Illamasqua Peruzzi

Peruzzi is a textured polish from Illamasqua that I was thrilled to get my hands on. I purchased it from Hautelook, since Illamasqua is impossible to find in the USA these days.

The formula is a little thick, but not hard to work with. You can easily get away with one coat. I found that it dried quickly and it wears REALLY well, as this brand usually does on me! I also love this color. The sparkle is high and it’s just so pretty!

I definitely recommend picking up this polish if you can. 🙂 Keep an eye out for Illamasqua on Hautelook!

Illamasqua Mottle!

I have another green post for you today! Illamasqua Mottle is one of the speckled polishes that came out last spring. There are some dupes for these right now from Sally Beauty, and I think L’Oreal has a collection out too, that is limited edition.

Mottle is a springy pastel green with black glitter. It is opaque in two coats and the formula is amazing. Illamasqua is amazing in general; seriously, try just one shade! It is expensive, but worth it! I think it is better than Deborah Lippmann too, which has a similar price point.

Although this color is discontinued, try looking for some dupes out there, or maybe even eBay and blog sales. 🙂

Happy St. Patrick’s Day Manicure!

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! I don’t have a drop of Irish blood, but it is a big deal where I live. This weekend I ran in a couple of St. Pat’s races, so of course I had to paint my nails to get into it, right?

I used Illamasqua Viridian and layered it with Orly Monster Mash. I almost always layer with Illamasqua, because many of their shades are early opaque in one coat. This manicure was actually difficult to capture on camera, because Monster Mash is SO sparkly! I used one coat of each. I really like this manicure and especially LOVE Monster Mash!

Illamasqua Raindrops

Dun dun dun….it feels like this nail polish needs some kind of grand entrance. This is a HUGE polish cult classic, and when I heard Raindrops was coming back from Illamasqua, I stalked the Sephora website CONSTANTLY! So, is it worth the hype?

I believe that this is totally worth the hype if it is your type of color. While it is very sheer, the finish is just so pretty! I used three coats and love how delicate it is. The white/silvery flakes are subtle, but have a hint of sparkle.

Quality wise, this is definitely typical Illamasqua formula in that it is simply amazing. I don’t have anything like Raindrops and surprisingly, can’t think of any dupes!

Manicure Spam 4

Hey Everyone! I had to reformat my memory card and noticed I had a few old manicures on it, so I decided to make this very blue themed manicure spam post! First up is Illamasqua Noble with Revlon Sequins on top. Sequins is a limited edition shade that came out over the holidays last year. It is a dupe for Deborah Lippmann’s Boom Boom Pow. I love this glitter and am glad that I busted it out again. Gold glitters are a favorite of mine, which is funny because there was a time in my life where I hated gold anything.

This photo isn’t the greatest as it is quite dark, but this is Models Own Boobloo with Sally Hansen Ice Pop on top. Ice Pop is really gorgeous as a topper; it is limited edition, comprised of very tiny gold glitters and some shimmer as well. Boobloo is a nice baby blue; the formula is a little thick but not impossible to work with.

Finally, China Glaze Aquadelic topped with Finger Paints Fall of Surprises glitter. This was so much prettier in person since this shot doesn’t capture the sparkle of the glitter! Aquadelic is an amazing polish. It is opaque in ONE coat and it is really bright!

Do you have any glitter top coats I need to know about?

Illamasqua Nudge

Good day to you, fine readers! It is so hot outside, but what’s killing me is the humidity! Yuck! Everything feels sticky and gross. Anyway, here’s an amazing color from Illamasqua! Nudge is a chalky baby blue shade. It’s great for spring and summer, but who am I kidding? I wear whatever I feel like year round. 😀 This would actually be gorgeous in the winter too, against the white snow and bleak gray skies.

Despite being a little streaky on the first coat (all colors like this are), Nudge is opaque in two coats and levels out nicely. Illamasqua, in my humble opinion, makes the longest lasting nail polish for my nails. I highly recommend always checking your Sephora for clearance Illamasqua too! I found many bottles for $7, and eventually some were marked down to $4.

What are your favorite baby blues?

Illamasqua Scarce

Speckle polish was so hugely popular this spring! While there are some that I enjoy from a few brands, Illamasqua did it best, in my humble opinion. I love how the way the “speckles” end up distributed on the nail looks just like a bird’s egg.

The formula on this polish is incredibly smooth. Illamasqua just doesn’t go wrong with their polish! Scarce is opaque in two coats and the glitter doesn’t “catch” while applying, which I greatly appreciate! Scarce is also a very wearable pink; it’s almost a nude pink on me. These are sold out on Sephora’s website right now, but you may be able to find them at free standing stores, and you can also find them on Illamasqua’s website; however, you’ll need to pay for international shipping unless you buy a certain amount.

Are you a fan of the speckle polish craze?

Illamasqua Rare

What can I say about Rare, except that it’s amazing? I LOVE neon yellow. Love, love, love. I just love neon. 🙂 Anyway, I picked this up from Sephora earlier this year when my store had all of the Illamasqua polish marked down to $7. Now that they have upped the price to $17 from $14 (with the exchange rate, this is understandable), I’m glad that I bought this when I did!

Rare is clearly, a very vivid color. I did not wear white underneath and just used three coats of this. Like all Illamasqua polishes that I have tried, the formula is fantastic and went on easily. Their polishes last longer on me than other brands, which is important to me because I type a lot! I am definitely going to rock this shade on my toes this summer!

Abstract Pink Nail Art

Hey everyone! I have been trying to experiment more with different types of manicures, thanks to a great set of nail art brushes from MASH. I want to do a review on the brushes later, but for now I’m going to share this pink whatever manicure. I wasn’t really trying to do anything here…just something feminine and fun.

Polishes used: Illamasqua Superstitious as the base, Butter London Alcopop and Illamasqua Scorch on the nail. Superstitious is a great polish. It’s that great cream/jelly hybrid and has a squishy look to it.

What prompted me to pull this out is seeing Temptalia’s swatches of it. I was thinking, “That polish is so pretty…”, and then I remembered I had it. That sounds really bad, BUT there is a reason for not knowing! When I bought Superstitious I was debating between two colors, and that sticks out in my mind for some reason. Now I definitely won’t be forgetting which one I bought! My husband even made fun of me for that one. 😉

Anyway, hopefully I will have some better manicures in the future!

 

More Random Manicure Spam!

Hello! I have another manicure spam post today of some polishes I’ve been wearing over the last three weeks or so. Unfortunately, I don’t have a picture of one of my favorite combinations, so I may have to recreate that one again! First up is Essie Sand Tropez. Bad lighting makes this look like a really blah nude, but I promise it is very pretty! It just doesn’t look that great on those nubs… 😉

Another Essie here, a new one from their 2013 Resort Collection: In the Cab-Ana. This color is amazing! Every spring and summer there’s some kind of shade like this one released, and I never tire of it.

The last Essie, and a terrible cell phone quality photo, is First Timer. This is a great minty green and it is lighter than last year’s hit, Mojito Madness.

Butter London Alcopop is a classic baby pink shade. If you’re wondering how this compares to Teddy Girl, it isn’t as pale and chalky.

My nails are super short in this picture, but this is Deborah Lippman’s Rockin’ Robin. I’m going to hold off on my opinion of this because I want to do a separate review.

OPI Pussy Galore. OH MY…I am SO OBSESSED with this color! Yes, it deserves all of those capital letters. This is like fairy princess in a jar. This is a liquid sand polish from the new Bond Girls collection.

This last one is what I’m wearing right now! Illamasqua Noble with OPI Which is Witch? and OPI Lights of Emerald City. I love this combination!