Illamasqua Toxic Nature Spring/Summer 2011 Collection

Today I've got some product swatches and pictures from the new Illamasqua collection - Toxic Nature. The promo images really caught my eye, looking almost plastic and doll like. Amazingly, this is all makeup, not digital wizardry! I am always stunned by the work of Alex Box. (As an aside, I've purchased and reviewed her makeup book here on my Youtube channel if you're interested to see more of her work.)

 

The collection includes cream pigments, lipsticks, lipglosses, a liquid eyeliner and nail polishes. I'll give you the liberty of checking out the whole collection, prices and what's coming out on the Illamasqua website here.

Here are some pictures and my first impressions of some of the products.

Above you see Atomic Lipstick, Torture Sheer Lipgloss, and Glister Precision Ink. My favorite of these three is definitely Atomic - this color is just stunning! An intense fuchsia cool pink with an ever so subtle blue pearl. This is so flattering for your teeth because it makes them look whiter! I'll definitely be rocking this color in the summer. Torture is a nice orange lipgloss leaning ever so slightly to the coral side, another great summer color. As a bonus, this lipgloss has a pleasant, fruity sweet taste.

From this set, I was not so impressed with the color choice of Glister Precision Ink. As I've demonstrated in a previous post here, the Precision Inks are amazingly long-lasting liquid eyeliners with a felt tip, so the staying power is great. But the color just didn't entice me - somehow I doubt I'm going to reach for this product as much. It just doesn't scream "summer" to me. I would have loved to see a purple, or a teal, or something like that.

 Illamasqua Cream Pigments (left to right)

Back row: Delerium, Hollow, Emerge

Front Row: Dab, Mould

These cream pigments remind me a little of the Makeup Forever Flash Palette, if you are familiar with that. They are water-resistant and have a matte finish, and can be used for for various things: blush, lipstain, eyeshadows, or even contouring. They are creamy but not overly so to the point of being slick and moving all over the place, which I think is a great improvement than some of the Liquid Metals I have tried from Illamasqua. I absolutely love these for using below eyeshadows, but I still apply something like Urban Decay Primer Potion underneath. I am really looking forward to using these more in the future, so far I have used Dab and Hollow the most, but am very anxious to combine Mould with an intense dark eye makeup. The colors are all quite wearable, whereas similar products from Kryolan or Makeup Forever are more bright and bold.

Left to Right: Hollow, Emerge, Delerium, Dab, Mould

All in all I think this is a very versatile collection. There are a few bright and intense pieces, and also some more subtle and neutral shades to cater to a variety of tastes. I also think it's great that some of the more neutral shades can definitely be worn into fall and winter as well - not that you can't wear bright pink lipstick in the winter too!

What do you think of this collection? Has anything peaked your interest?


Items were sent to me for review by Illamasqua.