Diamond Cosmetics Black Matte Shimmer

Diamond Cosmetics Black Matte Shimmer /Matte Black Shimmer / Who knows what it's called? Mine doesn't have a label. I'll have to look in the box to see if it fell off in there or something. Anyway, after being sorely disappointed in Diamond's Fall/Winter matte collection, I didn't have super high hopes for this. Fortunately, this was much better than I expected! I love it when that happens. This is a plain mid-black with a little metallic effect when worn matte. Very similar to ManGlaze's The Death Tar, but not as matte.



With topcoat added it's way better! It's similar again to The Death Tar in that it has that tiny holographic/multicolored/rainbow shimmer that only appears with topcoat.

I guess this was some sort of limited edition one-off or something? I heard that there were very few bottles made. Which is weird, cause it's a great color, way better than their other mattes. I don't actually know the whole story on this one.

And, I need to make another off-topic tangent at the end here.... Cause the pile in my inbox and on my desktop are starting to make me panic...

I'm trying to resume posting/swatching as usual and I'm also trying (and failing) to keep up with my emails but I'm totally overwhelmed. I haven't been able to catch up on email since the last time I posted about it and it's making me feel really bad. I have tons of pictures of (formerly) new collections waiting to be uploaded and edited. Just wanted to let you know, cause I don't mean to leave you hanging if you're waiting for swatches or replies.

Diamond Cosmetics Fall Collections

So... I've really been dragging my feet on posting these. Why? Because... quite frankly... I didn't like them =x Remember months ago when I said I had a lot of boring stuff to post? These are one of the things I was talking about.

But... I guess no use in taking pictures unless I'm going to post them, so here we go! Diamond's fall/winter and mattes.


Crushed Velvet. A dark 'blurple' (blue/purple) creme. Less blue in real life. Somewhat similar to OPI Sapphire In The Snow but less vibrant.

Mulberry Mayhem. Berry creme. Less red in real life, more berry colored. Mayhem, really? *yawn*


Smokey Rose. Grandma Mauve?? Really? Okay, this one's not that bad, it does have kind of a cool antique Victorian feel to it. But still... mauve.



Cherry Tobacco. Now this one I actually like. Not just like, love! It's one of my favorite types of colors- dark, almost black with a rich velvety shimmer that looks dark on the edges and light in the middle. This one is red-burgundy based with a little bit of a golden iridescence. Really cool.

And, I just happened to have some cherry tobacco to compare it to:



And themattes...

Matte Burgundy. Very dark.

Matte Mulberry. This one is kinda neat- a matte fuchsia-purple-berry creme! Except... it's not very matte.


Matte Smoke. Matte-ish grey.

Matte Black. Nice and leathery looking, but I still prefer a true matte if I'm wearing matte polish.



I'm trying to remember how the formula was on these.... I remember it being thick for all the shades, but not too much else! I remember the mattes needing 2-3 coats and taking longer to dry than the average matte. Diamond polishes do generally take longer to dry than average.


So... yep. There they are. Hope I'm not being too harsh, but these really did put me to sleep! I don't like matte cremes and I don't like the weird shiny-matte 'satin' look of these. They look rubbery. The cremes in the regular collection were also uninspired. Berry, mauve? Dull blue-purple? Very safe and not at all unique.

I know Diamond can do cool colors, because I have a lot of them... Not Your "Hum Drum" Plum, Chainmail Charm, Froggy, Safety Zone, all the foils like Sparkling Sherry... All cool colors! Don't know what happened with these collections. I'm sure someone out there loves them, but they're just not 'me'.

(These were sent to me for review.)

Diamond Cosmetics Fall 2009

This was supposed to be posted weeks ago... But better late than never!

Angelic. Sheer clean white. This is a very sheer shade, a soft squishy-looking white that looks very clean and bright. That is... if your nails aren't stained like mine! (They actually look a lot better since this picture was taken). I did four coats on this to see if I could get it to be opaque. Sheers make me feel naked. As you can see, it's not opaque at four coats so it's best left as a sheer or a base for a french manicure.

Never So Evergreen. Smoky blue-toned green with gold shimmer. Gorgeous. This green fits in with that 'smoky' sub-trend I'm noticing this fall. Lots of dark, cloudy looking shades. This one is a fairly dark shade of green, slightly blue-toned and speckled with golden shimmer particles. This shimmer definitely looks like individual particles rather than an all-over shimmer effect. It looks hazy.

