Illamasqua Theatre Of The Nameless Collection Fall 2011 - Nail Varnishes: Swatches and Review

I am always very excited about new collections from Illamasqua - a brand I fell in love with a long time ago. Illamasqua is exactly my cup of tea. It is edgy and very original. Every collection they come up with has a story behind. It is thought through and I love their pictures that come with the collection.

Theatre Of The Nameless, their new collection for this fall, is no exception. I am very excited that I can show you all four nail varnishes that are a part of this collection. 

 Illamasqua says: "Taking a lead from the colour-coded specialities of the Wittenberg Platz’s domineering Boot Girls, Illamasqua introduces confident new shades, in a brazen display of utter indulgence. The Theatre of the Nameless proudly parades a kinky new waxy “rubber-look” finish to Illamasqua’s hardwearing, chip-resistant Nail Varnish … "

The new rubber-look is similar to what we have seen with Illamasqua Scorn earlier this year. It is a satin finish somewhere between glossy and matte. Here are my swatches, you can read my overall thoughts at the end:

KINK
I had enough time to try all of these as a full mani and had each one of them a few days on. Yes I even had a green polish. And you know what? I liked it! Maybe it is the rubber finish...it makes it a bit different than anything else I have from the green family of nail polishes. Kink is described as a bottle green. The application on this one was flawless (I don´t have to say that, we are talking about Illamasqua here). I used two coats.

VICE

Vice is a deep cerise and absolutely perfect for fall. It also covers in two coats, but I used three on these pictures just to be sure.  

FAUX PAS

My favourite...of course! It is a purple, a classic medium purple. On Faux Pas you can see the rubberized finish the best, just have a look at the detail. Faux Pas also had the best coverage from the set, if you use a thicker coat it covers in just one. I love that!

TAINT

Taint is my least favourite but I know some of you will love it. Still I love the finish it has. I didn't find anything like this in my nail polish collection. Illamasqua describes it as a stone brown.

Overall I am glad I don´t see any other glossy cremes as we have seen a lot of them this fall. I am glad that Illamasqua came with this rubberised finish. Not only are the nail polishes in this finish but also their caps! I love that and wish all polishes had rubberized caps...they are much easier to open and work with.

As I also already said the polishes have a great formula and are easy to work with. Most Illamasqua polishes I tried have exceptional quality and these are no exception. They have good coverage too. The drying time on these is a bit longer than you would expect from polishes with this finish. Once applied they are glossy and you have to wait for about 3 - 5 minutes for the effect to fully show. Compared with Scorn the drying time is a bit longer but still faster than a normal glossy creme.

I am also happy with the color choice. Glad there is a beautiful purple which I will be wearing a lot this fall! Overall a nice little collection with typical fall colors but with a different finish that we have seen from other brands.

P.S. Did I tell you how much I love the names of these?

I can´t wait to hear your thoughts so tell me what do you think about these? Any must haves?

* the product(s) in this post were sent to me by the manufacturer or their PR company

Chanel Peridot - Review and Swatches

I know you have already seen this polish a hundred times. If it is boring please wait for my next post :) For me this was the most expensive polish of this year so I will make this post worth it! Most times I can´t justify so much money for one polish. Well my local Sephora had a 20% sale so I couldn't wait longer and bought Chanel Peridot from this year´s fall collection. Here are my swatches:

Peridot is a beautiful duochrome of green and gold. It shines like crazy as you can see on my pictures which are without sun or flash. I still can´t believe I bought a green polish for so much money! Me? A purple lover that doesn't like green much :) But I just couldn't resist, it is gorgeous:

I love the way it changes depending on what angle you look at it...

I tried to find a dupe in my collection but already knew that I have nothing like this (which was one of the reasons why I justified the price for this polish). The closest I could get was China Glaze Peace On Earth (POE) but they are very different as you can see on this comparison:

I have to admit that I wasn't sure about this polish when I bought it and I was a bit scared I wouldn't like it. But the moment I painted it on my nails, I fell in love! What do you think about Peridot? Must have or a overhyped polish?

Nicole By OPI Red Texture

Today a quick post about a red crackling polish from Nicole By OPI - Red Texture. As a base color I used a bright pink (Illamasqua Obsess). I think that these colors work very nice together. On the pictures I don´t have a top coat but if you wear this as a full mani, always use it :) Hope you have a great Sunday!

* the product(s) in this post were sent to me by the manufacturer or their PR company

Yellow Neon Comparison

Yesterday I showed you Illamasqua Rare - a perfect highlighter yellow! I said that it is the best I ever tried and as a proof I have this comparison for you today. On the picture you see Color Club Get Your Lem-on (GYL), Illamasqua Rare (R), China Glaze Yellow Polka Dot Bikini (YPDB) and China Glaze Electric Pineapple (EP), which is not a neon, but I only have three :) I used three coats on all of these so that you can see how well they cover. Illamasqua is fully opaque. The other have visible nail line. Illamasqua is the most expensive of them all but you get what you pay for. If you are looking for a true highlighter yellow neon, I recommend the Illamasqua.

Illamasqua Rare

I got so many nice comments on my previous post showing you Illamasqua Collide. Looks like it is just the right time to show you neons :) So I have another one for you. This time it a neon highlighter yellow - Illamasqua Rare. I love it, so easy to apply and it really is a true super bright neon. This is three coats on the picture. Of all the neon yellows I tried, this is my favourite!

