Nubar Holiday Jewel Basket Set for Winter/Holiday 2010

I'm glad the Finest Silks collection didn't end up being the actual Holiday collection.... A holiday collection just isn't right without a little glitter!

Nubar is now offering the Holiday Jewel Basket gift set for holiday- it consists of all re-promoted colors, but they are being offered at a discount.

Here's what it has:


Competition Red. A medium red creme. Lately I really love red cremes, but this one isn't doing it for me- it's too 'medium'. It's not crisp looking, it's a little softer. It's not really bright or saturated, it seems faded. Maybe it's just my skintone, but this red is just very soft and mild. Applies really smoothly, though!

Gold Glitter. Is this a photogenic color or what? So gorgeous. This is just a plain gold glitter in a clear base. Very opaque, covers completely in two coats. One of the best gold glitters in my collection. On top of having great coverage, it also dries smoother than a lot of other glitters.


Grass Green Glitter. Oh no... I think this has been reformulated! It doesn't look like I remember it. It's more blue-toned now, the particles are a little bigger and now there are flecks of gold glitter mixed in. It's still pretty, but it doesn't look like this anymore:


(I know, I know, horrible picture! The lighting is all wrong and what on earth am I doing with my fingers? But look at how small and green the glitter is.)



Pixie Dust (two coats over black). This is a very, very delicate and subtle glitter for layering. The particles are tiny, thin and shiny- they're pretty much clear- but they add a nice sparkle. Think Zoya Sparkle Gloss topcoat- but this seems less dense. I couldn't capture it alone- I had to layer to get it to show up on camera. Very pretty and snowy, definitely not a flashy type of glitter. Reminds me of ice crystals on a window.


Silver Glitter. Pure silver, nothing else. I dig it. I do have a fondness for silver glitters... The color may not be unique but the formula is really nice. Totally opaque in two coats, dries quickly and seems uncannily smooth for a glitter. Extremely sparkly and shiny.


Ruby Red Glitz. Yes, it is a Ruby Pumps clone, but there's nothing wrong with that. Ruby Pumps is freakin' gorgeous and so is this. I've actually been wearing this for a few days and I'm really in love with it. It only needs two coats, it dries super fast and is extraordinarily smooth for a polish with so much glitter. The red jelly base combined with the red-gold glitter is just such a captivating combination... looks like it's on fire.



2010 (index and middle finger in first photo, on the right in the second photo). Hm... I thought I had a picture of 2010 all by itself, but apparently I don't! 2010 has become one of Nubar's most popular shades in a very short period of time- it's only been out for a few months but already almost everyone I know has it! It is similar to Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure (as seen above) and also GOSH Rainbow (which I have just recently acquired- thanks Helen!). It's an opal flake in a clear base- it reflects red, gold, green, orange and sometimes a little pink and blue depending on the angle. It is excellent for layering and looks good over pretty much any color.


The Holiday Jewel Basket set also comes with a bottle of Foundation basecoat and a bottle of Diamont topcoat. I have to warn you- something bad happened to Diamont. I had been hearing that it was reformulated and wasn't the same as before, but I hadn't tried the new formula until now. You all were right- it's horrible. It never dries and it's so thin and watery! Why on earth would they reformulate such a perfect topcoat?! I loved Diamont so much- it never, ever shrank on me no matter how many layers I used. It wasn't the fastest drying topcoat but it was definitely the most durable. I sincerely hope that Nubar brings back the old formula cause I'm pretty sad about this terrible new one.

The formula on these was great. I had zero application problems. All the glitters were smooth and opaque (except Pixie Dust, which is for layering). Everything was as it should be, application-wise.


So, overall, nothing new here (except the new Diamont formula) but it's still a nice collection of festive glitters with excellent formula. I don't believe that anything in this set is limited edition and all of the colors are sold individually so you don't have to buy the whole set if you already have some of these. It's available now on Nubar's website for $49.95- it claims to be the most "deeply discounted" set they have, but it's the same price as all the other sets (it does contain one more bottle than the rest of the sets, though). However, today is the last day to use the NOV3030 code for 30% off orders of $30 or more, so you can get a little extra discount!

(These were sent to me for review.)