Plum Pie In The Sky. Vampy blue-purple creme. This one was so hard to photograph. It's a very dark 'blurple' (that's such a funny word!)- in real life it's a little more purple and less blue than the photograph shows. This color also strikes me as being smoky. It has that soft, dusty, hazy look.

The Naughty Intern. Glossy wine red creme. This shade is pretty straight forward: wine red. It's dark but I don't know if I'd place it in the vampy category, it's still pretty light as far as wine-reds go. More of a medium red I'd say.

So Berry Sweet. Bright pink berry creme. This was another hard-to-capture shade. It's a nearly-neon shade of berry pink, kind of fuchsia, kind of purple... right in between there somewhere.



Sweet As Sugar. Sheer pinkish-nude crystalline shimmer. This one is really beautiful. My pictures don't really capture the effect, but this is made up of tiny crystal shimmer beads. When the light hits this, it sparkles in all different colors. It's a little bit like OPI Princesses Rule or Hollywood Blonde, same type of shimmer and finish. It's very sheer, but almost too dense for layering.

And here are two other shades from Diamond:
Fuchsia Flash. Bright fuchsia shimmer with a strong blue/violet flash.


Tropical Dream. Smooth light orange with fine gold shimmer.

The formula on these is good. It's a thick formula and it's pretty easy to apply. Opacity is good on all shades but the sheers. Some only need one coat, but I did three just because. Out of habit, I suppose. The drying time on these is a little on the slow side. I'd recommend a good quick-dry topcoat with these. Some shades dried a lot faster than others, it may depend on the pigment.

Overall, some really nice shades, good formula and extremely affordable. In case you've forgotten, Diamond Cosmetics shades are $2 a bottle. They have a pretty good color selection and are always releasing new shades.

And I'm also happy to say that Diamond Cosmetics has a new color chart on their website! I remember when I first heard about Diamond Cosmetics' website, all they had were these teeny-tiny little color dots and you couldn't tell what color the polish was and they went by number so you were basically ordering blind. Not anymore! They have big, accurate color samples and names to go along with the numbers. Check it out! While you're there, you should try out their Super Base basecoat and their Almond Cuticle Oil with Ginseng. The Super Base is a really nice basecoat to use with these, it really grips the polish while you're applying, and the Almond cuticle oil smells really good but also doubles as a speed-dryer (like those drops I love!)

As far as I'm aware, Diamond Cosmetics can only be purchased from their website.

More from Diamond Cosmetics (with foils!)

Another post I have been meaning to do for quite some time... I find myself saying this a lot lately, but better late than never!



182 Metallic Blue. Bold blue shimmer. I don't know if I'd call this as metallic as much as I'd call it a frost- it is kind of frosty but not in the unflattering, brushstroke showing way. The color is bold and bright, sort of a medium blue shade that reminds me a bit of Essie Aruba Blue.

192 Hi-Ho Silver. Purple silver grey shimmer. This is a weak duochrome effect color, the duochrome is definitely there but it isn't dramatic or visible in all lighting. Just a nice, subtle change at different angles. Makes it interesting to look at. This is a little frosty as well, but not bad frosty, though brushstrokes are slightly visible when the polish is dry.


231 Party Hearty. Champagne foil. This is a really cool color. It's a champagne type color, not quite silver but not really gold either. Maybe white gold. Pale neutral. Party Hearty has a metallic foil finish that sparkles like it's on fire when it's outside. It gleams and glints, it shimmers and sparkles... It's super reflective and completely distracting.
232 Sparkling Sherry. Dark pink foil. This is a must have. I don't even like pink and I love this. It is too beautiful for words. The closest thing I can compare it to is Hard Candy Scam. It's the same type of foil metallic finish, but this one seems much more sparkly. This thing is insane.


235 Decadence. Chocolate metallic foil. Noticing a trend here? Diamond Cosmetics does foils extremely well. They are rich and flashy and sparkle like crazy. This particular shade is a rich chocolate brown with hints of gold. I have a feeling I'll be wearing this a lot when the leaves start changing colors.

