Sparkled Beauty

First, I want to thank all of you so much for your comments on my Canadian Makeup Brands post. I'm amazed by the number of Canadian brands out there that I missed and to date, the post has been updated 4 times, so make sure you read to the 4th edit, lol. It wouldn't be complete without you, and remain the most popular post on Sparkled Beauty so far. So, thank you!

On to the nail polishes :-) I am growing more and more interested in nail polish, and always look out for new brands to learn about. And obviously, the wish list grows longer with that.

I have recently read about a quite unique product from a Canadian brand - Sula Beauty. It is the Paint and Peel polishes which are 3-free (no formaldehyde, toluene and phthalate). They are water-based polishes, hence no scent, and can peel off easily without polish remover. So cool!

In the picture is Sorbet, from Sula's Trend collection, retails US$9. I picked the brightest colour to show you, lol.

The company ships in Canada and US. From their store list, there is one in my area, so I will be checking out this brand.

The feedbacks on this product are a mix. All Lacquered Up said the polish was tricky to work with, while Cosmetic Candy loved it, which illustrates my point: beauty products work differently on different people. For me, I think it's a unique product, would be fun to play around with on a rainy day (or snowy day - soon enough) :-)

Ciaté is a UK brand who has one of the cuttest and most unique bottle designs I have seen - the rectangular shape, the ribbon, the long handle. The products are called Paint pots, featured in the picture is Mojito, retailed for £9. They are perfect to gift just like that, aren't they?

Bloggers seem to like the quality of these Paint Pots. The website unfortunately do not ship outside UK. However, according to Hele Says, Ciaté is also available at Powder Room at £7.50 and they do ship worldwide. Note that Hele has a 20% discount code to use at Powder Room, might come in handy one day.

Jessica is another brand that I have read about a few times from UK beauty blogs. Turns out it is an American brand but has a wide distribution system around the world. Its UK website is as informative and helpful as the US website, no wonder the products are popular in the UK too. Both websites can accomodate online orders. No Canada website though, lol, the story of our Canadian lives.

Jessica's regular line has "Custom Nail Colours" at $7 each. In the picture is Cleopatra's Rule from the Walk like An Egyption collection. The name of the collection is catchy enough, don't you think?

Scrangie's review on their Spring collection said the formula and wear were good and the products looked better on the nails than in the bottles.

I also found that Jessica has the Jessana Custom Colours collection with different bottle design and smaller bottle size (.25oz), offered at $4.75.



Nubar's bottles are so cute, don't you agree? Their nail lacquer shade collection is massive, featuring different themed collections from the pink We Care collection (supporting Breast Cancer Cure) to the bright summery Get Hot with Nubar set, then there are Glitter polishes. I wouldn't know what to choose.

One thing I know for sure: I love the duochromes (just like with eyeshadows), so I picked Stardust to show you, $7.49. This is not something I see everyday.

The nail polishes are 3-free and of good quality, fast drying, slow chipping. The brand also has nail treatments and other related products, totally online exclusive (only for US), unless you can get to their warehouse in LA. It was funny when I tried to get a shipping quote, they had options to choose country and province and a field for postal code, but when I hit enter, it said "Sorry, but we do not ship to international addresses". Lol, what's the point?


Mary from Body and Soul has a great series about Quirius, as she loves them so much. The company even offered a discount code for Body and Sould readers. How nice! I think Mary started some Quirius waves there, as quite a few bloggers went and got their own bottles after her post.

This is Caribbean Turquoise, a cool colour from tons and tons of colour selection from their online store. See it in action from Polish or Perish's swatches - and I think she liked the brand :-)

I love the fact that their polishes are very reasonable (retail $3 each) but unfortunately, they only ship within continental US.



Nfu-Oh is a brand I heard a lot from bloggers, for the main fact that the products are extremely pretty, of good quality and application, but not easy to find. I cannot find a homepage exclusively for Nfu-Oh, so the info is quite limited.

Another amazing bottle design right here, a very feminine one indeed. The Edge of Sanity was kind enough to let me use their awesome picture for illustration of this brand's bottles. Thanks so much.

According to Nfu-Oh Product Catalogue blog, the brand is created in South Korea, distributed mostly in Asia. There is Escalonce International Nail Academy to serve Singapore and Malaysia, and New Zealand Nail Academy sells in NZ.

Most bloggers turn to Fabulous Street for Nfu-Oh ($12.50/bottle), as they ship internationally. Shipping is free in the US. For Canada: $1 each for 1-3 bottles, $6 for 4-14 bottles, $10 for 15+ bottles, which I think is great. Other countries have to contact them for shipping quote.

Goldie is a mystery brand. It is supposed to be a brand at Bath & Body Works - see a post of its history at Beauty News NYC. I see that at one point, the products did appear on BBW website and somehow it went AWOL after that. If any of you is a long time fan of BBW, can you fill me in about this brand please?

Just look at the bottle design and the little white bow that enhances the "waist". I know we talked about the bow with Ciaté above, but this is a totally different look right? I totally love it.

