don't think I removed enough of the top coat but this was my first time and all.  Next I took a cotton ball soaked in Zoya Remove+, placed it on my finger and wrapped my finger in foil.  I waited 10 minutes and got this.

So as you can see, that didn't really work.  It took another application in foil with pure acetone, and quite a bit of scraping off before I got all the Gelicure off my nail.  Even then, I didn't get it all off and my nail has a weird texture right now (27 August) - kind of like the nail was roughed up, even when it wasn't.  Please note that I am not a nail tech, I have not been to cosmetology school, and you should have your gels removed by a professional if you don't know what you're doing (like me).  Regardless, I would get Gelicure again - my nail was super strong while the gel was on and they offer a lot of different colors.

nubar [Website | Facebook | Twitter] can be purchased on their website for $8.00 a bottle in the US.  They do have international retailers in Russia, Sweden and the UK.  

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

nubar Romance

From the upcoming fall nubar collection called "Simplicity Meets Elegance", this is the lovely Romance, a light purple creme.  I decided to play matchy-matchy and used a base of nubar Foundation, 2 coats of polish and a top of nubar Diamont.  I thought (while in my house) that this applied quite beautifully.  It didn't drag or pull, didn't pool into my cuticles, wasn't thick and wasn't too thin.

When I walked out in the sun, I saw a bit of patchiness.  I probably should have used 3 coats.  Oops.  I really love this purple - it's so elegant (hah!)

Same story in the shade - lovely, simple, elegant.  ROMANTIC.  (Yes, I went there.)

Finally indoors with the flash and again, a bit of patchiness on my pinkie, and a tiny bit on my ring finger but otherwise quite pretty.  I'm having some slight issues with my middle finger cuticle, so while that's mending I'm trying to keep one color on for awhile (yeah right).  Time for Neosporin!  

This collection was debuted at Cosmoprof North America Las Vegas last month but I don't see it on their website just yet.  If I get more information, I'll update this posting.

Edit: The collection is now available on their website.

nubar [Website | Facebook | Twitter] can be purchased on their website for $8.00 a bottle in the US.  They do have international retailers in Russia, Sweden and the UK.  

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

nubar Purple Beach

Before chopping down to nubbins, I decided to get a few more nail polishes swatched while I had beautiful long nails.  I picked up this awesome nubar duochrome - Purple Beach - while at Cosmoprof North America.  It's still available on their website (product S203) for $8.00.


I used a base coat of Duri Rejuvacote, 2 coats of polish and a top of CND Air Dry.  I was super pleased that this color was opaque in 2 coats, no base of black needed!

In the sun, the purple color is quite apparent and on the edges of the nail, you can just slightly see the green.  I completely looked past the streaky/pearl finish on this polish because it's so pretty - you don't really realize it!

In the shade, again the purple is more apparent than anything else.  I attempted a picture inside with the flash but the camera couldn't focus properly so I ended up with lots of blurry pictures.

I told you this was a duochrome!  The green duochrome is best seen in indirect light.  I couldn't stop taking pictures once I figured out how to get that green to be seen, because on your nails, the duochrome is super apparent.  It's nice and strong and you'll constantly be twisting your hand around.  Definitely a happy Krystal here with this polish.

nubar can be purchased on their website for $8.00 a bottle in the US.  They do have international retailers in Russia, Sweden and the UK.  You can like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter although their Twitter has been a bit bare lately.

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

nubar Noir

When I first met Noubar Abrahamian, founder of nubar, while at Cosmoprof 2011, my first words were "Hi, I'm Krystal and I've actually never tried your polish before."  Facepalm.  Not the best introduction I've ever done.  I had Katie Cazorla standing next to me and she looked at me and cracked up.  Mr. Abrahamian is a very firm but soft-spoken man and he just turned and started filling a bag up with his polishes and smiled at me.  I think my face was about 10 shades of red.


One of the colors he put in my back was Noir, "one of our basics".  Noir is a basic black that dries to a bit of a rubbery finish.  I'm calling it "plastic" because it looked a lot like the ORLY Plastix collection to me.


For a simple black manicure, I used a base coat of Zoya Get Even and 2 coats of polish.  When I'm layering something on top of Noir, I just use one coat.

Unfortunately, I have nothing but clouds right now.  I'm not sure if you can fully see the plastic type finish (or rubbery) but it's not as shiny as when you'd add a top coat.

I should have held a different bottle to show where my nails end, but as you can see this is a very opaque color.  It's a great black for me since I ran out of my CND Blackjack and haven't made a purchase yet.  I use it for pretty much every layering I do.


nubar can be purchased on their website for about $7.50 a bottle in the US.  They do have international retailers in Russia, Sweden and the UK.  You can like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter although their Twitter has been a bit bare lately.


Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

nubar Jeans

Please enjoy the following press release from nubar!

The retail price for the set of three will be $19.99 on bynubar.com, and the shades included are:

Faded Jeans, a light blue shimmer

Boyfriend Jeans, a medium blue creme

Dark Wash Jeans, a dark blue creme

This collection will be on nubar's website either later this week or next week.

nubar Polished Chic

Please enjoy the following press release from nubar!

Los Angeles, California – September 15, 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. 

Always free of DBP (phthalate), formaldehyde, and toluene, the nail lacquers included in Nubar's Polished Chic Collection are:

NPC301 – Classic Camel, an updated buff creme

NPC 302 – Faded Putty, a modern pale putty crème

NPC 303 – Edgy Umber, a deep brown crème

NPC 304 – Beguiling Carmine, a brick red crème

NPC 305 – Vogue Vert, a contemporary light green crème

NPC 306 – Mod Aqua, a light turquoise crème

NPC 307 – Stylish Peacock, a perfect teal crème

NPC 308 – Elegant Indigo, a sparkling blackened blue

nubar offers the salon professional a complete line of manicure and pedicure products, including over 300 shades of nail lacquers, soak-off gels, skin care products, and implements.  An innovator in the industry, nubar has been committed to creating non-carcinogenic, vegan, cruelty-free products for ten years, and is known for exceptional quality and creative colors.  Our expertise in producing safe, exciting products for the salon professional is unsurpassed.

nubar Sale

Just in case you haven't heard, nubar is offering 30% off retail orders of $30 or more now through November 30th with code NOV3030. Free shipping on orders of $75 or more after the discount is applied. Visit them at www.bynubar.com to take advantage of this offer!