256 Seafoam Spray. Light seafoam green pearl. The color of Seafoam Spray is so pale and beautiful, it makes me feel relaxed looking at it. It's tranquil. Not the best color with my skin tone, but that won't stop me from wearing it. On top of the soft seafoam green base, there's an overlay of white pearl finish. It looks like the white is floating on top of the grean, and it looks smooth and pearly. So dreamy.

295 Hue Are You? Warm golden burgundy foil. Hey, look! Another foil! This one is different from the other ones, it's mostly a dark red burgundy base with gold flakes making the foil finish. The other foils seem like silver flakes with a colored sheer base that lets the silver shine through while adding tint. This shade screams fall to me. I love it.


302 Dirty and Flirty. Metallic taupe shimmer. The name of this one cracks me up. Taupe doesn't really scream dirty or flirty to me, but hey, maybe it does to someone! Anyway, beautiful smooth metallic pearl shimmer, borderline frosty. Nice soft color. Lots of sparkle.


The formula on these was perfect. I had no application problems. The brushes were consistent and the texture of the polish was smooth and even. I applied all of these using the Diamond Cosmetics Base Coat and Quick Dry Topcoat. The basecoat provides an even yet sticky surface perfect for the polish to adhere to and the topcoat is smooth and glassy and is comparable to any good quick-dry on the market.

Since their online color chart is nameless and sort of nondescript as far as swatches go, you'll have to go by the numbers when ordering.

Diamond Cosmetics polishes retail for $2 each (excluding the neons, which are $2.50) and as far as I'm aware, can only be purchased from their website. Shipping is a flat rate of $4.95 for ten bottles or less, orders of more than ten bottles are charged exact shipping.

I still have more Diamond Cosmetics swatches to come :)

Diamond Cosmetics Fall 2008 Renaissance Collection

We're going to go back in time a little here and ogle last year's fall collection from Diamond Cosmetics. It was called 'Renaissance' and it rocks.


309 Joust For Kicks. This is a rich reddish-brown almost with a hint of plum that's loaded with dense gold shimmer. The gold shimmer is heavy and it sort of looks like it sits on top of the polish, like a gold sheen. Really cool. Like chocolate with gold flakes.


310 Chainmail Charm. A warm black holographic polish. The closest comparison for this would be OPI My Private Jet. It's definitely a warm black, it looks brown in the bottle but looks like a soft charcoal on the nail. It's not as sheer as My Private Jet. The holographic effect is not as intense as, say, China Glaze Kaleidoscopes, but it's the same type of scattered holo, only with smaller particles. I love the name. Awesome.

311 Mystical Knights. A deep, dark smoky blue with silver shimmer. This is dark but not so dark that it looks black. There's a definite hint of grey to it- it makes the blue look smoky and soft. Very dramatic.



312 Monarch Masquerade. A medium purple shimmer. This is really dense, pearly shimmer but I wouldn't call this shade a frost. Maybe pearl. It's not streaky and brushtroky. It's similar in texture to Nubar Pasadena Purple and MAC Violet Fire, but the shade is a little warmer and deeper than those.


313 Royal Fool's Gold. Warm copper metallic shimmer. This looks like old pennies to me. Not so old that they're all brown and green, but just old enough that they're all dirty and not really very shiny anymore. This has a dense shimmer as well, I wouldn't call it frosty or pearly though. It's more like... tiny metallic flakes. Reflective. Hard to describe.


Isn't that a great collection?? It seems like the perfect fall collection. I especially love all the rich earth-tones. And the names. I love the names!!

The formula on these is great. It is a little bit on the thick side, but it's not runny. Smooth and opaque, a breeze to apply. Drying time is good. No bubbles. The brushes are good, I did not experience any problems or defects in the brushes. The bottles have a plastic cap, which is unusual, I don't see a lot of polishes with plastic caps.

All of these are applied over Diamond Cosmetics Super Base base coat and are topped with Diamond Cosmetics Quick Dry Topcoat (I think it's Super Dry, but it's in a square bottle unlike the Super Dry on their website). I really like the base and top coats I tried. The quick dry is excellent- smooth, thin, shiny and quick-drying.

Overall, great collection, great polishes, great price. You can't beat $2 for awesome polish colors.

