Illamasqua I'mPerfection - Speckle - My Favorite!

Speckle is my favorite. Because purple is one of my most favorite colors? Possibly. I'm not sure it's that. Maybe it's this particular shade of purple that just makes me squeee. Not entirely sure I can articulate it.

One coat as a sheer. You can do it.

This is two coats. Two blurry coats. Note to self, when the swatching isn't working, just paint the nails and move on. You'll live to swatch another day.

Not a great bottle shot but a nice one of the nails. This is two coats again, which is really all you need, though you can do more if you want to build up more glitters. That will work because it seems to take a lot to completely obscure the lower layers of glitter underneath.
I just love this color. It's sort of vibrant but not..still kind of a dusty color. I love it a lot.

This is the only one that had a little glitter sticking off, I think! That's easily fixed with an orange stick. I love how this looks, it's so unique and interesting and the color is so gorgeous. I'm in love with this color.

Finally a good one. You can really see what this looks like that it has texture and could probably use another coat, actually. It would even it out a little more, but this isn't bad. It has some roughness, I would put a thick top coat on it because that's what I like, but you do what you're happiest with.
The pigments are really saturated in this, it's just amazingly pretty. I'd wear this purple without the interesting glitter look. I really would.

That's the last of these, finally. I'm so sorry it took me so long. I hope you are planning to pick some of these up.

Happy Talons!

Illamasqua I'mPerfection - Scarce

Scarce is pink. I'm not a huge fan of pinks, but it's good. It's a pretty kind of pink. I don't usually turn pinks down, but they don't draw my eye at first.

This is another that will do OK as a sheer, if that's the look you're after. You know I hate that so moving right along...

Blurry....see, swatching the collection was a nightmare! Not because of the lacquers it was other things, lighting...focus...it was really difficult for some reason. I don't know. All the same, you can see here that this has that same magical Illamasqua formula that is controlling and distributing the glitters but not eating them alive. You can see that the lower layers do get covered some, how could you prevent it? But there is dept in that look.

Once again, I didn't shift these around at all. Those glitters fall where they fall, so nicely, and sometimes in a cute curl like on the ring finger there! It's sort of like random nail art. This is a fun one. This one also really shows off those little micro glitters in there.

And because of the crappy swatching issues I had, these are all the shots of this I wound up with. Nice, huh? Some days are just like that.

I like this one but it's probably my least favorite of the group. It performs just like the others and while I do like this more saturated shade of pink I think I'd have to be in the mood to wear this. I'm not going to choose it at random.

Happy Talons!

Illamasqua I'mPerfection - for real this time. Freckle

Freckle is one of the colors I was really fascinated by in this collection. I'm not sure why. It's a dark beige/tan with the collection's signature black hex and mini black glitters. And as you will see, it kind of gave me lobster paws. Still, it's interesting. 

I had the worst time swatching these. please forgive the kind of crappy swatches. I just couldn't get stuff to work out.

This is Freckle...just as I described it. But it's sort of interesting, don't you think?

K, see what I mean? Really just not great! But the color is good.No, still not my favorite of these, but it's pretty and if you want to confuse people, this is a good one for it. I think we expect blues and greens to be a little out there, or a lot of people do. I don't think the black glitter is as much of a surprise in those. In a neutral/nude? It's unexpected. I'm glad they added this to the colors.

Finally a good swatch. You guys don't know how many I pitched. A few, to say the least. You can see that this is going to have an unavoidably lumpy texture, but really, it's not bad. I like it glass smooth so I recommend a thicker top coat but if that doesn't bother you then you can just seal it up with any top coat and go.

Also, I didn't do anything to this to arrange those glitters. The formula is so perfect. It goes on nicely, the glitters disperse themselves and don't clump up and there isn't a lot of clean up. If you check those cuticles, they're really clean, that's the application, not my cleaning up afterward. So nicely done.

Last one on this. These are really pretty color true, so I'm pleased with that. You can see it makes me a little red. It's OK. I can live with it.

I like these a lot. There are a few more to go, too!
Plus, interestingly enough, Deborah Lippmann put out something very similar. 3 shades of similar colors. They're not dupes, they're not even suspected of being, but they are bright colors with black glitters. Who is spying on whom, don't you wonder??  I have them, I haven't tried them yet.

Hmmmm.

Happy Talons!

Illamasqua I'mPerfection Collection - Fragile

Let me start out by showing you the whole collection in it's boxes so you can kind of get a preview. I know Mottle was the uber popular one out there in the blogosphere, but it's not my favorite.

