Illamasqua TK Maxx Haul Swatch & Review

I recently went into TK Maxx and saw a whole bunch of Illamasqua polishes for only £3.99!! I think Illamasqua is a great brand, but I never want to spend the money on them full price. They're also difficult to find in store in the UK so it's not a brand I'm easily tempted with. When I saw them at TK Maxx for a fraction of the price, I went a little crazy...

I have live swatches of all these polishes on my YouTube channel so check it out!! 

First up is Superstition.

this is a super beautiful bright pink. It's not quite neon, but it's almost there.

This is fully opaque in just 1 thicker coat. I used 2 coats for the swatch as I had a very slight visible nail line on a few nails, but if you're in a rush, this could easily be a 1 coater.

The formula is so smooth and easy to work with, it almost applied itself. I had absolutely zero issues.

It dries a little dull, so it definitely needs a topcoat.

For all swatches, keep reading after the jump!

Next up is Harem.

Harem is a very popular nail polish in the YouTube nail community and I feel like I've heard everyone talking about how amazing it is.

This is a very rosy toned purple and it's definitely a gorgeous shade.

The formula was nice on this one. It had a few streaks on the first coat, but it wasn't difficult to work with. The second coat completely covered up any streaks.

This does dry glossy, but I added a topcoat for the photos.

Next up is Alarm.

I loooooove red polishes. I seriously cannot get enough of them and I want them ALL.

This is no exception. This red is absolutely stunning and amazingly easy to work with.

I used 2 coats for the swatch, but this definitely didn't need 2 coats. It was fully opaque on just 1 coat. The formula is so easy to work with, with opaque, creamy, smooth, not streaky, not patchy. Everything you'd want in a polish. It also dries super glossy.

For consistency I did apply a topcoat for the swatch.

The top three polishes are from the first TK Maxx I went to, then the next day I went to the one close to home and picked up the following.

Next is Serenity. This comes with a rubberised cap meaning it's a matte polish.

This is a super super bright, I'd say almost neon, blue polish.

This had quite an annoying formula to be honest. I wasn't a fan of the way the polish dried, but the matte really brought out the streaks of the polish.

I applied 3 coats for the swatch. The first coat was very streaky and unfortunately the second coat didn't quite cover everything up. I added a thicker third coat to make sure everything was completely even.

I also added a topcoat. Without topcoat it was so dull and not something I'd ever wear. With topcoat it's absolutely stunning and 100% worth the 3 coats.

Next up is Prosperity.

This is the only polish I was a little disappointed with. This is such a beautiful rich deep purple in the bottle. I was hoping this would be fully opaque in 1 coat and have a stunning glossy finish. There is nothing wrong with this polish, it just didn't live up to my very high expectations.

I used 2 coats for the swatch. The first coat was very sheer for such a dark colour. My nail line was still very visible. The second coat completely covered everything up. I reckon if I'd added a third coat it would have deepened the colour even more.

It also dries to a matte finish. I was so disappointed!! Of course I added a topcoat to the swatch.

I don't have many purples in this kind of shade so I'll definitely use it in the future, but I was really hoping for something better.

Next is Milf.

This is a slightly yellow-y toned grass green - like new baby grass.

This has a great formula. It's slightly streaky on the first coat, but the second coat covers everything up.

It also dries with a beautiful glossy finish, but of course I did add topcoat to the swatches. If you want to see how it dries check out my live swatches.

Next up is Monogamous.

This is a really gorgeous peachy nude. I normally tend to go for pinky nudes or ivory nudes, but this was actually really beautiful with my skin tone. In some lights it looked like the perfect naked nails, in some lights it looked lighter than my skin tone, and in other lights it looked darker.

This was slightly streaky on the first coat, but the second coat covered everything up perfectly.

It dries to that same annoying matte finish, so I'd definitely recommend using a topcoat.

Finally, the last polish!

This is Raindrops and this is another polish that everyone on YouTube talks about. And I mainly got it because of the hype, it's probably not something I would have bought otherwise!

It's a really beautiful polish though. It's a light grey with silver micro glitter and slightly larger flaked glitters.

This is a very sheer polish and I used 3 coats for the swatch. For 100% full opacity absolutely zero nail line you could probably do another one, but this was good enough for me.

It's a really beautiful effect, the flaked glitter pieces with the micro shimmer in the grey base. It really sums up England very well!

That's it for my Illamasqua haul. The polishes are normally £14.50 so buying these for only £3.99 is a huge saving. I probably won't be buying any Illamasqua's full price. I LOVED the formula of a few of them and it's definitely a brand that I love, but the matte finish really bothered me. If I see more in TK Maxx I wouldn't hesitate ;)

xx Elaine