Illamasqua Illuminator

Here’s another one of the lovely things my fabulous mother treated me to for Christmas.  I got this Illuminator in Poised which is described as a cool, candy pink with a shimmer finish.  I’d say that’s a pretty accurate description, and whilst the finish is definitely shimmery, it isn’t overpoweringly so and stays far away from glitter, thankfully.  It’s definitely less shimmery than Benefit’s High Beam and the finish is less icy and ever so slightly warmer.

It’s the most gorgeous pink that melts down to a very slightly pink glow.  I absolutely love this and use it as a highlighter for making skin pop on nights out, but the way I really enjoy using it is under foundation as the result is such a fantastically healthy glow without a hint of that overly shiny look that a lot of highlighters can create.  This is also great for highlighting under the brow and on the inner corners of the eye and the wand makes this a lot easier.

Left is slightly blended into the skin, right is completely unblended.

To use under foundation, I just splodge it on the higher parts of my cheeks and blend it downwards and outwards.  The benefit of using it under foundation is that you don’t need to be too careful with your application as it’s easy to achieve the infamous ‘lit within glow’.  It’s especially handy for stopping matte foundations looking too flat.

Packaging wise, it’s pretty much like a lipgloss which means that it has a long, thin handle that makes tricky application areas (like the inner eye) a total breeze.  The style of packaging is also really handy for travel.

I really do rate this product and I also like the fact that it’s available in five different shades so you can ensure you’re going for the best shade to add glow; I really don’t believe that everyone fits into one of two shades when it comes to skin tone customised highlighting.

The Illamasqua Illuminator is available here for £13.50.