Illamasqua Skin Base Foundation

As a fan of the old formula of the liquid light foundation, I had high hopes for the new Skin Base foundation. The shade range is impressive, and the company have put a lot of work in helping the customer pick out their ideal shade with colour comparisons against other brands. I went with shade #2 (£25), its a spot on match for my pale, cool toned skin.
The foundation is inspired by the cult Asian market Beauty Balm creams, although I’ve not yet tried a BB cream, from what I can tell I would class this as a foundation as on me its does not contain a lot of the common attributes of a BB cream such as priming the skin, providing SPF and giving skin care benefits such as brightening and moisturising.

The texture is a medium consistency and feels smooth, it blends quite well and does not settle into pores. It gives medium coverage with a small amount of product. I’d say the finish is neither matte nor luminous, just natural.

Swatches below:Illamasqua on Left, MAC NC15 on right:

They are a few reasons this is not working for me, firstly its not moisturising enough on my dry skin and it really does accentuate dry areas. Secondly its not long lasting, by mid day its really faded and thirdly I do have skin issues every time I use this (I have to mention that my skin is hugely acne prone).
Ingredients:
Even though I have a very poor foundation success rate with most brands, I do feel this product just didn’t perform.

I bought this from www.illamasqua.com

Illamasqua Angled Eye Liner Brush

I have quite a lot of the Illamasqua brushes so was eager to buy their new Angled Eye Liner Brush (£15). Its quite a bit smaller than their brow brush, although the brush textures are very similar. The brush is very firm but does not feel harsh against the skin. Compared to the MAC 266 (which I used as my main angled liner brush) there is a lot less give in the Illamasqua one, and it keeps its shape, whereas the MAC one frays out a bit. The angle of the MAC one is steeper. In terms of performance I find that the illamasqua one gives a more precise line, but I can get closer to the lash line with the MAC one.
Pictures of the three to compare (angled one on top).
Its a nice addition to my ever increasing brush collection, I really like Illamasqua brushes, my stand outs are still their powder brush and blush brush 1 though.

Illamasqua and Rouge Bunny Rouge EOTD

Just to prove I don’t always do a natural look, here’s a brighter one
Very simple and not over blended so as to ensure the blue stands out. Illamasqua Spectre as an all over base, Fiasco on outer lid, Truth in the crease, a very light dusting of RBR loose glitter pigments in Sleeping Under a Mandarin Tree on inner half and Spun From Sunny Seawater on the outer half and RBR Devotion Ink in Anthracite Essence to line.
Swatches: RBR Sleeping Under a Mandarin Tree, Spun From Sunny Seawater

Swatches:Illamasqua Spectre, Truth, Fiasco

Illamasqua Brushes Part 3

I now own all 11 Illamasqua brushes so you could say I am a bit of a fan!
Blending brush 2 is great used for applying the powder to set your undereye concealer and for blending shadow on the lids. The head of this is rather large so bear in mind that if you have a small eye area this may not be the best.
Blusher blush 2 is one of those slanted ones that I have never been able to use properly until I realised I had been using them with the tip the wrong way round! This picks up the product extremely well and can get a lot of pigment out of sheer products (such as MAC beauty powders).
The foundation brush seems to apply things less streaky that other foundation brushes I have used and it feels very comfortable on the face.
I have also included a picture of the Highlighter brush as I think I forgot to post about this. Its great for powder and cream products.
Overall they are the best synthetic brushes I have ever tried and I am looking forward to Illamasqua expanding the range. They are mostly densely packed to allow them to apply things really pigmented but they are also really soft. I have also had no shedding.
I know their makeup is not to everyones taste but I do think its worth you having a look at the brushes, having used them a lot more now the only one I am not overly keen on is the shadow one as I think the MAC 239 applies better but my standouts are probably the blusher brush 1 and powder brush.

Illamasqua Loose Powder, Eyeshadow in Wicked, and Vow Pencil.

I haven't bought from Illamasqua for a while after my initial flurry. I did an order for some more of their brushes ( which I'll do a separate post for) and the loose powder,eyeshadow in Wicked and medium eye pencil in Vow.
I got the loose powder in shade LP120, to match my foundation shade. I bought this powder primarily to use under the eyes to set my concealer as corn starch is a no no for my acne prone skin. Unfortunately the powder is significantly darker than my skin tone and seems quite warm. I don't feel like this is a match for the foundation shade so I think you may need to order a shade lighter in this. It did seem finely milled and was not cakey or really powdery on. Its simply too dark for me so I have given it to my Mum who is probably two shades darker than me. I've included a swatch of my foundation on the far right, loose powder is third swatch along (the difference is a lot more noticeable when applied to the face but I thought I'd show you anyhow).
The eyeshadow shade Wicked, whilst a pretty cool toned matte slightly lilac pink goes on rather more intense, so I really have to put this on lightly.
I had originally bought Hex medium pencil to use as a eye brightener but found it too dark and obvious looking. Vow on the other hand is a neutral cream and makes a great eye brightener (used on the waterline). It has a creamy texture, so no fear of tugging and it lasts really well ( swatch is far left).
So somewhat disappointing, not sure I fancy ordering the lighter shade in the powder as seems a bit costly to buy two in such quick succession but I may do in the future.

