Specializing in nail varnishes - rare, unusual, and obscure

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Reds, New and Old

Today I'm presenting two reds, Illamasqua Scarab and Chanel Nirvana. Illamasqua



Scarab is from the new Art of Darkness collection. I got this at a local Sephora that carries Illamasqua, so even though they don't stock the LE collections online, don't give up and order directly from the company before you check out brick and mortar Sephora locations. This mani is one coat SpaRitual Resurface, two coats of polish, and one coat of SpaRitual Tout de Suite. This polish is honestly a one-coater, but it was a little thick and goopy for me so I used a second to smooth the application. This polish is a lovely lit from within (in the words of Scrangie) shimmering blackened burgundy red. It's not stunningly original - I found it similar to OPI Black Magic Mountain (which is more purple) and Ciate Stiletto (which has larger shimmer particles), but neither of those are necessarily readily available.





Chanel Nirvana is a bright orange-leaning red jelly with silver and red glitter. It is somewhat thin, but not unreasonably sheer for a jelly and practically applied itself. The glitter is much more subtle on the nail than in the bottle. This mani is one coat SpaRitual Resurface, two coats of polish, and one coat of SpaRitual Tout de Suite. Again, I don't find this terribly unique - I find it similar to NYX Heart, Nicole by OPI Extreme Jingle, and OPI Red Dazzle in my collection. NOPI Extreme Jingle, OPI Red Dazzle and Chanel Nirvana are old discontinued shades. You may run into them in the retail arena, but you are more likely to find them through swapping or eBay.


1 comment:

  1. They're both beautiful polishes. I won't be looking for the Chanel. I may order Scarab. It is a really gorgeous polishe. Love those deep reds.

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