Illamasqua – Jo’mina

Sorry for the hiatus! Finals season hit and I barely found time to put on a fresh coat of polish, let alone photograph and blog about it. I’m back now to share a polish I bought in celebration of finishing all my undergrad exams!

Illasmaqua’s Jo’mina. This is a colour you have to see in real life to appreciate – I haven’t seen anything like this by another brand. It’s a very bright warm purple creme. It’s nearly neon and has the quality of purple highlighter. In fact, I held up my fingers to a purple highlighter I have and it is the exact same colour. Jo’mina is very opaque (i.e. not at all a jelly, unlike American Apparel’s Neon Violet – review here - full disclosure though, Neon Violet is a completely different colour) and goes on near-flawlessly in one coat. I used two coats, mostly out of habit, and to go over some tiny patchy bits.

I salivate over this. I can’t stop looking at my fingers. I’m constantly surprised by how gosh darn BRIGHT this is. I mean, as bright as it can get for a light-medium purple creme. You need this. Worth the $18CAD, I would say, as this is a colour I see myself going back to time and time again, especially for the warmer months.

On a somewhat unrelated note, who else is peeved that we Vancouverites only get Illamasqua nail varnishes here? I’m waiting with bated breath for the full makeup range to arrive at some point. Fingers crossed!

Essie – California Coral

I’m a huge fan of coral. If I had to choose one colour to wear for the rest of my life, I think this would be it. It’s the perfect mix of orange, pink, and red to make such a happy and summer-y hue. I probably own too many coral polishes for one girl (actually, you could cross out the word “coral” and this sentence would still be valid).

Essie’s California Coral. One of the first corals I’ve owned, and one of my favourites. A lot of other ones tend to be too orange or pink. This one has a nice mix of everything, and it’s not so saturated or dark that it veers into one colour or another. It has kind of a strange formula – a creme-jelly hybrid? If you apply sloppily, the colour can appear patchy and darker in some areas. Best to use one thin coat followed with a thicker one to avoid that.

Sally Hansen Gem Crush – Big Money

Of course the name of this polish would be appropriate for me to wear on my grad dinner night – I am a Commerce student after all! I gotta make the big bucks :p

Sally Hansen’s Gem Crush Nail Color in Big Money. I’m not a huge fan of glitters – they’re terrifying to remove and a little too much for everyday wear. I do love this one though! The tiny base glitters  are a neutral gold, almost metallic taupe, interspersed with larger round particles of lavender glitter. It’s one of the more unique and wearable ones I’ve seen, and it’s pretty dense for a glitter polish. Tips: To make removal easier though, I started with a coat of OPI’s Tickle My France-y (review & swatch here), and used two coats of Big Money. Also, glitters tend to “eat up” top coat , so you might want to use two layers of top coat if you want that ultra-glossy smooth finish.

Close-up of the neutral gold + lavender glitters

Bonus – it went with my dress beautifully! (Say hello to my friend Justina on the right – she was integral in persuading me to start this blog, by the way! Justina, don’t hate me for using this photo please :p).