Illamasqua and Chanel EOTD

Simple look of Illamasqua Hunger as a base with Synth and Matter and the deep green from the Chanel Celadon-Lame eyeliner. I can't seem to get the green to show up on photos that well but in real life it does look noticeably green.

Illamasqua Dystopia review part 2

The other items I got from the Dystopia collection were the two pigments and Velocity nail varnish. Android is a smokey charcoal full of multi coloured glitter. To get the most out of this its best used wet or over a cream base. Used dry, whilst it goes on as per my swatch as soon as you make any move to blend it you are left with far less colour intensity and the glitter seems to mostly disappear.

Static is a very sheer opal with pink glitter, applied dry I pretty much only get the glitter, so I just apply a bit over the middle of the lid over other shadows to give a bit of sparkle.

Velocity is a dusty grape, I've not seen a colour like this before so its a great addition.

Illamasqua foundation and concealer review

Until now I don’t think I have ever bought a foundation I have been completely happy with, actually I think I have never re-bought the same foundation. As such I am pleased to say that Illamasqua light liquid foundation delivers on every level for me. I have dry skin that can still get shiny, this foundation is just moisturising enough, without being heavy or overly creamy. Its texture is quite runny so you do need to make sure to shake it before dispensing. Application wise it does not highlight my dry area and gives a sheer to medium coverage if required. It sets quite quickly but you can add more on without it going patchy. It matches my pale cool toned skin (shade #120), no overly yellow or strange orange tones here, a true pale cool toned shade, this is the best colour match I have ever had. Lastly it does not break me out, which is no mean feat for my intolerant skin.
Swatch below, you can see how good a colour match it is (I've not blended it in)

I have the under eye concealer in shade #115. This is a very creamy product that offers medium to full coverage. Due to the texture you do need to set this with powder so that it doesn’t migrate into those pesky lines. This shade is a bit too light for my undereye area but looking on the site I noticed that shade#130 had disappeared. I emailed Illamasqua who confirmed it had been discontinued but the lovely Jo sent me their normal concealer in shade #130 instead (for free) as she thought this would work on the under eye area. Once again great customer service, I think Illamasqua encourages brand loyalty, not just because of their products but the whole ethos of the company and the way they deal with their customers is hands down the best.
So, does it work as an eye concealer? Whilst not as emollient as the eye concealer it applies with enough slip so as to not look dry and the maximum coverage is just want I need for my super dark circles. I apply this on the inner part of my under eye and then RBR luminous wand on the outer part or YSL radiant touch if I look less tired (i.e my little boy hasn’t fed during the night), set with powder and I’ve got the most natural, yet best coverage I have found thus far.
The under eye concealer is on the left (#115), the normal concealer (#130) on the right

Apologies for the state of the concealers, I do on the whole try to post picture before I decimate products :)

Quick look at Illamasqua Matter and Synth

I thought I'd just do a quick look of Matter and Synth. Matter applied sheerly on the outer and Synth applied on the inner. I have not packed the colours on so it will hopefully show what you will get with just a few strokes. As you can see Synth is sheer used on its own, so if you do like the colour it would be best applied over a cream base.

Illamasqua Dystopia review part 1

Illamasqua’s Dystopia collection offers a palette of pinks,purples,grays,and charcoal blacks; a mix of intense coupled with luminous iridescence. Whether you go for a bolder look or want something you can get away with in the office you will find something in this collection to suit.

I got the three individual shadows (you can also get these in the pre-made palettes, but I find their packaging a bit bulky)
Synth-white base with lots of pink iridescence
Machine- a matte black base with silver glitter.
Matter –smoky intense gray

I really like all these shades and wore them all together today. I had heard that Machine was lacking in pigment but this is not the case for me, I can use it as a intense black liner or in the crease applied gingerly with a blender brush to give a charcoal. The glitter is quite subtle in the shade. Here is a close up of Matter

As Synth is one of the shimmer shadow formulas it is sheer at first so if I want to move it up a notch I just use it over one of Illamasqua’s cream shadows or use a MAC #214. Matter is perfect for a smoky eye and it does not have any strange blue tones like some grays do.
I got some more items from the collection, but I’ll do that in a separate post.

