Why does Illamasqua keep putting out such lovely polishes? Why do they want to push me to financial ruin? It’s ok, Illamasqua: I forgive you. It’s not your fault that I have no self control whatsoever. When I saw that they had added a few colors to their rubber finish polishes, this was the first one that made me run out to Sephora to see if it was in stock. It wasn’t yet, so I ordered it online along with 2 other colors from this line. For those of you who have NARS Koliary, how does this color compare? I didn’t get Koliary so this color kind of makes up for it in my mind.
(Before I forget, I would really appreciate some input about my pictures. I am using a new light box system that I set up today, and I don’t know if I need to change it up or what. I am used to taking direct sunlight pictures, but I need to move away from that because my schedule won’t allow it in the near future. So please let me know what you think.)
    
Serenity is such a beautiful shade of blue. Like its name states, it definitely has a serene quality to it. This polish is pretty freaking pigmented so you only need two coats but make sure that you don’t overwork the polish like I did. You can kind of see some brushstrokes, right? I wore a good ridge filling base coat because I find that this formula tends to show every single imperfection.
    
The two pictures show Serenity with a coat of Seche Vite. Ahhh….glossy and lovely.
    
And here is my feeble attempt at some type of nail art. I am such a fail at this stuff…I should just face the fact that all I can do is stamping!
What do you think of Illamasqua polishes? Are you a fan of the brand? Is there a color from their new Rubber Brights that you are interested in getting? Thanks for stopping by and have a great Wednesday.
P.S. As you can tell, I am finally trying out some watermarking. Today I got a few emails from people I had contacted about using my pics without giving me credit. They were all apologetic and said they would have credited me if they knew where the pics came from. Weak defense in my opinion, but maybe if I had watermarked, they would have credited. We shall see how it all pans out. As most of you know, there are a lot of shameless people out there who don’t care about stealing/using other people’s work.
First off, I like your watermark, classy font and very subtle. I agree, total bs on the unauthorized usage of your pictures.
I've never used Illamasqua, but of course drooled over them in Sephora. I prefer it with the Seche Vite top coat because otherwise it looked matte and I'm not a fan of the matte look. Not sure if this would be the polish for me since it shows every imperfection.
The lighting in these pictures seems dimmer compared to your natural sunlight pictures. But hey, I can still appreciate the polish. 🙂
I don't think these polishes are completely matte but pretty darn close. I usually don't like non-shiny polishes just because I love the creamy/glossy look so much. About the pictures, you are right that the lighting is more dim. I wish I knew how to edit pictures and stuff like that so I could maybe fix the color or brightness, but I still mess it up so I haven't really wanted to do it yet until I learn better. Thanks regarding your input on my watermark as well. I don't think it will help much but at least I'm trying. 🙂
I like this color. I ordered the bright purple & the red.
I like your watermark, too, but I think to help prevent people from stealing your pictures you're going to need to also watermark right along a middle nail, because then it's more difficult to photoshop out. Placing it along the pictures' edges makes it really easy to just crop it off.
Yeah, I debated putting it in an area where it would be harder to photoshop but I just can't do it. I dunno…it really annoys me when I see watermarks right on the fingers/nails. I guess I'm hoping that the people who genuinely don't know where the pics came from won't photoshop out my watermark. I'm so naive, right? lol I'm still on the fence about keeping the watermark so I'll have to see how it goes.
as you know, i'm not a fan of this baby blue colors, however this color looks lovely on your nails 🙂 i really like how it looks.. but IDK if a color like that will look ok on my nails. your nail art looks just fine.. i tried once to work with tape and stuff and it was a huge mess, so I stop at my first attempt :))
regarding the watermark, i think you could use the watermark over your nail. Asi como redondeado siguiendo la forma de la uña, creo que es mejor!! If all the nails look the same, then you can also add another watermark over the pinky nail>?
lol…it sounds like me trying to do every nail art out there. I can't really do much free-hand stuff which makes me sad because there are so really amazing designs.
The watermark thing is so annoying to me. I really didn't want to do it but every day I find more and more places where people are using my pictures. I understand now why so many people use watermarks but I still don't want to put them on my fingers. Maybe eventually I will have to but I want to see if this even makes a difference. Why do people have to suck so much?!
sometimes people pin your photo on pinterest and people grab it from there.. i take awful pictures of my nails for that reason..
First off, I like your watermark, classy font and very subtle. I agree, total bs on the unauthorized usage of your pictures.
I’ve never used Illamasqua, but of course drooled over them in Sephora. I prefer it with the Seche Vite top coat because otherwise it looked matte and I’m not a fan of the matte look. Not sure if this would be the polish for me since it shows every imperfection.
