Review: Illamasqua Nail Polish ~ Velocity and Strike

I confess that for a long time I had no real interest in nail polish. I used to bite my nails. *horrified gasp from nail loving readers* It’s true, I’d knaw them constantly, when I was nervous, when I was bored, even if I got a tad peckish. And for that reason I never wanted to paint them, that and the fact that the right hand ALWAYS looked terrible.

However over the past few months I gradually started getting back into them. And then of course obsessed with them, and it all started with my first Illamasqua nail polish.....

I was in the Trafford centre in Manchester with my mum, with some money I’d earned from some chore or another and I was on my way to the MAC counter, but I was suddenly struck as I realised that right next to it was an Illamasqua counter!



I had never seen an Illamasqua counter before. I didn’t own any at that point but had drooled over blogs and youtube reviews and the stuff on their website that all looked so gorgeous. So clearly MAC would have to wait as I squealed and skipped up to the counter.

I won’t bore you with the details of the rest of the trip but suffice it to say that I came away with possibly my favourite ever nail polish. It’s called ‘Velocity’





Velocity. (is actually a little lighter than shown)



It is from the dystopia collection that came out in autumn of 2009. It is truly gorgeous. I always think that lilacs and soft purples look beautiful on any skin tone, because they reflect light and look colourful but soft. To be honest I’m not sure why people don’t wear it more often instead of the usual garish blues or girly bright pink, it’s much more flattering and looks both elegant and youthful.



Like most Illamasqua products the packaging is shaped in a cut-off corner square style, I love their packaging because it’s simple in colour, all black and MAC like, but the shapes are just so much more edgy and interesting. Its stuff I want out on my dressing table because it looks so nice!



But packaging aside, let’s look at the product itself. Velocity is a dark lavender cream. I adore cream nail polishes. I like shimmery ones too, but creams are just so clean and demure looking. And as I have said, light purples are wonderful colours for nails so I was expecting to like this, and I REALLY did.



It went on smoothly and I didn’t find it to be stringy or goopy. Very easy to apply and the brush was a good size too, if a tad small if you’re in a rush and capable of doing your thumbnail in one stroke. It’s staying power wasn’t anything impressive, similar to that of a Barry M nail polish but, like all nail polishes, if a top coat is added it can last up to a whole week and if a topcoat is reapplied maybe 3 days after first application it could potentially go even longer.


Its £14.00. So it’s by no means cheap, it’s more expensive than MAC and far more pricey than Barry M’s nail polishes, which are very highly rated by everyone I know who’s tried them...including me. But for some of the colours I would say it might just be worth it. You’re also paying for around 15ml. A MAC nail polish is 10ml as are the Barry M ones. So it’s not as if you’re paying more for less, but it’s still not what you’d call a steal.



I also have another nail polish from Illamasqua, my boyfriend finally got the hint with me leaving the page open constantly on his laptop, and talking loudly to various people about it with him in earshot and sure enough for Christmas one of the little packages contained the Illamasqua nail polish in ‘Strike’ which I have to say is also absolutely beautiful. It’s like a deep shimmering turquoise, and it’s rare that words like ‘glamorous’ and ‘elegant’ can be applied to anything described as shimmery turquoise, but this definitely fits the bill.

It has the same lovely packaging, consistency and brush as velocity and the colour is so bright, but again not overpowering. The shimmer isn’t obnoxious either; it’s an almost iridescent finish, where various blues and greens all catch in different lights.



The nail polishes are lasting quite a long time too, I’ve had Velocity for months and Strike since Christmas, but of course I’ve had to wear it every few times I see my boyfriend. As you do. And I cant even see a gap between the lid and the product. And just to clarify, I usually change my nail polish every two days...sometimes one, so I get through my polishes.

All in all I love these nail polishes, they’re wonderful to apply and I always love the way they turn out. The only downside really is the price, that and that they’re quite hard to get hold of outside the UK. But if you can get them and don’t mind the price they’re fantastic. All the other colours I’ve seen on blogs etc look very interesting and unique too, so I think as a treat, for a really pretty and unique colour £14.00 would definitely be worth it.

*conclusion*

Good points: Gorgeous selection of colours, cute packaging, goes on smoothly and is long lasting.

Bad points: The price tag can make your credit card wince.

Overall rating 8/10

I hope you enjoyed this review xx