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I’m Sweet on Illamasqua Pastel Nails

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I was SUCH an Easter morning candy kid. 🙂 My little brother and I always looked forward to Easter because our parents would fill our baskets to the brim with sweets!

Jelly beans, Peeps, chocolate bunnies, Cadbury Mini Eggs, yum…

Which reminds me — eff you Cadbury Mini Eggs for making your candies so hard to resist!

Every Easter morning, after tearing through the house on the hunt for hidden eggs, we’d gorge ourselves on candy until our tummies hurt.

Memories of Easter mornings flooded back today when I swatched two of the four colors from Illamasqua’s Pastel Nails collection for spring.

The colors have been available through illamasqua.com for a while, but they arrive at US Sephora stores this May ($14 each).


From left: Caress, Wink, Blow, Nudge

Nudge (the creamy greenish blue) and Blow (the creamy yellow) look good enough to eat! — which would not be a good idea BTW (don’t do it!!).


Nudge


Blow
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Illamasqua Nail Varnish in Harsh: Every Girl Needs Some Bling

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(If you’re reading this in the feed, there’s a video embedded in this post.)

Happy Friday, Sparkle Motions!

Ya know, sometimes it’s the little things that matter most…

This week was a rough one for me (lots of stress eating, yikes!), and I needed a way to unwind. I decided to reward myself with an at-home mani using one of fall’s hottest nail polish colors, gray.

I thought about busting out one my faves from Barielle, Essie or Zoya but felt like a little more bling.

I knew I wanted something in the gray/silver family, and I found my match in Illamasqua’s Nail Varnish in Harsh ($14).

One of the 22 nail colors in Illamasqua’s permanent polish line, it shines on its own or layered on top of other polishes. Although, technically, it isn’t a fall release, I think it fits really well both with the season and my current mood. 🙂

Friday night?

I don’t have a lot going on tonight other than maybe a movie and the start of my packing.

What are you up to? Tell me about your makeup today.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Full List of US Sephora Stores to Carry Illamasqua Cosmetics this Fall

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Hola, my little isla bonitas. Ever since news broke on Twitter a few weeks ago of Sephora’s intention to carry Illamasqua cosmetics at select stores nationwide, I’ve been trying to confirm the list of *exact* stores.

Here’s the list!

Of note — a contact at Illamasqua informed me of a change to the news as it was originally reported. The line will now be carried in 25 (not 27) U.S. Sephora stores, with the rollout taking place from mid-September through mid-October.

California

  • Fashion Valley, San Diego
  • Hollywood and Highland, Hollywood
  • Manhattan Village, Manhattan Beach
  • Powell Street, San Francisco
  • Santa Monica, Santa Monica
  • South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa

District of Columbia

  • Georgetown, Washington D.C.

Florida

  • Boca Town Center, Boca Raton
  • Dadeland, Miami
  • Florida Mall, Orlando
  • South Beach, Miami

Georgia

  • Lenox Square, Atlanta

Hawaii

  • Ala Moana, Honolulu

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Does Illamasqua Volume Mascara Love My Lashes?

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illamasqua reviews volume mascara harness

I’m so jealous of all the lucky New Yorkers who get to celebrate Illamasqua’s official in-store Sephora launch at the new Times Square flagship store today.

Wouldn’t it be cool if we could all go together? We could meet in front of the Blushers and lipsticks and throw elbows at anybody who got in our way, LOL!

Check out some of these other posts for more on the Illamasqua line…

illamasqua reviews volume mascara wand

It’d be a full-on Illamasqua swatch-o-rama. 🙂

But I’d probably shy away from the company’s Volume Mascara in Harness ($23) (a matte black). Truth be told, it hasn’t made me want to shoop as much as the other things I’ve tried from the line.

For now it’s the only Illamasqua mascara available on Sephora.com, and Illamasqua describes it as a smudge-free, dramatic mascara to lengthen and thicken lashes.

illamasqua swatches volume mascara

Thicker, longer lashes

First, what I see as the good stuff: Volume Mascara does a pretty good job of thickening and lengthening my lashes. The color is a deep, true black with a matte finish, and even a single coat creates an immediate difference that’s both noticeable and above average.

Does it inspire OMG!-filled texts to my BFF at three in the morning? Maybe not, but it’s still a pretty color and markedly above average.
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Illamasqua Powder Blusher, AKA Pigmentation Nirvana

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Illamasqua Powder Blusher gets two thumbs up

“Sir, let my report show that Illamasqua’s Powder Blushers ($23) join their lipsticks and cream blushes in the oh-my-gawd-this-is-hella-pigmented department.”

I’ve been getting to know Excite and Beg, two of the 15 shades currently available online at Sephora.com, and I think I might be hooked on both.

Vibrant and buttery

As if their rich colors weren’t awesome enough, these finely-milled blushes feel just like buttah, melting seamlessly into my skin.

The texture reminds of Shu Uemura’s Glow On Blushes, some of the best blushes I’ve ever tried.

All-day wear

Both shades (and I’m guessing the others, too) last for hours, with the colors staying true on my cheeks from dawn until the freaks come out at night.

Excite, $23

Excite applies as a REALLY bright matte orange. Beauties who love bolder blush looks just might love it paired with coral lipsticks and glosses. Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A

illamasqua reviews excite
Illamasqua Powder Blusher in Excite

illamasqua swatches excite powder blusher
Swatch of Excite

illamasqua makeup reviews excite powder-blusher-k1
Wearing Illamasqua Powder Blusher in Excite
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