Illamasqua Nail Varnish - Satin Finish

My obsession with Illamasqua Nail Varnishes is widely known and now we are at the last part of the review on the finishes.  We have already done the Metallic and Glossy finishes and today we will check out the rest of the polishes in the line.  The last finish is the Satin finish and this finish contains the least amount of shades.  The Satin finish imparts a creamy finish on the nail with minimal shine, to cerate shine with this formula, a top coat is needed.  With the use of a top coat, the Satin and Glossy finishes are almost exactly the same so I wouldn't let the lack of a super-glossy finish deter you from buying shades in this part of the range.

"A spectrum of bold shades with a range of finishes including matt, rubber, and high-gloss.  Award-winning, extremely hardwearing and chip-resistant, there's an Illamasqua Nail Varnish for every shade of humanity.  Apply two coats for intensity and use with Illamasqua Nail Base Coat and Illamasqua Nail Top Coat for the perfect finish."  The wear of the Satin Finish is very much like the wear that I get from the Glossy Finish, these two parts of the polish line have very much in common and there isn't all that much difference between the polishes.  I get about four to five days from this polish with only very minor chipping.  To keep a very high gloss finish, I do apply a China Glaze top coat every other day to both protect from chips and maintain the finish of the polish.  Illamasqua Nail Varnish is one of the best polishes currently available and I would not hestitate to buy any shade from this line or to recommend to anyone.

The colors that make up the Satin Finish are as follows...

- Throb - blood red
- Purity - peach
- Gamma - neon orange
- Load - creamy white
- Rare - bright neon yellow
- MILF - bright mint
- Force - deep periwinkle blue
- Collide - bright neon pink
- DWS - cement gray
- Prism - sheer iridescent blue
- Stagnate - gray mauve

See what I was talking about with this finish making up the smallest part of the polish line!  Of the shades listed above, I bought Collide, DWS, and Stagnate from Sephora (Collide and DWS are available at the new Nail Bar in most stores). 

Collide is my favorite of the shades (pictured here) and one of the shades that is in heavy rotation in my polish collection.  This shade is a bright neon pink and is the best neon pink that I have ever used, there is no shimmer or sparkle in it.  The first bright pink that I bought for the spring/summer was OPI's Kiss Me On My Tulips and then I added this one to my collection a few weeks ago.  This is the perfect shade for the summer, I have been using it in at least one manicure or pedicure a week and it never fails to collect at least one or two compliments each time that I use it.  This shade will be huge for me this summer but I will put it away right after Labor Day.

DWS is the latest polish that I bought from this formula.  This shade will be better for the fall, I used it twice so that I could review it but I will be putting it away for about the next three months.  It is a pure medium cement gray color that somehow manages to not be too cool or warm for the majority of the population to find flattering.  This one will be in heavy rotation this fall for me, it is conservative enough for the office but never boring.  It also will work well with any outift that I can come up with and I am planning on using it with deep blues and reds to create accent manicures.  And I will be creating an accent manicure with this shade and Rampage to create the perfect Philadelphia Eagles-inspired manicure come football season!

Stagnate originally came out with the Toxic Nature collection in the spring of 2011 and it was one of my first Illamasqua Varnishes, bought at the beginning of last fall.  This is one of the super-popular gray mauves of last fall and I am sensing that this shade will be in style again this fall since it is so easy to wear and wotk with.  Many of the comments that I made for DWS hold true for this shade, with the exception of the accent manicures.  This isn't a shade that I am currently using since it is rather out of season right now.  This is another one of those shades that I will be pulling out many times this fall.  The formula on this shade is somewhat lacking, I must admit.  I tend to only get two to three days from this shade before the chipping and breaking begins but it is still much higher quality than many other polish lines.

What other shades from this finish would I like to add to my collection?  Throb, MILF, and Force are the only shades that I really want from this group.  I wish that more shades were offered in this finish but I always wish that Illamasqua had more Varnish shades.  Over the next few months, I think that I will be adding more of the metallics to my collection than any other finish but it is very hard to go wrong with any polish shade from this company.

photo courtesy of Illamasqua