ILLAMASQUA HAUL/FIRST IMPRESSIONS

I had the best shopping experience at Illamasqua in Glasgow yesterday. Not only was the girl at the counter extremely helpful but the makeup look she had was stunning - pale skin, thick lashes, bold defined brows and a pop of colour on the lips - love it! That's what I love about Illamasqua, it's so different from every other makeup brand. It makes you want to be creative with your look and try new things plus each time I have been to Illamasqua I've come out so excited to go home and try out my new products and been so inspired by the girls that work there.

FOR THE FACE:

Illamasqua Skin Base Foundation in Shade 4.5 - £27.00

I was running out of foundation and I thought it was time I gave the Skin Base a go since i've heard so many good reviews about it. I prefer a medium coverage which can be builded to a full coverage which is what this product offers. The packaging is plastic with the classic illamasqua shape at the base of the lid (handy as it won't smash all over the floor if you drop it!). Don't be fooled by the size of the product, you just need a small amount of this foundation and it will do your entire face as I discovered today. I will do a later review on this product once I have tried it for a few weeks.

Illamasqua Loose Powder in 010 (translucent) - £23.00

Having such pale skin can be a problem when finding a powder to set your foundation. I have dry-very dry skin so powders tend to emphasise my dry patches so sometimes I don't even use a powder. However, this isn't ideal as my foundation tends to rub off if I touch my face. When I tried out this powder at the Illamasqua counter I was instantly impressed. I had the Skin Base on and the girl applied a light dusting of this product which just took the shine away but didn't cling to my dry patches - LOVE!

FOR THE EYES:

Illamasqua Eye Brow Cake in Vehement - £15.50

I know you're thinking this is a scary colour and it is literally black. However, I have jet black hair so this is perfect for me. With a light hand this doesn't look severe at all, it just helps to define my brows a lot more and the colour matches my hair perfectly. I love this product, I just applied with an angled brush with a light hand and voila! Perfect brows. This product comes in many different shades so you are guaranteed to find one that matches your hair colour perfectly.

FOR THE LIPS

Illamasqua Lipstick in Maneater - £16.50

I am a big fan of red lips, it's a daily part of my makeup routine and I just don't feel like my makeup is complete without a bold red lip. I will post a swatch in another post (don't know how I forgot to swatch it?!) but you can get an idea here of the kind of red I go for. It is very much a classic blue-red which is great as it makes your teeth appear whiter! I love the formula of this product as it feels creamy on the lips yet has a matte finish.

Illamasqua Lip Colouring Pencil in Creative - £14.50

A red lip is not a red lip without a great lip liner. I was looking for a classic red that I can use with my other lipsticks too. I used this today and the colour was a perfect match for the Maneater lipstick. It applies like a dream and is perfect for making your red lips last longer and keep their definition. Sometimes I don't even use a lipstick and I just apply a bit of lip balm and then apply the pencil colour all over my lip. Illamasqua have a great shade range of pencils and lipsticks - check them out!

FOR THE NAILS

Illamasqua Nail Duo - Throb & Spartan - £24.00

With Winter and the festive season coming up, how could I resist? These colours are perfect for this time of year! Being a lover of red lips, i'm just as obsessed with the classic red nails but it's quite nice to change it up a little sometimes and add a bit of sparkle to your accent nail. I love this combination and can't wait to apply the shade Throb to my nails tonight - I will post again with a more in depth review once I have tried these out a little more. I absolutely love the shades Jo'mina and Scarce so I'm sure these will be added to the pile of favourite nail polishes too!

Zoe