Monthly Archives: July 2011
Illamasqua – Rampage, Phallic and Milf (swatches & review)
My first taste of Illamasqua came in the form of three of their cult nail varnishes: Rampage – a deep forest green, Phallic – a shimmery royal blue, and Milf – a milky mint green. I had heard so much about the brand and how amazing the formula was, but it wasn’t until I experienced it for myself that I felt truly “wowed”! There has been much said about the provocative names of their range, but in my opinion, it all goes hand in hand with the edgy image of the brand and I like to focus on the product itself, which is absolutely stellar. All swatches are with a-england ‘The Knight’ base coat & ‘The Shield’ top coat (reviewed here) and two coats of lacquer.
I have a few dark green crèmes in my repertoire, but ‘Rampage’ still stands out above them. This is Hunter green done at its finest, deep, intense and so incredibly glossy. Two coats were polish perfection with zero brush strokes, although dry time was a touch longer than I’m used to — an easy trade-off for a shade this spectacular.
I opted to show you two different sunlight views of ‘Rampage’, as it’s interesting to note how the light can play with this colour. In the view above, even though the shade is certainly dark, its deep green tone is still nevertheless quite prominent.
Seen at a slightly different angle, ‘Rampage’ takes on a brooding mysteriousness, giving it a more blackened look, but still noticeably dark green. LOVE this!
‘Rampage’ in shaded light becomes slightly cooler toned and no less glossy looking, but this time bearing an almost viridian green hue.
Not wanting to delve too deeply into why a dark blue shade would be named ‘Phallic’ (although I believe I may have an idea!), I couldn’t resist a shade as unique as this. A cross between navy and royal, the shimmer is what makes this polish so unique; it seems to float just under the surface when applied, giving your nails the look of a brilliantly lit night sky…..absolutely stunning!
The sunlight view (above) perfectly emphasizes the starry beauty of ‘Phallic’, while taking nothing away from the deep blue base, a wonderful compliment to the shimmer deep within.
In this closeup view, you can clearly see exactly how much shimmer there is although it’s still interesting to note that it never overpowers the base shade, but blends seamlessly with it.
While sunlight might showcase the true colour of this lacquer, I believe that the shaded light view (above) really shows its fathomless deep blue appeal. I absolutely love that “lit-from-within” look of the shimmer here.
And finally, Milf. Getting over the name, this is pastel minty green done so well, it almost applies itself. Wonderfully creamy with a super easy flow, not only was this lacquer streak-free as well but with an amazing mirror-like shine at the finish. I have several other similarly coloured polishes, but nothing comes close to the perfect formula that this one owns.
Interestingly, ‘Milf’ seems to almost have a dual personality (attesting to Illamasqua’s credo of “exploring your alter ego”, perhaps?!) looking quite warm when seen in full sun and bearing a slight yellowish undertone, utterly smooth and brush-stroke free.
Seen in shaded light, ‘Milf’ takes on an almost silvery cast, looking much cooler toned but still maintaining that fabulous glossy finish.
Final thoughts: I absolutely am thrilled with the formula of Illamasqua’s nail varnishes, no doubt about it. Another plus with the shades I’ve shown here, is that they are part of the permanent range and thus not about to be yanked off the shelves anytime soon — great if you’ve fallen for them as hard as I have! The brushes are well made, flexible enough without being floppy, the formula was thick enough that two coats gave perfect opacity and the finish? Insanely shiny and smooth. Dry time is slightly longer, but a quick drying top coat can take care of that easily. Available through their website or at Sephora, Illamasqua varnishes come in a hefty 0.5 oz size and retail for US $14.00.
Nailtini ‘Stinger’ (swatches, review & comparisons)
In the Fall of 2010, the cocktail themed brand Nailtini (Tini Beauty) teamed up with Janie Bryant, costume director for the hit show Mad Men, and created a set of four limited edition nail polishes, including ‘Stinger’ which I have for you here. I was so happy to come across this brand, as I was quite curious to try their line and this shade drew me like a moth to a flame. If you’ve ever come across a gasoline spill on pavement and seen the prismatic effect produced by the colours, then you begin to get an idea of what this complex shade looks like. All ‘Stinger’ swatches are with Sèche Clear base coat, two coats of lacquer and a-england ‘The Shield’ top coat (reviewed here).
I was curious to know if ‘Stinger’ the nail polish looked anything like the drink for which it was named, but as you can clearly see in the photo above, the name is the only similarity. The cocktail is made by combining brandy with white crème de menthe, producing this gorgeous caramel tone, while the lacquer has this intricate almost poly-chromatic look, with blue, teal, and purple colours running through it. No matter what, this shade is very va-va-voom!
