Beauty Care: ILNP Skate Date, Downtown, Bundled Up Nail Polishes Reviews & Swatches

Skate Date

ILNP Skate Date Holographic Jelly Nail Polish ($10.00 for 0.4 oz.) has a sheerer bluish-aqua jelly base with fine flakes that shifted from minty green to chartreuse to pale orange. The consistency was fluid and more jelly-like, so a bit plusher and thicker, but it wasn’t to the point where pooling became an issue, and I felt like I had good control over the product as I applied it to my nail.

Per the brand, it has maximum coverage in two to three coats. In the swatches, I’ve applied three coats using Deborah Lippmann Gel Lab Pro base and top coats. Two coats was sheer enough where my nail line came through visibly at a distance, and with three coats, it was more semi-opaque (as swatches show) but was packed with enough shifting flakes that, in person, it appeared opaque. You would need a fourth coat for true opacity, but jelly polish’s signature is that translucency. I wore this shade for 10 days and had minor tip wear and no chips.

FURTHER READING: Formula Overview for details on general performance and characteristics (like scent).

Top Dupes

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ILNP Summer Lovin' (P, $12.50) is more shimmery, lighter, cooler (85% similar).
ILNP Drive-In (P, $10.00) (80% similar).
ILNP Downtown (P, $10.00) (80% similar).

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Formula Overview

$10.00/0.4 oz. - $25.00 Per Ounce

The brand has several finishes, though some overlap, and they primarily have polishes with some shimmer to them, which often includes holographic, duochromatic, or multichromatic shimmer and effects.

The majority of shades specifically list how many coats are necessary for full coverage, which typically ranged from two to three, though a few went as high as four coats; the jelly finish, as expected, tended to be the sheerest. I found that what was stated was typically accurate to opacity performance. Most shades needed two coats for even (and/or opaque) coverage.

More metallic shades--often multichromes--had barely visible brush strokes from a normal viewing distance (as compared to a close-up photo, which is magnified). An additional coat sometimes made these even less noticeable, and then a good layer of top coat further reduced the visibility.

Both the holographic and multichrome shades presented with visible shifts and even dispersion of holographic shimmer/sparkle. Some of the multichrome shades had less contrasting shifts, so the effect wasn't as strong head-on (e.g. shifting between blue to violet to warmer purple) but readily visible just glancing at my nails resting on the desk and so on. Many shades had finer pearl/shimmer, which danced and caught the light beautifully but ensured a smooth texture and easier removal.

The formula tended to have a light to light-medium viscosity to it, which ensured fluid, more even coverage without being thick, goopy, or so thin that it dried down as one applied it to nail. Some of the black-based shimmer shades seemed to be a little thinner relative to the jelly or multichrome finishes. Most shades self-leveled and hid my more ridged nails, though a good base and top coat would be ideal. Overall, the polishes were smooth and easy to work with, while the brush itself wasn't too wide nor too narrow, though I had to be most careful working with some of the richer shades on my pinky!

The drying time seemed average; I was able to add a second (and/or third) coat after I had done the other nails on my hand. I would give the Multichromes a little extra time to dry down just to ensure the least visible brush strokes in the end result, though. For the more sparkly and textured shades, like the glitters, I felt like a top coat really helped to bring everything together to give the end result a shiny, plush effect.

Of the shades I've done full wear tests for (about 20 shades at the time of writing the overview), none of them have chipped over the course of a week. I've had minor tip wear across the board with some shades having very minor tip wear at that.

That being said, it's typical for me to have polish last a week or longer on me, though, and I have not personally had issues with finding a formula that wears a week with minor tip wear but no chipping. The primary source of tip wear likely comes from typing on the computer, though I also open small, paper cartons and peel off labels routinely when opening new products (for review).

Browse all of our ILNP Holographic Jelly Nail Polish swatches.

Ingredients

Butyl Acetate, Ethyl Acetate, Nitrocellulose, Adipic Acid / Neopentyl Glycol / Trimellitic Anhydride Copolymer, Acetyl Tributyl Citrate, Isopropyl Alcohol, Stearalkonium Bentonite, Acrylates Copolymer, Styrene / Acrylates Copolymer, Silica, Benzophenone-1, Trimethylpentanediyl Dibenzoate MAY CONTAIN Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Iron Oxides (CI 77489, CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), Red 6 (CI 15850), Red 7 (CI 15850), Red 34 (CI 15880), Yellow 5 (CI 19140), Blue 27 (CI 75510), Black 2 (CI 77266), Mica, Aluminum Powder (CI 77000)

Disclaimer: Ingredient lists are as available by the brand (or retailer) at the time of publishing. Please always check product packaging, if it exists, for the ingredient list applicable to the product you're purchasing, or the brand or retailer's website for the most up-to-date ingredient list.

