Nubar Cleopatra for Spring 2009
I can’t tell you how excited I was when I first heard that Nubar was coming out with a whole collection of purples! The Cleopatra collection for spring 2009 is really an awesome collection as a whole. There were a couple that didn’t really work for me personally, but overall I am really loving this collection. There was only one that had a strange application issue and I have noted that below. Pics taken in sun with no top coat.
Sphinx Purple is one of the ones that’s a really pretty color, but just didn’t particularly work for me. I would call this a jewel toned pink/purple shimmer and it has blueish undertones. It wasn’t sheer so you could get away with two coats, but I did three anyway.
Hieroglyphs Purple is another one that wasn’t my fav, but is a nice color in general. I think of this color as more of a raspberry red/pink/purple rather than “purple”. It’s a creme and I used three coats. This one too has blue-ish undertones, so those with warmer skin tones might not like it on them.
There is a strange thing happening with Nile River. If you check out the swatches on The Nailphile and
The Crystal Files, you will see their Nile River looks nothing like mine. It’s not only the color but the formula as well that’s different. I contacted the PR person at Nubar and she said that there had been a mix up with the labels when the first batch of these went out and I believe I have the correct Nile River and theirs might be mislabeled. Mine does look exactly like what is shown on their press release, so I assume mine is correct. Anyway, I wanted to love this color SO MUCH and I do love it in the bottle, on the nails…not so much. It was SOOOO watery and thin. no mater how hard I tried, I couldn’t get it even or opaque and this pic is four coats! So this one struck out big time for me because of the formula. The color could have been so great had it been thicker or creamier…
Isis Purple is a really nice muted pink/lavender that’s flattering to my skin tone but feels a little “safe”. It would be a great color for a more conservative work place or on days when you feel like being pretty, but mellow. This was three coats.
Now THIS I loved! Pharaoh’s Purple is very similar to Sephora by OPI Metro Chic, Call Your Mother and OPI Parlez-Vous OPI?, but does have some subtle differences. When compared to Parlez-Vous OPI? this one is slightly less lavender and is more taupe-y. When compared to Metro Chic, this one isn’t as brown and has more violet. The closest dupe would be Call Your Mother and that’s just a smidge more lavender-y so really, you don’t need both. This muted grayed out violet is one of my very favorite colors in the last year, so I am super happy I have another one! This was three coats.
Toga Purple is a gorgeous shimmery grape purple with very small blue and lavender shimmer. I really like this one on me a lot, but not sure if it’s a totally unique color. This was three coats.
I wore Passionate Purple the other day and it was really pretty. The color is a “blurple”, which is a blued out purple with tons of blue/pink shimmer particles. There are a few that are very close dupes though and to name a couple they are OPI Ink and Russian Navy. However, those might be harder to find now so this could be a great substitute. I have to say I can’t really comment on the wear because I only wore it one day before I changed polishes, so not sure about the chip factor. This was three coats.
So which ones do you think are a hit or miss for you?
You can find the Cleopatra collection as well as other Nubar polishes here and they are $6.99 each.
Welcome! My name is Kelly and Vampy Varnish is a animal friendly beauty blog.
VIOLETS!!!! YAY!!! Sorry, it had to be done; it is my favorite color.
I really love Toga, Niles and Isis Purples.
Pharoah’s purple is far too similar to my bottle of Parlez-Vous OPI? to buy. I truly prefer the Parlez-Vous OPI? to Pharoah’s purple. It’s more smoky and less taupey.
The first two I don’t think even qualify for violet. The second one looks mulberry and the first one is maroon in color. The last one looks similar to SH’s Navy Baby than to purple.
What a beautiful colors !! I especially like Hieroglyphs Purple and Toga Purple !
Pharaoh’s Purple is very cute too, but I also have Parlez-vous OPI and China Glaze – Chanellesque wich are very similar.
(excuse me for mistakes, I’m French ^^)
Toga Purple is gorgeous! Thanks for the swatches.
Sphinx purple, Toga Purple, and Passionate purple are gorgeous. However, since I have OPI Russian Navy I will be skipping Passionate Purple, unless you think it’s a brighter color than Russian Navy.
