Illamasqua- Superstition is a Sephora- exclusive for Spring 2013. It was added along with Venous and Harem, but unlike those two, it's not part of any collection, so I believe it will only be available through Sephora.
Artificial light, three coats:
Superstition is a bright fuchsia jelly perfect for Spring and Summer. I do love the name of this polish!
It's really similar to its sister polish, Illamasqua- Obsess, so we'll talk about that at the end. In fact, I hemmed and hawed over whether or not to get this one, since I suspected it was pretty similar to Obsess, which I already owned and loved. In the end, curiosity got the best of me!
It dries glossy, but not exactly shiny, especially for a jelly. Swatches are shown with one coat of INM- Out The Door.
Window-filtered daylight:
It appears more purple-leaning indoors, and more of a pink-leaning fuchsia outside.
Outside, shade:
Formula: It's creamy and thick like most Illamasquas, and is quite thick for a jelly formula, actually. I had to be careful not to load too much on the brush, because after my first go-round I encountered some bubbling.
Other than that, it's easy to work with and glides on the nail pretty effortlessly. Three thinner coats are best. You will still have VNL after three coats, but it's a squishy jelly, so who cares?!
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Comparison time!
Left to Right: Illamasqua- Superstition, Illamasqua- Obsess
Maybe you can see from the bottle shot, but Superstition is just a tiny bit darker than Obsess. Like a hair's difference. (Also note the packaging: Superstition has the newer packaging with sharper corners, and Obsess has the older packaging that looks slightly more bulbous in photos, but very similiar in-hand.)
One thing to note is that these two shades have different finishes! Superstition is a jelly, and Obsess is a creme!
Mixed artificial & natural daylight:
Superstition is on the middle and pinkie fingers, while Obsess is on the index and ring fingers. You can really see that Superstition leans a bit more to the purple side. (Superstition is the top bottle in the photo.)
And, a different white balance setting:
I only have on two coats of Obsess for these swatches, and three of Superstition. Obsess is slightly more opaque, as it's a straight creme finish.
Index to Pinkie: Obsess, Superstition, Obsess, Superstition
Neither of these is truly a neon, although I wish one was! They are both very vibrant, however.
These two are probably too similar for most people to justifying owning both. I'm surprised Illamasqua put out a Sephora-exclusive shade that's so similar to one in their permanent range. The company doesn't have the biggest lineup of colors ever, since they are a newer brand, so it's not like they're running out of options to invent unique colors.
That said, I love both of them, and do appreciate that they are not exact duplicates. The quality of the formulas on both is amazing, and both are worth owning.
Personally, I like the vibrancy of Obsess more, but I do love jelly finishes, so Superstition will have a place in my collection. I do wish it were more shiny, though.
What do you think?
They are very very close. I can barely tell the difference. If I had to choose one I would pick superstition b/c it's a jelly.
ReplyI just lurve Illamasqua, so I don't mind having both, but you may be right. Jellies are just awesome!
Why didn't I know about these? What a dork! (I mean me!) Great swatches!
ReplyI stumbled across your blog trying to figure out just how out of touch I was with the latest at Illamasqua and here you are! I love it. I'm working on ordering it and Venous and Harem as we speak...Illamasqua is giving away a free highlighter with a 45BPS purchase on their website. These Sephora only releases bum me out...I'm kind of pondering waiting until I can just get all three from Illamasqua but then again...a free highlighter to play with...hmmmm.
I love that you do one polish at a time. I do too. I don't get all distracted with all the other colors. Not that I don't appreciate the comparison, I certainly do. I'm following you now!
(and I can't believe you painted your dog's nails! LOL)
Thanks for reading! I don't always do one color at a time, but sometimes it is more manageable. :) Can you believe I have never tried any other Illamasqua products other than the polishes?! Let me know what you think. I know some people like their blushes.
I mostly did Ham's nails for that banner photo, but am thinking of torturing him again with nailcolor soon! Lol, poor guy...
Thanks for joining my little blog!
ReplyYeah, one color is easier. But I like being able to share all I saw in it and I feel like if I do a whole collection in one post I don't get to do that. I worry it becomes too much to load up or something. I dunno.
I love Illamasqua! They have a really wide range of "out there" colors but they also have a lot of really wearable colors for the office as well. I love their shadows and blushes in particular. One of my work go-to shadow colors is Wolf. (Wolf paired with Stila Kitten and some brown eyeliner and it's a look.) (Plus you're wearing "Wolf" and "Kitten". What's not to love? LOL) It's a dark matte brown. Part of what is so great about them is that their colors are long wearing and very, very buildable. You can really customize your look. I find their pencils to be on the hard side rather than creamy, which bothers me a bit. Beautiful colors but...well, I have been known to warm them up next to a light bulb. Most of their stuff is matte, which is flattering. I just tried a brush from them, which I LOVE. It's the flat blush/countouring brush. It's soft, really densely packed, grabs a lot of color (which can be a bad thing as evidenced by my rather clownish/sunburned looks this morning! OOPS!) and blends beautifully. As some of my brushes wear out I'll be looking at theirs. I haven't tried foundation or anything because I'm hard to match. I need a pro there to help me out and my little JCP Sephora doesn't carry Illamasqua.
I recommend signing up for their emails and getting in on some of their really rather spectacular sales. Close your eyes and hit the order button and ignore the shipping now, all thanks to the Royal Mail, but they sometimes will have sales that start at %30 off. I mean..psht. I recommend a pallet to let you try some colors and also, I'm really enjoying my blush/bronzer duo, though I recommend their brush for that as the pots are rather thin in shape. Their only perfume "Freak" is awesome and made only from flowers that bloom at night, which appeals to my inner Goth girl. Truly it's a really fresh unique scent, though.
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OK, have I raved about it long enough for you? LOL I'm sorry!! This is why I blog, I'm excited to share. I'd be interested to see what you think of them.
Awww! Poor guy! They look good, though. He must tolerate it pretty well!