08 July 2010

Nail Varnish Competition: Runners Up Part I


So a big congratulations to the runners up, and everyone else who entered the competition. From the runners up, 10 of our favourites were sent off to our suppliers to try and match.

The three winners were then picked as the best representations of the image supplied and the finished product.

I thought I would give you all a break down of the 7 that weren't picked, and the reasons why as well as swatches of the Nail Varnish that were sent back...
Today: Yvonne Whelan's Kryptonite

I loved this idea, and I so longed for it to work! The description given to us was:

"Imagine a matte emerald green nail colour! A colour that was used by the Ancient Egyptians to show wealth and extravagence. Ancient Egyptions obtained their emeralds from The Cleopatra mines, a region in the eastern part of upper Egypt. A jewel widely sought after and a colour eye catching with intensity. It would have gold and white UV properties running through it, so it would glow in the dark and would resemble Supermans Kryptonite!"

In our discussions the supplier, Product Development team and I discussed the possibility of a matte green lacquer that would have gold and white UV properties. Now, this can be done but apparently it leaves a very streaky texture to the Nail Varnish as well as having a chalky finish, but we were determined to try.

So this was the final result....


Conclusions from us? It's difficult to achieve a matt varnish with gold and silver! Gold and silvers are naturally shimmer-based colours and so inevitably mix with the matt green creating a shimmer finish. However, I like the silver undertone to the green [for an idea click on the above image and, ignoring my cuticles, look at the bottom little finger nail...] it's interesting and unique. In different lights it flashes between a silver leaning green and a gold leaning green.

What we briefed in to the supplier was a streaky finish [something the supplier was very surprised about - most people don't want streaky varnish!!] to mimic Yvonne's provided image as much as possible, and whilst this looked effective in the bottle to begin with, the heavier UV pigments that were put in slowly sank to the bottom to look a bit like this...

We tried the UV properties in UV lighting and whilst there was definitely a small amount of glow-in-the-dark going on, [sorry, no photos could capture this!] it wasn't really enough to justify the way that the Nail Varnish started to split.

Side note: It kind of reminds me of that Black Adder episode where Percy discovers green [click here if you don't know what I'm talking about...]

So all in all, an interesting colour but not close enough to the picture, or the description that Yvonne had put forward. Thanks anyway Yvonne, and if you are reading this and would like this [used!] Nail Varnish then get in touch with us at info@illamasqua.com.

We also have a spare bottle so if you are looking at this and thinking, yep - that's my kinda green, leave a comment below and we will pick someone at random to win the Nail Varnish!

Keep an eye out for future posts on some of the other runner ups...

29 comments:

  1. This looks amazing, even though it didn't end up winning!

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  2. I'd buy Tramp, Diablo and Obey lipsticks, the white-with-pink-undertones rich liquid foundation, and some brow and lash gel. The rest of the hypothetical £150 could go to the S.O.P.H.I.E. fund. Keep up the good work!
    Lala R

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  3. This is a great idea...letting people know what there idea came out like!! very cool

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  4. Oops, posted that in the wrong place. Nice green though!

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  5. Definitely my kind of green :D
    It makes me crave for *string beans* (it is a perfect snack for me)!!!

    I really really like the dark green/silver.
    And it would perfectly match with my jewelry, shoes and accessory :).
    Because I only wear black,grey and white, so my make-up an especially my nail varnish can stand out.

    luv, Hasina

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  6. My kinda green for sure!
    Ria

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  7. Great idea - really fascinating to see the process!

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  8. It looks great! :D
    And the process is interesting too!

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  9. Ooo yes I like that. Silver/green. Unique!

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  10. great green! Pretty unique too :) xx

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  11. Yay for greens! I would definately wear this, love the color :-) i think you did a great job guys

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  12. It's amazing how much effort you guys put on this.

    Last Sunday I was talking to the owner of a local brand (I'm from Brazil) and she was struggling to develop a certain color of holographic nail polish. We consumers see a lovely colour inside a beautiful bottle and just don't think about all the work it takes to develop it...

    I would love to be the lucky person who gets the spare bottle...

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  13. I love it, it's totally a Sally Bowles from Cabaret shade!

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  14. Wow what a fascinating process! Such a great concept and idea

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  15. Green & silver! My dream combo polish. Hope y'all consider a way to salvage this somehow in the future with a little tweaking! Not so much the Kryptonite since that didn't work. Focus on the green/silver aspect!

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  16. I'd love to try this! I really like the colour!

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  17. Love the kryptonite idea! Maybe you could add a little more of a teal tone to it...and kryptonite doesn't have to be matte! I love the swatch Yvonne posted. That's a great color idea!

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  18. Oooh i love the idea and even though it didn't turn out quite as it should i still think it looks beautiful! I love the silvery undertone with the green.

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  19. Very interesting, cool colour too!

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  20. Oh it would be so cool to win that unique polish!! I can't wait to see the rest of the runners up :D

    nailsnailsetc@googlemail.com

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  21. Hi Everyone ,I wanna thank Illamasqua and everyone for the response I've got from this idea!!! I wish it would be made and sold on Illamasqua ideas!! YVONNE WHELAN

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  22. What a shame. This would have been amazing!

    Martine

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  23. I love it. It's a colour I would definitely buy!

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  24. i LOVE this color! its beautiful

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  25. Matches the colour of my eyes. Amazing!

    Ann

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  26. Beautiful! I'd love to see this eventually reworked and added to the lineup.

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