Closer look at Illamasqua nail varnishes

I've mentioned before that I really like Illamasqua nail varnishes,what you see in the bottle is what you get on your nails, they don't chip as much as other polishes do on me ( I'm looking at you Chanel !) and they dry quite fast.I think the only negative is that they contain formaldehyde.

Boosh is a deep black, Baptist is a rich shimmery true purple,Loella is a bubblegum pink with a bit of fuchsia/lavender shimmer, Obtuse is a shimmery,almost metallic goldy bronze nude, Lament is a hot coral.

I've taken swatches in natural light and with a flash to hopefully capture the colour.
L-R:Obtuse,Lament,Loella,Baptist,Boosh

Illamasqua lip palette review

I thought I’d review the colours and post swatches of my lip palette featured in my “more Illamasqua” post.
First off, I will say that as soon as I opened it I knew I hadn’t made the best choices, 'Plunge' is a true bright cool toned bubblegum pink, 'Welt' is a bold fuchsia, 'Test' is a dusty pinky brown (perhaps the safest colour to order unseen) and 'Submit' is a true beige nude (no pink/peach undertones here). For me 'Plunge' and 'Welt' are too much for my complexion but I do really like 'Test' and 'Submit'. All these shades are Matte.
In terms of texture Illamasqua aren’t kidding when they say they are pigmented, they also last really well; the only thing is they are not a moisturising lipstick so if you do suffer from dry lips you would definitely need to wear a balm underneath I think.
The palette itself is a bit bulky but the mirror is a nice inclusion and if you can't decide what lipstick to choose its a good option. I think there is talk that they are getting rid of the powder eyeshadow palette so hopefully this won't include the other ones they offer.
Swatches L-R: Plunge,Welt,Test,Submit

Illamasqua eyeshadow descriptions Part 2

This is the second part of my Illamasqua eyeshadow descriptions/review. As I mentioned in Part 1, although Illamasqua make the best range of Matte shades in my opinion, there are a few shades that I have found a bit difficult to work with so I have marked them down here.

Deity-neutral cream base shade (my staple all over base)
Succumb-sheer peach
Vanian-sheer shimmery white (the texture is a bit hard, yet you can pick up colour better than you can from Gasp)
Spectre-opaque subtle pinked grey
Gasp-sheer shimmery beige highlighter (hard texture so not good colour payoff)
Slink -shimmery champagne gold
Feel -neutral dulled beige/brown
Dizzy-dirty warmed pink (this does not apply uniformly, seems patchy)
Feint- medium warm pinky brown with a rosey undertone (same texture as Dizzy)
Truth- medium slightly plummy brown
Forgiveness-warm rich rosey plum brown

Once again I have pictures in past posts of the shadows before I used them and I have done some new swatches below, this time a bit heavier.

Swatches L-R: Deity,Succumb,Vanian,Spectre, Gasp, Slink,Feel, Dizzy, Feint, Truth, Forgiveness. Please click to enlarge

Illamasqua eyeshadow descriptions Part 1

I’d thought I’d update my eyeshadow descriptions as I have quite a few now. These are how the colours are on me and for reference I am pale (shade L120) and cool toned. Going through some makeup boards and blogs there does seem to be a bit of a backlash about the formula/texture differences with the shadows and I do agree that a few are not on par with others, so I will note these shades in Part 2 ( all the shades listed below have a good texture/colour payoff for me) I will also post descriptions of my other shades.
Even taking this into account, out of the many brands I have tried, Illamasqua make the best matte shades in my opinion.

Fallen -true cool toned purple
Cancan -bright purple/pink/violet
Courtesan-pale pinky purple
Geisha - pale opaque cool pink
Creep- true sheer violet
Wonder-medium mix of blue/violet
Venus - cornflower blue
Fiasco - deep cool toned teal (leading more to blue than green)
Echo-true grey
Soul -shimmery silver
Heroine, a warm medium brown
Cream shadow in Touch –slightly warm cream base colour.

Illamasqua give good descriptions of their products so here are some they gave me but please note these are not shades I own.

#Shiver - is an irridescent/ shimmer shot highlighter colour that has a slight undertone of yellowy gold.
#Rapture - A very unique purple/pink/blue Its quite dark so would be good for contouring with pink or purple shades
Cream shadows
#Hunger- all-over highlighter, shot through with a pinky gold
#Thief - A dark grey with a slight purple undertone
#Wail - A mid-toned bluey grey
#Spark - More of a brown/ nude - darker than touch

I have pictures in past posts of the shadows ( nice and new before I used them) . I have re-done my swatches again this time applying them a bit heavier to hopefully give a better reflection of the colours.

