A Review of Illamasqua Nail Polishes - Simply Divine and I want more, more, more, more, more....

Hello Friends! It's been a while since I've done a post and that's because I've been busy testing things out for reviews and taking photos!  

I'm a huge fan of Illamasqua's cosmetics and since slowly collecting their nail polishes, I gotta say, I love them!

Don't they look just DIVINE?

This gem is called "Bacterium". I know, YUCKS. What a name. The colour, though is very very pretty. 

Bacterium by Illamasqua

This shade is very opaque (the nail polishes vary in terms of opaqueness). One coat is enough, without a base coat. I typically use Seche Vite as my quick dry top coat and this shade lasts for about a week and a half, which is pretty good for me as I do a lot of craftwork and house work often without wearing gloves.

Bacterium by Illamasqua

Charisma by Illamasqua

Charisma by Illamasqua

Next up, we have this glorious multi-faceted red (a bordello red ;P). I think they named this perfectly. I wear this colour when I feel confident and when I want to feel like a WOMAN. This shade is not for the shy violets out there! 

Again, very opaque. You can get away without a base coat and use only one coat. The texture of this nail polish is very very smooth. It's not too dry nor too liquid-y. It feels like I'm spreading a very light gel on my nails when I apply this. 

Charisma by Illamasqua

Facet by Illamasqua

Facet by Illamasqua

Facet by Illmasqua

This is one of those almost indescribable colours. I will attempt to do my best (fingers crossed). The photos were all taken in natural daylight at various times of the day and you can see how the colour changes and reflects the light. 

Some times this comes across brownish gold. Some times it is purplish with tiny tiny gold flecks. 

I love colours like these. The effect is always subtle yet catches the eye. 

Whenever I wear this, I get compliments. Even the guy at the newspaper stand commented on it one time saying "hey, nice colour!".

Facet by Illamasqua

Hemlock by Illamasqua

Hemlock by Illamasqua

Hemlock Plant

Hemlock by Illamasqua

Hemlock by Illamasqua

Another complex and multi-faceted colour (I think I am just drawn to such colours as I have a fairly large collection of nail polishes). The Hemlock plant (see photo above) is a very poisonous plant, and yet is used for medicinal purposes (see this interesting tidbit from webmd). 

So I think, yet again, Illamasqua has ruled in naming this colour. It looks like a beige, almost egg shell like shade but it does have green and gold running through it, colours from the Hemlock plant itself. 

Very opaque polish. Lasts (with top coat) a good 10 - 12 days on hands accustomed to much work (like craftwork and housework).

Glitterati by Illamasqua

Glitterati by Illamasqua

Glitterati by Illamasqua

I had high hopes for this colour. It has that Burgundy wine red to it with very pretty glitter. Unfortunately, this was a flop for me. 

No matter how well I shook the bottle, or even if I used a very fine steel needle to mix the contents, I would not get a good mix of glitter and polish. If there was any glitter coming out, it would be covered by the polish and the brilliance of the glitter shown in the bottle was dulled by the polish as you can see in the photos.

A Total FLOP (so sorry).

Glitterati by Illamasqua

Viridian by Illamasqua

Viridian by Illamasqua

Viridian by Illamasqua

Viridian by Illamasqua

The word "Viridian" simply refers to a shade of green. Yes, this is a green colour but much, much, much more.  

It is jewel-like, more a deep sapphire bluish green than a pure dark green. I think that's why I like it so much.

Very opaque as well. Performs brilliantly, looks amazing on all skin tones. 

Long lasting with a top coat like Seche Vite. Expect to receive compliments. I wear mine for nights out in my little black dress.

Marquise by Illamasqua

Marquise by Illamasqau

Marquise by Illamasqua

I cannot think of a more humorous or fun job that one could possible have than to be the namer of makeup or nail polish shades. 

I did a quick google search for the meaning of "Marquise" and arrived at Urban Dictionary's very amusing definition: "handsome young man with a large _____ known to be a real funny character. Also great ______, very intelligent but also lazy" (I have censored the "X-Rated" definition for the sake of the under 18's that might stumble on this blog - see full definition by clicking  Urban Dictionary's Definition).   

As you can see from the photos, this colour is not joking around. It has very very fine particles of glitter in it, both gold and multi coloured ones and it is a real stunner. 

Amazingly, it is very very opaque. So opaque for a glitter polish that one coat is enough. When I saw this, I just thought in my head "FIRE IN A BOTTLE". I just had to grab it and luckily, like a lot of the nail polishes you see in this post, I got it on sale!!! 

Marquise by Illamasqau

Trilliant by Illamasqua

Trilliant by Illamasqua


Very nice. Very very nice. That's what i mumble to myself every single time, I pull this polish out. Very nice.

Another glitter polish, this one's glittery bits are a tad bit bigger than Marquise (see above). When I run my finger over my nails, even with my Seche Vite top coat on, I can feel that slight grittiness.

Other than that, this is a very lovely colour. A nice neutral glitter, that you can definitely get away with wearing to the Office (I've done so), because it's neutral and subtle. 

Again, a good performer. Very satisfied and happy with this one. I think it would also look very nice on a bride!

Trilliant by Illamasqua

Melange by Illamasqua

Melange by Illamasqua 

I like to save the best for last. Don't we all? I could do a whole blog post on Melange, and then some. What is there to say really? It is truly the perfect blend (that's one meaning of the word "Melange") of colour, texture, playfulness, music, art, style, design, poetry... ahh!! I can't describe it anymore.

I think this was a limited edition one. I'm pretty sure it is, but you can always hunt it down on Ebay or Amazon, or you could, like me, write to Illamasqua asking them to add this to their permanent line. 


It looks a lot like Oxidised Copper. That antique patina that I love to look at.

Melange by Illamasqua

Little quirks

Oddly, the tops of the bottles when close shut never align properly with the bottle. I've heard that this is something that has occurred in the production of the bottles since 2-3 years ago?

These are not your drugstore price polishes (though in Australia, they cost almost the same as a Revlon or Sally Hansen nail polish - ridiculous I know). So I do take extra care to make sure the bottles are tightly closed. 

And they end up looking like this (see photo below).

A very odd little quirk.

They look like their looking over their shoulder at their neighbour!

So dear friends I leave you now, with a photo of my top three from my little collection of nine. I can say I will be picking up more, for sure!

Trilliant; Melange & Facet

Au Revoir, A Bientot, Arrivederci, さようなら (Sayonara), 再见 (Zàijiàn), La Revedere, 안녕 (Annyeong), Adiós and Good Bye! See you all very very soon! xoxo