I don’t know why I go through phases of fixating on particular nail polish brands, but I’ve had this tendency since I first started this blog almost 8(!) years ago. As of the past few weeks, I’ve been obsessing hard over the old Sinful Colors bottles. This sparked the idea to take stock of my vintage Sinfuls and create a visual catalogue. Many of these polishes are hard to find, so sharing what little information I have on them might serve as a resource for others.
And it will only be a little information. Budget polish lines often lack the in-depth documentation of salon brands, and Sinful is no exception. I tried to do some digging into newspaper and magazine archives, and the earliest mention I could find is from 1993’s Official Gazette of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (see below). According to this publication, the name was trademarked in February of 1992.
I’d always been under the impression that the brand started sometime in 1991, as most Sinful fans point to this as its date of origin. It’s even referenced on Sinful’s own website. Still, if this gazette is to be believed, it likely wasn’t on store shelves until the following year.
The earliest advertisement I could find. North Carolina’s The Robesonian, July 1997.
This particular bottle style was phased out in the early 2000s, probably around 2003. It was replaced with the one we all know and… tolerate. (Not everyone likes the bulbous shape of the newer style.)
That’s it for the impromptu history lesson. Let’s get onto the polish!
In addition to the polish name/number and notes, I’ll be including an estimated rarity rating. I can only make educated guesses based on the limited details that I have, but it’s better than nothing. The ratings are as follows:
Common - I have seen this polish documented multiple times.
Uncommon - I have seen this polish documented once or twice.
Rare - I have never seen this polish documented elsewhere, OR it is known to be rare within collectors' circles.
Unknown - I'll try to avoid this rating whenever possible, but it may be necessary in situations where I don't know enough to make a guess.
And now... onto the collection! I will be going in alphabetical order.
#10 Aqua
Color description: Medium aqua blue shimmer
Estimated rarity: Uncommon
Notes: Missing label on cap.
#242 Aqua Wave
Color description: Tiffany blue creme
Estimated rarity: Uncommon
Notes: I think this may be the only creme in my entire collection. Dries down to a satin finish. Serifed font on bottom label.
#211 Asia
Color description: Seafoam green frost
Estimated rarity: Common
Notes: Very sheer, requires 4 coats for opacity.
#302 Bahama Sunset
Color description: Milky gray/white base with pink flash
Estimated rarity: Unknown
Notes: Missing label on cap.
#231 Bitter Sweet
Color description: Tan base with pink flash
Estimated rarity: Uncommon
Notes: none
#149 Broadway Star
Color description: Iridescent glitter in clear base
Estimated rarity: Rare
Notes: The only glitter in my collection.
#17 Burgandy Apple
Color description: Medium red with gold shimmer (hard to see in pics)
Estimated rarity: Uncommon
Notes: none
#17 Burgandy Apple
Color description: Medium red with gold shimmer (hard to see in pics)
Estimated rarity: Uncommon
Notes: Missing label on cap. One of my first vintage Sinful bottles that I won in an auction around 7 years ago. In rough shape – required lots of thinner, but retains a chunky texture even after rehabilitation. This suggests to me that a previous owner may have added acetone.
#293 Cherry On Top
Color description: Sheer pink tint
Estimated rarity: Rare
Notes: Missing label on cap. Imparts almost zero color on the nail. I have seen this polish once before, but it was in the new bottle style. It also had a very different formula with much more color payoff.
#137 Chinese Red
Color description: Medium red shimmer
Estimated rarity: Rare
Notes: Missing most of the printing on the bottle. Old-style oval bottom label, likely early-to-mid 1990s.
Color description: Green-leaning teal shimmer
Estimated rarity: Common
Notes: Missing label on cap.
#212 Ecuador
Color description: Medium green with gold shimmer
Estimated rarity: Uncommon
Notes: Missing a lot of the printing on the bottle.
#15 Fuchsia Purple
Color description: Fuchsia shimmer
Estimated rarity: Common
Notes: One of the most common shades to find in the old bottle. Funnily enough, it is extremely rare to find it in the modern bottle style. (I'm lucky enough to have a new bottle, but I've never seen one aside from mine.)
#236 Glitz
Color description: Taupe shimmer/pearl
Estimated rarity: Uncommon
Notes: Serifed font on bottom label.
#136 Greek Gods
Color description: Green-gold shimmer
Estimated rarity: Uncommon
Notes: none
#33 Green Bean
Color description: Chartreuse frost
Estimated rarity: Common
Notes: Another one of the most common vintage colors. A rare darker formula also exists, which I hope to own a bottle of someday. This one has no bottom label, but an interesting barcode sticker along the side of the bottle.
#205 Japanese Violet
Color description: Light gray-blue base with strong purple shimmer
Estimated rarity: Common
Notes: One of my favorites. Whenever I wear this color, I can't stop looking at my nails. Glowing and ethereal.
#201 Joelle
Color description: Medium blue shimmer
Estimated rarity: Uncommon
Notes: none
#294 Karma
Color description: Peach with gold shimmer
Estimated rarity: Rare
Notes: Missing label on cap. I have reason to believe that this is an extremely rare shade as I have never seen another bottle in the wild.
