To begin this post, I’m again going to be discussing how I want to continue to learn and improve this blog to keep making it more inclusive. It came up when I was swatching this specific collection, and I was thinking about how I describe polishes, especially with shades I’ve called “nudes” in the past.

Describing and naming polishes and colors in general is an area I want to improve in. I know I’m guilty of describing any sort of light beige color as a “nude’. Now it could be a “nude” shade on my certain skin tone, but I’ve never described a deep brown as a “nude”, even though it’s a nude on deeper skin tones than mine. It wasn’t something I was doing maliciously, or purposefully to exclude others, but it’s these small things that we don’t even realize that are the most important to be aware of and slowly adjust. It’s just like when Crayola used to have just one color named “Flesh”. It just adds to the idea that a lighter skin tone is the “norm” and the only “nude”, and that’s an idea we need to slowly work through and break down.

I highly recommend reading this post from Temptalia called “How the Language of Beauty Needs to Change“. In this she talks about different naming conventions in the beauty industry and how they can contribute to a problem without us even realizing it. She brings up this very idea of “nude” and how it’s almost became one specific color in beauty (in a more articulate way than me, I’m sure). My favorite quote is “Nude is a concept, not a color”. And so I’m taking that with me going forward. I’ll be describing the actual color of the polish itself, and leaving “nude” to a concept, or theme. Or in this case, a whole collection of Nudes.

Thank you for listening, and now into the actual polish.

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This is the YNBB (Your Nails But Better) collection from Lights Lacquer! As mentioned we have 6 shades all of various “nude” colors, from a super light beige down to a deep brown. I grabbed these off the Lights Lacquer website, and you can get all 6 shades bundled for $52, or individually for $9.50 each.

Maybe a collection of 6 neutrals isn’t the most exciting for you, but of course, polish is so personal so I’m not one to decide what is or isn’t exciting! It’s a new polish release to talk about so it’s automatically exciting to me! Let’s dive into swatches already!

Obviously with all nail polish, the colors can vary a touch and pull differently depending on your skin tone (which is why it’s SO important to have a wide representation in swatches). Especially with these nude shades, I’ve noticed these can pull either more warm, or more cool depending on your own skin tone and it’ll vary from person to person. This is my blog so I’m showing what it’ll look like on my specific skin and undertones, so that’s definitely something to keep in mind! And why I continue to link swatchers with deeper skin tones down below!

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Okayyyyy, up first we have the lightest shade of the bunch. This is ‘Mila’ and it’s a light beige cream with more cool undertones. On me it pulls with an almost taupe-gray undertone to it.

It had a streaky 1st coat, but a 2nd coat easily covered and made it fully opaque. It was a super smooth formula, and so nice to work with, even for being a lighter cream.

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‘Matilda’ is a light cool-toned beige. This has a touch more brown to it than ‘Mila’ above. It’s also showing some rosiness on my skin tone.

I had some nail line after 1 coat, but a 2nd easily covered – you’ll hear this repeated a lot as most of this collection had the same easy 2 coat formulas! Again, super smooth and so nice to paint on.

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‘Lyla’ is a rosy, medium brown cream shade. Again, pulling very rosy and pink-toned on my nails!

And as you guessed it, it had some nail line peeking through after 1 coat but was easily opaque with a 2nd. No complaints here!

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‘Emma’ is a very warm toned, deeper tan cream shade. This is the main shade to pull warm-toned on me, and has the strongest yellow base of the bunch.

This had a super nice formula and could have easily been opaque in just 1 thicker coat. I did 2 thinner ones here and it basically painted itself on.

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‘Alyanna’ is a rich chocolate brown cream shade. Again, definitely more rosy-red undertones to this one, and very cool-toned on me.

This had an uneven 1st coat, but like all of the others, it evened out nicely with a 2nd. Again, very smooth and easy to paint on.

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Last up we have ‘Olivia’. This is a super deep brown cream shade. It has red undertones to it, which you can especially see around the edges of the polish near my cuticles. It’s super saturated and rich on the nails.

This one definitely had the most uneven 1st coat of the bunch, most likely from the darker color of it. But it covered easily with a 2nd thicker coat, and the color deepens up to match the bottle. You might have to use a 3rd on this one if you’re doing thinner coats, or have longer nails, but it was still a smooth and easy formula to work with.

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And that’s the collection! Honestly, every polish here had such an easy formula that I just can’t complain! Even the last one that was the only one that might need 3, the layers went on so well and it dried quickly so those 3 coats were a breeze. I think if any of the polishes here catch your eye, you won’t be disappointed. They’re all perfect nudes to add to a collection!

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For swatches of this collection on deeper skin tones, I highly recommend these different accounts!

The Polished Pursuit
http://thepolishedpursuit.com/lights-lacquer-ynbb-collection/
@ThePolishedPursuit

@ThePolishedQueen on Instagram!
https://www.instagram.com/p/CAQewWwD2mJ/

@Jackiemonttnails
https://www.jackiemontt.com/2020/05/ll-ynbb.html

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RX Polish Freedom Collection • Nails Inc Duos • OPI Hidden Prism Summer 2020 Collection • Sinful Colors Quick Bliss

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