Illamasqua Blush in Hussy - Review

Heya Lovelies!

Oh Hussy, where have you been all my life?

This is a review that is really past due, i ordered this blush in the Illamasqua 50% off sale... Yeah, that long ago! But for a little while it sat unloved in my "box of things that need testing" and I'd wrongfully looked over it for a little while. Well not anymore!

Hussy is probably my favourite blush so far this year and yep, that is quite a big statement for me. I've had a few Illamasqua blushes in the past but opted for crazier shades so they don't get the love they deserve, but me and Hussy are now firm besties, she'll be getting a lot o' love from now on.

Hussy is a gorgeous matte candy bright pink and I'm officially in love. Its a little bold for something I'd normally reach for but I've been learning not to so heavy handed and its working beautifully for me. I like to apply the smallest amount at a time, blend, then build up at the intensity i want. I've always been a shimmer kinda gal when it comes to blush but lately I've found myself growing fond of mattes, i find it more flattering and then i get to make good use of my highlighter collection...

Illamasqua blushes are priced at £18 for 4.5g of product, which shocked me a little considering how large the pans are. But despite the average product size all the blushes I've tried pack a serious punch in the pigmentation department, so they will last a long, long time! They have a generous pro discount of 40% for MUA's and other industry professionals and also often run discount promotions, so keep an eye out on the website, Twitter and Facebook pages.

If you're a fan of pink you're gunna love this little beauty!

You can find it in store or on the Illamasqua website.

What is your favourite Illamasqua product?

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xox

Illamasqua - Cream Pigment in Hollow - Review

Hi lovelies!

If Illamasqua are on your radar and you're a pale lady like me, Hollow is something that already heard a ton about (sorry!). I can't remember a day where I've done my makeup and haven't attempted to contour, its just finding that perfect product that is really a pain in the ass. Now I've purchased quite a few bronzers (i hear makeup artists weep at the thought of contouring with bronzer) and ultimately most are just too warm. I've been using my trusty Laguna and MAC Sculpt powder for a good year or more and thought it was about time to switch it up!

Illamasqua cream pigments are multitasking products that come in a variety of shades to be used on the eyes, lips or cheeks, or really wherever the hell you want them to go! Hollow is such a special shade as its been deemed by many as the perfect contour shade for paler complexions, and I totally agree with this statement.

Please excuse the messy pan pictures as i have committed the number 1 blogging sin.... I played around with it before phographing *gasp*. I've been using my Real Techniques contour to brush to apply this and I've found this SO easy to work with for contouring! It applies beautifully and you have to build it up to get a real defined look which is perfect for heavy handed me. Being cream in texture i find it wears longer on the skin, i do tend to set it with a swipe of my regular contour colour for extra definition and lasting power

Priced at £17.50 it isn't the cheapest product on earth but Illamasqua offer an extremely generous pro discount and often have sales, i picked this little gem up in their 50% off sale. If i ever get through this, i'll be repurchasing it in a heartbeat, i love it that much.

Overall i think this is a fantastic find for the paler population. If like me you struggle to find contour colours that are not too orange or muddy i really suggest checking this beauty out. You won't regret it!

You can find Hollow on the Illamasqua website here.

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xox

Illamasqua Beguile Pigment - Review

 

Ello lovelies!

Beguile is one the products I've had my eye on for what seems like forever! I first clapped eyes on it in one of Louise from Sprinkle of Glitters videos and instantly fell in love. It has taken me a good while to take the plunge and pick it as its normally priced at £16.50 and i didn't need it, but i sure as hell wanted it! Illamasqua have had a couple of sales recently and i picked this beauty up for around the £8 mark, making it much more affordable.

Illamasqua describe it as a shimmering white pearl, but i think it is much, much more complex than that. It is simply stunning. Its a silvery white base with gorgeous micro glitter that to my eye turns pink and green in the light. It is beautiful. So far, I've been pairing it with simple looks, mainly winged eyeliner and a bright lip. But i think it could work well in a whole host of different looks. It find its a little fiddly to apply dry, so i tend to do my eyes before my face to avoid pesky fallout issues. But it also works great wet for a more intense look.

If you're a shimmer or glitter fan, this is going to be right up your street and i really recommend checking this little stunner out. I'm looking forward to seeing how it works over a black base, since just in the lid it shows up so wonderfully.

Above are dry and wet swatches.

My swatches really don't do it justice. I've not learnt the knack to photographing glitter just yet.

Do you love it? I sure do!

You can find this online here and in Illamasqua stores. Its priced at £16.50 but Illamasqua do offer pro discount and often have sales, so keep your eye out!

