Untrieds: Illamasqua Purity nail varnish

~ stashy

It’s been a while since I’ve done an Untrieds nail polish post! Today I bring you Illamasqua Purity.
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It is described on Illamasqua’s site as:

Peach.

Uh, ok. Short and sweet.  To add to this, I’d say this not a soft peach, it’s a bold peach if there’s such a thing. Almost a neon peach.

I get a tinge of anxiety whenever I’m faced with a pastel creme nail polish shade because I know likely I will have a challenge with possible streakiness, bald patches and gooey polish.  But, imagine my delight when I applied my first coat of Purity:
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Not quite a One Coat Wonder (OCW) but not bad! Above is shown with just one coat, no top coat. Below is 2 coats, no top coat:
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The formula is a self-leveling dream – here it is with my usual top coat (Poshe) applied:
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As with all Illamasqua nail polishes, the square outer cap can be removed and the smaller cap inside makes it much easier to grip when applying the polish.
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The brush is on the thinner side but it applies and deposits the polish well – no streaks or unevenness.
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Illamasqua nail polishes used to cost $17 CAD (when it was available at Hudson’s Bay, now it’s online from Illamasqua’s site but the CAD pricing is ludicrous at $29.95 each!  Are you kidding me, Illamasqua?)  Each bottle contains 15ml of product and are made in Australia.
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Pros:
• Richly pigmented
• Self-leveling formula
• Even, smooth application (amazing, considering the pastel creme shade)
• Chip resistant
• Long wearing

Cons:
• Must purchase online only (non-UKers)
• Pricey (now even MORE expensive)

Stash worthiness: 9/10

39 thoughts on “Untrieds: Illamasqua Purity nail varnish”

    1. Aw thank you! Yes, $30 nail polish is a bit steep. Even Marc Jacobs is only $22. Meh! But there is a gorgeous shade that was never available in Canada and I’ve been wanting:

      I’ve mentioned it before but the lem is strong for this one. So unique.

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  7. I love this shade. It’s so perfect for work too. Especially in a conservative office. This must be the say for pretty polish posts. I find it hard to spend 30.00 on a nail polish. I haven’t tried anything from this line and I really want to try their cosmetics. The cosmetics are reasonably priced (well, average for the category they are in) but I swear Chanel, Dior…. they all charge 30.00 for polish. I got some polish from 2B Colours that was .79 cents. Adorable watermelon color. Wore it for 3 weeks, twice, never chipped. Never even lost it’s shine! So, it’s hard to pay 30.00 when I know the products are probably not all that much different. Although interestingly, Essie ALWAYS chips on me within a week. ???????

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    1. It’s SO true. I’ve worn $1 polishes and they outperform the designer brands! I really would be interested to know where nail polishes are produced – I bet the same factory bottles Chanel along side with some $1 no name brand! 😛
      Illamasqua is an amazing brand – I highly recommend their blushes! I’m just sad they exited the North American market altogether.

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  12. Everytime I go on to illamasqua site or couple other uk make up online sites, I always spend ages looking at their nail polishes. They have some extraordinary colours that really tempt me but every time I just buy something else instead. I just hate to spend that much on a nail polish, I have a fair amount of £1 nail polishes that genuinely last as well as any other average priced polish. So I just can’t force myself to spend as much as this! Maybe one day, though, but only on some super weird colour 😀 Let me ask you, though, how many of Illamsqua polishes you have in your collection? (Don’t make me jealous :D)

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    1. I agree, Illamasqua polishes ARE pricey for what they are, but they’re worth it for the formula and unique colours. Brace yourself… I own… 47 Illamasqua nail polishes! 😀 In my defense, only about 10 of them were purchased at full price, the balance were purchased during their clearance sale at 25-50% off when they were exiting our department store here.
      It’s terrible, but a majority of the shades I own, I haven’t tried them on yet!
      You didn’t ask, but my most favourite Illamasqua polish is called Facet:

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      1. 47?! Oh my god! I am very jealous 😀 No need to explain, I love shopping too. I love your clearance hunts, though. Do you guys have any shops left over there at all? It seems like there are so many that exited Canada. It’s crazy!
        You most definitely need to a post on your collection then, if you haven’t yet. If you have – I must get a link 😉
        Facet looks incredible, definitely my kind of colour!

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        1. I hear you – stores are closing left and right! I’ve been saying that I will have nowhere left to go shopping once my no-buy is over next year! The challenge with Canada is that we’re so sparsely populated (we’re only 10% of the U.S. population) and our sensibility is more European – it’s a weird mix!
          I haven’t posted a full Illamasqua nail polish collection but I will make it a priority! I just bought a bunch of nail swatching sticks like this:

          So it’ll be much easier to show my polish collection than having to apply them all on my fingers, lol!

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          1. Must be hard! I totally get where your sense of urgency in shopping comes from then, I’d probably do the same if I were you.
            Since you have 47 nail polishes I’d imagine it could take ages to paint your nails and take pictures, so swatching sticks are probably the best option 😀 And can I just say – I am really looking forward to this post! I’ll probably end up making my wishlist endless!

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