27 October 2014

Introducing Never Nude: My piCture pOlish Collaboration Shade

Hi everyone! I'm so excited to be finally writing this post. You may or may not recall, but last year after piCture pOlish's blog fest I was chosen by my peers, the other bloggers participating, to win one of three awards. The prize - the opportunity to design a collaboration shade with the ladies at piCture pOlish - a dream come true for any polish blogger! Now, after 14 months, and three rounds of testing, I'm so happy to introduce my "baby"... Never Nude!

piCture pOlish Never Nude
piCture pOlish Never Nude

The inspiration:

If you follow this blog much, you probably know that I have a slight obsession with OPI My Vampire is Buff. It's transformed my nail art and is the perfect base for almost any look I want to create. I also adore the colour and find that it's perfect for when I want a pale, off-white nude. So I wanted to create a shade that was similar in colour, but with a delicate smattering of glitter, and an ethereal shimmer. Basically I wanted a more lively version of my beloved MViB.

piCture pOlish Never Nude swatch
piCture pOlish Never Nude swatch

I'm never good with names, and at times I tend towards the witty and comical. I think my blog name is proof of that! So when it came time to name my shade I drew my inspiration from the condition known as Gymnophobia - or fear of nudity. In popular culture people that suffer from this are called "Never Nudes" (any Arrested Development fans out there?).

piCture pOlish Never Nude swatch
piCture pOlish Never Nude swatch

It has an interesting parallel to polish addicts, I know I hate to go out without polish on my nails. Lately, I've eased up but I know there are more Never Nudes out there in the polish world. ;) So I envisioned my shade to be the perfect solution when you want a pale nude cover up.

piCture pOlish Never Nude swatch
piCture pOlish Never Nude swatch

The polish:

When I proposed Never Nude, I wanted three things: coverage, glitter and shimmer. In the end I had to make some compromises but I think it turned out to be everything I hoped and wanted.

Never Nude is a pale ivory nude, very neutral in tone - not leaning towards yellow or pink at all. It has a smattering of tiny silver hex glitter, and slightly larger (but still small) turquoise and lavender hex glitter. The shimmer is a beautiful iridescent glass fleck shimmer that looks purple, blue or pink depending on the light. It's one of those shimmers that shows up in the bottle AND on the nail! You can see the shimmer even with the first coat, and it's gorgeous.

piCture pOlish Never Nude
piCture pOlish Never Nude

The formula:

The coverage is a tad sheer, and I used 3 coats for these swatches. You can still see some visible nail line, but it's barely visible. I don't normally care for sheer polishes, but the slight sheerness was necessary to make the formula work. If it bothers you, the polish does layer nicely and I also did swatches with 2 coats layered over a base of OPI My Vampire is Buff. It gives the polish a slight yellowish/creamy tint, so there may be other bases out there that are better.

piCture pOlish Never Nude over OPI My Vampire is Buff
piCture pOlish Never Nude over OPI My Vampire is Buff

The polish goes on really smooth and evenly, it does not flood the cuticles and is not at all runny. The only issue is that it might thicken up after awhile. I did three swatches, and by the end it was starting to thicken up, but only minimally. Giving it a good shake helps, so does a few drops of nail polish thinner. I was told the issue was the glass fleck shimmer, and I had the option of removing it. However, there was no way I was going to do that! The beauty of the polish would have definitely suffered.

Otherwise, the formula has the perfection that I've come to expect from piCture pOlish. There's the right amount of glitter, and a perfect balance of colour and shimmer.

piCture pOlish Never Nude over OPI My Vampire is Buff
piCture pOlish Never Nude over OPI My Vampire is Buff

Final thoughts:

I wish I could say that the road to my own collaboration shade was effortless, but there were definitely bumps along the way. The first test sample was not at all as I envisioned my shade, and I had to go back to the drawing board and revise my idea. The second test shade was perfect in the way it looked, but the formula left something to be desired. Finally with the third test sample we got it right. I was convinced the ladies at piCture pOlish were going to drop my polish, but they put up with my perfectionism. Yeah!

piCture pOlish Never Nude swatch
piCture pOlish Never Nude swatch

It was a lot of work, but I really wanted to come up with a collaboration shade that was unique, and had the quality that people expect from the brand. I also wanted to make something that you, as potential customers, would feel confident buying.

piCture pOlish Never Nude swatch
piCture pOlish Never Nude swatch

Purchasing Never Nude:

You can purchase Never Nude directly from piCture pOlish, or any one of their stockists including Harlow & Co., Nail Polish Canada, Llarowe, Pshiiit Boutique, Sally Magpies, and many more. A full list of stockists can be found here. It should launch on the piCture pOlish website shortly, and will be available at stockists in a few days to a week.

piCture pOlish Never Nude
piCture pOlish Never Nude

If you end up buying Never Nude I'd love to see your manis and nail mail. Please feel free to share on my Facebook page or tag me on Twitter or Instagram!

