Beauty Products Reviews: Illamasqua Speckle Nail Varnish Review, Photos, Swatches

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Illamasqua Speckle Nail Varnish Review, Photos, Swatches

Illamasqua Speckle Nail Varnish

Illamasqua Speckle Nail Varnish ($16.00 for 0.50 fl. oz.) is described as a “speckled lilac.” It has a soft, pale lilac cream base with flecks of small black glitter and larger hexagon-shaped black glitter. I don’t know of any dupes in particular for this shade (Deborah Lippmann also has speckled polish but nothing in lilac). If you have a top coat with black glitter already, you might try using Essie Bangle Jangle, MAC Little Girl Type, Nubar Purple Aster, or Zoya Marley has a base color, as they are similar.

It was fully opaque in color after two coats, and I was surprised at just how close it was to opaque after a single coat. For a pastel, too, it had minimal streaking on the initial coat and a second coat completely smoothed out the color so everything looked lush and even. There was something about the consistency and look of this polish, because though it seems like a creamy color, it almost had a jelly-like finish. The formula wasn’t too thick or too thin, so it flowed well over the nail, and I didn’t have any trouble applying it. Illamasqua’s formula is one of the longest-wearing in my experience–I can get anywhere from ten to fourteen days of wear with minimal tip wear.

THE GLOSSOVER

There was something about the consistency and look of this polish, because though it seems like a creamy color, it almost had a jelly-like finish. The formula wasn't too thick or too thin, so it flowed well over the nail, and I didn't have any trouble applying it.