OPI Navy Shatter

I know it might look like my blog turned into a blog only about crackles and shatters but I really want to show these to you. Don´t worry. I have some fall collections coming up in the next few days :)

Navy Shatter is the last of the three blue shatters I have. On the picture it is over a silver foil with one coat of OPI Servin' Up Sparkle. As with the previous two the Navy Shatter works great. I love it!

Overall I think that the three blue shatters released by OPI are the best crackling polishes I have tried. I think I need some back ups :) How do you feel about them?

* the product(s) in this post were sent to me by the manufacturer or their PR company

Nicole By OPI Gold Texture

I have another crackling polish for you today. This time from Nicole By OPI. They call them texture coats. The first one I want to show you is Gold Texture. It is a subtle silvery gold. I think it works quite nice but I like OPI shatters more. I layered it over Nicole By OPI I´m A Believer. I just love the combination of purple and gold :) Do you like it too?

* the product(s) in this post were sent to me by the manufacturer or their PR company

OPI Serena Williams Glam Slam! France Collection 2011 - Swatches and Review

Today a quick post about another set from the Serena Williams range :) This one has two polishes. Here they are:

RALLY PRETTY PINK

A super shiny plum with tons of gold sparkle. It is very close to Zoya Faye. I can make a comparison if you wish to see them side by side :) On the picture are three coats.

RED SHATTER

Red Shatter was easy to work with and I think that it cracks really nice. However I am not wowed by the combination of these two. They look pretty but I can think of better combinations. Can´t wait to try Red Shatter over some different colors.

As I said as a combination nothing super special for me but on their own these polishes are pretty. Still I think that some of the previous Glam Slam collections were better :) I still love Grape...Set...Match which is an amazing purple with a lot of depth! Tell me how you feel about this set :) can´t wait to read your thoughts!

* the product(s) in this post were sent to me by the manufacturer or their PR company

Illamasqua Collide

This summer the weather sucks...at least in the Czech Republic :( So I told myself that I need a mani to cheer me up a bit. Could there be anything better than a bright pink neon? I have Illamasqua Collide and I was very surprised how easy it is to work with. Neons are hard to apply....well, not this one. I used three coats and it was not streaky and I had full coverage. No need to use white underneath or apply very thin coats and wait for them to dry. I love it! What is your favourite pink neon?

OPI Blue Shatter

I know some of you are bored by all the shatters and crackles but I think that these blue ones from OPI are absolutely amazing! I showed you Turquoise Shatter a few days ago and today it is time for Blue Shatter. It is a beautiful cobalt blue. I fell in love with it :) On the pictures I layered it over Orly Lunar Eclipse. They make a great combination. I also want to try it with a neon purple. Cant´t wait to try the third one. So far these blue shatters are my favourite of all the crackling polishes I tried. They are very easy to work with. Love them!

P.S. if you missed my tips and tricks post on the shatter polishes, have a look here.

* the product(s) in this post were sent to me by the manufacturer or their PR company

OPI Pirates Of The Caribbean On Stranger Tides Collection 2011 - Swatches and Review

So good to be back after a longer summer break. I did not post much this summer, I had a lot to do. But now I am back and I want to post much more often. Today I want to show you this OPI collection. I am late with it, as the customs held my package, but I am sure it is still nice to have a look at it. I still didn't see the film and now I have to go to the cinema. Just don´t know which of these to wear :)

SKULL & GLOSSBONES

A light grey creme. Very glossy...all my swatches are without a top coat. This was two coats, I think it looks very elegant :)

STRANGER TIDES

The only polish from the collection I had some application problems with. But not much, I just had to use three coats here to hide imperfections.

MERMAID´S TEARS

I love this! It is a turquoise creme but it does not scream into your face. It is muted, dusty looking. Very pretty. Two coats.

PLANKS A LOT

A medium lavender purple. I love purple so I like this one too, but it is not so special. Two coats.

SPARROW ME THE DRAMA

Muted pink that looks a bit darker than in the bottle. Great formula on this one, it applied like a dream :) Two coats.

STEADY AS SHE ROSE

A very light blue based pink or a lavender. You choose. It is a very pretty color and I can´t wait to wear it as a full mani! Two coats again.

 When I first heard that this collection is coming out I dreamed about totally different colors coming. Therefore the first promo pictures were a little disappointing. However, after swatching them I have to say that I like most of the collection. Although this is a spring/summer collection I think that these colors will be great all year round. The formula was also very good, standard OPI. Only one of the polishes required three coats for full coverage.

There is also one more thing that you might miss on my pictures...yes the OPI Silver Shatter. I want to do a special post about that so please wait for it. Can´t wait to show you :)

This collection is out for a pretty long time now, so tell me...which ones did you get or you want?

* the product(s) in this post were sent to me by the manufacturer or their PR company

Illamasqua Spartan

I have this polish at home for a long time now but I realized that I haven´t showed it to you yet! So here it is a gold glitter polish from Illamasqua called Spartan. The glitter particles are small and so you need about four to five coats for full coverage. It is also a beautiful polish for layering. Great for summer, don´t you think?

OPI Turquoise Shatter

Out of all the Shatters OPI released so far this one was the one I was most looking towards to. I think my customs knew this because they held the package for quite a long time :( Now I have it at home and I can tell you. It is even better than I hoped for. Actually it is amazing! Here I want to show it to you over a plain white creme. I think this combination is beautiful. It shows the shimmer that Turquoise Shatter has. Oh I love this so much even though I am so late with it and you must have seen it at least a billion times. What do you think?

* the product(s) in this post were sent to me by the manufacturer or their PR company