Friday, December 12, 2014

Illamasqua Nail Varnish in Vice Review, Photos and Swatches


The holiday season is all about decadence, right? OK, maybe not ALL about decadence, there's some joy and love and peace and let's not forget about the stress and frustration, and OK, it's a lot about decadence. Because we need self-care to get through the bad stuff! Happy Holidays!



Speaking of Decadence, let's talk about Illamasqua's Vice for a second. It's a berry colour with an abundance of red to it. And it's got a rubber finish. A rubber polish has a finish somewhere in between the standard glossy nail polish finish, and a matte finish. It's a glossy finish that's been muted but not to the point of having no shine. 

I'd never tried Illamasqua's rubber polishes before, and I was intrigued, so I grabbed Vice during the Illamasqua clearance sale at Bay stores a few months ago. Vice is a discontinued polish, according to the Illamasqua website, so you might have trouble finding it. 


Illamasqua polishes are fantastic, some of the best out there in terms of the quality of the polish and the selection of colours and textures they have. They're a highly creative brand so if you're like me and like unique polish shades, this is a brand you'll want to check out. 


Here's Vice - pretty, right? It's a fairly standard berry toned nail polish, but it's got some depth to it. It's reddened nature hints almost at the colour of blood. 


Illamasqua nail polishes are highly pigmented, creamy, and the perfect consistency to apply quickly to the nails. It typically takes two coats to get opaqueness Vice, however, takes three coats.

Below is three coats of Vice on my nails. Because of the rubber finish, you can't wear top coat without making it a shiny finish, so the wear time of Vice is lessened. 

Also, I found with Vice that you need to let each coat dry completely before applying another. The rubber finish shows texture very readily, so any drags of the brush across not-yet-dry polish will show. As will any texture left by your base coat. This is a high maintenance nail polish finish!


As you can see, the rubber finish gives it a slightly-less-than-glossy finish, almost like rubber. Think of a pair of brand new black wellington boots. Or, as I'm sure Illamasqua was going for with the rubber finish, something like this.

I love the colour of Vice and the rubber finish, I just wish it lasted longer on me. I found that it lasted better than most polishes do with a top coat, but there were still chips and tip wear after a few days. I would likely forgo the rubber finish and put a top coat on to wear this. 

Grade B-

C.

Other Illasmasqua nail varnishes reviewed on Beauty Squared:

Viridian
Stance

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