Skate Date

PPermanent. $10.00.

9.5

Product

Pigmentation

9.5

Texture

Longevity

Application

98%

Total

Downtown

ILNP Downtown Holographic Jelly Nail Polish ($10.00 for 0.4 oz.) has a sheerer, lavender jelly base with fine shifting sparkle that went from chartreuse to brighter lime green to cool lavender. At certain angles, half my nail looked mostly pink; sometimes I thought I had mislabeled because it really does look pink along the edges but does go purple at other angles.

It had a smooth, fluid consistency that was true to a jelly finish polish, so a little plusher and a little thicker, but it didn’t pool or flood along my cuticle too readily. If I want to load up on coats and go for a more opaque look, I’d definitely go with a thinner coat initially and then let second and third coats be more of a “normal” thickness coat. When the light hit my nail, the gold really came through the brightest and strongest.

Per the brand, it has maximum coverage in two to three coats. In the swatches, I’ve applied three coats using Deborah Lippmann Gel Lab Pro base and top coats, which yielded medium to semi-opaque coverage. I’d definitely need a fourth coat to get closer to opaque, as I could see my nail line sometimes with three coats, but it has a jelly finish, so translucency was expected, but I’d say that compared to other similar finish shades by the brand, this seemed a little sheerer. I wore this shade for 10 days and had minor tip wear and no chips.

FURTHER READING: Formula Overview for details on general performance and characteristics (like scent).

Top Dupes

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ILNP Opal Sunset (P, $10.00) is more shimmery, darker, warmer (85% similar).
ILNP Summer Lovin' (P, $12.50) is lighter, more pigmented, cooler (80% similar).
ILNP Skate Date (P, $10.00) (80% similar).
ILNP Pink Flamingo (P, $10.00) is more shimmery, darker, warmer (80% similar).
ILNP Drive-In (P, $10.00) is more shimmery, darker, cooler (80% similar).

View Swatches

Formula Overview

$10.00/0.4 oz. - $25.00 Per Ounce

The brand has several finishes, though some overlap, and they primarily have polishes with some shimmer to them, which often includes holographic, duochromatic, or multichromatic shimmer and effects.

Browse all of our ILNP Holographic Jelly Nail Polish swatches.

Ingredients

Downtown

PPermanent. $10.00.

9.5

Product

Pigmentation

9.5

Texture

Longevity

Application

96%

Total

Bundled Up

ILNP Bundled Up Holographic Nail Polish ($10.00 for 0.4 oz.) has a slightly dusty, medium purple base that leaned neutral-to-cool with fine sparkle that shifted from olive green to lime green to cobalt blue and then has holographic shimmer throughout. Looking more straight-on, it flashed between the greens with the edges being slightly bluish and muted purple, and then at more extreme angles, it shifted almost entirely to cobalt blue with purple edges.

The texture seemed slightly thicker than average based on what I’ve tried from the brand (over 40 shades), though I did not have issues working with it. The first coat was totally dodgy, which is often the case in polishes, and then you could really see the base color deepen and the shimmer/sparkle come through more and more with a second and third coat.

Per the brand, it has maximum coverage in two to three coats. In the swatches, I’ve applied two coats using Deborah Lippmann Gel Lab Pro base and top coats. I would recommend using three coats for full opacity but also to ensure fully even color as I felt like there was a little unevenness visible in my swatches, which absolutely magnify every “issue” because two coats seemed perfect to me in person! I wore this shade for 10 days and had minor tip wear and no chips.

FURTHER READING: Formula Overview for details on general performance and characteristics (like scent).

Top Dupes

View Swatches View All Dupes

ILNP Jaded (P, $10.00) is more shimmery, darker (85% similar).

View Swatches

Formula Overview

$10.00/0.4 oz. - $25.00 Per Ounce

The brand has several finishes, though some overlap, and they primarily have polishes with some shimmer to them, which often includes holographic, duochromatic, or multichromatic shimmer and effects.

Browse all of our ILNP Holographic Nail Polish swatches.