Illamasqua Hemlock Nail Varnish Review, Photos, Swatches
Illamasqua Hemlock Nail Varnish
Hemlock You’ll Want to Wear
Illamasqua Hemlock Nail Varnish (£13.50 for 0.50 fl. oz.) is described as a “pale opal green iridescent.” It’s a pale pink-red at one angle, then it turns into a pale, yellowed green shimmer at another angle, while the base color is a pale beige with a hint of pink overall. It’s definitely duochrome, and it is a strong one at that. There are a few green duochromes on the market, but I don’t have one that shifts pink-green (or such a yellowy green at all).
After two coats of Hemlock, there’s still some visible nail line. With three coats, you should get fully opaque color, if that’s your aim. It’s sheer enough in one coat to work as a layering polish as well. I appreciate the versatility of the color in that respect, but since this is definitely less pigmented compared to nearly every other Illamasqua shade I’ve come across, I wish they’d mention that it was sheer (or semi-sheer) in the description. There are nearly no visible brush strokes, despite the threads of metallic shimmer running through the base color. It also has a strong, obvious duochrome in a shift I don’t think I’ve come across before. Illamasqua’s polishes typically wear seven to ten days on me without chipping–just very minor tip wear.
Illamasqua Hemlock Nail Varnish Review, Photos, Swatches
Illamasqua Hemlock Nail Varnish
Illamasqua Hemlock Nail Varnish
Illamasqua Hemlock Nail Varnish
Illamasqua Hemlock Nail Varnish
Illamasqua Hemlock Nail Varnish
Illamasqua Hemlock Nail Varnish
Hmm. I’m usually all “Weee!!!” when it comes to Illamasqua polishes, but I think this is one that is purely magical in the bottle, and just nice enough on the nail.
Saw this a while back and loved it, but not enough to pull the trigger. These pics though… argh. Illamasqua, just take my money please.
This is kinda like a less sheer OPI Significant Other Color, very pretty!
OPI’s definately more purple, less pale pink though.
*sigh* Illamasqua polishes get me EVERY time. 🙂
Such a unique and flattering shade.
i bought my fist illamasqua polish (veridian) after seeing you and others rave about their formula and i was really disappointed. it chipped on me within a few hours and it also stained my nails yellow (the first polish i’ve experienced staining with in YEARS!)! i’m sad it didn’t work for me. oddly enough, cheaper brands like sally hansen and revlon work really well with my nails, while more expensive brands like illamasqua, butter london, and even some deborah lippmann have been failures.
I have one from zoya that’s similar, perhaps a touch darker.
Which Zoya color is similar?
Possibly Adina? I don’t own it yet(I ordered through Zoya’s recent sale) but it looks like a pale lavender with a green duo chrome.
I have one by L’oreal called The Temptress’ Power (696) that is quite similar. Perhaps a touch less pink and a smidge more green.
Gorgeous! It’s another Illamasqua polish that I think I need
Do you think this is sheer enough to use over a dark base to add a duochrome effect?
Yes!
Will this be available at Sephora, or online (for those of us not in the US)?
I think I’ll wait until Raindrops is released, and then pick up both of these at once. 😀
Sephora shows it online but it is out of stock at the moment!
Juelp just came out with a color called Amelia that is very similar, but a bit more gold/yellow toned.
This reminds me of that OPI polish…sheesh can’t remember the name for the dupes list 🙁
It looks like OPI Significant Other Color….my favorite!
Looks pretty similar to Sinful Colors “Just You Wait”, which looks great layered over darker colors!
Yes! I have that one also and it is pretty similar.
This is actually really awesome.
ugh. why did it have to be illamasqua to come up with this? It’s such an awesome color. I just can’t buy anything from them since their black face Christmas ad.
What do you mean by your black face ad ?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/26/illamasqua-blackface-ads-makeup_n_2194273.html
it wasnt a black face ad. it was one compleat white face and one compleat black face. both compleatly void of any flesh tone. and if u look at illamasquas past campaigns you see they are constantly changing a persons look reglardless of any skin colour. i do think it is wrong to boycot a brand or anything when there isnt a reason. did you boycot any of the waynes brothers movies after the did white chicks…..
I wasn’t expecting it to be sheer/semi-sheer from the bottle. Still such an awesome color. I don’t know how often I’d wear it, but it’s so unique and stunning, I’m really excited they released it
Thanks for another nailpolish review! I know you do quite a lot of them, but I’m especially looking forward to them as it’s the only thing I can play with for the moment, I’ve got a rash on my face so can’t use any make-up… 🙁 Still enjoying reading all of your reviews though -and plotting what new make-up I want once the rash is gone for good (hopefully)!
Thank you, Saerah! I hope your rash goes away soon!
Wonderful!!!
The duochrome element looks rather subtle. If you hadn’t said anything about it being a duochrome I would probably not have even noticed since the shimmer looks more gold than green to me once it’s on the nail.
I was just searching the web for something like this the other day!
I have a memory of getting a color similar to this at the salon when I was a teenager, but the green was a little more subtle. I always loved the soft pink with the green duochrome. In my memory it was an Essie color, but I can never find anything resembling it from that brand.
This is a close enough match for me though, I will definitely be picking up this color!
vov.its amazing color 🙂
This is probably one of my favourite polishes ever (along with CG Ruby Pumps, Chanel Peridot and BL The Black Knight) so to me this rating is way low! I definitely understand why the sheer factor led you to rate it a bit lower though 🙂
So stunning in the bottle. The shimmer is very similar to OPI’s Significant Other Color, as another reader mentioned. As much as I love this, I’d have to pass. (The polish hoarder in me wants it simply so I can stare at it though. ^_^)
This looks like Show Me the Ring by Essie. There are tons of dupes in this color though, so I will not be picking this one up.