I think Sphinx purple is the color I need to purchase
Now I’m just hoping that the seller I’ve purchased Nubary from on ebay is still there, as I HATE dealing with Nubar directly.
I totally agree about Nile Purple! All three of you look like you all have different colors on! Very strange! I like the color of it in the bottle better than on the nail. It sucks that it took 4 coats and it still looks a bit transparent.
My fav out of this is Passionate Purple and a close 2nd is Sphinx Purple.
Thanks for the post!
I was just looking at the other sites and maybe they mixed up Niles Purple with Pyramid purple because your Niles looks like their Pyramid.
Is it just me or is the Niles Purple on the Crystal Files more shimmery than Nailphile’s Niles Purple? It’s like, three different purples!
Oh man, the nile purple sounds like my experience with Sally Hansen’s Salon Nail Lacquer in “Pink About It.” Runny, incredibly sheer and it bubbled!!!! I did FIVE coats and it STILL wasn’t opaque and it’s not even a French mani nail polish! Gaaah! I was thinking, “WTF?” Pretty in the bottle, not on the nail. I guess that pink is demoted to French manis which I can’t do for the life of me.
Hi Nessa,
I agree, I think it’s three different purples all labeled wrong with the exception being the one I got, since mine matches the box and press release. They are all different finishes! So bizarre!
Hi Phyrra,
I think they are so similar you don’t really need both, but then again my old swatches of Russian Navy are crappy pics (when I first started blogging) and I haven’t worn that color for a long time so there might be some subtle differences.
What problems have you had with dealing with Nubar?
Hi Kate,
No it’s not just you, all three look like different purples and finishes! Isn’t it strange? None of their “Nile Purples” look like any of mine from this collection, so I don’t think it was even a color mix up within that collection, it’s like a totally different purple was sent to each of them with “Nile River” on the bottom.
I REALLY wish it wasn’t runny because the bottle color is so pretty and I don’t have anything like it!
Hi Little Fairy,
I haven’t seen that China Glaze one you mention, I might have to check that out!
There was a problem with my order and I called them about it, and the lady on the phone was horribly rude. They also never responded to my emails. This made me very unhappy.
Hi Phyrra,
That sucks! Nothing like bad customer service. I never understand that because don’t they WANT to sell their products? I think I have emailed them a couple time also and didn’t get a response. So frustrating.
That’s why I don’t have many of their polishes. I refuse to deal with them directly, but I found a nice ebay seller a while ago who was selling their products at reasonable prices.
I just couldn’t believe how rude the woman was on the phone. But I get the impression that unless you’re buying in bulk, they don’t care.
I was going between all three thinking, “What is up with this color? It keeps changing! Did they accidentally name three shades the same thing?” Nailphile probably got the best shade of the three, I think–it’s your color only a tad darker and less runny it seems.
Hi !
You can see a comparison between OPI and CG here on my nails : http://www.casimages.com/img.php?i=090315072348645353.jpg
Sorry for the blue on my cuticles, I was making color tests ^^
Hi Little Fairy,
I like it, I might get it, thanks!
Pharaoh’s Purple looks yummy:)
I’m a sucker for purples – in fact, I’ve had to vow not to buy any more for a while…Toga Purple might make me go back on that though!
Love your new picture by the way
Hi Sanna,
Yes, it’s lovely!
Hi Jo,
I am a total sucker for them also, especially “weird” looking ones or dark ones. Thanks!
Nile purple looks like it would have been a really pretty jelly polish if it were more pigmented.
I am in love with Toga purple. While I like this collection overall, I do wish they stayed with true purples and made them unique with inventive shimmer or duochrome. Some of the colors lean too much toward pink to qualify as purple for me.
Hi tarotbydiana,
I totally agree, I loved the idea of a purple collection but half of them weren’t really purple!
O wow, Nubar must have known that I’m a sucker for purples! I’m kind of wanting all of them …
That’s so sad that Nile’s formula sucks, cuz it looks like it could be such a gorrrrgeous color! I’m really liking Toga too.