Illamasqua - Aorta

When I'm feeling wry and in the mood for something a little edgy and dangerous I open the Illamasqua drawer. You know, Rescue Beautys are for elegant and playful, Lippmann's for in your face bling and butters for fun and sophisticated. Illamasqua is for the sly smile that might mean you're about to get kissed. Or clawed. You shouldn't be sure which.

I was in that mood, I opened that drawer and out came Aorta. Like a puppy at the pound it chose me, it said "Let's go be dangerous" and it pounced out of the drawer.

Aorta is part of the most recent collection of rubberized finishes from Illamasqua, a look I happen to really like. It's not full matte, it has a sheen, but it's not glossy. More on that later.

Here is the first application shot:

It's still wet here, which accounts for the shine. Now...I don't have a rubberized picture for you. Why? Do you ask? Because IT WOULDN'T DRY. I tried everything. I let it sit, I put lacquer dryer on it, two different kinds! Nope. Aorta said "Up Yours. I don't dry for no man. Or woman." I said but but...I have to go to bed! It said "I spit on your bed!" A tired woman has to do what a tired woman has to do.

...


I had no choice. I had to do it. I had to put a top coat on it so it would dry so I could sleep. I'm not a good sleeper. I have to get it when I can. Wet polish is REALLY not conducive. So I slapped top coat on it, which had some interesting side effects.

The tip wear a few days later. This wore pretty well, really. I was starting to get the "Let's slap some glitter on it" fever before I took it off. One day I really will remember to take notes somehow. A calendar maybe...I don't know. Regardless. This wore really pretty well.

Please don't mind the cuticles. I have been really dehydrated lately because where I work is SO dry. Plus I'm a nervous wreck and when I am nervous I pick, I chew, I bake. Yeah, bake. It wears me out for some weird reason and then I sleep. I don't get it, either.

As you can see, this is red. It's really red. It's BLOOD red. If you're going to be Vampira, or Elvira or some other undead gorgeous seductive creature, this is your beast. It's Cruella De Vil red. This would make a stunning gangster moll flashback half moon mani. Oooo. Why didn't I think of that before?

The right hand. Still nothing major.

Now...MDAMO didn't have a hand in this one and he's not a huge fan of red. However, I think he liked it. I just asked him. In his words "It was OK". He generally likes darker colors. He has his eye on one, and when I can afford it, I'll pick it up. I think it's beautiful, too. He said it's not the prettiest thing he's seen grace my nails but it has a certain something.

There you go. The MDAMO speaks.

The label shot. You can see here something that I want to point out. This has a pink tint to it. It's the oddest thing because this is about as far as you can get from pink without venturing into burgundy territory. But it has a pinkish cast and this picture capture that perfectly in the bottle. You will at times see something closer to what's in this bottle above than what is on my nails, which have an almost orange cast. I don't know how it does that and is a cream. It's not a duochrome, it's not doing anything remarkable at all, really. But it is a chameleon.

OK. Here is the weirdness to be named later. Take a good hard look at the thumbnail. That is the top coat peeling off the rubberized finish. This did this in spots all over my nails. It wasn't bad and if you didn't have it pointed out, would you have really noticed it? Maybe? It wasn't the nail dryer stuff, either, because I managed to wash my hands carefully after that. Nothing will stick to that stuff. I suppose there could have been residue, but...I don't know. Strange.
Please don't mind the finger prints. Tacky. But this came out so much truer than the other bottle shot I had. Had to go with it. Just had to.

And because all my regulars know I'm such a whore for the shock value of a polish or make up name, I must tell you this story. At work one of the girls was trying to get a resident with MRDD to look at my pretty red nails. Then she looked at me and said the color is gorgeous. I smiled sweetly and said "Aorta." She looked at me baldly and said "Aorta. You're serious. You would be. Of course". She's a friend and it was funny. I love that shock. This will get it for you!

This was a Poshe mani. I did:

1 coat Poshe base coat (blue bottle)
1 coat Nailtiques 2 Plus
2 coats Orly Nail Armor
3 coats Aorta, to intensify the color
2 coats lacquer dryer
1 coat Poshe fast dry top coat (which worked. It dried itself fast and then made it hard enough so I could sleep. All I needed it to do. It's my go to top coat these days regardless.)

Aorta. Love it.


Happy Talons!