The first non Mottle I want to show you is Fragile. Of course this makes me want to say "fra geeee lay" but...I try not to.

Fragile is the blue member of the group and is a really lovely watery shade of bright pastel blue with those little rocker black glitters.

This is a little faded out thanks to the flash but it shows the nails really well. The watery blue is so pretty and I wanted to show you that you could use this as a sheer if that's what turns your crank. This is one coat on nekkid nails. The blue of the lacquer gives the black glitters a little but of a softer look, but they're still prevalent, and as you can see, they scatter themselves out nicely. Trust me, I lack the patience to sit and move those all around.

The label on the box. I love that it's speckled, too!

Here is two coats, you can see it's opaque. I love that these have little particles as well as those larger hex ones. It adds a lot.

Here is two coats. You can see it needs a third to really level out, the ring finger particularly is showing through. I don't personally think this is a big deal at all. Probably if I had put on thicker layers it would have been fine.
The interesting thing is that this is an opaque polish that isn't eating it's glitter. You can still see them very clearly. I also love that it spreads them out. The formula is absolutely perfect. Goes on so beautifully and yet it covers well, spreads out the glitter and still lets you see it. YOu can also see here, the texture of the glitter. If you are into those textured polishes then go for it. I personally am not loving that look. At. All. But if you like it, then great. If not, I recommend a couple coats of nice thick top coat, Gelous being my favorite right now.

Last shot of this one, and it's washed out. I apologize. But you get the idea from the other shots, this is just a better shot at the glitters.

What do you make of these? I love the look, I love the micro particles in there adding depth. These are so interesting. I love them. This still isn't my favorite, though. ;)

Happy Talons!

Illamasqua I'm Perfection Mottle. Is Perfection.

Mottle is making the blog rounds and though I wore this weeks ago, right after receiving it from Illamasqua (via Belgium...the Royal Mail's issues with nail polish not standing in Illamasqua's way!) I didn't get it blogged until now so I'm a little late to the party. I have posts of the other colors coming up soon. As usual, the internet usage is at a premium so I have to do what I can. ((Shakes fist at ISP and it's stupid usage caps))

The I'm Perfection collection is inspired by our very natural need to accept ourselves as we are, flaws and all, and to acknowledge the fact that human imperfection is, in fact, beautiful. If you've ever seen those visual experiments where they make a human face perfectly symmetrical using something like photoshop, you'll understand this even more fully. Perfect symmetry in another human face is...weird! We are not used to it. I have plenty of flaws and like a lot of women they are what I see when I look in the mirror,  but also...I do acknowledge that it is my own unique heritage that make me look as I do. Red hair from my Irish grandmother, high cheek bones and grey eyes from my American Indian grandfather (who I also don't really thank for my very high forehead), steadiness and strength from the German and Scots on my father's side and my steely temper from his Welsh roots. Maybe those are stereotypes, but I don't mean any of them to be insulting. More admiring. The American Indian looks I cannot completely hide behind the German-Irish-Scotch and Welsh white skin adds a touch of the exotic. Even I will acknowledge this. While I'm not exactly pretty, I am somewhat exotic. And I somehow manage to look like 3 of 4 grandparents. And Ingrid Bergman, if you believe my mother which...you really probably shouldn't.

The moral of my ramblings is that imperfection is actually perfect. And this collection of nail lacquers perfectly captures that beauty. Plus the formula and application are nothing short of freaking perfect. Not sure how they did it, but they did.

Mottle is the green of the set of five. This was taken of fresh polish by electric lighting. I have some sunlight pics coming up. This is very true to color, I'm pleased. You can see that there are varying sizes of black glitter here with the larger being hexagonal in shape, which always adds interest.

Little blurry of the nail, but the label is the thing, it has little speckles on it! I know I'm a dork but these kinds of details turn my crank. It's attention to the little things, it's indicative that Illamasqua understands it's client base and how we operate. Love it. It's also this kind of attention that suggests you're getting quality for your money, which you certainly are. Illamasqua is one of my favorite beauty brands hands down.

Here's the wear. This is about 7 days, I think. I'll explain what I did at the end, as usual. I had to take this off because the right hand was wearing much worse than the left, I'll show you here in a sec.
The amazing thing about this polish is that it applies so beautifully, it's miraculous. The glitter perfectly balances in the lacquer, there is no maneuvering this around, it just glides on. It's meant to be random and it applies that way. Somehow they built a perfectly opaque polish that doesn't overwhelm the glitter, but instead enhances it. It's magical.