What are your favourite Illamasqua products?

xox

50% off Illamasqua until 5pm today!

Just a little post to let you know that Illamasqua are offering 50% off today until 5pm! Also, if you have a pro membership or the 10% loyalty discount these will stack saving you even more money! They offer free UK shipping and international on orders over £50. Use code TWITTER50 at the checkout.

Needless to say my bank balance has taken a battering.

Happy shopping!

xox

Collective Haul Youtube Video! Including Illamasqua, Synful Colors, FeelUnique and More...

Ello lovelies!

I filmed a bit of a huge collective haul the other week and after some debating with myself i finally decided to upload it! I recently purchased a new camera so hopefully no more filming on my iMac, but I've yet to get to grips with settings or had to time to play around with it with the mountain of university work to do.

But luckily i have a little over a week left at university this year so the second that last piece is submitted, usual blogging activities will commence! And boy I've got some goodies to share with you all.

So until then, here is a bit of a shabby collective haul with most of the things I've splurged on in the last month!

What products have you beauty addicts been splurging on?

Leave a comment and let me know!

xox

FOTD: Smoked Plum

Hey lovelies!

I am really loving the berry / burgundy / plum trend this Winter. Fashion wise, I'm not too big on colour so picking up some berry pieces for my wardrobe has been a nice change. I've also been adoring the berry lip trend and I've been wearing Revlon Balm Stain in Crush and MAC Rebel pretty much the entire month.  So I thought I'd give something new a go and switch up my look for a more vampy, burgundy smokey eye.

 For someone with a makeup addiction, i sure don't have a lot of plummy, burgundy shades in my collection! I had to go through every one of my palettes to find one. All the shades i found were too purple for my liking but i finally struck gold with Sleek's Monaco palette, which is sadly discontinued. But you can find these sort of shades everywhere currently!

Eyes:

MUA - Eyeshadow Primer

Sleek - Monaco Palette: Bamboo, Moors Treasure.

Sugarpill - Bulletproof Eyeshadow

Elf - Black Liquid Eyeliner

Covergirl - Lash Blast Mascara Waterproof

Anastasia - Brow Powder 

     

Lips:

Jack Black - Black Tea Lip Balm

Face: 

Mac - Studio Fix Fluid NW15 (mixed)

Illamasqua - Skin Base SB02 (mixed)

Maybelline - Dream Lumi Concealer: Radiance

Laura Mercier - Secret Brightening Powder

Nars - Laguna Bronzer  

Tarte - Amazonian Clay Blush: Flush

Mac - Lightscapade

I'm not a big fan of winter, but I'm loving switching up my makeup! Hopefully my creative juices (what little i have) will remain flowing and I'll be sharing some new FOTD's soon!

Whats your favourite winter makeup trend?

xox

Illamasqua's Alex Box - Demonstration

 Ello lovelies!

During the week i was contact by one of my besties and fellow blogger Jane who was excitedly telling me about a demonstration that was amazingly happening at our very own university. Back in November last year Alex Box, makeup artist and creative director of Illamasqua was award an Honorary Doctorate of Design from Southampton Solent. On top of this she was voted by Stylist.co.uk as the second most influential women of the last 100 years, what a title!

Here's what Stylist.co.uk said…

“Alex Box has been voted the second most inspirational woman over the past 100 years. Alex is a highly creative make-up artist with a flair for the exotic, the extreme, and the flamboyant. She's the Creative Director of cult make-up brand Illamasqua which takes its inspiration from the roaring '20s club scene. Box has worked with fashion heroes such as Nick Knight, Karl Lagerfeld and Stella McCartney, but beyond her stellar credentials, she encourages women to look and be different. One of Alex’s top makeup tips is that there are “no rules” when it comes to makeup, and that “you are your own creation”. Inspiring stuff.

Alex strikes a special cord with many woman, and some of her voters described her as being a “daily inspiration”, “empowering” and that Alex helps women "dare to be different".”

I love Illamasqua. Unlike a lot of current brands they only release two collections a year, so an extreme amount of thought and passion goes into not just the products, but the story and meaning behind them. The imagery isn't your average “beauty” shots, they're ridiculously creative, out of the box, art. And it definitely works, not sure any other brand could have me lusting after a teal lippie! So needless to say I was pretty damn excited to get the opportunity to watch her work.

“Illamasqua is for the bolder person hiding inside all of us. It is an act and an attitude. A symbol of tolerance. A celebration of idiosyncrasies. A confident statement of self-ownership.”

So the lighting was terrible and my camera had a bit of a tantrum, but here's a few pictures.

