Illamasqua Pastels: Wink

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I've been out and about running errands this morning, and one of those errands included picking up a package from Illamasqua, which contained their Pastels. I figured that rather than swatch, I'd like to wear them, so I'll show them to you one at a time.

I haven't bought into the pastel frenzy of this spring so much, which is why I decided that this would be the one collection I'd buy. Part of the reason is that I already have a bunch of pastels I like, but since I like Illamasquas a lot in general, and the colors looked a bit different than others I've seen.

Today, as the title tells you, I put on Illamasqua Wink, which is a slightly bluish lavender. I used Illamasqua base coat, which they sent me as an extra about a year ago - not a blog-related thing, a returning customer thing. I don't think they associate my orders with my blog. Anyhow, I used that as the base, then two coats of Wink, which is perfect in only two coats. I finished it with a coat of Diamont, and have the rare perfectly even, shiny pastel manicure.

Illamasqua Wink Nail Polish, Two Coats, From the Illamasqua Pastels

As you can see, Wink (and her sisters, you'll see soon) are not as washed out as the pastels being released by other companies this season - these are less white, more color, but still distinctly pastel. Of the nail polishes I have, I would say that Nubar Lavender from their Pastel Fever Collection is the closest I have to this. The Nubar is a hair bluer and darker, but a heck of a lot more accessible and cheaper if you don't care to spring for an overseas order.

I'll show you one of these each day for the next three days to show the whole collection of four to you, so you can decide whether you need them or not. Aside from the reasons I mentioned above, I went for them because I like pastels a lot - they feel very Springy to me and are a great base for Konad, so there's a heavy personal preference element involved. As for the Illamasqua base coat, it's a nice one, but I'd never pay $14 (Sephora's price) for it. I've had the same bottle for a year and just use it when I'm wearing an Illamasqua and can find the bottle - I don't really find a significant difference with it, so this will likely be the only bottle of it I ever own.

That's what I have for you today, Dear Reader. Until next time, love and nail polish to you!