Nail Deck – you could call it a nail polish GPS – guiding you to that oh-so-specific hue of nail paint you’ve been lusting over. Or better yet, think of it as the Shazam of nail polishes.
Not only will homegrown Nail Deck app help you hunt down literally any gorgeous polish shade, but they will also custom-make your own colour (which may not exist anywhere else in the world). With this app, you could also virtually “try on” various polishes!
Nail polish fanatics, you’ve stumbled into a playground of epic proportions.
Affordable Bespoke Beauty
The Nail Deck, the first of its kind in Asia, has spawned its own 3-month pop-up nail bar in Singapore.
Known as Lacquer Bar, it’s the real life version of the virtual Nail Deck app.
Nestled in acclaimed nail salon, esBoudoir, in Vivo City, customers can watch their perfect nail colour being mixed by hand.
Despite being tailor-made to cater to your wildest whims, a 5-ml bottle of your desired colour only costs $11, while a 10-ml bottle goes for $16.
From 17 October 2016 to 31 December 2016, feel free to bring in discontinued lacquer and a picture or an item of colour you wish to bottle. Within 10 minutes, Lacquer Bar will have that colour blended and packaged like a genie in a bottle.
If you have no colour in mind, the colourist will most gladly assist you.
Our Experience at the Lacquer Bar
We popped by, and were blown away by the warmth of the colourist in session and the staffs’ level of professionalism.
For the first time in our lives, we felt as though we were peeking behind a magician’s curtain.
Except, instead of pulling rabbits out of hats, we were creating concoctions that went onto our nails.
At the lacquer bar, we had an impromptu flash of inspiration from a pair of beloved faded denim shorts.
During our one-on-one consultation with the colourist, we asked for the nail polish colour to resemble “old jeans”, an all-time comfort wear close to our hearts.
We pointed at a sky blue pamphlet close by for reference, and requested for the colourist to “add a bit of grey into that blue”.
The Science of Beauty
Now, here’s where some technical jargon comes in.
The colourist used a device, called a spectrometer, to analyse the colour of the pamphlet and pick out the exact shade of blue on it. After that, the spectrometer used an in-house algorithm to convert the digital colour to a formula. How cool is that?
From there, the colourist used chemistry laboratory equipment to blend the colours by hand.
After the colours were blended, we were given small samples to test on our nails, under white and warm lights respectively.
We thought that this was especially thoughtful of them!
This countered one of our greatest worries as discerning nail polish buyers.
Our major pet peeve when buying a nail polish, is when it turns out looking like a new colour under a different lighting from the one we tried it under. Say, when it looks like a lovely violet indoors but ends up like a Barney purple outdoors.
Once the colourist had finished making adjustments to the hue, he bottled up the lovely shade for us.
FYI, never be afraid of commenting on the colour, because the Lacquer Bar accurately tailors your polish according to all the information you tell the colourist.
We even got to name our newly-created colour! We called it “Ripped Jeans” because we’ll always be rebels at heart.
Our ambassador, Diana, also visited the Lacquer Bar! Here’s what she had to say:
Modus Operandi
Lacquer Bar keeps a record of every colour made by any customer, so you can always go back to purchase a colour you previously created.
To shake things up, the Lacquer Bar comes up with new colours every month. This November, their signature colour is a sumptuous dark plum, heralding the start of the winter season.
According to the colourist, Tiffany Blue and nude hues are the most popular nail polish shades created at the Lacquer Bar. Just so you know, this is where you can lay your hands (and nails) on them!
What is in the Works
Though crème is the only finish available at the moment, other finishes such as shimmer and glitter will be unleashed very soon.
Currently, the Lacquer Bar has an internal catalogue and a database of every colour they’ve ever made. Yes, yours and ours too.
We’re over the moon to know that they’re working on a catalogue for customers to choose colours and derive inspiration from.
Last but not least, Lacquer Bar’s upcoming Collaboration Collection will see them cooperating with local businesses and iconic personalities, so stay tuned!
Nail Deck
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Lacquer Bar
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Address: #02-227, VivoCity No.1 Harbour Front Walk, Singapore 098585. (Look for them within esBoudoir)
Operating hours: Tuesday – Sunday, 11 am – 7 pm
Header image credits: Nail Deck Imgrum
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