Diamond Cosmetics polishes can be purchased directly from their website. All polishes but the neons are $2. Shipping is a flat rate of $4.90 for ten bottles and under.


Also, on a completely unrelated note, I wanted to give you a quick update. I have not had a chance to catch up on my emails and comments. I have a backlog of... two or three weeks maybe? Please be patient with me :)

Diamond Cosmetics Summer 2009 Collection

Wow, I've gotten really behind :( I've been meaning to post this for a week! Better late than never, I suppose!

These polishes are all from Diamond Cosmetics, a brand I'm familiar with from some of their private label polishes (Like those really cool Nite Lights Glow In The Dark polishes that come out at Halloween) but I was unaware that they actually had their own line of polishes.

I'm really happy to know that not only do they have a ton of great colors, they're only $2. Yes, two dollars. That's the regular price. How cool is that?!

Here's their Summer 2009 Collection.


#325 Cotton Candy. A medium pink with invisible shimmer. You can see the shimmer in the bottle, but you can only see it on the nail if you're looking for it. You wouldn't really notice it otherwise. Not exactly the pink I think of when I hear 'cotton candy', but it is definitely candy-like.


#326 Don't Teal My Heart Away. A rich teal creme. This is a really hard color to photograph as my camera keeps turning it blue, but it is actually teal. Awesome color, but that's not even the best part of it. $0.25 from every sale of this polish is donated to the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition. What I like the most about this polish for a cause is that there's an actual number there. Twenty-five cents. No vague or misleading statements which lead you to believe things that may not be true like some other polishes which mention charities or causes.


#324 Fiery Coral. Hot red coral with shimmer. This is a really deep orangey-red coral and the shimmer in it seems to be a mix of red and pink particles. This gives the effect of a pink flash when you look at the polish in the sun.


#327 Hot Summer Pink. Deep neon pink with metallic flake shimmer. Neons are hard to capture, so I've taken pictures in two different types of lighting to try to capture the glow and brightness of this color. This is a darker shade of neon pink and it's absolutely gorgeous. It has this really cool metallic shimmer, like there's little metal flakes in it. It also has a slight blue flash. Excellent color. Perfect for summer.



#328 Oh, Tiff! A baby blue with hidden shimmer. From the name alone I want to call this a Tiffany Blue, but since I've never seen Tiffany Blue in real life, I'm not sure if that's accurate. So I'll call it a soft baby blue. Slightly faded looking. Same invisible silver shimmer as Cotton Candy. Super beautiful.


#323 Pink Passion. Dark pink creme. That pretty much sums up this color. I don't have a whole lot to say about it, sorry pink lovers! This is my least favorite of the collection, nothing about this color stands out to me and I find somewhat bland. It's not bright or neon like Hot Summer Pink, but it's not really faded looking, either. It's right in between. Not bright, not muted. It's definitely more on the warm side, so this will probably look a lot better on someone with a warm skintone than it does on me.

The formula on these is thick. Not uncontrollable, but not thin and runny either. Thick and smooth. They all applied pretty well, no major issues. They're on the opaque side, but I used three coats for all these pictures just because I was curious. They really only needed two. Diamond Cosmetics Polishes are all big three free, which means no formaldehyde, toluene or DBP.

Overall, I'm really digging this brand! My favorites from this collection are Hot Summer Pink, Don't Teal My Heart Away and Oh, Tiff!. I can see myself wearing them regularly. And for only $2 each, I can afford to experiment with them. Great Frankenpolish bases, for sure!

Like I mentioned, they have a ton of really great colors, so if you're not into pinks and blues don't worry. They have some truly excellent foils and metallics, duochromes, vampies and all kinds of good stuff. And did I mention that it's $2?? There's definitely something for everyone, and don't let the low price fool you, they're great quality.

Here's a little preview of some of the other great colors they have:

Chainmail Charm, from last fall's Renaissance Collection.

I will definitely be reviewing more Diamond Cosmetics polishes. I hope to have my swatches done soon, but the sun has other ideas. In the meantime, check out Siobahn's swatches of the Diamond Cosmetics Summer collection!


Diamond Cosmetics polishes can be purchased directly from their website and retail for $2. Don't forget that $0.25 from each sale of Don't Teal My Heart Away are donated to the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition.