Nubar Spring Garden Collection

Wow. So, a bit of a cold front has hit the midwest after a burst of unseasonably warm temperatures (40′s and 50′s), and I’m using today’s post to will warmer temps again. Here’s hoping…

In my attempt to woo Mother Nature, and also to clean out my swatch archives a bit, today’s post features the Nubar Spring Garden collection, released in 2011. I bought these last spring, but never got around to posting them, and then spring was gone and I forgot.

White Peony is a petal white creme with the subtlest pearly shimmer. The shimmer isn’t really visible to the naked eye, or the camera lens for that matter, but you can see it a little in the bottle and it keeps the polish from looking chalky. Shown here is three coats.

Yellow Primrose is a pale, pale yellow creme with a pearly shimmer. This is one of my favorite yellow polishes. I have a hard time with bright yellows on my skin, but these pale yellows actually look pretty when my fingers aren’t red from swatching marathons.

Baby Sprout is a light green with a faint silver shimmer. It’s not really a mint green, like a lot that we’re seeing this season, but it’s very springy and a pretty, delicate color. This is three coats. I have no idea how the pink smudge got on the bottle, but didn’t see it until I was editing photos. Oops.

Earthen is a pale gray with a silver shimmer. A very nice neutral that still has a spring feel to it. This is three coats.

Blue Hydrangea is a pale sky blue with a silver shimmer. This is exactly what I picture when I think of blue skies in the spring and summer here. 

Purple Aster  is a lilac creme with a soft silver shimmer. A total springtime cliche. Every spring collection needs one, though, and this is a lovely purple. 

Pink Lily is a pale pink with a silver shimmer. Like Purple Aster, it’s another expected color, but the formula redeems the predictability. This is three coats.

Last but not least, Honeysuckle is the oddball of the collection, but certainly not out of place. This one is a vibrant, cheery pink, and was Pantone’s color of the year in 2011. Honeysuckle lacks the silver shimmer the other polishes have, but doesn’t need it, since no chalkiness and all. This one covered in two coats. 

Rather than give the same rundown for each of the colors above, I thought I’d do it all in one shot. We all know pastels have a reputation for being streaky or super thick or chalky and just a royal pain in the arse, right? Companies have been improving that the last few years, but you can’t really change the true nature of something. Nubar did an excellent job of creating a set of pastels that, while not revolutionary in color palette, are not streaky, chalky or overly thick. These are smooth and easy to apply. They look okay at two coats, but are completely level at three. The shimmer is barely noticeable unless you look close, but it keeps the colors from being dull and flat. These photos are without top coat, and except for Honeysuckle, they all dry to a satiny finish. Not satin like an almost matte finish, but somewhere between a high gloss and matte. I think they would look odd being this opaque and really glossy. Maybe that’s just me. At any rate, the collection is beautiful and while not entirely original, perfect for coordinating with your Easter dress, if anyone still wears those…