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Lazerz - with Color Club Beyond, Over The Moon and Illamasqua Cameo

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By beautopia · April 14, 2013 · 0 Comments ·


If you follow me on any of my other social media accounts, you've probably already seen this. But I wanted to share it here because I really love all three of these polishes, and I wore this design for like, a week. That's pretty rare for me. What's even more rare is that it lasted that long without chipping. Holos! Yup. 

Color Club Over the Moon was the base color here, and it is pretty insane. I've never used a holo with such a great formula, and like most of you, I've tried plenty. It's not thick, per se, but it's not the anemic, imperfection-magnifying formula holo lovers are used to. It applies and wears like a regular, AWESOME, polish. I wore it alone also, for a few days, and I honestly sort of want to wear it again soon. Again, RARE. The color is a clear-toned blue, and the holo is pretty strong. 

Color Club Beyond is a charcoal holo, and while the holo isn't as strong as in OTM, it's better than a lot of charcoal holos out there. The real point that needs made here is, again, the formula. Just excellent. 

Illamasqua Cameo. This thing is good. The color is simply unique. There are lots of periwinkles out there, from China Glaze's new Fade Into Hue to China Glaze's old(er) Secret Periwinkle (these two are benchmarks to me) but Cameo just has a clarity and eye-catching purity to it's tone. It's bright, but not. It's one of those. And it's my new jam. 

Illamasqua Jo'mina

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By beautopia · March 18, 2012 · 0 Comments ·

Illamasqua Jo'mina - $14 at sephora.com

Here's an Illamasqua polish I've been debating purchasing for a really long time. I thought that I'd be ok with just Color Club Puccilicious, because in photos they look so similar, but in the end, they're pretty damn different. Jo'mina is lighter, pinker and maybe a bit warmer. It's awesome. It's got a great formula just like all the Illamasqua I've tried. Very pigmented and it takes only two coats for excellent coverage. It will be amazing with a summer tan, I'm telling you! I don't have any other polishes that are dupes, though it's somewhere in between Puccilicious and OPI Lucky Lucky Lavender.

Click for another photo...

Ikat Mix Nail Art

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By beautopia · March 16, 2012 · 0 Comments ·

I've been seeing a lot more Ikat print buzzing around the interwebz, on Pinterest, tumblr, etc... shorts, skirts, tees, nails, everything. So I really wanted to give Ikat-inspired nails a try and I did a mix. I'm not sure how the Ikat dying technique works, but the technique on the nails is super easy, and it doesn't even require a steady hand. It's imperfect by it's very nature, so anyone can do it!

Products used:

  • OPI Skull & Glossbones
  • China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy, Aquadelic, Sun Worshipper
  • FInger Paints Blue Raspberry Taffy
  • Illamasqua Jo'mina
  • Seche Retain as base coat
  • Seche Vite topcoat

 

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Teal and Copper Tribal Nail Art

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By beautopia · February 11, 2012 · 3 Comments ·

Products used:

  • China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat
  • Illamasqua Muse
  • CND Copper Chrome
  • Black Striper Polish
  • Seche Vite Top Coat

 

Here is a simple tribal nail design using Illamasqua Muse as a base. I used CND Copper Chrome for a stripe down the middle and then I used a black Striping polish to make the design over the copper. I thought the teal and copper were made for each other!

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Illamasqua Nail Varnish in Fern

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By beautopia · November 19, 2010 · 4 Comments ·

Illamasqua Fern - $14 at sephora.com

Illamasqua is becoming my "splurge" nail polish. It used to be Chanel, and I do still enjoy the occasional Chanel, but Illamasqua is almost half the price and every bit as luxurious, and most importantly; it's accessible. Sephora has nearly the full line of nail colors from this British brand, so it's easy to collect your favorites one at a time. $14 seems to me a little much to pay for nail polish sometimes, even being a nail junkie, but it's not much more expensive than OPI or Essie in all reality. So I buy only the ones I absolutely have to have and call it a splurge. This time it wasn't even that big of a splurge; I bought it on ebay at $12 and had a $10 coupon! I'd been eyeing Fern up for a while since blue is my favorite color, and finally snapped it up.

I was suprised in a couple ways by this polish; I was surprised by the gorgeousness of the icy silver microglitter shards, and I was also slightly dismayed by the texture which is thicker than any Illamasqua I've tried and it dried somewhat dull. I'll reserve judgement on it since I did get it from eBay (BNIB) but it's always possible it was tampered with. It sort of behaves as if it had a little remover added to it. Anyone have Fern and can tell me what the texture of theirs is like? I topped it with a coat of a fairly old and thick bottle of Seche so it took a while to dry and shrank up like mad. I've cracked open a new bottle of Seche Vite and will try it again some other time. Overall, I love the color, and while the application was a bit yucky and thick, I like the end result; a vibrant blue with a winter wonderland of microglitter.

