Color4Nails HaloChrome Powder Pigment Review

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Hey there!  Today I have a quick review for one of the new products on the market, holographic chrome powder.  The lovely Sisi from Color4Nails sent me their version, HaloChrome Powder Pigment, to test out and I had some fun with it this past weekend.  It definitely adds some rainbows to you nails.  I hope you can forgive any application issues I have.  I so rarely use gel polish that I ended up with some mistakes (that are really hard to get rid of so I lived with them).  The powder did have a little learning curve for me but, once I understood it, it applied super fast.

The powder comes as 2 grams in a small jar with a sifter top.  I found it easy to tap out a bit of powder into the lid and apply from there, either with a cosmetic applicator or one of those silicone brushes (I bought an inexpensive one from Born Pretty).  The particle size is approximately 15 um.  I'm not entirely sure what that means but from my searching it seems that the smaller the particle size, the smoother/more chrome the rainbow appears.  

The instructions on the Color4Nails website are as follows but I definitely suggest a slight modification.  If I fully cured the polish under the LED light (I think mine is 45 or 60 seconds), the powder wouldn't stick.  However, curing for 5-10 seconds seems to cure the polish with but leaves it with a surface that is amenable to the HaloChrome powder.  

1. Apply base color (optional) 

2. Apply a layer of Gel top coat (non wipe recommended) 

3. Cleanse cured top gel with alcohol (skip this step if you're using a non wipe gel)

4.  Use a sponge tipped eyeshadow applicator, or a silicone brush to buff a thin layer of pigment onto nail surface. 

5.  Seal with a top coat. 

As you can see in the photo above, it does grey out the color underneath and make it look more pastel so be sure to keep that in mind when you pick your base color.  That wasn't even a tiny bit surprising to me since all traditional holographic toppers do the same.  It comes with the silver nature of the holographic pigment.

sunlight

Even in a light box, there are still rainbows, albeit not so brilliant as in the sun or direct light.

light box

For anyone that wants to know exactly what colors I used as the base, they are (from thumb to pinky) China Glaze Gelaze Re-Fresh Mint, For Audrey, That's Shore Bright, Purple Panic and Flip Flop Fantasy.  For my no-wipe gel top coat, I used Bio Seaweed Gel's version (since it's the only one I found available to me in Canada).  I used it before applying the powder and after and didn't found the holographic effect toned down at all.  I did cure the top coat one nail at a time since I heard that's best when using chrome powder so that the powder doesn't float up into the top coat and dull the chrome effect.  I can't say whether or not that applies with the holographic powders but I did it anyway.

direct artificial light

Since I like changing my nails way too often for gel polish, I painted these first with a coat of UNT Ready For Takeoff Peel Off Basecoat.  I bought mine direct but I see that Color4Nails is now stocking this as well.   You can find it here.

$10/jar

Available at Color4Nails

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'Til next time...