Monday, August 28, 2017

Whats Up Nails Aurora Pigment Review

Press  Sample

Hey there!  Happy Monday folks!  Can you believe that by the end of the week it's going to be September?  Yuck!  Luckily summer is still in full swing here because I still have lots of summer-feeling nail art to share.  Today's post is about something I'm sure all the nail fantatics out there have seen - the new magical unicorn nail powder...at least that's what I call it!  Whats Up Nails recently released their version called Aurora Pigment and I'm in love.  So is everyone around me who has seen it.  I've tried it plain over lots of colors, with rainbow nails underneath, with stencils and it's even currently on my toes.  Don't worry, I won't show my toes but I do have photos of everything else in today's post.  I also have photos in different lighting conditions so I hope I can demonstrate everything you need to know about it here.




$21.75 USD
1 gram

The Aurora Pigment is a finely milled powder that works best over a no wipe gel top coat so that's how I used it.  I'm a big fan of Whats Up Nails Magic Shifting Powders and I was expecting Aurora to act similarly but it's a bit different.  The particles seem a bit bigger and it seemed more difficult to get them to stick but I think I was just treating it wrong.  This video really helps explain how to get this type of pigment to look its best.  You have to buff it more than other powders but it's worth it!  I used an eyeshadow applicator for most of it and then finished with a silicone tool.  


I first tried it out over Madam Glam Perfect White so I could really see the colors.  I found it incredibly difficult to photograph.  Nothing seemed to capture its magic.  Honestly I sat there moving my fingers around in awe of it.  The above photo was taken in my light box.  You can see the pink-lilac/turquoise shift but not the metallic look it gives.  

Below if a photo taken in direct artificial light.  It gives more of a feel for how shiny and metallic it is but still not quite.  


One thing I wanted to note was that, even with buffing with the silicone tool, the finish does have a bit of a speckled look if you inspect really closely.  But since most people won't be looking at your nails with a magnifying glass, trust me, you'll still wow them.  


Over Pastel Colors

Next I tried it out over a variety of light polishes.  I took these photos outdoors in the shade.  I couldn't figure out how to make the polish and my skin look good so I went with bad looking skin with a more realistic look at the finish this powder will give you.  It give them all a pinkish-green sheen to them.  I think I like it best over the lilac polish, if I had to pick.  


Below is the comparison between without and with Aurora Pigment.  From thumb to pinky we have Madam Glam Perfect White, All Natural, Light Lilac, Aqua Blue and On My Way.


Over Darker Colors

Of course I also tried it on the few darker gel colors I have.  I do like it over the dark shades but I have to say it just doesn't look as dramatic as it does over the pastels.  


Here I still have Perfect White on my thumb but from index to pinky I have Madam Glam Pyjama Party (a neon pink which looks super orange and fire-y with Aurora Pigment), Madam Glam Vivid Purple (my favourite), Red Carpet Manicure Sky's The Limit (which looks almost identical to Vivid Purple with the pigment) and Perfect Black (which looks very Halloween-y with orange and green vibes).


Over Sponged Nails

I also wore it over some sponged nails for days and days.  Since I'm not a gel polish expert, I didn't want to mess around with creating a look like this with gel polish so I opted to regular nails polish, the KBShimmer 2015 Summer collection over Eyes White Open.  Since I had to apply a gel top coat to it, I wore it like this overnight to make sure it was completely dry.  


The next morning I added the no wipe top coat and buffed in some Aurora Pigment and it was magical!  A guy friend of mine showed up at the cabin that morning and I made him sit there with me while I finished my nails and he also thought the powder made them stunning.  


$3.75 USD
20 Stencils (5 sizes: 8 x 11 mm - 14 x 20 mm)


One more thing I paired the Aurora Pigment with was the Butterfly Wings stencils and the Mirage Powder (which I will have more photos of later this week).  The stencils worked easily and I like how the Mirage Powder looks over Aurora but you do seem to lose some of the Aurora magic when you can't see it on the whole nails.  


In case you can't tell, I really do love this Aurora Pigment.  I've used it a lot already and I think that's going to keep on happening so I'm sure I'll have more Aurora looks in the future!  You can find the products in this post on the Whats Up Nails website, linked below.

Available at What's Up Nails

'Til next time...

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