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Tagged with: nail polish, blue, nails, illamasqua

OPI Ski Teal We Drop and Comparisons

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By beautopia · August 17, 2010 · 4 Comments ·

OPI Ski Teal We Drop is from the new Swiss Collection that's just come out. This was the only polish of the 12 that screamed out at me, and that's only because I'm a hardcore teal lover. If you love OPI Suzi Says Feng Shui, RBL Teal, or Color Club Gossip Column, you'll love this one. It's very similar to RBL Teal but a bit lighter and more blue. I forgot Gossip Column in this comp picture, but I'll do one later and put it up on Twitter or something. Anyway, this is typical OPI application, two coat coverage that's ever so slightly streaky on the first coat. It all evens up beautifully, though and looks great on. The wear is pretty typical of most OPI as well. If you'd like to see a comparison between Ski Teal We Drop, RBL Teal, MAC Blue India and Illamasqua Muse, read on!

Click to see the comp...

Comparison Photos - Kelly Green featuring OPI, Claire's, Sally Hansen and Illamasqua

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By beautopia · June 17, 2010 · 1 Comment ·

Index to pinkie (top to bottom): Illamasqua Rampage, Claire's Kelly Green, Sally Hansen Going Green, OPI Jade is the New Black

Illamasqua Rampage: This obviously isn't kelly green, but the application of Claire's Kelly Green reminded me of the jelly deliciousness of Rampage. One coat of Rampage equals two coats of Kelly Green, so if you like that one-coat color but not the streaky look, Kelly Green is a nice choice.

Claire's Kelly Green: This is a true kelly green in my book. It's got a jelly texture that reaches full saturation at about two moderate (three thin) coats. It dries fairly matte, but with a topcoat it's genius.

Sally Hansen Going Green: Before Kelly Green I thought this was the closest thing to kelly green I'd find, but now against the Claire's polish, I see that it's somewhat soft and washed out in comparison. The shimmer is very beautiful, and I liked the polish fine till Claire's Kelly Green came along, now I'm not sure I care.

OPI Jade is the New Black: Another that isn't a Kelly Green, but I threw it in for comparisons sake. It's a muted rich green, and it's gorgeous. I've reviewed it more in detail here.

Purple and Gold Konad Manicure with Illamasqua Baptiste and China Glaze Passion

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By beautopia · May 26, 2010 · 14 Comments ·

I love the idea of purple and metallic gold together, it seems so regal, but I wanted to have a pattern for this that wasn't obvious; I originally debated over a couple stamps with strands of beads and delicate lace. These just seemed too contrived, so I went for the most deconstructed sort of design I had in my Konad stash; the Pollock-inspired splats of paint on plate m70. Over a base of Seche Clear, I used two coats of Illamasqua Baptiste, and then stamped the design on with China Glaze Passion, a golden chrome. I really liked the way this turned out and wore it for three days before adding a matte topcoat, which you can see after the jump.

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Deep Royal Purple Shimmer Nail Polish Comparisons with Illamasqua, China Glaze, Zoya and more...

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By beautopia · April 24, 2010 · 1 Comment ·

Click on images for full size!

Both photos: Index to pinkie - Rimmel Art of Noise, Zoya Yasmeen, China Glaze Let's Groove, Illamasqua Baptiste

Rimmel Art of Noise - One of the lighter polishes in this comparison, this one is very similar to Yasmeen but the shimmer is just a bit more on the pink side.

Zoya Yasmeen - Similar in base to the Rimmel but the shimmer is brighter, more plentiful and a bit more orange.

China Glaze Let's Groove - Just a tad darker than the previous two, and with less overt shimmer, but very vibrant.

Illamasqua Baptiste - The shimmer in this one is most visible in bright lighting, but it's very rich. The darkest of the bunch.

click to see a couple more pics of these polishes in indirect and lamp light.

Illamasqua Nail Varnish in Baptiste

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By beautopia · April 22, 2010 · 5 Comments ·

Illamasqua Baptiste - $14 at sephora.com

Another home-run from Illamasqua! I adore these polishes, and can forsee an intervention being staged on my behalf at some point in the future. In the meantime I'll just keep on keepin' on. This British brand of dramatic cosmetics is so fun, and the nail polishes are some of the coolest members of the family. Baptiste is a very rich and saturated royal purple full of twinkling blue and violet-pink shimmer. It's super dark on the nail and the shimmer is most visible in direct lighting but does allow it to not look black in indirect light. It reminded me a lot of China Glaze Let's Groove in the bottle but it's just a bit deeper and the shimmer is a little more subtle, but the idea is similar. Below are more photos of Baptiste in different lights.   Check it out!

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