Gimme Glitter: Illamasqua - Blizzard

Hi guys!! It's been a while since we've had a swatch post, just haven't bought a lot of polish which is a good thing. I didn't intend to buy this but TK Maxx has many nail polish blessings haha. Illamasqua for less than £4, you can't say no to that. Last year (it feels so much longer than that though) I bought a white glitter polish as a substitute (Claire's Fluffy btw) but I can now confirm they are not the same. Illamasqua has mad grace, not knocking Claire's though, they had one of my favourite polishes last year too.

Probably not your typical swatch but I wanted a really girly gradient and some extra glitter sprinkled in. So Blizzard has a clear base with subdued pearly white hex glitter and it's really pretty.

You know I love Illamasqua, the only high end brand that I think is worth it. The only one, nothing else is worth it. I'm loving that TK Maxx is selling them for so cheap, now I'll never buy full price again (unless another polish like Melange comes around...). Sure there are dupes and sometimes I'd go for them but the shades are amazing and the formula is flawless. Like it's quality stuff and while expensive not the worst of the high end brands (Chanel anyone?).

The formula was pretty good for this kind of glitter. There's a lot of base but if you load up the brush with glitter and do multiple nails at a time then you're sweet. While there's a lot of base there's also a lot of glitter. The gradient was done with The Body Shop A Grape Affair and Orly Basket Case, the extra glitter is Revlon Belle.

Thank you for reading and I hope you have a lovely day!! :)

Purple Nails: Illamasqua - Seance

Hello there guys!! Ahh my first post-exam post, it feels good. I have a bundle of nail art to go up (all done during exams haha, sometimes I got a little bit of free time) then my blogaversary post which I missed this year cause exams and business and stuff. But that will go up in due course too and hopefully won't take too long cause I actually have time. I definitely want it posted in June even though my blogaversary was the 6th. 3 years of blogging. That's quite long.
So I have another TK Maxx Illamasqua steal today, in Seance, the name sounds snazzy even if it means something weird.

Seance is a red-y plummy purple polish with lots of silver shimmer within. It's pretty but the problem is I hate the colour plum, there's a dirtiness to the colour that I really don't like. Except this colour kind of borders in between that I just about like it. I'm very particular about my shades. I'm looking for like the perfect red-y purple that isn't plum, it isn't the easiest task.

We know Illamasqua is my favourite high end brand, the only one I think is worth the money, especially when you get it for less than a 3rd of the price. I think this was in the same collection as Omen (don't quote me on that), it has the same silver shimmer which is really pretty. As long as Illamasqua keeps making amazing unique polishes I will buy them.

Illamasqua formula tends to be perfect and this is part of that lineage. Very opaque and easy to apply, I'm pretty sure this is 2 coats and maybe 3 if you wanted but it's not really needed. Not much else to say on that front. 

Thank you for reading and I hope you have a great day!! :)

Green Nails: Illamasqua - Radium

Hello there!! This is another Illamasqua polish I got from TK Maxx (less than £4 when a full price is around £13) and another green, love a green Illamasqua. This is another really nice unnatural one haha.

Radium is a nice bright light yellow-y green, chartreuse(!) polish with green shimmer. Really nice, and right up my alley.

Radium came out in the Toxic Nature collection in Spring 2011, so probably around the time I was really getting into polish. Though Illamasqua would've been totally unknown to me. But now it's one of my favourite brands, actually was so happy when I saw these in TK Maxx and when I saw the price I had to get them.

The formula was good, easy to apply I probably used 2 coats but I think 3 would've been better. It's a tad streaky, and the formula is more on the runny side but that doesn't bother me.

Thank you for reading and I hope you have a really nice day!! :)

Green Nails: Illamasqua - Omen

Hello there guys!! This is another new polish, I got a bunch of new polishes cause I did my Grade 8 piano and right after I went to town (in every sense of the phrase). Shopping is just ahhhhh :3 It was all very satisfying and I had my Chinese New Year money with me and it was great.
But yes this was one of my purchases, guys I've mentioned many times how great TK Maxx is. I saw a bunch of beautiful Illamasqua polishes (i.e. my favourite high end nail polish brand) and the price, I got 3 Illamasquas for the price of less than 1 full priced one!! And seriously the colours were ones I'd been eyeing before but wouldn't buy because of the price. It was so perf.

I love green polish and this is so pretty, Omen is a medium grass green with a ton of silver shimmer (which turns green in the polish) polish. It's so fun, like it's so bright and crazay (I need to stop).

Illamasqua is my favourite because it releases gorgeous polishes like this, Omen is just fab. I adore the bright greens Illamasqua does. I've just realised that all my favourite Illamasquas are green. Their green polishes are just so good!! I'm excited to show the other ones cause they're real nice. Again the high end brand that I think is worth the price cause of the colours and the formula. The bottles are never aligned though. Just wanted to put that out there.

The formula was good, it was easy to apply and pretty opaque. I say 2-3 coats cause 2 coats may a lil bit streaky. It's not really a creme so the formula is different but not bad at all, I'm not doing a good job of describing hahaha.