Swatches L-R: Fallen, Cancan, Courtesan , Geisha, Creep,Wonder, Venus, Fiasco, Echo, Soul. Please click to enlarge.

Illamasqua brushes part 2

Overall I’m very impressed with Illamasqua brushes and am pleased that they will be expanding the range. I definitely can see them competing with MAC brush wise.

I own 7 of the brushes and here are my thoughts on the last three I have.

Powder brush, like the blusher brush 1 this is really soft but also surprising dense. It applies powder seamlessly and it works well with highlighter powders. This got mizzworthy’s seal of approval and I have to agree, and would even go to say that this is the best powder brush I have had.

Eye shadow brush, I’m not so please with the brush, compared to my MAC 239 this is softer but this equates to it not being able to pack on the colour as well, so unless you want to apply a sheer layer I wouldn’t recommend this one.

Eyebrow brush, this is an angled brush. I have heard that some prefer this as a liner brush but I find the head too big for that. It quite stiff but not rough and is perfect for using with brow powder.

Illamasqua, winners and a bad loser

Well I guess I must have bad timing, I placed an order from Illamasqua for the eye cake liner and sealing gel for £16 but ended up with just the cake liner for £14. I checked the site and unfortunately it does look like they have taken the combo off so you have to buy them separately.
I have always had a problem with powder eyeshadow when used as a liner,transferring at the end of the day onto my lid so it looks like I have a strange line slightly above my crease. Well I'm happy to report that the cake liner in Mislead stays put. When used dry it's a rather timid black so it's best to use with water to get a more intense look.
Next up I got another cream blush in Dixie. This looks quite bright in the pan but it's easily sheered out on the skin to your required colour intensity. Its a peachy pink coral and really looks great on the lips as well. The cream blushes have a lot of slip to them but really stay put. Swatch below.

I had to get nail polish in Baptise after all the raves and it doesn't disappoint. A deep sparkly true purple.
Lastly I decide to try an eye brow cake. I have golden blond hair and rather sparse light eyebrows. Peek looked a bit dark on the site so I opted for Instinct. Upon receiving it my initial thought was "eeeeeeeeeeeww" surely this warm toned yellow wouldn't work, well it didn't, it applies exactly like it looks in the pan. I can attest to its staying powder as it didn't budge all day but the colour is so bad. I really cannot recommend this shade; perhaps if you have red hair or are a really pale blond, but I still have my doubts, so I think this may end up in the bin.

Illamasqua brushes part 1

As any makeup addict will know you tend to accumulate lots of brushes over the years. I am very picky with brushes and do tend to buy from mid to high end as I have not found a brand from the drugstore I like. As I was on an Illamasqua kick I decided to try one of their brushes. Initially hesitant as they were synthetic, after using my first one I quickly acquired more.

I am very impressed with the way they deposit the product, the softness (never scratchy) and that they haven’t shed at all on me so far.

First up I have the Lip brush. This lip brush is really good, firm but not so that its uncomfortable, much better than my NARS one, I predominately bought this to use with my lip quad but have been using it with my intense glosses as well.

Next I have Blusher Brush 1, this so far is my stand out brush. Its quite densely packed so applies less pigmented products (like MAC beauty powders) easily. It’s also the softest blusher brush I have had and a great size, I much prefer it to my MAC #116, #187 and Bobbi Brown blusher brush. I also find its great for applying liquid foundation, buffing it in really well, giving me a better effect than the #187.

I also have the Eye Liner Brush, this is quite firm and has quite a long tip. I can create a medium or more bold line with not much effort but I have not mastered a fine line with this brush yet, so for me this is not a must have.

Lastly there is the Blending Brush 1, size wise this is like a between of MAC 222 and 224, great as a blender, applying crease colour or even applying an all over wash and applying powder to the under eye area to set concealer.

So overall I am very pleased and hope that Illamasqua will expand their brush range. I have some more of their brushes which I’ll write about shortly.

Illamasqua eye shadow swatches part 3

As you can see deity is close to my natural colour so for me its a perfect base shade. Please note that Soul is shimmery but on the Illamasaqua website its currently listed as a matte shade.

Illamasqua eye shadow swatches part 2

Illamasqua "Odd" pencil update

If you had read my previous post entitled "Illamasqua bits and bobs" I was not too happy with the texture of my "Odd" medium pencil. I emailed Illamasqua and apparently they are going to look into it. They sent me medium pencil in "Devotion" to make up for it, which is a lovely mint green and the texture is really smooth as per my other medium pencil Hex. I was very impressed that Illamasqua replied so fast to my email and send me a replacement, can't beat that for customer service!