Illamasqua Load

3 coats, sunlight

I’m back from Sydney with some Illamasqua goodies! Here’s Load, a jelly-like off-white polish with a yellow tinge. This is part of a trio from the 2011 Valentine’s Day collection. When I was doing my research for this polish, I noticed a lot of bloggers getting offended by the name. I know what the name means but perhaps because I don’t really hear anyone using it here, I don’t really get what’s so offensive about it.

With Nubar Yellow Primrose, 2 coats

Here’s a comparison with Yellow Primrose. The colour is virtually identical but the finish is very different. While Load has a jelly texture, which required three coats to make even, Yellow Primrose is more creamy and stark. I prefer Load. It has a translucence about it that makes for easy wear.

I found a random picture of me wearing Load and having breakfast.

With Illamasqua Throb and Essie Matte About You

Throb is the other Illamasqua polish in the Valentine’s Day collection. Here I attempted a heart-shaped manicure.  I don’t think it worked out very well though!

Nubar Yellow Primrose

Lydia’s nails, 2 thick coats, sunlight

Trixy’s nails, 2 coats, indoor lighting, iPhone picture

Yellow Primrose, from Nubar’s 2011 Spring Garden collection, is a pale buttery yellow creme with the faintest of all shimmers (I couldn’t see it, but Alicia, who detests shimmer, spotted it with her eagle eyes). The colour is super gorgeous but application leaves much to be desired. This is actually a three-coater because two thin coats leave behind some bald spots. But because I hate applying three coats of anything, I chose two careful thick coats instead. As you can see from the photo, it’s still not perfectly even though. Nonetheless, the colour is absolutely stunning and reminds me of vintage lace.

I bought this off eBay. I don’t think Nubar is available in Singapore and its online store only ships within the US.

Lydia’s nails, with China Glaze Wagon Trail, Nubar 2010

Lydia wanted to hid the roundness of her nail tips, so we decided to go with a blackish-colour triangle design. I used Nubar 2010 (which contains pretty duochrome flakes suspended in clear polish) over Wagon Trail to create more depth. You can see the green, yellow and red glowing prettiness most clearly in the third picture.

With OPI Black Shatter

Like black paint splashed over a yellowing canvas?

Alicia’s nails, with black acrylic paint, iPhone picture

This is my favourite nail art design with Yellow Primrose.

Chine Glaze Peachy Keen

2 coats, sunlight

Wow finally! The last item from my China Glaze Up and Away collection – Peachy Keen! This is a pastel peachy orange that make a great summery colour (in Singapore’s case, when you go to the beach then, since everyday is sunny). I think I added thinner to the polish because it was thick when I received it. Now there’s a strange yellowish line in the bottle but it doesn’t seem to be affecting the quality so I’m just going to ignore it.

Alicia’s nails, (from pinkie to index): Orly Snowcone, China Glaze For Audrey, Peachy Keen, Lemon Fizz

Here we have a pastel rainbow on Alicia’s nails. The dots on her tips were applied using white acrylic paint and a toothpick.

With Urban Decay Psychedelic Sister (red) and Urban Decay Woodstock (pink), black nail striper pen

Okay… so I went a bit mad with the colours here and ended up looking like a clown exploded on my nails. I wanted to test out these new Urban Decay polishes I received (more on that later).

China Glaze Lemon Fizz

Lemon Fizz is one of the many colours I bought from China Glaze’s Up and Away collection that features pastels. This is a pale buttery banana colour that looks surprisingly pretty on my nails (despite it being yellow!). However, flouroscent lights bring out a touch of neon in Lemon Fizz, which I dislike. This was two coats. I think I finally figured out the trick to all these difficult pastels. First, apply a thin streaky first coat. It doesn’t matter how ugly. A thicker second coat will fix the flaws.

Paired with MAC Originality to mix things up a little.

Weifen’s nails, 2 coats, indoor light

The colour looks somewhat more flourescent under artifical light.

With Orly Green Apple, indoor light

I love this combination! Just a note that the yellow is not so bright; it’s the artificial light that is making it seem so.

MAC In The Buff

I love weird colours. MAC nail polish In The Buff was released with its To The Beach Collection and is easily the weirdest colour I own. Described by MAC as a “muted avocado,” this shade is a pale yellow-brown-green on me, much like a rotting avocado. Application is fantastic. It’s on par with MAC Blue India and was opaque in two coats.

When Serena saw this on me, she immediately shrieked and said, “Your nails are the colour of kaya!”

I present to you MAC Kaya.

Credit: http://thelazychef.wordpress.com/2006/09/02/nonya-kaya/

I think that In the Buff is ugly in a very chic way. But if you really can’t stand the colour, maybe a strip of light metallic brown would help tone down the nastiness.