I really love the Summer 2014 offering from Illamasqua, which consists of three new lip products, 2 new blusher shades and 2 re-promoted blush shades. I won’t go into too much detail about the full collection as I’ve already posted about it here, so check out the intro post if you’d like to know more.
I had three products from the range to play with, two of the Matte Lip Liquid shades and one of the new blushers. The blusher shade I have is Flirtatious which is an extremely flattering peach/coral shade that the brand describe as a “Soft Pink”, but I personally think it’s a bit too peachy to be perceived as pink. The Velvet Blushers are a really interesting product as they’re a matte cream that dry to a powdery finish. The result is an extremely natural, ‘skin-like’ flush that I personally really love and I hope Illamasqua add more shades to the collection.
The Velvet Blushers can be easily worked in with fingers, but I prefer to use a small kabuki style brush to buff it in as I prefer the finish; this is an especially good idea if you have oily skin as it keeps the blusher on the surface of the skin rather than melting into the skin with the warmth from fingers.
The Conviction shade is a web exclusive and it’s a vivid, blue-leaning pink that’s almost like a neon raspberry shade that I really really want as I’m going through a bit of a bright lip phase at the moment, so I’m keen to match a bright lip to a bright cheek! The blushers are available now both instore and online for £21.50 here – link.
Next are the Matte Lip Liquids which have really divided the beauty blogging community. I’ve read rave reviews alongside disappointed critiques, so I thought I’d give my thoughts too. If you’re a long-term Illamasqua fan then you might be asking yourself why there’s more pink this season. Illamasqua are a brand who are known for boundary-pushing colours and textures that are notoriously tricky to pull-off, whilst being equally exciting and fun to play with. Suddenly we’re faced with Glamore – a collection of pink lips and nails – and now we have the Summer releases which are also very pink-heavy. I’m obviously in my element since I love pretty much all pink make-up so anything pink gets me excited, but I do get why people are a little despondent. What I will say is that the pinks Illamasqua produce are not your run-of-the-mill pinks, instead they’re beautiful, vibrant, fun shades that you would struggle to dupe, so whilst I realise there’s probably more pink than you’re used to, they’re Illamasqua pinks rather than traditional pinks and I’m definitely a fan; I’d say Glamore one was one of my favourite launches for a while!
I have two of the Matte Lip Liquid shades and I honestly cannot decide which colour I love more. As I said, I’m going through a bright lip phase so these amazingly bright matte lip shades are extremely welcome additions to my collection. They’re lipgloss style tubes with brushes rather than wands which makes application a little bit tricky, as whilst it’s handy for getting a defined line, it doesn’t move the product around very well which leaves a fairly uneven finish, but I’ve found applying thin layers (whilst letting each layer dry in between) can correct this.
The finish is extremely matte and very, very bright. Honestly, it’s one of my favourite finishes for quite some time as it’s such a strong pop of colour, and as it’s matte it’s a lot more impactful than a gloss finish. Having said that, unfortunately the formula is just too high maintenance for me as it’s really not a comfortable feeling once it’s set in place, plus it starts to gap and crack after half an hour or so. This is a massive shame for me as I could see myself wearing both these shades is the formula was just a touch easier to work with, but I hate to feel self-conscious about make-up as it then has the exact opposite effect of what it’s supposed to do. I haven’t given up yet, so if I find a way to make these formulas work for me then I will definitely update!
The two shades I have are Exotic which is a bright, neon orange and Forbidden which is a mid bubblegum pink with blue undertones. I figured Forbidden would be the shade I loved the most – and it’s fair to say I really do love it – but I cannot believe how much I love Exotic! It’s such a fantastically cheery shade that I think quite suits me, and it’s one of those shades that gives you a real boost of confidence. Consequently, I’ve completely changed my view on bright orange shades and will keep an open mind from now on. In conclusion, it’s a bit of a mixed bag really. I love the blushers and have no quibbles with them, and I also love the shades of the Matte Lip Liquids – seriously gorgeous, gorgeous colours – but the formula is a bit of a let down for me. The Matte Lip Liquids are £18.50 and available in store and online here – link.
*PR Samples
