Illamasqua Lipsticks Du Jour 5.16.10

Ok I have waxed poetic many times for my love of Illamasqua. I did a haul and review on my collection on You-tube. I wanted to give better swatches here in better light.

Their lipstick range is fabulous, beyond pigmented, long lasting and the colors are great. I am in love with the colors I have. Perfect nudes, peaches, corals and pinks! They are mostly matte so they can be drying but that is easy to solve for. Put a balm on first and pat on color!

If you are interested in the video, head over and check out the video.

Swatches from clockwise, left to right:

Sonnet, Liv, Avenge, Over and Obey. Bottom: Salacious

Testing the staying power. Soap, then rubbing, then rinsing.

Still on... Woah!

Love these lipsticks! Do you have any?

x

Obsession Du Jour: Nudge 3.23.10

I have been overloaded with Pastel nail polishes and to be honest I am already a bit over them. As is life... Anyway, the lovely as ever Alex from Illamasqua and the voice behind their blog sent me a bottle of their new Pastel Nail Varnishes in the color Nudge.

Anyway, she sent this about a month or so ago and I had been staring at it for quite a while and never really tempted to put it on. Last week, I was urged by the gods above to paint my nails with it. I am SO happy i did. This is my absolute favorite nail polish color I think maybe ever. I know I know, that is a bold statement and possibly a bit of a hyperbole but I really am obsessed with it. It is a pastel but a bright pastel, it is a cross between aqua and mint, leaning toward aqua more. On the Illamasqua website they describe this as a "creamy mint ice cream". I do not find this to be accurate as I have tried China Glaze "Re-fresh Mint" and that is a true mint green, this definitely has a dash of aqua in it. The mint green color looks sickly and yellow next to this.

The formula is a very creamy opaque color, no shimmer or glitter and easy to apply. This might be one of my favorites to apply. I put it on with 2 thin coats and it is completely opaque. Something about this color is flattering on my beginning to tan skin.

The color is VERY hard to exactly capture. I took a few pictures in different lighting to give you an accurate idea.

Here it is on the Illamasqua website, it is the third from the left.


Here is a bottle on my messy counter with night lighting.


And lastly, here it is 1 week after application in the cab this morning... practically chip free, which for me is a huge achievement because I am rough on my hands and I love to pick at nail polish!


Thoughts? Will you be trying out Illamasqua Pastels?

Illamasqua Mascara Review du Jour 7.2.09

So finally a product by Illamasqua I am not head over heels for. This mascara is a good mascara, but adequate. Lengthens nicely, does not provide much thickening action. See for yourself.

What do you guys think?

Red Lip Du Jour 6.27.09

You all know I only do Nude and Baby Pink lips. I wanted to try out the Illamasqua intense ligloss. WOW! That is about all I can say about this gloss. Gorgeous red, almost perfect red for me. Shiny, Glossy, Pigmented, Almost Opaque, Great Innovative Packing. Huge Win in my book. See for yourself. I am almost convinced on wearing red lips and that is saying A LOT!

There is an odd reflection.

Looks like Dorothys Ruby Slippers with MAC's Dazzleglass in Goldyrocks over.

What do you all think of red lips?

Blue Flame Illamasqua Look Du Jour 6.25.09

So as you probably are well aware, I have a serious obsession going on, I am cheating on my boyfriend...with Illamasqua.

I just love this brand. Although, to be honest, I was not so psyched to use the blue eyeshadow. I am very tame when it comes to eyeshadow colors. I don't like bright shadows, they read as cheesy to me and in general lacking in sophistication. I know I know, I am sorry it is just my personal opinion. So clearly I was not jumping out of my skin to try the bright cobalt blue eyeshadow. My goal was to go for a sophisticated, understated smokey eye using a color outside of my normal comfort zone.

Boy, was I wrong, number 1, this was a pleasure to work with. It is Matte...which is my favorite texture ever. Number 2, this is a very sophisticated blue. It was not garish at all, and very buildable, which I like. This shadow actually made me change my mind a BIT, I will not go as far as to say I will be wearing yellow,oranges and reds etc on my eyes. No, I will not, but I definitely will venture out a bit to the colored shadows as now I know certain colors can be worked to look sophisticated and fashionable (I will never change my mind regarding "citrus" or neons on my eyes...sorry!).

