Illamasqua

With These Nudes, You’re Fully Covered: The Full-Coverage Illamasqua Glamore Lipsticks in Tease, Cherub and Naked

October 28th, 2014 by Karen 18 Comments

Illamasqua Glamore Lipstick in Naked — Glamore Lipstick in Naked

When Sephora stopped carrying Illamasqua (bummer), it made the brand a little harder to find here in the U.S. for those of us who don’t happen to live within driving distance of the Kryolan City stores in Chicago or Toronto.

But if you do live within day-trip distance, and/or you don’t mind paying extra for shipping to order online, you might want to check out Glamore, Illamasqua’s line of full-coverage lipsticks released earlier this fall, because talk about pigment up the wazoo!

Illamasqua Glamore Lipsticks from the left: Tease, Naked and Cherub — Illamasqua Glamore Lipsticks from the left in Tease, Naked and Cherub ($30.02 each)

Ilamasqua Glamore Lipstick in Tease — Glamore Lipstick in Tease

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The Illamasqua Fatale Palette Is a Fall Fatale of Purply, Brownish Taupe Terrific-Ness

September 3rd, 2014 by Karen 12 Comments

I’ve been hesitant to embrace Illamasqua’s Fatale Palette while it was in the upper 80s and 90s here, but now that Labor Day is behind us, and it’s been a bit cooler outside, the shimmery bronze, berry, violet and purplish, brownish taupe (OMG, LOVE), are starting to feel right.

With Sephora no longer carrying the line, Illamasqua hasn’t been that easy to find here in the US these days, but the $55 Fatale palette is still available online at illamasqua.com, and at select Bloomingdales, Hudson’s Bay and Kryolan stores.

I’m tellin’ ya — that purply brown taupe will haunt your dreams! 🙂

Be Your Own Admirer With Illamasqua’s Red Hot I’m the One Collection

February 12th, 2014 by Karen 27 Comments

Illamasqua's Feisty Coloring Pencil, Maneater Lipstick and Touch Intense Lipgloss — Wearing Illamasqua’s Feisty Coloring Pencil, Maneater Lipstick and Touch Intense Lipgloss

Be your own admirer.

That’s the message behind Illamasqua’s I’m the One collection, a small but eye-catching release with just one lip pencil, a lipstick, one gloss and a nail polish — but man, oh, man, are they bold! And red. Two things I can really get behind. 🙂

Here are pics and swatches of three of the four pieces from the collection…

Illamasqua I'm the One Collection lip products in Feisty, Touch and Maneater — I’m red-y for ya! Three of four pieces from the Illamasqua I’m the One collection…

Illamasqua Intense Lipgloss in Touch — Touch Intense Lipgloss, $24

Illamasqua Feisty Coloring Pencil — Feisty Coloring Pencil, $20

Illamasqua Maneater Lipstick — Maneater Lipstick, $26

Illamasqua Swatches from the left: Coloring Pencil in Fiesty, Lipstick in Maneater and Intense Lipgloss in Touch — Swatches from the left: Coloring Pencil in Feisty, Lipstick in Maneater and Intense Lipgloss in Touch

Illamasqua Fiesty Coloring Pencil, Maneater Lipstick and Touch Lipgloss — A closeup of Feisty Coloring Pencil, Maneater Lipstick and Touch Lipgloss

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Unsung Makeup Heroes: Illamasqua Zygomatic Cream Blusher

September 4th, 2013 by Karen 12 Comments

About the Author
The following guest post was written by Tiffany Nguyen of willworkformakeup.blogspot.com. You can also find Tiffany on Twitter and Instagram.

You know that shade of blush that just seems to always suit you, without fail? For me, it’s a pinky beige. Something not too pink, nor too brown; more of a complexion enhancer, if you will. I’m actually kind of embarrassed to admit that I have more than a few variations of this in my collection, but one blush in particular stands out in my mind…maybe because I feel like it doesn’t always get the recognition it deserves!

Illamasqua is a brand that just knows how to make blush. I’m a fan of their powder blush formula, too (Hussy, anyone?), but their cream formula is particularly divine. Zygomatic is a seemingly boring pinky beige, but coupled with its dewy, long-lasting, non-sticky formula, and it becomes one of the select few fail-safe blushes in my collection I know I can always rely on.

Although Zygomatic certainly does not fall short in the pigmentation department, it’s not quite as dark as it appears in the pan, so it’s probably better suited for light and medium skin tones. It’s creamy without being greasy, and it blends out with close to no effort at all (I use a brush, by the way. Not really of fan of using my digits!).

The long-running Makeup and Beauty Blog Unsung Heroes series features much-loved permanent collection products from a variety of bodacious beauty brands.

