Review: ILNP Sweet Pea Nail Polish

As much as I love vampy shades in the winter, I’ve been getting tired of wearing dark nail colours and have been trying to incorporate pinks and neutrals into my nail routine. Today I wanted to share with you a recent favourite lately – ILNP’s Sweet Pea.

To give you some background on the company first, ILNP (I Love Nail Polish) is an indie polish brand from the US, and their nail polishes mainly consist of less common finishes such as holographic, chrome, and ultra metallic – I actually don’t think they have released any crème polishes! There are numerous ways for Canadians to get their hands on ILNP, but the most affordable places I know of are Nail Polish Canada and Harlow & Co. I purchased mine from Harlow & Co. for $14.99 each at 12mL a bottle, and shipping was free because my order was over $25. The ILNP official website is also an option, although the prices are shown in USD, standard shipping is $10.50 and is only free for Canadians if you spend over $100 ($50 for USA and $200 for international); most ILNP polishes are $10 USD on the official website, which means you would have to buy 10 polishes to receive free shipping.

The ILNP headquarters are located in Las Vegas, and the polishes themselves are made in the USA. All ILNP polishes are 3 Free, which means they don’t contain formaldehyde, toluene, or dibutyl phthalate, chemicals that are said to be harmful to the body. ILNP is also a cruelty-free company, which means they don’t test on animals or get their materials from suppliers who test on animals.

I’ve wanted to try this brand for a really long time ever since I saw it on Instagram. Holographic polishes are not impossible to find, but they’re rare amongst brands that can be readily found in stores, so I wasn’t opposed to turning to online shopping.

As for the polish itself, Sweet Pea is a medium pink in a jelly finish with multi-coloured holographic microshimmers. The ILNP website describes it as a seashell pink, which I would say is very accurate. This is actually the first polish I’ve owned in a jelly finish; I wasn’t entirely sure if I liked it at first due to its more sheer coverage, but the more I wear it, the more I’ve been enjoying it.

The packaging is gorgeous: as you’ll see in the last photo in this post, each polish comes packaged in a black box with silver print, and a heart-shaped hole in the front where the bottle peeks out so you can see the shade. The bottle itself has a rubberized handle and a square-shaped bottle which makes it look quite modern and.

Trying to take photos has made me realize it is very difficult to capture the holographic element of ILNP polishes, because it looks different depending on the lighting and the angle at which you’re looking at it!

The brush is a typical nail polish brush – not particularly skinny, but also not one of the wide ones that can cover your entire nail in one swipe. The formula is the perfect consistency and is easy to apply; not so thin that it is streaky, nor is it goopy and thick. I have found that with the other three ILNP polishes I own, it takes two coats for me to be satisfied with the opacity. For Sweet Pea in particular, since the formula is more sheer in nature, it took about three to four coats, which is consistent with what it says on the official website.

This is Sweet Pea freshly applied to my nails:

ILNP Sweet Pea under natural lighting (indoors)

The wear time is great on all four of the ILNP polishes I own. After a week, only the corner of my pinkie nail showed a small chip, as well as a small regrowth gap, which is consistent with polishes I’ve tried from other brands.

I noticed that the holographic quality of Sweet Pea is the strongest in places with a spotlight. It doesn’t show up too much in natural lighting indoors, but it dazzles under our kitchen lights and in the sun!

ILNP Sweet Pea under a spotlight

Have you tried any ILNP polishes? What is your favourite shade?