Illamasqua Speckle

Nothing To Disclose

Happy Friday! Today I felt like pulling an oldie - dusty if you will. This is Illamasqua Speckle, a lilac jelly with various sized black glitter. I was OBSESSED with this type of polish when it first came out in 2013 and bought every color. And then like a true addict, it's sat on my shelf just looking pretty. ^_^

I used a base of Duri Rejuvacote, 3 thin coats of polish and finished with KBShimmer Clearly On Top. This polish was a little thin for me on the first coat, and while the second one was better, I felt like I needed a third coat to finish it off. The black glitter can get a little buried by the polish but it's still a great look on the nails.

I ended up wearing this as a full manicure to work. It's one of the more bold looks I've tried at work since I normally end up wearing just cremes or the occasional holo.

Did you ever buy any of these? Sadly, Sephora was the only place here in the USA that you could buy Illamasqua, but they have been removed from Sephora's line up. Now, you can purchase Illamasqua directly from their website with only a $7.50 shipping fee (which from England, is pretty fantastic). This polish has been discontinued.

Illamasqua [website | Facebook | Twitter | Google+ | Pinterest | Instagram | YouTube] is available through their website for around $18 a bottle.

Illamasqua Kink

I haven't worn a green in awhile, so today's post is from Illamasqua's Theatre of the Nameless collection - Kink.  I had previously reviewed Vice in January (whoa was it really that long ago?) and loved the rubber/plastic finish.  I used a base coat of Poshe and 2 coats of polish.  I did not use a top coat to keep the rubber/plastic look to my nails.

This is a great forest green that did not stain my nails.  I love how the rubber/plastic finish makes it look so complete.

Please excuse my camera reflection in my nails.  Despite not having a top coat, this polish has a lot of sheen and shine to it, even in the shade.

And finally indoors with the flash - this almost has a murky blue/green tone to it, but it's just the bad lighting, nothing more.  Perfectly pigmented and very smooth formula.

For those in the States, you can purchase Illamasqua from Sephora [official website] for $14 a bottle.

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

Illamasqua Vice

Here's a change of pace - Illamasqua Vice from Theatre of the Nameless.  The coolest part of this collection for me is the rubber/plastic finish, much like ORLY Purple Pleather.  I used a base of Duri Rejuvocate and 2 coats of polish.

I've mentioned this before, but the square cap comes off for a smaller round top.  It's not necessary for painting but some people prefer it over a square top.

Here it is in the sun - nice and rubbery and red.  It's not matte, it's not shiny... love the different finish here!

In the shade, the color is really nice and strong.  The red/purple berry is a great compliment for my skin.

Indoors with the flash is a bit hard on the eyes but not terrible.


Then, because I can't leave things alone, I added a top coat of CND Air Dry.

I don't know if it's a reaction of CND with Illamasqua or just the rubbery finish but check out how weird this turned out!  I left my pinkie alone but the other nails just seem streaky now.

It's a bit better in the shade but still - no bueno.  I will have to try a different top coat next time to see what the difference is.


For those in the States, you can purchase Illamasqua from Sephora [official website] for $14 a bottle.

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

Illamasqua Corset Nails

I have Vice and Kink and hope to attempt this look soon!  Please enjoy the following press release form Illamasqua on how you can create easy but sexy nail art using their new polishes from Theatre of the Nameless!

Illamasqua urges you to be daring this holiday season by embracing your alter ego with corset inspired nails. Taking a lead from the 1920s Berlin Boot Girls use the hottest nail shades of the season in this easy 4 step guide to get kinky corset nails that will be sure to turn heads at any holiday party.

Steps:

• Start off with a base coat of Illamasqua’s Nail Varnish in Vice (burgundy). The Nail Varnishes are hardwearing, chip-resistant and one coat should give you that unique rubbery finish just like a boot.
• Once the base coat is dry use Nail Varnish in Faux Pas (blue/violet) along both sides of the nail.
• Using a Black Nail Pen create a lace up effect from one side of the Faux Pas color to the other. Depending on nail size three crosses should be enough.
• When the nail has dried use Nail Rhinestones at each point of the criss-cross to give the nail a lace up corset look. 

Products Needed:

• Nail Varnish in Vice ($14, Sephora)
• Nail Varnish in Faux Pas ($14, Sephora)
• Black Nail Pen
• Nail Rhinestones 

Illamasqua Theatre of the Nameless

Please enjoy the following press release from Illamasqua!  I have Kink and Vice here and love the rubber finish... I think I'm going to have to get a bottle of Faux Pas on my next Sephora trip!

llamasqua invites you to indulge in darker, bolder nail colors this holiday season.

