Illamasqua Collide

Ironically, after posting the links for the Illamasqua battle to try to get better prices for Australians, I have an Illamasqua to show you. And it's a beauty.

This is an older one, it's been around a couple years now, and I don't know why I chose it, particularly. MDAMO wasn't being terribly helpful on the color front, which is out of character for him, and I wanted something bright and happy and Summery. This certainly fits all of those descriptors!

BMWWU did it so I'm fuzzy on the mechanics, but I have lots of pictures to show you.

In my car, sitting at a light, direct sunlight from the window.

Isn't that pretty? It's what I would call neon Barbie pink. I mean...it's PINK. There is no debate, there is no question. Pink.

But a vibrant, alive pink. It's a pink that says Yeah! I'm pink! Whatchoo gonna do about it! There is nothing girlie about it. It's in your face, taking no prisoners.

I believe this is days later. I would have liked a third coat and nearly put one on but I was afraid it would cause it to lift so I just lived with the VNL. I think I would have been happier with three, though. Obviously, this was two.

Yes, this was about a week's worth of wear. One. Week. Needless to say, it did really very well. Usually by a week I have chips and mess. Not to say this was flawless. I have right hand pics where you can see the lacquer has cracked.

Here you can see where it was really showing the wear. Still...if I had not pointed it out, would you have seen it?

From this angle you do not notice the wear. You DO notice that my nails are growing it out, which just tells you that this has some good wear to it. I didn't baby it, either. This didn't get any additional top coat on it, it didn't get coddled. It did dishes, it went to work...this was just one tough manicure.

If you look really closely you can see where the lacquer is cracking on the middle nail. That nail likes to bend and be a nuisance so this isn't terribly surprising.

To be fair, these were dried forever in an LED light. I think this is good in some senses, it does help the lacquer dry and apparently adhere, but it also can make it brittle, *I* think. I don't claim to be an expert but that is what I seem to experience. It could have something to do with my nails tending to be a little dry since I'm basically dehydrated all the time.

Here's the bottle shot with flash. It's very true to color, actually. This is a little but washed out, but this really photographed beautifully.

No flash. Very true. This color is so saturated and so intense. You have to be a little fearless when you wear it.

And lastly the label.

I always have good luck with Illamasqua lacquers. This is no exception, to be sure. It went on really nicely, from what I could see, it was a nice consistency. I would have liked another coat, but...three is the standard for many people so that's not a deal breaker. The color is so intense. I really loved that about it. I had to take it off to change to interview nails and that post will come up later this week if all goes well. Obviously, I fixed my picture problem so I'm back is the saddle.

I hope you liked this one!

Happy Talons!