PURCHASED
Yes, I’m posting a Halloween collection on November 1st, but I make the rules and I say HALLOWEEN CONTINUES. We’re not stopping until every spooky shade has been given its time. And who am I to ever limit what colors you can wear by season – Halloween polishes are for any time of the year.
With that note in mind, I’ve already waited long enough to discuss these shades. Let’s dive in already.
This is the ILNP ‘Fright Night’ collection, and as you can guess by the color palette and name, we’re looking at yet another Halloween collection – thank you for blessing us indie brands, we are in your debt. This features 6 what I would personally call “classic” Halloween shades – they just feel like classic scary movies to me somehow – with the squishy blood reds, and bright navy blues, oranges and greens. There’s so much shimmer and sparkle here, it’s just adding that air of supernatural magic to them. Am I truly romanticizing nail polish? Yes, but that’s my favorite thing to do, and what else would you expect from a nail polish blog.
These 6 shades are available from the ILNP website – their collections always stick around for a while, so need to worry about this one disappearing before you’re ready. But let’s get on into the swatches already!
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Starting right out, we have ‘Shapeshifter’. This is a warm toned deep brown jelly base, filled with golden flakey shimmers all throughout. It feels like autumn leaves, but you know, spooky autumn leaves. Like there’s something just lurking underneath, ready to grab your ankle.
Since it has that jelly base, the first coat is more sheer and uneven – obviously if you use a thicker coat you’ll have more coverage, but I preferred a thinner base for better drying times. The 2nd coat really builds it up so well, all the way to full opacity. It’s smooth to paint on, and those flakes distribute well and suspend in the base for a layered look. So lovely.
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This next shade can look a touch similar to ‘Shapeshifter’ above, but it’s really just the more colorful, complementary sister shade. This is ‘Bitten’ and it instead has a deep blood red jelly base filled with multichrome flakes all throughout. We couldn’t get through a Fright Night set without some blood red tones – that perfect fake blood color.
Again, with a jelly base, it has a touch more of a sheer formula that’s a little uneven on that 1st coat. But fear not, that 2nd coat builds up the base and deepens it up to really contrast against those flakes. Depending on your application and the thickness of your coats, you might want a 3rd to cover any last visible nail peeking through. Overall it’s smooth and easy to paint on – and I didn’t experience any messiness or staining.
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Up next we have ‘Carved’, and you know with that name and color, I bet you can guess the inspiration behind it. (It’s jack-o-laterns). It’s a bright orange shimmery metallic shade, with an almost flakey candy-wrapper like finish. It’s a pumpkin, but it’s a glam pumpkin. There’s a little bit of gold, there’s a little bit of copper peeking through, it’s so dimensional.
This one was surprisingly more of a jelly base packed with dense flakes rather than a true metallic – which is what gives it that “candy wrapper” look. Of course it’s a touch sheer at first, but builds up well with just 2 coats. I did choose to add a 3rd to cover some last patches I had peeking at the end at the end of my nails – as always it’ll depend on your own application and preferences.
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Now this next shade, well of course my eye was drawn to it immediately. I can’t get enough of a magnetic finish. This is ‘Frankie’ and it’s a forest green jelly base filled with a scattered holographic shimmer as well as a bright lime green magnetic pigment. It feels like a bright green apple lollipop on the nails – maybe I have candy on the brain. It’s Halloween after all.
Once again with a jelly base it’s a touch more sheer on that 1st coat, but it easily builds up with a 2nd. That 2nd coat deepens up that base color to really help that magnetic pigment contrast and pop on the nails. It’s just so fun and I will always be so mesmerized by the shifts on my nails – it’s MAGIC.
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‘Abracadabra’ is a deep navy blue shimmer base filled with scattered silver shimmers. It has a gorgeous bright blue shimmer running throughout and it just feels magical, like “Fantasia” or a wizard cloak.
This was the most pigmented shade of the bunch, being the deepest shade, and was easily opaque with just 2 coats. I just had a few patches after the 1st coat that were smoothed out with a 2nd.
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And last but not least we have ‘Flicker’. A gray base + a red shimmer has truly been a trend of this season, and I’m a big fan of the combo – I’ll take 100 more of these polishes, thank you. As mentioned this is a warm medium gray, almost stone gray base just jam packed with a shifty red-gold shimmer. It was pulling mostly golden in my direct lights, but in indirect lighting, you can get more of that red shimmer to show.
We end the set with another easy 2 coat formula. This was the one true cream shade of the bunch, so it was very smooth and had even coverage. The 2nd coat covers any last patches, and it’s just lovely on the nails.
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And that’s the collection! It has 3 things that I automatically love: a theme, a color palette that really flows together, and spooky shades and names. What more could I need? I feel like this set gives us those quintessential Halloween colors – from a bright green to an orange, as well as blood reds and grays. There’s a little something for every sort of spooky mood, and I just loved it. We did have a lot of jelly formulas in this set, but I was able to get them all pretty well opaque in just 2 coats. They were smooth and easy to paint on and I had no complaints!
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Upcoming Posts
Orly ‘Twas the Night Winter 2023 • Glam Polish Thorns and Roses collection • OPI Terribly Nice Winter 2023 • Orly Breathable Spice It Up Fall/Winter 2023 • China Glaze Wonka Winter 2023
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