Some of you may not be familiar with the brand Nicka K New York, but I bet that MANY of you are familiar with Nicka K's NK line of nail enamels. In business since 1995, I've seen Nicka K's NK nail enamels at various local beauty supplies for over a decade now, but I'm ashamed to say I had never tried one until I was contacted by Nicka K recently. After looking at the Nicka K site, I was suprised to see that they don't just make polish--they make cosmetics, skincare, fragrance, and other products as well.
The brand sent over a few polishes for me to try (I'll be doing another post featuring some sparkly top coats soon) and today I'd like to show you an NK polish and also a Nicka K crackle from their Absolute! line:
NK Nail Enamel in Blue Sapphire (retail: $1.49, 0.5 oz)
Absolute! Crackle in Black (retail: $5.99, 0.5 oz)
According the brand, NK nail enamels and Absolute! polishes are toluene-, formaldehyde-, and DPB-free. They are also made in the USA.
So what does this $1.49 polish look like on the nail? It's pretty gorgeous, if you ask me:
The best way I can describe Blue Sapphire is to call it a sparkly, jelly-ish electric blue. Since it's got a jelly vibe, it required three coats for good opacity, but I probably could have gotten away with two if I didn't plan to photograph my nails (for some reason, streaks tend to show more easily in photos than to the naked eye).
I absolutely love this color.
Next, I tried applying a layer of Absolute! Crackle in Black on top of NK Blue Sapphire (note: I applied a layer of clear top coat after I was finished because this crackle, like most crackles, dried to a matte finish):
The black on top of blue didn't provide much of a contrast, so I lightened up the following pics a bit so that you could better see the crackle pattern:
The pattern of this crackle is more of a vertical, zebra-stripe type of pattern with less horizontal cracks than some other crackles I've tried. This could be due to the fact that I used a thick layer of polish--if I used a thinner coat, it might have yielded more horizontal cracks. But that's the beauty of crackles, right? You never quite know what you're going to get until they, well, crack.
After using NK Blue Sapphire, the one question I'm left with is: "Why didn't I try NK nail enamels sooner?" For $1.49, this one's a steal. If you like royal or electric blues, I think this would be a lovely addition to your collection.
To view all of the NK nail enamel shades, click here
To view all of the Absolute! Crackle shades, click here
To celebrate Halloween, Nicka K has some fun polish and makeup sets starting as low as $5.60 each, and many of them include an Absolute! crackle and/or an NK polish.
Also, I just want to add that if you buy at least one Absolute! Crackle, there's a special code for 30% off your order (this code applies if you buy at least one Crackle OR if you spend $30 or more).
Do you already own any NK polishes? If so, what shades do you have and how do you like them? Please check back soon for swatches of the glittery top coats I also received, if you're interested.
A sample of this
product was given to Nouveau Cheap for editorial purposes, either
directly from the manufacturer or from the agency that works on behalf
of the manufacturer. All reviews on NouveauCheap.blogspot.com are the
honest opinion of its author and editorial samples do not, in any way,
affect the outcome of product reviews.
I love the NK, I have it. I have an Absolute! but not their crackle, but it looks like it cracks really nice.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea they made fragrances but I love the Nicka K/Absolute brand! I have a bunch of their lipsticks, glosses, n/p, e/s singles and palettes. My favorite n/p of theirs is the Absolute n/p in Jelly Pink which is, not surprisingly, a translucent light pink jelly polish. Their nail polishes are good but I love their HD eyeshadow singles.
ReplyDeletei own there polish an i love it,i am lucky that my local dollar store has the full line too :))
ReplyDeletei have these polishes an i love them
ReplyDeleteby any chance do you know if I can get them in some kind of store?.. I love the royal blue one, but i dislike buying online.. thank you!.. Lili
ReplyDeleteI just found out about NK, but I must say I was disappointed by their website. I added 13 lipsticks to my cart and went to check out. Whenever I shop online, I always check to see if I can find a coupon code. My google search sent me right back to NK's own homepage--where the first thing to come up was a 20% off coupon. When I put it in, it didn't work. So, I went back to the homepage to make sure I had it right. Now, it was about 30 minutes past midnight eastern time, and it looked like the code had just expired. But I have major, major issues with the fact that they invalidated the code *before* they bothered to take the code off their homepage! I went back today to check and see that the expired code is still there. That's just unprofessional! I may not be able to comment on their makeup itself, but I have issues with the way they run their company, and that might just keep me from trying them out in the first place. I know the makeup is cheap to start with, and I'm assuming shipping would be reasonable. Still, it is the principle of the matter. Invalidating a code before worrying about removing it from your homepage shows a lack of concern and common courtesy for your customers (or would be customers in my case).
ReplyDeleteI really like their bottle design! I just got a bottle of Venique polish this week at CosmoProf and it looks very similar. However, unless I find this in stores, or at the very least see swatches, I probably won't buy. I really like to see cosmetics in person.
ReplyDelete