Red to Green Shifting Comparison: Clarins ILNP Liquid Euphoria

Wanted to toss out a a comparison I posted on the Makeup Alley message board and get it archived here.

Thanks for the indulgence.

Some background. It is warranted, trust me.

Back in the 90's, long before I was into nail polish, (maybe the early 00's) there began what is now known as red to green multichrome. It is a mica pigment that shifts from red into green, with a lot of time spent in a warm amber orange mode. 

When it shifts, it produces a gorgeous Christmas green and if you really push, you can get into blue. On the red side it will go to purple. It's stunning. 

It isn't a holographic, there is no flame, it just reflects a whole shade change of color, not a rainbow. It seems to have a longer range for its "rainbow" than a holo.

So there was Clarins 230, discontinued in 2008 according to my research, prior to that there was a Blue Cross Liquid Euphoria line, not sure when that one was discontinued, but it was gone by the time I got into it.

For several long dry years, there was a yearning for these pigments. They weren't around.

Then the auto paint and pigment industry became a source. I don't know the particulars, but suddenly people were mixing their own and it was kind of crazy. This was mostly started right after the spectraflair pigment burst on the holographic scene. 

Next thing indies were tossing out Clarins 230 dupes like crazy. Even Max Factor came out with one.

I grabbed a ton. Blog sales were my main avenue. It was like buying gold in a down market for me. The price of Clarins 230 stalled out, no longer a 3 figure deal, you could get it around $40 (I should have grabbed more!).

Then it seemed to be in short supply since about 2015. I never even noticed, it was the Rise of the Indies and holos/flakies/duochromes/glitter reigned supreme. Some red-green shift action mixed in with other stuff was barely a thing.

It wasn't the thing, it was just a thing to add to a polish.

Truth be told, it was even treated disinterestedly by many. Understandable. Taste is taste. And holos, flakies and other color shifting pigments were eye-popping. 

Now, apparently it's hard to find again. I browsed some pigment stuff, but if you want the real deal on pigments, you need to hit the amazing blog Polish and Pigments (I've linked a search)

It's daunting now, because once again this pigment is supposed to be rare. Clarin's is back up to three figures and only a handful of auctions are listed on eBay.

What happened? I do not know.

Meanwhile ILNP came back out with a polish called The Magician, a red/green color shifting polish.

I wanted to compare old and new. Mica versus manufactured (though I don't know what that might actually mean).

Left to right:

Clarins 230

ILNP The Magician

Blue Cross Liquid Euphoria Nirvana

These are all over a navy blue.

Difference? Not a lot. I think Nirvana is more dense. Nice!

Here are the bottles:

Same order.

Finally, the shift:

This is the money on this shift: the green. 

Left to right:

Blue Cross Liquid Euphoria Nirvana

ILNP The Magician

Clarins 230

I think, again, the Blue Cross is the stunner: more dense with the shimmer and therefore more green.

I think The Magician holds a strong second with Clarins pulling up in third, though it's nearly a trifecta. 

Where to find
Clarins 230 is now very expensive again and more scarce on eBay.
Magician is still very much available (after a frenzy of buying because it was thought to be limited edition, but more pigment was found).
Nirvana? Well, if you luck out and find it, then lucky you! 

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!