FROM MY STASH: Illamasqua Cream Blushes

I LOVE anything Illamasqua.  Most of my slap from Illamasqua was acquired online, at www.illamasqua.com before they had a makeup counter presence in Australia.  Since they lobbed up on our fair shores, however, my collection has grown.  And this growth is likely to continue :)  I am especially besotted with the lipsticks (The texture! The pigment!), loose pigments and the cream blushes.

 I have 4 - all quite different.  I am nothing if not adventurous, eh?

Pictured L-R: Lies, Promise, Rude and Seduce

Lies is best used as a highlight shade - it's a very pearly cool pink.  I have very pale skin, and can get some colour payoff even so.  As you can see I've given this one a bit of a flogging - it's a great highlight. Kind of like a creamier, less liquid-y Benefit Moonbeam.

Promise is totally my go-to shade of the moment.  Illamasqua describes this shade as "warm candy pink, dewy finish" which I find a little misleading, as I would have definitely called it a cooler shade.  Whatevs. It's divine.

Rude is described by Illamasqua as a warm peach pink.  Again, a little misleading - I'd call it a straight peach.  It's a warm, sheer, glowy, peach which is perfect on just about anyone.  One of their top sellers.

Seduce is definitely a step away from the shades of blush I usually reach for.  I recently purchased it to go along with Salacious lipstick.  It's described as a warm rose pink - a lot like Stila Rose Convertible Colour to be honest.  Looks uber-scary red in the pan, but it sheers out bee-yoo-ti-fully on the cheek.  A new love in the making.

Top-Bottom: Seduce, Rude, Promise, Lies.  Each swiped once except Lies - swiped twice.

Illamasqua sells the Cream Blushes for AUD$32 - which, as far as I'm concerned, is a complete steal.  The product is saturated with pigment, but the gel-like texture makes blending a dream.  I swipe with a finger, tap off excess on the back of my hand, then tap on the cheeks then blend.  You can also use a blush or skunk brush and stipple on and blend too.  Doesn't matter - using these cream blushes is foolproof.

Who else loves the Illamasqua cream blushes?  Which ones do you have - and which ones to I still need to check out? *cough* Dixie *cough*

REVIEW: Smashbox Eye Wish Palette

I picked up this palette as a self-gift for Christmas (norty!!)  It's a LE palette for Christmas, stocked at Kit Cosmetics for $69.95, from memory.

You get 12 eyeshadows and 4 cream liners, a mini Photo Finish lid primer and a mini Lash DNA mascara.  Also included in this blingy gold palette is a mini "look book" with some suggested combinations of eyeshadows and liners, and a mirror.   And as a karmic bonus, "Smashbox will donate $1 from the sale of each palette to the Children's Miracle Network, a non-profit organisation that grants the wish of life by providing medical care, life-saving research and on-going education to help millions of kids overcome diseases and injuries of every kind."


Ok I was curious, especially since I hadn't really tried many Smashbox (any?) before.

All the eyeshadows have numbers, rather than shade names, and the look book suggests combining various shadows ie. "Step 1: Shade 1 at inner corner, Step 2: Shade 6 from lashline to above natural crease"... etc.

The Photo Finish Lid Primer is actually quite dark - definitely darker than my lid colour.  Blended out quite nicely, but I won't be straying from my MAC Painterly Paint Pot any time soon.

The Lash DNA mascara. Hrm. The wand looked weird. Most mascara wands taper at the end, right?! This one just looked chopped off at the end. The formula was on the wetter side, and actually gave some nice length, although not much in volume. Typical wet mascara results.

I ended up trying a look from the Look Book called "Perfectly Pink".  I have green eyes so anything pink in my book was bound to be a winner.  Here are the shades:

The shadows themselves are not overly pigmented, but the shades are very very nice. I am really looking forward to using shade no. 2, a pewter taupey colour.

Yes, mah camera skillz need work. LOL.

Products used:

Bourjois Brush-On Foundation in 31 Beige Clair (discontinued... boo!)
Smashbox Eye Wish palette
Illamasqua cream blush in Promise
Maybelline Colour Sensation lipstick in 015 Born With It

Also, please be ignoring the messy eyebrows.

As you can see, the eyeshadows and the cream liners aren't that pigmented.  I would have to try them out with other primers, but if you are looking for kick-ass eyeshadows, this ain't it.  On the other hand, they are quite work-friendly.

I am quite pleased with my purchase still, and will enjoy using the shadows and mascara.  Not so much the lid primer, but the whole ensemble will be quite handy when my husband and I go to Sydney for a long weekend in a couple of weeks.

Does anyone else have this palette?  What do you think?

Aaaand, because I can, a favourite wedding pic.  S and I got married nearly 3 months ago.  I had my makeup professionally done, and was very happy with the results.  Unfortunately this means I can't share with you what the artist used since I was a bit too jittery to ask which MSF she dusted across my cheekbones, for example haha.  However, I did do my bridesmaids' makeup for them.  Heh, I do what I can.

Enjoy!

I'm baaaaack!

Well, I really let this slip, didn't I?

I've been dithering about whether to resurrect this blog, as I really enjoy reading other people's and I would like to contribute too.

So... I'm giving it another crack.

Hoping to post hauls, reviews, FOTDs, and general life posts.

Wish me luck!