What do you think of Never Nude? Or the other Collaboration Shades launching today?

*Product in this post was provided for review, all opinions are my own. See my disclosure policy for more details.*

55 comments:

  1. Oh, Meghan, congratulations! I didn't forget you being one of the winners in the Blogfest last year and I have been curious about your collaboration shade ever sice. It's gorgeous, and so you! Turquoise + lavender = <3

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Q! And I love that glitter combination too. Glad you enjoyed the polish.

      Delete
  2. Replies
    1. Thank you Victoria! I'm happy to be in such great company. :)

      Delete
  3. So cute... I love nude nail polishes, but this one is not only nude... it's... how can I say? ... it's... fantastic... I really loved it...
    kisses
    Eva - www.adegadeesmaltes.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Adega! I call this nude with a twist! I appreciate the comment but please don't leave your blog link.

      Delete
  4. Wow it's lovely, the purple and aqua glitter are so nice!! I was hoping it was an Arrested Development reference ;) but I think the name really suits the polish!! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Gillian! I feel like the name can be appreciated even if you don't know the show. :)

      Delete
  5. Congratulations on your collab shade! That glass fleck shimmer is gorgeous!

    ReplyDelete
  6. congrats Meghan !!! I'm a big fan of your nailart and i'm so proud that my shade is launched at the same time than yours :) you made a lovely shade, sweet and discreet. and i totally agree with the inspiration : i CAN'T go out without nail polish ^^

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh wow! Huge compliment, thank you Nathalie! I love your blog, nail art, photos, everything, and I'm so glad we launched out shades at the same time! :)

      Delete
  7. I have been waiting to see your collab shade! and I love it! Love the inspiration story too, haha! I shall have this soon (I hope).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Novi! I hope you enjoy it if you get your hands on it.

      Delete
  8. Congratulations Meghan! It's a beautiful shade!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Hetal! Glad you enjoyed it!

      Delete
  9. just one word: WANT!! very cool shade, I will definitely keep my eyes open for it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lol! Thank you Frankie! I hope enjoy it as much as I do.

      Delete
  10. I love this polish! It is so seemingly-dainty; but with the glitters and shimmer, packs a punch. Congratulations on your polish!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Great description! Thank you Lara!

      Delete
  11. I enjoyed reading about your inspiration. I too love MVIB and your shimmery version is so lovely!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Marta! MViB fans unite!!! ;)

      Delete
  12. SO COOL! Congrats Meghan, it is well deserved ♥. And what a beautiful shade!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much Deborah! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

      Delete
  13. Just gorgeous! I like how soft it looks too.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Congrats! I adore this shade! I'm definitely going to have to get my hands on it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope you are able to get it! And thank you. :)

      Delete
  15. Congratulations Meghan on a gorgeous collab shade!!! It's so you! I love it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Emily! That means a lot to me. :)

      Delete
  16. Tobias Funke!!! (Excuse the missing umlaut). I'm a nail polish Never Nude, too, lol. This is one gorgeous polish you've created and I LOVE that you held firm on the glass fleck. Congratulations, Meghan, this is well deserved!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOL! Well you're definitely not alone in your never-nudism, haha! And I'm also glad I kept the glass fleck shimmer, it just wouldn't be as good.

      Delete
  17. Congrats!! You create such a lovely color =)

    ReplyDelete
  18. You have your own polish made for you and you still can't give up MVIB! lol

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha! No I can't!! The MViB is still needed for nail art. ;)

      Delete
  19. Ohmygosh congrats Meghan! This is so exciting and I definitely must own one! It's so delicate and pretty, very wearable, great job!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much Krystal! I hope you get your hands on it. :)

      Delete
  20. Congrats!!! This is gorgeous I love it!! I went and ordered it as soon as I saw your swatches :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh wow! Thank you! I hope you like it as much as I do.

      Delete
  21. How amazing... CONGRATS! Love the name and the colour and basically everything about this polish. You did awesome!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Arrested Development for the win! This shade is stunning and it's so you. Congratulations on your beautiful baby :-D
    This is going on my wishlist right now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha! Thank you Shelby! I hope you get your hands on it sometime.

      Delete
  23. So creamy and beautiful! Congratulations on the collaboration! I love it!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Congratulations! The first thing I thought when I saw the name was Tobias Funke and his jean cutoffs. LOL! Gorgeous shade. Love that it's beautiful and comical!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha! Isn't he the best. ;) Thanks Valesha!

      Delete

Thank you for taking the time to comment on my blog. I really do appreciate every comment and read all of them. <3 Also, I try as much as possible to respond to comments, especially if you have a question, so please check back.

Please do not use comments for spam or to leave links. Those comments will be removed. If you would like me to check out your blog, please email me and I would be happy to do so. :)

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...