Illamasqua Facet and Boosh Nail Varnish "Accent Manicure": Review, Swatches and Photos

I recently was at a wedding and noticed one of my friends sporting the trendy "accent manicure". I really liked it, and decided to do my own with two Illamasqua nail varnishes I recently picked up in London (£ 14.50, $18.00 CA). All photos in natural light, NC 40 skin with Seche Vite Crystal Clear Basecoat, no topcoat.

Facet on ring finger, Boosh on all others.

Facet is part of Illamasqua's new "Sacred Hour" collection, described as a "grey crystal",  it's a taupey grey base loaded with tiny copper flakes. It's a very unique colour and formula, the only polish I could think of that was similar in formula, though not in hue, was Butter London's Two Fingered Salute (which is tiny copper flakes in a celadon base.) Facet flowed on the nail perfectly, dried quickly but did need three coats for full opacity.

Boosh is part of Illamasqua's permanent range and is described as a "pure black, glossy finish". This is the best black nail polish in the universe, full stop. If you wear black polish, and don't already own this, throw out all your other blacks and buy this - it's all you need. It's incredibly pigmented, flows easily on the nail and is so glossy it doesn't need topcoat for added shine. Perfection.

Both polishes wore incredibly well, showing minor tip wear (but no chipping) after three days even without a top coat.

*Though Illamasqua is available in Canada at Sephora, Sephora does not stock Boosh and I have doubts they will get Facet.  Apparently, The Bay (Vancouver and Toronto only) will have full Illamasqua counters shortly.

Grades: Facet: A-, Boosh: A+

J