I have terrible lighting in my apartment, and I often fall victim to the I-thought-I-barely-had-any-blush-on-but-I-actually-look-like-a-clown phenomenon once I see myself in natural light, but not with Zygomatic. Being more of a subtle shade, once it’s on, my complexion just appears awakened and healthy, rather than looking as though I’ve obviously applied a cheek color. Great news for those of us who may be more heavy-handed with our blush application (you know who you are!).

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Posing Now Near Illamasqua Counters, Cool-Toned Mauve Posture Lipstick

August 21st, 2013 by Karen 10 Comments

Truth be told, I feel a little goofy wearing Illamasqua Lipstick in Posture ($24)…

I’m sure that somewhere out there, a gal/guy/space alien exists who can pull off this matte, cool-toned mauve with much aplomb, buuuut not I.

Posture, part of Illamasqua’s summer Paranormal collection, is one of those artsy colors that could look really neat if you have the right attitude and style to pull it off, but for your average 30-something-year-old cat lady, it’s kinda hard, LOL!

Posture is available now, definitely not slouching in its chair at Illamasqua counters and online.

Call It a Hunch…But Something Tells Me You’ll Like Illamasqua Lipstick in ESP

August 20th, 2013 by Karen 16 Comments

I don’t know… I just have this unexplainable feeling that you’re going to like Illamasqua Lipstick in ESP ($24), and I’ve always been very intuitive when it comes to makeup (ha!).

Maybe it’s a sixth sense, or maybe it’s simply because of how stunning ESP looks on different skin tones from light to dark.

But this dramatic, vivid matte violet is not a color for wallflowers. Part of Illamasqua’s Paranormal summer collection, it’s one of those lipsticks your eyes lock on when you walk into a room.

Wait! — I just had a vision. ESP is available now at Sephora stores and online. 🙂

A Beauty Breakdown for the Aerin Beauty Casis Gloss Makeup Look: Radiant Skin, Gold Cat Eyes, Peach Cheeks and Pink Lips

February 27th, 2013 by Karen 49 Comments

A Full Breakdown of the Aerin Beauty Casis Gloss Look — A full breakdown of yesterday’s Aerin Beauty Casis Gloss review from start to finish

Thanks for the great feedback on yesterday’s Aerin Beauty Casis Gloss review, my friend. 🙂

There were quite a few requests in the comments for a full breakdown of the look, so here it is!

I always enjoy switching things up, so for this look, I used products I already had in my makeup bag, but in a slightly different way.

The tweaks? I wore a full-coverage foundation all over my face (not just on my chin, which is what I usually do), used two face primers (a trick I recently learned from a Sephora artist) and added some highlighting and contouring.

Before we jump in, let me just say how this was kind of a long process. There was a lot of layering, blending and buffing from start to finish. Wish I could say that I whipped this out in five minutes, but it took more like 45, LOL!

Not the quickest makeup look around, I know. If I were running to TJ’s to buy Buttermilk Pancake Mix, I probably wouldn’t go there, but for pics or maybe a party, I’d do it again, assuming I had time.

Okay, here we go — all of the makeup products in order, from start to finish.

Caudalie Vinosource Moisturizing Sorbet (face)
SK-II Skin Signature Eye Cream (lids and under-eye area)
MAC Prep + Prime Natural Radiance Face Primer (forehead, cheeks, nose, chin and around my mouth)
BECCA Rejuvenating Primer (forehead, cheeks, nose, chin and around my mouth)
NARS Pro-Prime Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base (lids)

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Inspired by Illamasqua: A Black and White Speckled Cat Eye Face of the Day

February 12th, 2013 by Karen 46 Comments

Oh, that trip to Sephora the other day with all the dudes milling about? I forgot to mention that I didn’t leave the store empty handed.

Nope. I walked out of there with a scribe…

Scribe? The white liquid liner from Illamasqua?

From the makers of White-Out correction fluid, LOL! No, no, but it looks a little like that, doesn’t it?

I picked it up because of that speckled cat eye look Illamasqua did for their spring 2013 Imperfection collection. Ever since I saw that promo pic, I’ve been obsessed with the idea of dotted cat eyes with black and white…

This afternoon I decided to give it a try, and the first thing I did was line my upper lash lines with MAC Blacktrack Fluidline, because I wanted something with a matte finish to contrast with the liquid liner’s shine.

Then, I did the white dots using Illamasqua Scribe, and finished with some black dots using Milani’s new Ultrafine Liquid Eye Liner in Black Vinyl.

Give it a try! — and if you do, um, save your mascara for the very last step. I made the mistake of doing my dots last and ended up with white liner all over my mascara…

Yup, hot mess.

I was already wearing two coats of Chanel Le Volume and didn’t want to make matters worse, so to clean up the white on my lashes, I painted over it with the black Milani liquid liner I used for the dots (Black Vinyl).
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