#13 Midnight Blue
Color description: Deep blue shimmer
Estimated rarity: Common
Notes: This may be the most common vintage Sinful there is. I have seen many bottles of this one over the years. That doesn't take away from its awesomeness – I don't know if I've ever come across a more vibrant dark blue!
#90 Moddie Steppie
Color description: Dark brownish purple with green shimmer
Estimated rarity: Uncommon
Notes: Old-style oval bottom label, likely early-to-mid 1990s. Green shimmer is not very noticeable on the nail.
#165 Morph del Rio
Color description: Light red with gold shimmer
Estimated rarity: Rare
Notes: The Morph shades are a well-known collection of rare polishes among vintage Sinful collectors. This is, sadly, one of the least exciting entries in the series. Most of the Morphs have duochrome pigment, but this does not. I may trade this someday for a less rare, but more interesting color.
#258 Morph Sheer
Color description: Medium rose pink with strong gold shimmer
Estimated rarity: Rare
Notes: Another one of the more boring Morphs, but I feel a little more warmly towards this one.
#186 Oh Yeah
Color description: Medium purple one-coat metallic!
Estimated rarity: Rare
Notes: Missing label on cap. PROMO bottom label. (I'm still unsure of what these promo labels mean. They are not common, but can be spotted on a few old bottles.) A white whale of mine, recently acquired in a trade with someone on Reddit.
#156 Pacific Ocean
Color description: Teal with blue-to-pink flash
Estimated rarity: Common
Notes: On the sheer side.
#196 Phoenix
Color: Mint green with gold shimmer
Estimated rarity: Uncommon
Notes: none
#295 Pretty in Pink
Color description: Watermelon pink frost
Estimated rarity: Rare
Notes: I have seen this color before, but only in the new bottle. Also, I can't help but sing whenever I read the name. ♫ Isn't sheeeee... pretty in piiiink ♫
#92 Punk Rock Purple
Color description: Deep purple shimmer
Estimated rarity: Uncommon
Notes: none
#247 Purplia
Color description: Medium purple frost
Estimated rarity: Uncommon
Notes: Serifed font on bottom label.
#278 Ray of Light
Color description: Pale purple with gold shimmer (hard to see in photos)
Estimated rarity: Common
Notes: none
#126 Rio Bravo
Color description: Medium brown frost
Estimated rarity: Uncommon
Notes: Old-style oval bottom label, likely early-to-mid 1990s.
#202 Sharons' Heart
Color description: Pale mauvy pink with gold shimmer
Estimated rarity: Uncommon
Notes: Missing label on cap. Grammatically incorrect name – should be Sharon's, not Sharons'.
#89 Shausha
Color description: Purple with strong gold shimmer
Estimated rarity: Common
Notes: There also exists a blue variant, which is very hard to find.
#230 Sheer Legend
Color description: Yellow-green-brown with red shimmer
Estimated rarity: Uncommon
Notes: True to its name, this unusual color is very sheer. Another one of my very first vintage Sinfuls.
#91 Shirley's Silver
Description: Silver shimmer
Estimated rarity: Uncommon
Notes: There are a few early Sinful colors that make mention of Shirley in the name. There must have been someone by that name who was integral to the brand in its first years.
#225 Smoking Shirley
Color description: Dark gunmetal gray-purple shimmer
Estimated rarity: Uncommon
Notes: Another Shirley shade, this one is cool and very goth.
#252 Starry Sky
Color description: Pale pink with subtle green shimmer
Estimated rarity: Uncommon
Notes: Surprisingly opaque in 2 coats. Wearing this one as I type. A great neutral on my skin, pale with red undertones.
#134 Street of NY
Color description: Deep forest green shimmer
Estimated rarity: Uncommon
Notes: none
#153 Swedish Blue
Color description: Bright medium blue with pink shimmer
Estimated rarity: Rare
Notes: Sheerer than you'd expect.
#233 Tango
Color description: Medium blue-purple shimmer
Estimated rarity: Uncommon
Notes: none
#274 Toxic Shine
Color description: Light purple metallic
Estimated rarity: Uncommon
Notes: PROMO bottom label.
Unknown (probably #145 Sugar Plum)
Color description: Deep blue-purple shimmer
Estimated rarity: Unknown
Notes: This has no top or bottom label, so I can't be 100% sure which color this is. After doing some research, though, I am nearly certain that this is Sugar Plum. Another one of my very first vintage Sinfuls.
#155 Vermont
Color description: Medium green with mint shimmer
Estimated rarity: Uncommon
Notes: none
#260 Volcanic
Color description: Vibrant medium purple shimmer
Estimated rarity: Common
Notes: none
...and that's all, folks! I don't know what else to say other than that I hope to grow my collection with time. At this point, I think I'd like to focus solely on vintage Sinful (and Wild & Crazy) when it comes to acquiring new polishes. Nothing grabs me like Sinful, and in all honesty, it's been this way for years. I've accumulated other polishes in the meantime, but Sinful is the only brand I’ve been interested in dedicatedly collecting. Why? As stated in the beginning of this post, I don’t know. Faulty wiring upstairs. Something about this brand scratches an itch in my brain that nothing else can reach.
I’ll cherish what I have now, but here's to many more bottles!
Bye for now!