Dare to be noticed with the new Theatre of the Nameless Nail Varnish Collection inspired by the sensuality of Wittenberg Platz’s domineering Boot Girls.

Illamasqua’s AW11 Nail Varnishes are rich and mysterious, with a unique rubbery finish, unlike any other varnish.

Hardwearing and chip-resistant, you only need one coat until you’re ready to try your next favorite in the collection.

Taint (stone brown)

Kink (bottle green)

Vice (deep cerise)

 Faux Pas (blue violet)

All Illamasqua Nail Varnishes can be purchased at Sephora or Sephora.com for $14.

Illamasqua Phallic

Illamasqua Phallic is quite an interesting color.  The company describes it as a shimmering midnight navy, which is pretty darn accurate.  I haven't seen a bottle of Essie "Starry Night" in person, but this is what I'd imagine it would look like.  Illamasqua's website shows Phallic to be lighter than it is - it's definitely a DARK color.  I'm calling this a glitter since it has glitter in it - more so than a shimmer.  The polish was very easy to take off as well.  I wore it overnight and didn't have a problem with color bleed on my cuticles when I was removing it.


The squared off bottle is a little hard to work with but I preferred it to the actual brush top, after I removed the square top.

I used Seche Retain as my base coat (trying to keep my nails strong!), 2 coats of Phallic to cover all bald spots, and a top coat of Seche Vite.  The formula on this polish was quite nice - I didn't have any pooling into the cuticles and but it wasn't too thin either.


Shade pictures just wouldn't work here, so instead I have 2 sun pictures for you.

This one shows you more of the blue in the bottle - while this picture is color accurate for the blue, it's definitely not what you see mostly on your nails.

This is more like it.  Very dark dark navy with a hint of blue glitter.  It's still very pretty but not a good spring color by any means.  ^_^  I'm interested in trying more of this line - the application was very nice.


For those in the States, you can purchase Illamasqua from Sephora [official website] for $14 a bottle.


Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

Illamasqua Information

I still haven't seen a bottle of Illamasqua in person, but I'm hoping that will change soon.  I went to my local (and by local, I mean 176 miles north of me) Sephora on Monday but nada.  Official PR below:

Since its launch in the UK last November, Illamasqua has caught fire with beauty aficionados thanks to its unique night-time make-up concept and extraordinary color range – and has now become the hottest, most buzzed-about brand in the industry. Thousands of professional make-up artists, club kids, beauty junkies, industry insiders and even cutting-edge celebrities like Sienna Miller, Lily Allen, Adele, Beth Ditto and Karen O. are clamoring for the newest, best and latest colors and textures from Illamasqua.

In fact, it’s this global demand for Illamasqua that prompted the brand to finally bring its top 200, best-selling products to the United States through Sephora, the ultimate beauty authority. Its much-anticipated debut will be at Sephora’s newest location, 5 Times Square, on July 31^st, as well as on Sephora.com. 26 additional Sephora stores throughout the country will carry Illamasqua in October of this year.

News of the Illamasqua launch leaked and spread quickly among fans, including beauty bloggers who were among the first to post about the launch with rabid anticipation, sharing the news of this one-of-a-kind, make-up line with their readers. This loyal, cult-like following is not just because of the professional quality and range of products to choose from, but because of the unique point of difference as a night-time make-up brand that encourages self-expression and the unleashing of the alter ego.

Created with the eye of world renowned make-up artist Alex Box, and developed by a team of leading chemists and manufacturers of stage and screen make-up, Illamasqua offers everyone – from London club kids, visionary make-up artists and global fashion icons, to the passionate everyday beauty consumer – the tools to create the most striking, expressive looks possible.

A huge range of Illamasqua’s best-selling colors will be available in the U.S., including 40 different eye shadow shades, 22 high-performance nail varnishes, color-intense lipsticks, lipglosses, lashes and much more, creating a kaleidoscopic, pigment rich palette sure to seduce with its heady mix of color, creativity and limitless imagination.

Illamasqua is available in the United States exclusively at select Sephora locations as of October 2009 and on www.sephora.com. For more information, log on to www.Illamasqua.com

Illamasqua (from what I can tell) sells for $14 a bottle and they have 22 shades currently available.  I'll keep looking and get back to you ^_^