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Spotted on Nails This Spring: Illamasqua’s Speckled Nail Varnish in Scarce

February 6th, 2013 by Karen 24 Comments

Illamasqua Scarce Swatch
Wearing two layers of the new Illamasqua Specked Nail Varnish in Scarce, one of five nail varnishes in the new Imperfection collection, available now at Illamasqua counters and illamasqua.com

When I was a kid, I really had no concept of time or seasons (seriously, some things never change). In fact, if it weren’t for candy, I wouldn’t have followed any calendars at all!

What I mean is, I used to figure out what season it was by the kinds of candy I was eating, like “Oh! Cadbury Mini Eggs? It must be spring.”

Illamasqua’s new limited edition $16 Speckled Nail Varnishes remind me of the chocolate Easter bunnies, Peeps, Jordan almonds and, of course, speckled Cadbury Mini Eggs that always used to signal the arrival of spring.

Love these thingsThe Cadbury Mini Eggs were always my favorites…

I’d eat the pink ones first, which is probably why Scarce, a pastel pink with navy blue speckles, sings to me like the birds outside my office window, and makes me want to nibble at my nails (probably not a good idea).

I’m wearing two coats here, but I’ll have to get back to you about the wear time, as I’ve only been wearing it for a few days (so far, so good). Already, though, based on how smoothly it applied and the pigmented color, it gets a thumbs up from me.

I dig the combination of tiny micro-glitter and bigger hexagonal pieces. Really reminds me of Easter candies, or little bird eggshells.

Cool!

Here’s something my fellow nail nerds might appreciate: when you apply more than one layer, the glitter in the bottom layers shows through but looks like it’s further away, so you get a mix of shiny glitter in the top layer and dimmer glitter in the bottom layers that gives the effect extra dimension.

Illamasqua Scarce Swatch

Illamasqua Scarce Closeup

Illamasqua Scarce Swatch

Illamasqua Scarce Product Shot

If Scarce holds up well after I’ve opened a few more cans of gravy and typed a few thousand more words, I’m thinking about tracking down Fragile, the robin’s egg blue shade from the limited edition launch, and Speckle, the purple.

OOH! I bet a multi-colored mani with all three would look good enough to eat, om nom nom!

PRICE: $16 each
AVAILABILITY: Available now at Illamasqua counters, illamasqua.com and sephora.com
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: B+/A-

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Spotted on Nails This Spring: Illamasqua’s Speckled Nail Varnish in Scarce / Originally published February 6th, 2013

There are 24 comments on this post. Leave yours.

Categories: Illamasqua, Nails, Product Reviews

The products in this entry were provided by the manufacturer for consideration. For information about my posting policy, please see my Disclaimer.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Heidi says

    February 6th, 2013 at 10:29 pm

    So pretty. I think alternating it with the other ones you mentioned would make an awesome Easter mani!

    Reply
  2. Tracy@BeautyReflections says

    February 6th, 2013 at 10:36 pm

    I love it! It’s really pretty!

    Reply
  3. Kathleen says

    February 6th, 2013 at 10:40 pm

    Oh! I hope you get the other two. You could make cute little Easter eggs by painting your nails with these and making a zig-zag stripe through the middle with a solid, or polka dots. Here is to hoping this polish holds up well!

    Reply
  4. gio says

    February 6th, 2013 at 10:44 pm

    It’s gorgeous, love it!

    Reply
  5. Dovey says

    February 6th, 2013 at 10:49 pm

    I love the speckled egg inspiration and imagery! Fragile, the robin’s egg blue, sounds like it would be very pretty 🙂

    Reply
  6. Let says

    February 6th, 2013 at 11:56 pm

    Ooh, pretty!! I was only interested in Fragile, but seeing your swatch made me want Scarce too.

    If I may ask, did you convert the price on Illamasqua’s website to get the $23 price tag?. Sephora has the varnishes listed as $16 🙂

    Reply
  7. Tessa says

    February 7th, 2013 at 4:20 am

    This is so cool! It’s look so easy, and it looks so pretty <3
    x

    Reply
  8. Kim says

    February 7th, 2013 at 5:05 am

    This is really cool and I totally agree on the mini eggs. That’s what it reminds me of, too. I think your mani idea would be great for Easter. You could also use this as a base for any Jackson Pollock manis you wanted to do. Adding some splashes to the speckles could be fun! 🙂

    Reply
  9. Jill says

    February 7th, 2013 at 6:53 am

    Ok – that is too cute to pass up… I think my 6 year-old would agree!

    Reply
    • Karen says

      February 7th, 2013 at 8:07 am

      You could do matching manis for Easter, how cute!

      Reply
  10. Jennifer says

    February 7th, 2013 at 7:20 am

    I just don’t know about this…

    Reply
    • Karen says

      February 7th, 2013 at 8:06 am

      I guess it’s not for everyone!

      Reply
  11. ReneeP says

    February 7th, 2013 at 7:30 am

    I love this. Must. Have. It!

    Reply
    • Karen says

      February 7th, 2013 at 8:05 am

      🙂 What shades are you most excited about, Renee?

      Happy Thursday!

      Reply
  12. Erin says

    February 7th, 2013 at 7:32 am

    I need the mint green one of these! Love the way the pink looks too!

    Reply
    • Karen says

      February 7th, 2013 at 8:05 am

      The mint green one reminds me of mint chip ice cream. 🙂

      Reply
  13. Agata says

    February 7th, 2013 at 8:14 am

    Those nail polishes are awesome, I can’t decide which I want!

    Reply
  14. Lauren says

    February 7th, 2013 at 8:26 am

    Cadbury mini eggs are my absolute favorite! I’m starting to think we have similar palettes ha ha! But really, the nail polish is really unique! Just not sure if I’m willing to spend that much for it 😛

    Reply
  15. Jay @ Wayfaring Beauty says

    February 7th, 2013 at 8:32 am

    Very cute! The blue reminds me of robin’s eggs and the green of mint chocolate chip – I can see Easter in all the shades though! I like these but don’t think I love them enough for the price tag.

    Reply
  16. Angela @ The Unprofessional Beauty Blog says

    February 7th, 2013 at 11:03 am

    These are super cute, and they definitely remind me of Easter eggs.

    Reply
  17. kimmwc03 says

    February 7th, 2013 at 12:40 pm

    I love this. I will definitely get one shade from this line. I also like Cadbury mini eggs in the spring. The cream eggs are good too.

    Reply
  18. Becca @ The Beauty Sample says

    February 7th, 2013 at 1:59 pm

    It really does look like those chocolates with the candied shells! So cute! I MUST have this! Illamasqua makes the best polishes ever–they’re always so darn tempting!

    Reply
  19. Sanya says

    February 7th, 2013 at 9:41 pm

    Oh man, I must have this! O_O

    Reply
  20. Olivia says

    February 10th, 2013 at 3:04 pm

    This is GORGEOUS. Reminds me of my fave yummy robin’s egg candies for Easter- whoppers!

    Reply

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