Thank you for reading and I hope you have a nice day!! :)

Top 14 nail polishes of 2014!

Hello there guys and welcome to this favourite nail polish round up post, I love doing these and coincidentally I have got 14 polishes for 2014. I encountered some really really nice polish last year and some colours narrowly missed out and I'm still debating if they should be in here but not really haha.
The thing about preferences is that they change over time, like my favourites 3 years ago, I bet I would order them differently now, not only because of preference but of how amazing they are. I'm sure colours I would've overlooked could become my favourites. This is maturing folks ;)
Anyway last year had some fab fab fab (I would never describe as something "fab fab fab" :/) polishes and I have managed to haphazardly order them, there may be some surprises...or maybe not :P Be excited!!

14. Glam Polish - Mars Attacks! - My friend got me this early last year and the combination of all the matte neon glitter and jade-y mint was obviously going to be a winner for me. I love neon glitter, I think we learnt this from last year.

13. Barry M - Kiwi - I love green polish, I think nail polish is what made me love the colour green, I don't know what it is but green is wonderful. I haven't used this polish as much as I should have (it's why it's further down in the list) but Kiwi is just a fantastic shade of green, right in the middle of the green spectrum and that's a great colour. You know I love the Gellies too.

12. Spa Ritual - Wilderness - This polish is a pretty late entry but that coral though. That golden shimmer though, it's like a coral Jinx! I'm still onboard with textured polishes and Wilderness is such a pretty one!!

11. Essie - Lots of Lux - Hello another texture. I prefer this one though, the richness of the blue captures me and the green/yellow crazy shimmer is a winner too. While this is nice textured, when you add topcoat it's glorious.

10. Hare Polish - Neon Palm - This is just a super interesting polish, grey can really work as a base. Who ever thought I'd have a grey polish in my favourites? The combination of copper and neon pink is great. Especially the neon pink. The copper sparks are a great addition to this polish too. I'm excited to wear this more.

9. Nails Inc - Regents Park - 2014 was the year of red for me, I love red now!! It's obviously not the shade of red with this polish, look at the black glitter combined with the red. It's so perfect, I always say how I love edginess and come on this polish is perfect for that. I feel like I can do something tough and thug with this polish hahahaha.

8. The Face Shop - Strawberry Milk - Yes I may only have worn this once (common theme of the year, not wearing polish enough cause I'm busy) but I knew from the first coat this was special. Just from the amazing teal and purple glitter I was convinced, but when you combine it all like this with the super cute light pink and the insane density of the glitter, you get a pretty sweet polish.

7. Barry M - Superdrug 50th Birthday - Barry M has captured my heart with their limited editions, it's a shame that they are limited. I'm glad I persisted in trying to get this polish by insisting on looking cause it's gorgeous. I was wearing this again recently and it glows from within, I don't know if it's a shimmer that makes it do so but glow-y polishes are so beautiful. Plus it's pink with glitter. I think bases with glitter are a common theme here, but when they're done so well who can blame me? I hope this will be a recurring theme next year :)

6. Barry M - Carousel - As usual Barry is a big hitter. You know I'm a red girl now and this is just such a super perfect gorgeous shade of red. It's the tiniest bit orange-y but in the light red it's SO nice. I don't even care that you can't see the shimmer cause it's such a gorgeous colour and I can't really pinpoint why. Oops another limited edition, I think Barry's best polishes are the limited edition ones :P

5. Models Own - Radiant Pink - The Diamond Luxe collection was such a beast of a collection. I've only wore this one once too but it was so incredible that it's in the top 5. Really can't wait to wear it more cause of the neon pink (always a winner with me) and the gorgeous mini silver flakes.

4. Claire's - Hundred and Thousands - This is me in a polish. Neon coral with red, yellow and blue glitter and bonus white glitter. My favourite colour scheme and then some white glitter. It's ticking all the boxes. So yeah it's basically perfect.

3. Barry M - Fashion Icon - Look it's the reappearance from my old favourite, Barry M. Don't worry this one isn't a limited edition. I cannot convey the sparkliness in pictures, or how amazing the shade of purple is. But I really tried to convey the duochrome shimmer which brings this polish to another level. Another polish that has to get on mah nails right now. When I had this on I could not stop staring, that's a sign of a good polish, a really good polish.

2. Models Own - Asscher Blue - When Models Own do it right, they tend to end up in my top 5. Blue is my favourite colour and I was looking for a nice sky blue and I found it in the Diamond Luxe collection. It's a gorgeous shade of blue, if you didn't know by now I am all about shades. The green/teal shimmer makes this polish incredible. It's not the most pizazz-y polish but it's a beautiful blue and sometimes that's all a girl is asking for.

1. Illamasqua - Melange - It had to be didn't it? Look at that fantastical beast. That shade of green is lovely. But we all know that's not what it's all about, it's the gold and red mini flakes. They're AMAZING. This is a polish to make you feel mythical or part of a fairytale (like the promo pictures portrayed, well done promo pictures) and ready to frolic through a forest. Polish shouldn't give these kind of illusions and Melange is something else. This is why Illamasqua is the only high end brand I think is worth splurging on, for polishes like Melange. More like this please.