Interestingly enough, I expected that sunlight would bring out the myriad shades of this polish in great detail, but I found that the teal tones are what stood out the most, with vague hints of purple glimmering around the edges.
By adjusting the position of my hand slightly, the full prismatic effect of this varnish comes out to play, showing off all the hues that give it such depth and visual interest.
Seen in shaded light, ‘Stinger’ seems to morph into a mysteriously deep teal lacquer, although the bottle tells a different story.
For some reason, I was convinced that ‘Stinger’ had a duplicate in MAC’s ‘Formidable’ from the Venomous Villains collection of last Fall, but when I went looking through my polishes, I also came across Deborah Lippmann’s ‘Don’t Tell Mama’, looking suspiciously close as well, so I swatched the three lacquers to compare. In the following photos (all with 2 coats of polish): index and pinkie fingers – ‘Stinger’, middle finger – ‘Formidable’ with the ring finger wearing ‘Don’t Tell Mama’.
Once more, sunlight seems to deepen the tone of all three, although it’s clear that ‘Formidable’ not only has the darkest hue, but the one with a vaguely reddish tint to it, while ‘Stinger’ and ‘Don’t Tell Mama’ not only seem to share a similar type of shimmer, but have the same teal base.
Seen up close, ‘Formidable’ definitely stands apart from the other two, which look almost identical to each other, although ‘Stinger’ has a slightly more purple leaning which can just be seen on the upper part of the nail (index finger).
In this angle, all three polishes look the same, although ‘Formidable’ once again is somewhat deeper.
Shaded light only seems to emphasize how close ‘Stinger’ and ‘Don’t Tell Mama’ truly are, but I still detect the barest hint of purple along the edges of the ‘Stinger’ swatch.
Final thoughts: As both ‘Stinger’ and ‘Formidable’ were both limited edition lacquers from their respective brands, it’s nice to know that there are other options out there, especially if you fall in total love with a shade as unique as this. I’ve heard that Essie’s ‘Dive Bar’ is another one that looks similar, but having only recently picked it up, I haven’t swatched it yet to be sure. The formula on ‘Stinger’ was fabulous, easy to apply and practically self-levelling, bearing an excellent brush on a slightly long-ish wand. Dry time was pretty good too, and even the finish was fairly glossy, although I recommend applying a top coat to truly bring out its rainbow glory. There’s nothing I love more than a truly unique lacquer shade, and I could happily get drunk on this ‘Stinger’!
Dior Vernis #908 Tuxedo (swatches & review)
For Fall 2011, Dior is leading us into a deeper mode, but as only this venerable house can do it: with a kick. Part of their Fall lineup, ‘Tuxedo’ is a rich blue with an almost iridescent shimmer to it, or as Dior describes it “bleu smoking”. Rich, mysterious and intense, this is deep blue done at its most sensual best. All swatches are with Sèche Clear base coat, two coats of lacquer and Dior’s glossy top coat from the Electric Tropics Catwalk Duo (reviewed here).
Sunlight is the perfect medium with which to fully appreciate the beauty of this shade; a cross between royal and navy blue, I love how the shimmer seems to almost jump out at you in the middle, drawing your eye inwards to fully appreciate all the nuances of this hue.
In this closeup photo, it’s even more apparent how the shimmer adds a beautiful depth to the shade, without taking away any of its tonal richness.
Seen in shaded light, ‘Tuxedo’ takes on a new maturity and sophistication, becoming more of an inky blue yet still showing some of its inner fire.
Final thoughts: Something tells me that we are headed towards a deep blue phase and to that end, Dior is definitely leading the pack with ‘Tuxedo’. It has a modern edge to it, but done with an elegant vibe. I found the formula to be slightly on the thick side which made it more challenging to apply, but it still levelled out beautifully on its own. I also noticed that unlike Dior’s crème lacquers, ‘Tuxedo’ seemed to dry to a more satin finish, most probably due to the shimmer, and so it definitely needs a top coat to show its true awesomeness. No matter which way you view this shade, it most definitely is….smoking!
MAC Blue Noon Powerpoint Eye Pencil – Surf, Baby! Collection (review, swatch & comparison)
I love teal. Something about this colour, a perfect mix between blue and green, just does me in every time and I cannot resist its call, so I knew the instant I saw ‘Blue Noon’ from MAC’s Surf, Baby! Collection, that it was coming home with me. As with the ‘Hibiscus’ lipstick (reviewed here), I was surprised to see such a vibrant colour made that much more wearable by its slightly sheer finish, but which also doesn’t take anything away from the exotic beauty of this shade. All swatches were done over MAC’s Studio Fix Powder in C4.