In other words, rather than spending a lot of time jockeying your glitter around you just paint this on like a standard lacquer. It does all the work. Maybe I was just fortunate, but I didn't have to use an orange stick to push any particles back on, either.

Here's the right hand, massive chip and some cuticle lifting up there. It was just time go, but it lasted a solid week.

The other wear isn't bad. I caught the pointer nail on my sweater and this pulled off. I was kinda irritated, but it let me try a new brand after so...it's all good! That'll be coming up.

The parting shot. It still looks pretty good.

This is attention getting. People will ask you about it. One of the girls at work that I rarely speak to stopped me to look at it. People at the grocery store looked at me oddly...which I like. Some thought it was nail art of some odd design. It's very pretty.

Something about Mottle draws you to it. It's not the prettiest shade in the collection, I don't think, but it's magnetic. Not in that you maneuver it around with a magnet, but that you are drawn to it. Dang, but you have to be specific these days!

Here's what I did:

1 coat Growth Spurt
2 coats Mottle, though it didn't really need it. A thick coat will do ya, but I think it adds depth.
2 coats Gelous
1 coat Seche Vite

If you're interested in this at all, I'd pick it up when you find it. I always get mine from Illamasqua.com if I can manage it at all, and they have it in stock, but do what you're most comfortable with.

Happy Talons!

Gobsmacked!

butterLondon has so much humor. I love it. Even if they have released a bunch of top secret squirrell colors again that I can't afford.
And at least they aren't all gung ho to retire them, either.

So, you know I had to pick up the fall collection they put out because I'm a butter fan.
This is the first I've tried: Gobsmacked. A term close to my heart for a stupid reason. Which I'm not gonna tell you.

:D

Ahhh. OK. BMWWU wouldn't do this. She looked at me like she was gonna throw up and I handed her Fairy Blood instead. I love it. There are quite a few colors along this vein out right now, Illamasqua has one, which I don't have. (Yet!) Blackened with silver shimmer or black with silver glitter. Orly has a couple really pretty ones, Goth is coming to mind. Gobsmacked, however, has black glitter in it as well, which is what gives it it's zing.

Ooo. Sorry about the glare. I gloobed a little bit on the paint job as well. I should have cleaned that up, I apologize. However, all that aside you can still see the polish, which is the important part. There is just a lot going on here, and it's all great. Black glitter adding depth, silver glitter adding sparkle...it's fascinating.

What I'm trying to show you here is that this doesn't dry smooth. This is a pretty chunky glitter. It's thick and has a lot of particles. I can't tell what color the base is. It might be clear, it could also be a charcoal? You can see here, though, the darker and black particles. I'd be inclined to guess that this has several colors of glitter from the same color family. Or lack of color family, as the case may be.

Regardless, you're going to want a good top coat on this. It ate the first coat.

 There are a lot of pictures...I liked it.
You can see here where I was starting to get some tip wear. this did pretty well, and glitters will always wear like iron because the glitter gets glued to your nail in the painting process and it sticks. You can also see where I glopped up the cuticles. I had a little trouble controlling this, but nothing too bad. Nothing a little care wouldn't have stopped. It was thick, but you have to have that to hold all these glitter pieces together. It's to be expected in a polish like this.

Love it. Looks kind of like a starry winter sky.

This looks to me to have a touch of blue it. Like a dark dark cadet kind of blue. Do you see that?

Without flash...sparrrrkleeeeee.

Also without flash. It's not black. It has black in it, but it is not black. It's a very dark grey with a lot of black particles. It passes for black. It's like it has a fake ID or something.

Wear on the right hand. You can see where it's getting a little chippy on the birdie finger towards the ring finger. That is probably my weakest nail, it's the one that breaks most frequently (and no, it's not breaking so much because I flip people off. Not really....HONEST!)

Almost there.
Here is a bottle shot which shows this stays very true to the bottle color. I personally like that? I think it's a good thing. This is just great, I think. I liked wearing it and a lot of people were really interested in it. Only a few confessed to really liking it, but lots looked!

Last one, finally.

It's a little blurry but it has less bottle glare. I am not sure why I kept both but I did so we're going to look at them!

Gobsmacked. I think you might feel like you were after you see this beauty!

Enjoy!

Happy Talons!