The lighting in these pictures seems dimmer compared to your natural sunlight pictures. But hey, I can still appreciate the polish. 🙂
I don’t think these polishes are completely matte but pretty darn close. I usually don’t like non-shiny polishes just because I love the creamy/glossy look so much. About the pictures, you are right that the lighting is more dim. I wish I knew how to edit pictures and stuff like that so I could maybe fix the color or brightness, but I still mess it up so I haven’t really wanted to do it yet until I learn better. Thanks regarding your input on my watermark as well. I don’t think it will help much but at least I’m trying. 🙂
I don't think this is a fail at all, I love this blue first and foremost! and I love the art yuo did! I know you don't like watermarking but it looks nice 😀 And as you can see although it was a weak response, all it takes is one person stealing it, putting it on thier website, then someone could have pinned it and then someone found it on their board… etc.. so I could KINd of see how somewhere down the line they didnt know who they were stealing from, but you are right, weak. Now they cannot steal without those people knowing where they stole the lovely pics from 😀
Yes, I do think that's how it happens for the most part. One of the girls who emailed me said that she googled the pic trying to find where it came from but that so many websites had it that she had no idea where it originated. She said she would credit me and apologized. I understand those people but not the people who use my pics to sell their stuff–no excuse for that.
Thanks for your nice comments about my "nail art" lol I actually used the tape you sent me. 🙂 Yay!
yayy!! I agree no excuse for those people!
You remind me now that I have dozens of nail tape somewhere in my disasterous room Lol.. I love the colors and design, goes great together. I picked up my first bottle of this brand last weekend called Jo'mina it's like a pastel purple but more lavender looking.
I don't have that one but, but I think it's so pretty. I know that I already have similar colors, but the Illamasqua draw is so strong! Must resist…
I love the beginning of this post and completely agree, haha! They actually did have all of these at Sephora when I went last week and all of the employees were going bananas over them. I somehow managed to resist, but this one was my favorite.
I agree that the pictures are a bit darker than usual. Maybe you can stick some lights directly outside the box? I suck at photography…sorry I can't help much!
Your scheduling is changing, eh? Are you going to be working?
What's wrong with your nail art? It looks good to me! I would've probably thrown a tantrum trying to acheive that!
To be honest, I didn't even notice the watermark, and usually I would pick up on that right away, so it must be subtle, at least in my opinion!
It's kind of hard to hate the brand for putting out stuff I want. LOL I mean, I do kind of hate them for making me spend money. I think at this point, I just need to focus on using all the freaking polishes I already have. I had to re-arrange my stash storage because I need to get a 4th melmer from Michael's. That will be 12 drawers full of polish and I probably haven't used half of them.
I have been trying to figure out how to make my light box work. I actually just made another one! lol I hope to go back to work soon so I'm just preparing. Plus, I haven't been home that much lately so sometimes it's really hard to take sunlight pictures.
Ahhh…my nail "art" is such a pain in the butt. I feel like I can never get things to look like I want them to. I always come up with ideas and then the execution is a big fat fail. I guess I'll never get better if I don't keep trying.
I like this color. I ordered the bright purple & the red.
I like your watermark, too, but I think to help prevent people from stealing your pictures you’re going to need to also watermark right along a middle nail, because then it’s more difficult to photoshop out. Placing it along the pictures’ edges makes it really easy to just crop it off.
Yeah, I debated putting it in an area where it would be harder to photoshop but I just can’t do it. I dunno…it really annoys me when I see watermarks right on the fingers/nails. I guess I’m hoping that the people who genuinely don’t know where the pics came from won’t photoshop out my watermark. I’m so naive, right? lol I’m still on the fence about keeping the watermark so I’ll have to see how it goes.
as you know, i’m not a fan of this baby blue colors, however this color looks lovely on your nails 🙂 i really like how it looks.. but IDK if a color like that will look ok on my nails. your nail art looks just fine.. i tried once to work with tape and stuff and it was a huge mess, so I stop at my first attempt :))
regarding the watermark, i think you could use the watermark over your nail. Asi como redondeado siguiendo la forma de la uña, creo que es mejor!! If all the nails look the same, then you can also add another watermark over the pinky nail>?
lol…it sounds like me trying to do every nail art out there. I can’t really do much free-hand stuff which makes me sad because there are so really amazing designs.
The watermark thing is so annoying to me. I really didn’t want to do it but every day I find more and more places where people are using my pictures. I understand now why so many people use watermarks but I still don’t want to put them on my fingers. Maybe eventually I will have to but I want to see if this even makes a difference. Why do people have to suck so much?!
sometimes people pin your photo on pinterest and people grab it from there.. i take awful pictures of my nails for that reason..
I don’t think this is a fail at all, I love this blue first and foremost! and I love the art yuo did! I know you don’t like watermarking but it looks nice 😀 And as you can see although it was a weak response, all it takes is one person stealing it, putting it on thier website, then someone could have pinned it and then someone found it on their board… etc.. so I could KINd of see how somewhere down the line they didnt know who they were stealing from, but you are right, weak. Now they cannot steal without those people knowing where they stole the lovely pics from 😀
Yes, I do think that’s how it happens for the most part. One of the girls who emailed me said that she googled the pic trying to find where it came from but that so many websites had it that she had no idea where it originated. She said she would credit me and apologized. I understand those people but not the people who use my pics to sell their stuff–no excuse for that.