A cross between peacock blue and emerald green, ‘Blue noon’ is nonetheless a contradiction. An electric hue such as this can not only be hard to wear, but can definitely come off as garish; however, add a touch of sheerness to the formula and you get this amazingly wearable shade. MAC’s Powerpoint pencils have this wonderfully creamy formula which glide so easily across the skin without any pull at all. When worn (over a base) on either my upper or lower lid, ‘Blue Noon’ gave me easily 8 hours wear without creasing, smudging or significant flaking. On the waterline, the effect is much more subtle, although you can still see a hint of the colour, but the wear time is quite less and you would need to reapply more often to maintain the look.
When seen in full sun, I love how that delicate iridescence gives the colour depth and such visual interest, bringing out more of the green hue.
Shaded light certainly accentuates more of a blue tone, but also deepens the hue to give it a touch of sophistication.
I have found several similarities between this collection and MAC’s To The Beach Collection of last year, and so I was sure that ‘Blue Noon’ would turn out to be very similar to ‘Float On By’, but as I said…I can’t resist teal! Much to my delighted surprise, they were quite different….and rather close, with ‘Blue Noon’ being a Powerpoint pencil with that ultra smooth glide to it, and ‘Float On By’ being an Eye Khol with its much more pigmented and longer-lasting formula. The following photos are ‘Blue Noon’ on top and ‘Float on By’ on the bottom.
In direct sun, you can not only see how much more pigmented ‘Float On By’ is, but how its shimmer seems to be that much more pronounced as well.
While shaded light brings the two shades closer together, it also becomes apparent that ‘Blue Noon’ is slightly more green leaning compared to the cooler blue base of ‘Float On By’.
Final thoughts: Even knowing that the two shades might be very close, it didn’t stop me from purchasing ‘Blue Noon’, as this is a hue that is not only a welcome touch of brightness to any summer look, but absolutely stunning any time of the year and so complimentary against every single eye colour. The formula was easy to work with, applied smoothly and I love how easy it was to smudge it out with a brush for a softer, but still vivid finish. While definitely not as colour saturated or long-lasting like last year’s ‘Float On By’, it seems to me to be the better purchase as its finish makes it that much more wearable. In any case, its teal…what’s not to love?!
MAC Hibiscus Cremesheen Lipstick – Surf, Baby! Collection (review, swatch & comparison)
The only lipstick that drew me in from MAC’s Surf, Baby! Collection is ‘Hibiscus’ – a startling coral/honeysuckle shade, yet made totally wearable by its slightly sheer finish. Something about this shade which has elements of orange, pink, red and something in between, as well as how glossy it wears all spell “SUMMER” to me (yes, in capital letters!) and I could not resist either the island imagery the name conjures up, or its vivid siren call!
When viewed in full sun, ‘Hibiscus’ takes on a vivid coral hue, but the Cremesheen formula keeps this shade from appearing too dense, and instead imparts a nice translucency to the finish, along with a healthy dose of shine.
Shaded light brings out the inner pink hue of this shade and almost seems to tone down its vibrancy, all the while still looking Summer fresh & bright.
I had originally resisted Hibiscus’ allure, as I was convinced it was basically a dupe for MAC’s Toxic Tale (from their Fall 2010 Venomous Villains Collection) but as soon as I swatched the two to compare, I could immediately see the differences…and the similarities, of course. The following photos are ‘Toxic Tale’ on the left and ‘Hibiscus’ on the right, all swatched over MAC’s STudio Fix Powder in C4 as a base.
The base tone of the two lipsticks is practically identical, with both leaning towards that same coral/honeysuckle pink hue. Seen in sunlight, you can see that where they differ greatly is in the finish, with ‘Toxic Tale’ bearing a satin formula, and thus making it so much more opaque and definitely less glossy and emollient on the lips.
Shaded light once again picks out the more pink side of both lipstick shades, but it also takes away much of the reflective finish of ‘Toxic Tale’, giving it an even deeper pink tone.
Final thoughts: When I initially saw images of ‘Hibiscus’ before it launched, I immediately dismissed it, believing it to be too vivid for my tastes and skin colouring, although I wanted to see it in person just the same; I’m sure glad I did, as this is the most wearable bright shade I have ever come across. It is very aptly named as well, being both a “crème” and bearing “sheen”, but it’s also quite emollient, glides smoothly and wore on me for at least 5-6 hours before I noticed any significant fading. While it’s true that if you already own ‘Toxic Tale’ you could probably skip ‘Hibiscus’, I usually prefer a lighter look to my makeup for summer, and that makes ‘Hibiscus’ with its brilliant yet sheer finish, both unique and a win for me!
