I admit it. I’m absolutely blown away by duo chromes. And yes I know that they’ve been around for quite sometime and I’m only just scratching the surface of the duo and multichrome nail polish world out there but you have to think of me as like a newborn baby with it comes to these little beauties. I am Bambi! (Although my partner would say I’m more like Thumper!). The point being I am a nail polish innocent. So whilst I appreciate that duo chromes are probably old news for the seasoned polish lovers out there, for me it’s like seeing the world for the very first time.

Up until about ten weeks ago there was barely anything amongst my (I now realise to be) pitiful assortment of nail polish that wasn’t either nude or the palest and most translucent of bridal pink that I would wear on my fingernails. For toes I had one silver, one gold, a couple of reds and a Lincoln Park After Dark type colour but a few of those were gifts from a darling friend. We couldn’t possibly be seen wearing anything so definite or noticeable on our fingers. Heavens forbid if I wore those sorts of colours on my fingers I might not be taken seriously! I’ll bore you with the story of where that fear came from another time.

But for now I want to shout to the world ‘I love duo chromes!’. Man, where have they been all my life? Since discovering the polish sub-world of duo chromes I’ve have been trawling the internet researching the best of these gorgeous polishes. The result of that research is that I fear that there are many, many more polish purchases in my future. For a girl just can’t live with fewer than a dozen duo or multi chrome nail polishes.

So , for now, the extent of my duo chrome ownership in any purist sense is three Nubar polishes: Purple Beach, Moon Eclipse and Iris Dust. Again, being nail polish Bambi, Nubar is another brand that I had never heard of up until a couple of months ago. Whilst prior to this polish-awakening taking hold I wasn’t the most observant person when at the beauty counter, I’m pretty sure none of the department stores or pharmacies here in Australia stock Nubar. I’ve certainly not seen it in any of the shops I frequent.

So yet again, eBay is responsible for broadening my nail polish horizons and giving me access to this lovely brand. I’m not sure where Nubar sits in the spectrum of nail polish brands but I’m guessing it’s around the level of Essie and OPI. It certainly feels lovely to apply and even for someone with as limited swatching skills as myself it was very forgiving. Here’s the baby photos of my efforts with my very first Nubar polish, Purple Beach.

I probably should lessen the number of pics I include in my posts but I’m afraid I have no such discipline tonight. My limited photography skills fail to convey the multiple colours of this polish but hopefully the shots I’ve included give you some hint as to the variety. In some lights Purple Beach looks almost like Chanel’s Peridot, a sharp, golden green. But in other lights its a silvery lilac, and in yet others almost a mid, shimmery purple. The finish feels beautifully smooth and despite using three coats it dried very quickly with a top coat of Seche Vite.

The polishes in that last pic are, left to Purple Beach, Iris Dust, Moon Eclipse and Raspberry Truffle. Ok, so the last one isn’t a duo chrome but given the name, I just couldn’t help myself. I’ll hopefully get time this weekend to try the rest of these lovelies and post the pics.

Where to from here? I’m fascinated by the Brazilian brands Ludurana and Hits as both seem to have a good number of duo chromes. I’m also interested in trying out the Models Own Beetlejuice collection but I think they will have to wait a little while. I really do need to pace myself here:). So, I say farewell for now whilst basking in the reflection of the multicoloured, tropical sunset that are my fingernails.

Til next time. xx