I was SUCH an Easter morning candy kid. 🙂 My little brother and I always looked forward to Easter because our parents would fill our baskets to the brim with sweets!
Jelly beans, Peeps, chocolate bunnies, Cadbury Mini Eggs, yum…
Which reminds me — eff you Cadbury Mini Eggs 
for making your candies so hard to resist!
Every Easter morning, after tearing through the house on the hunt for hidden eggs, we’d gorge ourselves on candy until our tummies hurt.
Memories of Easter mornings flooded back today when I swatched two of the four colors from Illamasqua’s Pastel Nails collection for spring.
The colors have been available through illamasqua.com for a while, but they arrive at US Sephora stores this May ($14 each).
From left: Caress, Wink, Blow, Nudge
Nudge (the creamy greenish blue) and Blow (the creamy yellow) look good enough to eat! — which would not be a good idea BTW (don’t do it!!).
Nudge
Blow
Neither of them produced streaks, either. When I lay the brush down and move it from cuticle to tip, the color applies smooth and even. Two coats resulted in a fully opaque nail.
Definitely have a big dose of patience, though, because they are really thick. I felt like I spent a while removing excess color from the brush, not that it takes away from their performance; it just makes ’em take a little longer to apply.
Oh, if you’re familiar with China Glaze’s Up and Away Collection, you might experience a wee bit of de ja vu/vu ja de as I think China Glaze’s Lemon Fizz (a creamy yellow) and Re-Fresh Mint (a creamy greenish-blue) look kinda familiar.
From left: Nudge, Re-Fresh Mint, Blow, Lemon Fizz
From left: Illamasqua Blow, China Glaze Lemon Fizz
From left: Illamasqua Nudge, China Glaze Re-Fresh Mint
Lemon Fizz and Blow look almost like twins, while Nudge and Re-Fresh Mint look like second cousins (Nudge is perhaps bluer and Re-Freshment more green).
Now, I think China Glaze formulas are thinner and a little easier to work with, which is just a little something to think about.
So far, I really like what I’ve seen. Can’t wait to check out the other colors this May!
The other cat…
It was sunny but still cold this morning so I wanted to wear the pair woolly boots my mom got me for Christmas. Tabs, however, was NOT having it because he’s claimed them for his own.
Why you so obsessed with boots?
When he isn’t snuggling the boots, he’s attacking them, like some kind of strange kitty love-hate relationship. It’s the weirdest thing!
I bet his little kitty brain thinks they’re another cat…
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
These look nice with your skintone but not so nice on me, too pale. And Tabs is so cute 🙂
.-= Marina’s last blog post… Lancome Celebrates 10 Years Of Juicy Tubes With Natural Origin Collection =-.
I am sooooo feeling that pale yellow!!! ♥ ♥ ♥
…although, I am rather pale and yellowish to begin with, so I hope it looks good against my skin tone. Well, I suppose it’s a good excuse to get a tan. 😀
Karen, do you know where I can buy China Glaze? I was looking online, but their website is no help. I think I like the China Glaze shades better, and I hear they are cheaper, which makes it a win/win.
Sally Beauty Supply carries china glaze…I dont know where else though
You can get them at head2toe beauty for super cheap. http://www.head2toebeauty.com/
Thanks for the tips, ladies! 🙂
Angie, you’re right, that’s an awesome price! 😀
Love how they look on you Karen! and LOVE LOVE LOVE that you did comparison swatches. You’re my beauty hero of the day yo!
-Anita
The formula seems really nice, I have seen a few pastel polishes that look so chalky on the nails…(Anyway, I never quite trends like pastel/matte since I like my nails shiny and bold…)
.-= Citrine’s last blog post… Max Factor Lipstick in Ms Understood =-.
I’m so with you on the mini eggs. I don’t get it. I have no compulsion to eat cadbury chocolate the rest of the year, but those damn mini eggs suck me into the store all the time.
They all look great on you… probably not on my pale northern European skin, though.
I’ve reluctantly decided China Glaze is not going to work for me, after having bought my first four bottles of polish from them and having every single one of them get drag marks when applying no matter what I try. :\
My Cats do the same thing, one is obsessed with a toy dog and a blanket (we call the dog his babby) the other cat just likes to roll around on the road
I am liking the yellow one but im not sure if they will go well with my skin tone. Im NC30-35ish but I feel like my arms/hands get really dark in the summer.