All products used shown here. Very simple look actually, only using 2 e/s colors plus a pigment.

MAC e/s in Tilt.

Don't mind the wild brows, I am going to tame them tonight...
What do you think?

ILLAMASQUA Du Jour 6.25.09

Looky looky what I got (I actually got these about a week ago)... looks and reviews coming up. I can't wait to play with these babies and do some looks (already did one last night, blue look coming up next)

I think I have a problem!

Obsession Du Jour 6.24.09

Nail Polish from Illamasqua in Rampage, this is the stock photo from their website. The color shown in Muse. Rampage is a rich hunter emerald green, shown below.

I love GREEN! Its my favorite color ever and on my nails it is no different. I have been on the hunt for a hunter green, har har har, pun intended. Seriously, I love rich jewel tones and Rampage by Illamasqua is a deep emerald color, with no shimmer. I absolutely ADORE it. The formula is creamy and very opaque, 2 coats and it is opaque as it gets! This is my new go to color. It is so unique, and a great alternative to black or OPI Lincoln Park after dark. It is unexpected and I love it!

Took this picture in a taxi to work today!

Close up.

A little bonus shot, of Stephy last night, we carried our salads home to eat in my apartment. Here she is with a salad with a blob of guacamole on top, what a happy pretty girl! Hi lovie.

What is your favorite nail polish color right now?

Illamasqua News Du Jour 6.13.09

Hope you all are having a nice weekend, I am NOT because it is not sunny. It is gray and overcast. I was thinking about going over to MAC and picking up some items from the new Naked Honey collection as I finally received my MACPRO card but I am not feeling motivated so I will sit on my couch with my puppy and watch TV and drink some green tea. FUN!

Anyway, I wanted to mention a great honor I have received in the past week. I have been featured on the brand new Illamasqua blog as one of their "Illamasqua Blogger Icons", check it out on their brand spankin' new website http://illamasqua.blogspot.com/. I also have some more exciting Illamasqua news and FOTD's coming up for you soon! Stay Tuned...

I will even be putting an Illamasqua product in as part of my giveaway so one of you all can try it out!

I can't wait to go to the UK and get to test out and swatch every sing product and see if everything in their range is as good as my liquid metal in Solstice (You can read my review on that in a previous blog post). I am very much looking forward to trying a quad, a blush, their gray nail polish, some lipsticks...basically everything! I will be reporting back in August on the full entire range.

Have any of you tried Illamasqua yet? Which products?

Illamasqua Du Jour 5.19.09

The wonderful Alex from Illamasqua sent me the SWEETEST Gift. My boyfriend came home laste from work last night, with a black package in his hand for me. I jumped at it and saw it was from illamasqua! As you all know I have been on the hunt for the Gucci Purple. Well Alex sent me the cutest note and two purple products to help me achieve the gucci purple eyelook!



I am going to try these products tonight!
THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

I will be sending you some goodies from you know where ;)

PS- Illamasqua.com is now shipping internationally! GO SHOP NOW! Thing are selling out big time Alex has informed me.

Obsession Du Jour 5.7.09

Illamasqua!

Thank god they are expanding to the states. I was lucky to get my hands on the now sold out sirens collection and the most sought after item, the liquid metal is Solstice AND Enrapture! Let me tell you, run, do not walk to get this if you can find it! WOW, these are INSANE, beyond pigmented and literally look like liquid metal. I am blown away, see for yourself (the swatches were just a light swipe of the color, no building or layering!!).

I also got two fat pencils in Willful (a red copper) and Perverse (a silver), these are okay, not knock my socks off amazing like the liquid metal.






INSANE!

I absolutely can not wait to try these out and wear them. I adore golds and bronzes and this will be perfect for summer tans, long flowing dresses and beachy hair!
What are your thoughts? Will you be trying these out?