Well, today I have a polish to share with you that I had been seriously lusting over since I first saw the promo images. I know it’s been out for a bit now so I’m sure that you have seen plenty of swatches already, but I was still super excited to try it out. Since I’ve been a little slow lately with my polish swatching and such. So without further ado, here is Illamasqua Speckled!
There is no denying that Illamasqua Speckled is gorgeous and the formula is perfection which I have come to expect from the brand. The finish is extremely smooth and you only need two coats for full opacity. As soon as I photographed this, I had a strange feeling of déjà vu so I looked through my stash, which is no easy feat, and I realized that I already did a similar mani a few months ago. Want to see what I used?
I started with 2 coats of Cacee BFF Kim. Sorry about the greasy looking fingers–I went a little heavy with the Solar Oil.
I then applied one coat of Nubar Black Polka Dot and then topped it with one thin coat of Kim. Since I wanted the black to show up a little more, I went back and applied the thinnest coat possible of Black Polka Dot.
I think it’s pretty obvious that I am very loyal to Illamasqua, but it can be a little painful to purchase all of their newest colors when they are $14-$16 a pop. I also know that not everyone can afford those prices, so I wanted to give you a cheaper alternative. Even better, you can make every polish speckled with one bottle of Nubar Black Polka Dots. I’ve seen this polish being sold online for anywhere between $4 and $8 so that’s a pretty good deal if you ask me. And here they are side by side:
The choice is yours. Let me know what you think!
Discolsure: All products featured in this post were purchased by me. For more information, please see my disclosure policy tab here.
I love both Speckled and your layered mani! Great comparison 😉
Maribeth recently posted..Nails Inc Sprinkles Sugar House Lane Nail Polish
I love this post! I’ve never tried Nubar, but I have the black polka dot and white polka dot both on my amazon wishlist. I think I really need to go ahead & get ’em now.
Tami Willis recently posted..Lace and Lacquers March Glitter Guilty Pleasures Box Review + Giveaway!
Great comparison! Thanks for providing a cheaper alternative. I love how glitter can perk up a mani. I had Color Club Wild Cactus on my nails for St. Patrick’s day, and it was lovely, but I wanted some “flash” to it so I used Julep’s Oscar on it. It’s rekindled my love for adding glitter to a mani.
Debbie Spence recently posted..Bigelow Tea Relaxing Moments Sweepstakes
I also did something like the “egg shell”-varnishes some time ago, I love the effect you het using Black polka dots. This is my attempt. Unfortunately, I did not have a turquoise jelly, so the result was not as good as your. You can see my nails here: http://penenegler.blogspot.no/2013/02/mintsjokoladeis-negler-eller-illamasqua.html
*get
*yours
Anja recently posted..Festneglar: A England – Camelot og H&M – Confetti kisses
Great post! Those speckled polishes caught my eye, but I’m glad to see there is a cheaper alternative out there!
I like both but really anyone can make this for much cheaper. It does look great though
Nailmattic recently posted..21 reasons to love polish
Love Speckled! 😀 Fantastic for Spring!
Polish Alcoholic recently posted..Ice cream mani (tutorial)
Thank you very much for the comparison ! I wear glitters today, and I think it’s too much, but this could be an alternative to wear glitter without the “bling-bling” effect… Thanks !
Oh awesome, thanks for the side-by-side and save vs splurge options!
xox
Bailey
http://akabailey.blogspot.com
Bailey recently posted..Me ‘n My Lil’ Buddies: Aunt Bailey Time!
I love the comparison! I already have Speckled so I’d choose that. 🙂
Jeanatte recently posted..CLARINS / MOONLIT (213)
Ha! That’s very cool. I think I still prefer the Illamasqua, just because I’m a snob like that. 😉 I think I like the actual lilac color in Speckled ever-so-slightly more, but you get more wear options out of the Nubar.
I love Illamasque (you don’t even want to know how I pronounce that lmao!), purely because they’re so pretty from what I’ve seen… On your blog.
What I love MOST about this post is NOT the nails, it’s the fact that you did the “how to achieve the same look for cheaper”. I love things like that!
vonimoller recently posted..Tip Top’s Mango Tango
What a great comparison post! I’ve been lusting after the Illamasqua polishes since I heard about them but haven’t been able to afford them. I never get tired of seeing pics of them though!
Rebecca Russell recently posted..Fall-ing Leaves And Cozy Times