Oh Tabs … he loves the boots a lot!!! Linus likes my fuzzy sleep socks….
Gorgeous colors! I love both the Illamasqua and the China Glaze. I would probably get China Glaze since it’s more readily available (only one Sephora in my area carries Illamasqua and I don’t always get there) and it ‘s less expensive too. Thanks for the side by side swatches!
ooh this is uber-cute. very spring 🙂
My cats claim everything as theirs from boots to purses. They’ll lay on anything. I didn’t know tabs was so solid colored on top.
.-= Lindsay’s last blog post… FOTD: Not my dirty 30 =-.
Tabs is so adorable. I’m not really a cat person (cat ladies don’t beat me up, please!) because when I was little, my aunts crazy cat scratched the hell out of me out of nowhere! It literally went insane & started chasing me around the house. I was just sitting there watching my Saturday morning cartoons minding my own busines when.. BAM the cat goes insane all on it’s own & started chasing me. Believe me, it wasn’t being playful because it started hissing!
Cadbury POPPING Mini Eggs are bomb. Pop Rocks + Mini Eggs = heaven. I seriously spent $42 on Cadbury Popping Mini Eggs (bulk size). And another $18 buying the China Glaze Up & Away collection to match the chocolates :d
I like the China Glaze shades better. ANd the photos of Tabs are goshdarn cute!
These colours are very lovely and very Easter/spring time indeed!
.-= amy’s last blog post… LOTD Fun Ways to Wear Medusa’s Makeup Mineral Eye Dusts as Lipstick/Lipgloss! Reds, Corals and Orange Edition =-.
Those colors are so great for Spring!
Cadbury Mini Eggs are like crack cocaine, lol. Best. Candy. Ever. Thank God they’re not available year round or I’d look like a beachball. Love the Illamasqua polishes and I’m very impressed they don’t go on streaky; for really opaque colors like that, I usually have to get a professional manicure. Tabs is freakin’ adorable…he’s got a little jelly-belly going on, doesn’t he? My cat will sit on any item of clothing available, even if it’s smelly socks or stinky underwear.
how cute! i wish you got a chance to swatch the other two though…they look so adorable! and actually catch my eye the most 🙂
Gorgeous colours, so springy!!! … too bad they are not available, again, in Canada =(. But they’re a lil bit pricey anyway (talking myself out)
.-= Rica’s last blog post… Icy Look Book – page 1 =-.
These are definitely great Easter colors! Pastels are totally in for spring this year, lol. While I don’t think I’ll spring for the Illamasqua (I don’t have a Sephora near me, and I’d prefer to test out the polish), I’m totally going to wear a lot more pastels! I have Essie Mint Candy Apple on my fingernails right now, and I’ve gotten numerous compliments…I just don’t really understand why it was released in winter, ahahaha.
oh my gosh, i love love love the lilac color! essie makes a similar pastel but i have only seen it at my nail salon, it’s not at my usual target yet! i need to get these!! 🙂
you can find china glaze all over ebay, ladies who are interested. and at some awesome prices. It’s nowhere in australia so I’ve been getting it all from the Bay.
These look great on you! I’m definitely loving all the pastel polishes that have been coming out lately.
.-= SoVeryFabulous’s last blog post… Moroccan Oil Review =-.
thanks for the comparison! Tabs is so sweet!
kiss
.-= diane’s last blog post… Episode 2 of Mango goodies =-.
i wish my skin was dark enough to pull of vibrant shades of fuchsia. I used to have “pink pearl” pigment by MAC but I gave it to a friend whom it looked much much better on 🙂
.-= Katie’s last blog post… Lady Gaga Telephone Makeup =-.
Those cadbury mini eggs are like crack for me. I literally had to put a cold turkey withdraw ban on them.
Regarding the blue color – Diamond Nailpolish does one in that exact same shade, and I think it cost me a dollar. Seriously. That Tiffany blue was so pretty last summer. Can’t wait to bust it out again.
Check our their website – I really like them for “not sure how it will look on me” colors or trendy ones, because frankly, they cost a dollar, so if I have to give it away, there are no tears. And friends love when the nail polish fairy stops by their houses!
i love these colours! i live in canada .. but i have no clue where to find china glaze 🙁 and we don’t have illamasqua here .. 🙁
Hi Karen 🙂
Is Nudge in any way similar to Orlys Gumdrop??