Well thank you for reading my gushy favourites, hopefully you think they're a good bunch ;) The colour range was very broad, there's 3 greens, 2 blues, 1 purple, 2 corals, 2 pinks, 2 reds and a grey.
Barry M obviously ruled the roost (and long may he reign) but not as much as previous years with 4, 1 for Illamasqua (like 3 years ago), 2 Models Own, 1 Claire's, 1 The Face Shop, 1 Nails Inc, 1 Essie, 1 Spa Ritual, 1 Hare Polish and 1 Glam Polish. You gotta love range.
These are definitely polishes that I'm going to reach for, for a full manicure when I inevitably won't have time to do nail art. Trust me I'm excited to rock these. I'm always for a year of new polish, I'm never sure if I'll find enough polishes I love, but I always do (maybe that isn't such a good thing :P). I hope you have a fantastic day!! :)

Green Nails: Illamasqua - Melange

Hello guys!! This is the polish. I'm real here and this is just the best. I'm sure you've seen swatches of this beauty cropping up every now and again and from those swatches I decided I need this polish in my life. And I was right. And then some. If you can look at this polish and not fall in love then I don't know anymore.

I'm not a bottle shot gal but I had to

Can you deal? Cause I can't deal. Maybe I'm not very good at dealing. But is this not the most fantastical green polish you've ever seen?? I need this in all the colours.
Melange is a dusty camouflage/asparagus green (I actually like the sound of that) with the most stunning gold and red/copper flakes (those flakes though, they're wonderful). I'm finding it hard not writing in all caps. IT'S JUST BEAUTIFUL!! I think it's been a while since I've really been wowed by a polish, but Melange has changed everything. Everything. :P

Illamasqua, you've done it again. As I always say Illasmasqua is the only high end brand I'm willing to splurge on and this is one of the reasons. Melange is from this year Autumn collection called Once, it's very ethereal and is evocative of fairytales and that. Seriously, go look at the press photos they are so nice. Melange is the only polish to come out with the collection, but that's all the collection needs. I ran out to get it, I infrequently do that. Melange is worth it. There are so many gorgeous Illamasqua polishes, why you cost so much??
I looked up what Melange is and it's a formation of different shapes and types of rocks which may not be the most exciting thing. But I do geography in school and in the physical aspect, we cover rocks (kind of) and that kind of stuff. But I love geography (hence why I do it ;)) and so I have connections with the polish. I'm great at sounding crazy.

The formula is also totally and utterly flawless. I used 2 coats and they applied like a dream, imagine a dream gliding onto your nails. That's what Melange is like. Also when I messed something up, when I reapplied, I only used 1 coat and the opacity was perfect. This is all you'd ever want in a formula of a polish.

Bonus picture because I can

Thank you for reading this wordy post about this extraordinary polish, I hope you have a fantastic day!! :)

Comparison: Mint Greens

Hi there guys!! Hope that if you're having time off you're enjoying it, I'm contemplating doing work, I decided after new year's day I would and this time I'm determined!! Cause like I actually need to get this stuff done...
I have another comparison today, only took me like 4 months, honestly I don't have all the polish to compare but I want to make my comparisons somewhat worthwhile. So mint greens, I don't know how I obtained so many but such is a nail art fiend's life :P

So we have Essie - Turquoise & Caicos, Rimmel - Misty Jade, Max Factor - Cool Jade, Barry M - Mint Green and I threw in Illamasqua - Nomad even though it is very different.
Misty Jade is the most blue toned and Cool Jade is the darkest of the lot. Honestly I think these are jade greens, I think the Barry M and the Essie are the most similar with the Essie being slightly lighter. But they're all quite similar as you can tell and they are especially similar in certain lightings, except Nomad, much more green-toned and beautiful.

My favourite is obviously the Illamasqua, the colour is the most beautiful in my opinion (it was in my favourites last year :)) but the most expensive, it's rare I splurge but I feel like Nomad is really worth it. But maybe you feel the Illamasqua is similar enough to the other polishes, personally I don't haha. But my second favourite is Cool Jade, not only because it was given by my friend but also it's a gorgeous colour with a perfect formula. Maybe you think I'm crazy and these are all identical to you but as the Like A Candy Shop meme goes "They're not the same, they're similar".

Illamasqua was 2 perfect coats that totally could've been one if I used a thicker coat of polish.
Barry M was 3 coats but probably could've been 2, tash on the gloopy side but my bottle is old and it's not bad at all. Seriously this was one of the first polishes I ever bought in a bunch of Barry M's.
Max Factor was also 2 perfect coats.
Rimmel was 3 coats, also probably didn't need it another slightly gloopy one but not bad.
Essie was a definite 3 coater, jelly so it's easy to bubble, I'm not the biggest fan of this polish. I thought I'd love it but no, as you can see its very similar to other polishes I own and it's not better. I keep saying I'll try to use this more, who knows if I'll ever do that haha.

Thank you for reading (and found this somewhat useful?) and I hope you have a wonderful day!! :)