Illamasqua Product Focus

I received a large package from Illamasqua and I have to say I feel so lucky being able to try out this brand, ever since closely following this company since last year when I first heard about it being talked about on specktra.net. I was so inspired by the promo images and videos I saw, especially since the brand caters more towards the artistic side of makeup enthusiasts. Here are some product images, all labeled left to right; click on images to enlarge.

Cream foundation CF135, Powder blush in Intrigue, Powder blush in Chased, Satin Primer SPF 20, Medium Pencil in Cane, Volume mascara

Powder Eyeshadows in Slink, Cry, Rapture, Maybe

Pure Pigment in Marvel, Eyebrow Cake in Gaze

Brushes: Eye Liner, Blending Brush, Highlighter, Blusher Brush 1

Intense Lipgloss (top) in Absorb, Intense Lipgloss (bottom) in Fierce, Lipstick in Maneater (red), Lipstick in Fetish (purple)

Nail Varnishes in Propaganda, Rampage, Smash, DWS, Collide, Whack

Medium Pencil in Cane

Volume mascara

I love that this brand is focusing on artistic makeup looks rather than purely commercial ones, it's so refreshing to see! I also love that Illamasqua caters to very fair skin tones with quite a large variety of very light foundation and blush colors. It can be nearly impossible for us porcelain skinned people to find a correct color match!

So far I am really loving the cream foundation, which is so quick and easy to apply. I've been using this daily and I love the flawless but almost invisible finish it gives, although it might not be suitable for those with very oily skin. I also love the lip products, nail varnishes and brushes, which I am actually using as foundation and concealer brushes. The brushes are synthetic material but very high quality, the Highlighter brush actually is very similar to the MAC 109 and I prefer the Illamasqua one as it doesn't shed at all. They are very soft but resilient, and don't bleed when washing. The volume mascara gave me excellent curl and did not clump or flake. I have also used Slink eyeshadow which makes a beautiful highlighter, and the pink blush is also highly pigmented and so pretty.

So far my only complaint is the release mechanism of the compacts - some of the them are hard to open and you need to wedge your fingernail in between the lip to release the lid. Very annoying for those long-nailed people out there like myself who don't want to chip their manicure opening a foundation compact. I hope they will revamp the packaging a little bit and make the lids easier to open without having to wedge your nail in between.

Please stay tuned for an upcoming Illamasqua look on my Youtube channel!

Click here to go to Illamasqua's homepage and check out their beautiful range of products. If you want to try to win some free Illamasqua products, make sure to enter MizzWorthy's contest that she is hosting right now, click here for the link! You have until July 7, 2009 so make sure to give it a go.

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