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Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Review: More milky glitter polishes from pa

Purchased by Me

If you caught my last pa polish review of shade AA66 (aka Cookies & Cream), then you know that pa released some milky glitter polishes several months ago. What I didn't know until a few weeks ago was that certain Japanese markets in my area offer even more pa milky glitters than what you saw in this display. So I'm not really sure how many milky glitters pa has in total, but I know it's over ten!

With all of these milky glitters on the market right now, I can actually be a little more discriminating in my choices (there was a time when I would buy any and all of them, out of pure desperation). Since Hard Candy unleashed a full line of milk glitters recently, I tried to select the milky glitters from pa that did not resemble anything I have seen before (there may be indie polishes similar to these, but I'm only referring to polishes you can find in retail stores here).
pa Premiere Lame Grande Nail Colors in AA59 and AA57
(retail: around $5 each)

I have yet to see a neon yellow/chartreuse milky glitter, or a straight-up red milky glitter (correct me if I'm wrong!) so these two polishes came home with me the last time I was a Mitsuwa.

As I mention in all of my pa reviews, there is no unit weight printed on these bottles, but pa polishes are very small and equivalent to a US mini polish for sure. The milky glitters fall under the "Premiere Lame Grande" collection which also includes lots (and lots) of other types of glitters, metallics, jellies, etc. The Premiere Lame Grande section of the Dear Laura site (makers of pa polishes) only shows a tiny fraction of what you can find in Asian markets.

Swatches, after the jump...

AA59 and AA57

(all swatches photographed after two coats of polish, no top coat)

 AA59

AA59 is a cross between neon yellow and chartreuse  It's bright, but it's not eye-searing bright. Two coats yields decent opacity but this one could probably benefit from a third coat. The formula of this polish is thin and a bit watery, so you do have to push the glitter around a bit to get it where you want it on the nail, but you won't have to fish for the glitter to get it out of bottle.


The glitter in all of the pa milky polishes is a combination of small black matte hex glitter and large black matte hex glitter. But what you can't really tell from my swatches is that, in real life, the glitter in these polishes is VERY small. To the naked eye, these glitter pieces just look like specs--the large glitter pieces don't even register has hexagonal to the naked eye; they're nowhere near as large as the chunky hex glitter you find in many US nail polishes. These polishes give off a "speckled egg" vibe that's really cute in person.

My camera sometimes distorts reds and makes them look blurry, so apologies for these pics:

AA57

In real life, this polish is crisp and clean and the glitter is very crisp and clean as well. Darned camera! Anyway, this was a two-coater and it had the same thin/watery formula as AA59. You'll need to push the glitter around with your brush a bit to get it where you want it, but no need to go fishing for glitter to get it out of the bottle.


Dry-time on both of these polishes is average. Removal is very easy with these polishes, but the red does leave a little bit of residue behind on the cuticles (no staining though).

FINAL VERDICT: If you like milky glitters and you're looking for a subtle version that gives the nails more of a speckled egg effect, these might be worth the hunt. They apply easily and remove easily, dry time is decent and you won't have to go fishing for the glitter with your brush. You will need to push the glitter around a bit once it's on your nail, just to get the glitter exactly where you want it though. Other than that, I'm really glad I got these because I haven't seen anything in stores that remotely resembles these two shades. If you have a Japanese market in your area, take a trip and see if they have a pa nail polish display so you can see them for yourself!

As of the time of this post, I have not been able locate an online source for the pa milky glitters. If you know of one, please leave a comment and share with us!

Do you own any pa polishes? Are you a fan of milky glitters? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

The products featured in this post were purchased with personal funds. For more information, click here.
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15 comments

  1. The red one is such a pretty color! It reminds me of a lady bug :) Great review G!

    XO
    aly

    ReplyDelete
  2. These look like beetles. The red one is very ladybug-ish.

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  3. I love the yellow one! That is so unique and I love the color. That is what you would get if OPI Did It On 'Em and Fiercely Fiona had a baby.

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  4. I live in Tokyo, and Pa polishes are the only fun ones around! I recently got a super cute semi-dupe of Connect the Dots.

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  5. So cute! I'm always surprised Pa doesn't sell online somewhere, since so many people like their polishes and don't have any access.

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  6. I'm going to have to try to franken that red one. I have some black glitter. :-)

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  7. AA57 reminds me of a lady bug

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  8. Hello I love all the Pa swatches you have posted. I live Mid West and I have yet to locate any place that sells them. However, I am traveling to California (Oakland/San Francisco) area in a few weeks and I would like to know if you can suggest a few places where I can purchase them. Thanks in advance for your hep.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Japantown has a store near the arcade with pa polishes. They are also sold at ichiban kan in the next building. Good luck.

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    2. Other than Ichiban kan and the other store near the arcade. If you go south to San Jose there's a mitsuwa market that sells them too.

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  9. I googled pa polishes in NY after I read this post & I found there's a store that carries them walking distance from me. Took a stroll & they had soooooo many colors. I'm so happy now that I live in an asian neighborhood

    ReplyDelete

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