Thanks for your nice comments about my “nail art” lol I actually used the tape you sent me. 🙂 Yay!
yayy!! I agree no excuse for those people!
You remind me now that I have dozens of nail tape somewhere in my disasterous room Lol.. I love the colors and design, goes great together. I picked up my first bottle of this brand last weekend called Jo’mina it’s like a pastel purple but more lavender looking.
I don’t have that one but, but I think it’s so pretty. I know that I already have similar colors, but the Illamasqua draw is so strong! Must resist…
I love the beginning of this post and completely agree, haha! They actually did have all of these at Sephora when I went last week and all of the employees were going bananas over them. I somehow managed to resist, but this one was my favorite.
I agree that the pictures are a bit darker than usual. Maybe you can stick some lights directly outside the box? I suck at photography…sorry I can’t help much!
Your scheduling is changing, eh? Are you going to be working?
What’s wrong with your nail art? It looks good to me! I would’ve probably thrown a tantrum trying to acheive that!
To be honest, I didn’t even notice the watermark, and usually I would pick up on that right away, so it must be subtle, at least in my opinion!
It’s kind of hard to hate the brand for putting out stuff I want. LOL I mean, I do kind of hate them for making me spend money. I think at this point, I just need to focus on using all the freaking polishes I already have. I had to re-arrange my stash storage because I need to get a 4th melmer from Michael’s. That will be 12 drawers full of polish and I probably haven’t used half of them.
I have been trying to figure out how to make my light box work. I actually just made another one! lol I hope to go back to work soon so I’m just preparing. Plus, I haven’t been home that much lately so sometimes it’s really hard to take sunlight pictures.
Ahhh…my nail “art” is such a pain in the butt. I feel like I can never get things to look like I want them to. I always come up with ideas and then the execution is a big fat fail. I guess I’ll never get better if I don’t keep trying.
I was thinking to myself HEY she's watermarking, how did I not notice?! So I'm glad to hear its new. 🙂 I am beyond frustrated w the picture stealing. I might watermark mine too. I gotta come clean about my blog first tho or not post my nail pics to Facebook where all my friends/family have accounts. Anyway- this looks pretty and on my phone I can't see brushstrokes but if you can that's all that matters! I like your chevrons although I'm undecided about the striping tape. Still thinking. Haha. Anyway- I'm glad to hear you're going to be busy in the future cuz that's good for you. Is it public what you're going to be doing or do you need to keep that under wraps?
I finally had to watermark. I get so freaking upset every time I search google images and I see my pics all over the place…especially on other blogs. WTF? How rude is that? Especially from other bloggers who know how much work goes into photographing and writing up a post. It makes me so freaking mad.
I'm just being proactive about my future plans…nothing set yet. I think that when I do get a job, I'm probably not going to write about it at all. I've seen way too many people spill their guts about work and then someone finds out and they get fired. And you know I am chronic oversharer so that's probably not a good idea anyway. lol
I was thinking to myself HEY she’s watermarking, how did I not notice?! So I’m glad to hear its new. 🙂 I am beyond frustrated w the picture stealing. I might watermark mine too. I gotta come clean about my blog first tho or not post my nail pics to Facebook where all my friends/family have accounts. Anyway- this looks pretty and on my phone I can’t see brushstrokes but if you can that’s all that matters! I like your chevrons although I’m undecided about the striping tape. Still thinking. Haha. Anyway- I’m glad to hear you’re going to be busy in the future cuz that’s good for you. Is it public what you’re going to be doing or do you need to keep that under wraps?
I finally had to watermark. I get so freaking upset every time I search google images and I see my pics all over the place…especially on other blogs. WTF? How rude is that? Especially from other bloggers who know how much work goes into photographing and writing up a post. It makes me so freaking mad.
I’m just being proactive about my future plans…nothing set yet. I think that when I do get a job, I’m probably not going to write about it at all. I’ve seen way too many people spill their guts about work and then someone finds out and they get fired. And you know I am chronic oversharer so that’s probably not a good idea anyway. lol
Rubber finish would be really interesting to see. The watermark is subtle because I didn't even notice at first.
Thanks! I'm glad it's subtle since I waited so long to do a watermark. The rubber finish is definitely interesting. I like it, but I still prefer a nice glossy finish.
Rubber finish would be really interesting to see. The watermark is subtle because I didn’t even notice at first.
Thanks! I’m glad it’s subtle since I waited so long to do a watermark. The rubber finish is definitely interesting. I like it, but I still prefer a nice glossy finish.