Review: Illamasqua Speckled Nail Varnish

 

Hi guys! Today I went out shopping at Sephora to see if they had any new nail products, and saw that they were selling the new Illamasqua Speckled nail polish. Basically, I was ecstatic- I'd seen online a couple weeks ago that Illmasqua had released these, but had forgotten about them because, you know, life happened. Anyway, I picked one up in the color "Fragile" (a baby blue with black speckles), and couldn't resist doing a review for y'all.  

 

 Left: Super pretty packaging, Right: "Fragile" in the bottle.

I had to take a picture of the top of the package because for some reason I think it's really cute that even the color label is speckled...

 

Basic Info:These polishes retail for $16, and you can buy them at Sephora, http://www.sephora.com/speckled-nail-varnish-P377106, and on the Illamasqua website: http://www.illamasqua.com/shop/products/nails/

 

The speckled polishes come in four other shades:

 

"Freckle", a tan with black speckles

"Scarce", a muted peachy pink with black speckles

"Speckle", a lilac with black speckles

and "Mottle", a mint green with black speckles

 





 

Above: My nails after one coat of polish. I was a bit skeptical of the sheerness of the base color after the first coat, because I thought it would take around 3 coats to build up the opacity, which is unusual for Illamasqua polishes. However, I was totally wrong:   

 

After a slightly thicker second coat, the color was completely opaque (the picture above shows my nails after 2 coats + a topcoat). I love how the speckles from the first coat show through a bit- I think it gives the polish a lot of depth, and totally explains why the base is a tad sheer.

 

Other stuff that you may want to know:

 

Dry time: FAST. I was able to immediately apply a second coat after the first. This is pretty typical for Illamasqua polishes though, which half explains why I love them so much (superior pigmentation is the other reason).

 

Size of bottle: 15 ml (0.5 fl oz.)

 

Finish: This dried to a creme/matte-ish finish, and looks very glossy with a topcoat. Despite the fact that there are large hexagonal speckles, my nails are still quite smooth. 

 

The Verdict:

 

Q: Will I buy more colors/repurchase?

A: Yes! I know that $16 is pricey for a nail polish, but I'm not aware of any dupes on the market, and the formulation is excellent.