Above is quite possibly one of the most unflattering pictures of me, ever. But i really couldn't leave this one out. Its not every day you get to meet someone as inspirational as Alex Box!

It was really magical to watch her work. Over a hundred girls fell silent at the raise of her brush and watched in awe for over an hour. I've never seen a lecture room so full! She works to music and said that if given another hour to work the look would of progressed to something much darker as the music did.

Illamasqua have released their newest collection, Human Fundamentalism, just a few days ago. And there's a few beauties catching my eye, not to mention the gorgeous teal lipstick again! So a massive thank you to Dr Box for putting on a truly inspirational demonstration.

You can visit the Illamasqua website here.

xox

Valentines Inspired FOTD

Just a quick post today!

I've been experimenting with a little more colour recently and thought what better time to do a pink/glittery look, Valentines day! Although i probably won't be doing anything too special on the day i thought id try out some new looks.

And this was my favourite!

Eyes:

Sugarpill - Tako, Dollipop, Bulletproof, Birthday Girl, Magnetric.

Inglot - Shine 35

Fyrinnae - Pixie Epoxy

Elf - Liquid Eyeliner

Smashbox - Hyperlash mascara

Face:

  Illamasqua - Light Liquid Foundation, Sob Cream Blush

Elf - HD Powder

Lips:

Rose & Co Apothecary - Rose Petal Salve

Are you doing anything special for Valentines?

Thanks for reading!

xox

London IMATS 2012 - The Haul

Ello lovelies!

If you saw my other post you'll know i travelled to London to attend IMATS this past Saturday. I had an AMAZING day and if you'd like to see any of the pictures i took on the day click here.

I'd saved for the past months including Christmas money and been on a semi successful spending ban, so i splurged quite a bit... oops! I'd been making a list of products i wanted and didn't deviate too much from it, and stuck to my budget. I ended up going back to Inglot multiple times, and getting a little bit overexcited! I'll try to list prices where i can, although some may just be a rough idea, i have a brain like a sieve at times.

 Inglot

My most exciting purchase of the day! Inglot shadows! <3
10 Palette - £41 

Nail Enamel: 940 and 319 - £6 each

AMC Eyeliner Gel Matte: 86 and 77 - £7 each?

Lipstick: 204, 188, 179 and 184 - £7 each

Under Makeup Base - £9

AMC Cream Foundation: LW200 - £11?

Loose Powder: 11 - £11?

 Illamasqua

This was probably the most hectic booth of the day as they were offering a generous 75% off most of their products. They didn't have their full range with them, but they did bring some real beauties. I really wish id gotten a better look and picked up some more, i love an epic bargain!

Light Liquid Foundation: LF120 - £7.50

Cream Blush: Sob and Libido - £5 each

Liquid Metal: Surge - £5

Pure Pigment: Chasm - £5

Lipstick: Fetish - £5

Medium Pencil: Feisty - £2 

 

NYX

Nyx didn't have the best discounts of the day but there were a good few products on my list that I'd been meaning to pick up. I normally buy my NYX from Ebay or CherryCulture as its so much cheaper, but this would of probably worked out the same including shipping from the states.

Lip liner: Purple Rain, Pinky and Plush Red - £2.50 each

Cream Blush: Hot Pink and Red Cheeks - £4.50 each

Blush: Pinky and Red - £5 each

Jumbo Pencil - Milk - £3 

 

Make Up For Ever

HD Foundation: 110 - £18

Smoky Lash - £9

 

Embryolisse

Lait Creme Concentrate - £15

 

 

Royal and Langnickel

Flat Top Kabuki - £6

Small Stippling Brush - £7

Eye Crease Brush - £4 

 

Crown Brushes

I can't for the life of me remember individual prices for these, but they were all between £2 to £5.

Bdellium Tools

This was one of the last booths i visited, and i really wished I'd gone there first. I'd been on the hunt for a large powder brush and didn't want to pay £16 for a mediocre one from Crown or Royal. I was so shocked at how nice these brushes are i wish I'd picked up a few more!

Face 953 - £7

Face 959 - £8

Face 980 - £8

Eye 776 - £5

Overall I'm dead chuffed with my purchases. I got nearly everything i wanted and a few extras, and most at bargain prices too! I did manage to forget to photograph a couple of things. I was restrained and only bought one lip tar from OCC, in demure. And after a bit of searching i eventually found the best priced Z palettes and £12 each, so i got two! Depotting fun ahoy!

I'm super excited to try all these out and review most of it. I'd love to see your IMATS hauls too, so link me up!

xox