Listen, this blog will always be mostly mainstream and drugstore nail polish reviews (and hopefully some more affordable makeup reviews again soon). The polishes are (somewhat) cheaper overall (though they do try to keep raising up in price), and also easier to buy discounted from supply websites (polishpick.com truly saves me). But I have been lucky enough, as I gain a little more of a polish budget each year, to slowly wade in and try out a few new-to-me indie brands. I do wish I had the time and money to review every single brand of polish, but at this point I still have to be selective. I just have to be patient and have self control and wait for the collection to truly catch my eye. (Not that every indie brand out there doesn’t release gorgeous collections all the time, but you get what I mean).

So this collection was one that truly captured my eye and pulled me in, and it was just the right time to purchase. ILNP had already been a brand that had been circling around the edge of my radar, from other Instagram friends posting previous shades and swatches, so it met all of my criteria and made the perfect jumping off point for my first full collection purchase.

This is the ILNP ‘Trapped’ collection. This was a Halloween release, and with that we have 6 vampy, shifty and sparkly shades, with a lot of dark bases and contrasting shimmers. (In my opinion, more brands need to release Halloween collections, thank you very much.)

I did originally swatch these up and post them on my Instagram in November (another shoutout to follow me there as you see swatches earlier most often), but you know, my whole 2023 goal of working to catch up and make sure every polish collection gets it’s matching blog post. This collection is still readily available on the ILNP website and not going anywhere soon, so you can also still get your little hands on them whenever you end up reading this post.

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First up, we’re starting with the 2 magnetics in the set! I’ve explained magnetics in previous posts, but I always want to mention it again in case you’re a nail polish newbie and this is the first of my posts you’ve seen. Magnetic polishes contain magnetic pigments within them, so when you hold a magnetic want to them, the pigments are attracted and “freeze” as the polish dries, creating new patterns in the polish. They’re super cool, and such a fun way to create a magical nail look with just 1 tool. So let’s look at these magnetics from ILNP.

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This is ‘Venom’ and it’s a deep forest green base with a bright green magnetic shimmer all throughout.

Formula wise this was gorgeous and fully opaque with just 2 easy coats! Super smooth to paint on, and that magnetic contrasts so well with the base creating that shifty green look. With this one, I prefer to set my finger right on top of the magnet, then paint, and then let it rest there for a minute or two (which you’ll see in the video). If you do it with both coats, as well as with your top coat, you can get an even tighter line than I have here, and an even more distinct magnetic effect.

Venom • Poison – Live Swatches (As noted, both ‘Venom’ and ‘Poison’ are swatched in the same video here!)

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The other magnetic is ‘Poison’ (and as mentioned the live swatch is above combined with ‘Venom’). This one is so gorgeous and it just reminds me of a cat eye marble. Is that right? Or like amber? There’s some sort of crystal look here. ANYWAYS, this is a black jelly base with a deep red magnetic shimmer. That shimmer shifts from that deeper burgundy over to a bright golden-orange, giving it that cat eye look, and it’s just STUNNING. It contrasts even more than the shade above with the darker base, making the magnetic effect so distinct.

I got this pretty well opaque with just 2 coats, though I did add a 3rd. I felt that after magnetizing it, the base looked a touch lighter than in the bottle, but that’s mainly me looking so closely at it under such bright lights. Most will be good with just 2 smooth coats. Overall very easy to paint on and and control, and the magnetic effect is very visible and easy to pull out.

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Next up we have ‘Hallucinate’, one of the shiftiest shades in the bunch. This is a purple jelly base with a bright red-orange shimmer in it, that shifts over to a coppery yellow and even a bright green at some angles. There might even be some teal there on the very edge of the shimmer as well.

Since it’s a jelly base, it was a touch more sheer than the magnetic formulas above, and it’s just about building up the base color to match the bottle and letting the sparkle layer up. I used 3 thin coats here, 2 thicker coats on other nails, so it’ll just depend on your own nails and application for what you need! It’s still smooth and easy to paint on.

Hallucinate • Lured – Live Swatches (again, 2 swatches in this one video!)

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‘Lured’ just might be my favorite of this set, and I mean just look at it! This is a black jelly base with bright teal blue flakes all throughout. Again with that jelly base, it’s a touch more sheer, so it’s just about building up that black base to full opacity. So again, depending on your nails and application it can be 2-3 coats! Again, it’s smooth and easy to paint on, and those flakes just layer up and look so dimensional on the nails.

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And for the final pair of polishes, we have ‘Nocturnal’ and ‘Hex’!

‘Nocturnal’ is another black jelly base polish, this time filled with scattered holographic sparkles and rich navy blue shimmer. Again with that jelly base it’s a touch more sheer and just about building up the base color to full opacity. I chose to use 3 thin coats this one, though others might be good with just 2 thicker coats. They’re smooth and easy to paint on overall, so those 3 coats go quickly.

Nocturnal • Hex – Live Swatches

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Last and CERTAINLY not least, we have ‘Hex’. This is another black jelly base polish, but with orange multichrome flakes, that flip to a bright gold over to a bright leaf green. It’s like fall leaves just crunched up into a bottle of polish.

Just like all of the other black jelly base polishes, they’re a touch more sheer. You know the drill, 2 thicker coats or 3 thinner coats to build up to full opacity, smooth and easy to paint on.

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And that’s the set! Overall absolutely gorgeous and vampy, perfect theming for a fall/Halloween release, and I think still perfect for the gray days we’re having now in the height of winter. I love the 3 shades that use a black jelly base but with different shimmers and flakes to give all different looks on the nails. It’s so interesting, and all of these shades work together so well in a cohesive theme, even with all of the different finishes. I really enjoyed it a lot, and I’m just here for all of the Halloween releases from brands.

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Upcoming Posts
KB Shimmer Northern Exposure collection • China Glaze Drippin’ in Glitz Winter 2022 • Essie (Un)guilty Pleasures collection • Glam Polish Nevermore collection • Holo Taco Magnetics collection • Essie Valentine’s Day 2022

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