Scrangie posted a teaser of her coming posts, showing some trios of Goldie polishes. They looked so pretty and I can't wait to learn more about the product.

PeaceKeeper is a brand of good cause as all of its after-tax profit goes to helping women's health and other issues. Its Nail Paints are rated as the safest paint-based natural polish.

In the picture is Paint Me Stunning, described as a shimmery pastel pink shade, from a selection of 8 shades, $10. There are a top/base coat, renewal oil and French kit as well. The brand also has other makeup products to add to the polishes.

The products are available in health food stores in US and Canada (there're 2 near me, yay!). Free shipping for website orders in the US over $50. International shipping is available as well, but we have to contact them for rates.

Knock Out (KO) also got me with its bottle design. The handle is extremely long, which is a challenge to newbies like me, but still doesn't stop me from looking :-)

The KO nail polish line only has 9 options at the moment. Featured in the picture is Flatte Black, the star of the line, matte (no shine), $19. It is suggested to use Flatte Top as top or base coat to improve the wear or maintain the matt look of the other 8 shades in the line. Application is tricky with the long handle for sure, but the formula and staying power are said to be quite good. If you are sporting matte polish trend, this product line is for you.

Online shopping or Henri Bendel in NY seem to be the choices for US. International customeres need to email them first, to sort out the details (shipping cost and stuff). Well, at least we have an option.


Talking about black matte polish, we cannot miss The Death Tar from ManGlaze. Almost each and every nail polish blogger raved about this shade non stop, way before the matte trend even started. It is also a big 3-free.

The other shade ManGlaze has, Fuggen Ugly, a matte grey, doesn't seem to get as much attention. But the swatches at The Polish Addict for both shades are beautiful, I'm telling ya. Note: the name she had on these polishes are before the fancy names were created.

And remember, unless you get bored with a matte look, don't apply your top coat on them lol. Application and wear are extremely good with these guys.

They ship worldwide which is a total plus. The products are currently on special online for $6.66 ($13 in stores), shipping to Canada is about $6.


Bloom, an Australia brand, has made its way North America, UK and more and is getting popular.

Their nail polish line has about 80 colours, described on the website as "a professional two-coat formula with a 330-strand brush", sold for AUD19.95 (current promotion: 2 for AUD29.95). Online shopping is for Australians only, I'm sorry to add.

Their stockists list is quite impressive with stores around the world, but unfortunately in Canada, it only come as far east as Toronto, lol.

In the picture is Daisy, a matte yellow shade. I have never worn a matte polish (probably because I love sparkly things, lol) but I saw the matte polish trend supported by many brands in the last year or so. Maybe I should jump on the wagon. Any Torontonian ladies have seen this brand around?


I was on twitter spotting a Sleek Makeup's tweetpic about its Acid palette being named as one of Cosmo's Beauty Director top 10 summer buys. It is a LE palette and they are not sure they still have any to put on their online store once it opens. Sad I know. Anyway, I spotted something else right in the middle that picture: Vie At Home nail polishes, lol. How come I never heard of it, and I can't seem to find any review in the blogger world about this brand.

These 3 colours are called Sunshine Nails with Perfectly Polished formula, with sparkly, metallic and high gloss finishes, retail £10 each. There are also a few regular colours and French Manicure kit.

Shipping is within UK mainland only. Oh boy!

I recently heard about a Korean brand called Guppy from MissChievous. I believe she is the first to mention this brand, as it seems no one has ever heard of it outside Korea. Based on her Guppy NOTD and review of shade #77 (green with gold shimmer, in the picture), the polish is of great quality (OPI comparable).

The only place we could get our hands on some Gupppy is from jolieeeee boutique on ebay, for $2.50 a pop. She currently has about 23 shades, and a top coat. Shipping is $1.50/bottle and $1 per additional bottle, quite good. I checked a few countries and get the same rate, so I guess she offers flat rate.

Check out Julia's Guppy swatches of a few more shades she tried with cream finish. If you are going to order some, maybe check with Jolieeeee for shade and finish description first, to avoid any surprise or disappointment.



A fun brand to end the post would be appropriate, I assume. Here is Minx, a brand in "nail fashion". It is basically solid nail coating polymer/sticker that comes in different pattersn, colours and designs. The sticker needs to be heated slightly then applied on the nails, normally by a professional, hence the Salon & Spa Finder tab on the site. 6 spas in Canada have it, non in NS though. No price info is available either.

I found a thorough review of Minx from All Lacquered Up, so check that out.

In the picture is the Bridal nail pattern which I think is very cute and elegant. If I can do Minx on my sister's nails for her wedding, wouldn't it be awesome?

It sure is a big world out there, I am so overwhelmed. It is very likely that this post will be updated again, if I find more brands. Hope you don't mind.

Photo credit: sulabeauty.com, ciate.co.uk, jessicacosmetics.com, bynubar.com, qnail.com, fabuloustreet.com, iamapeacekeeper.com, koknockout.com, manglaze.com, bloomcosmetics.com, vieathome.com, jolieeeee boutique on ebay, minxnails.com