) is that B30 would have to be up in higher numbers like 9, 10, or 11 and then with a .5 if you need the olive/yellow undertone. I kinda rambled but I hope this was a little helpful. Good luck with your hunt! Do you have a location nearby where you can play with testers?
What makes it so expensive is the exchange rate. I just put some items in my cart, including a nail varnish, to see what the premium shipping charge would be and it is $24.34. Not to mention, I'm paying more for each item than I would in the States because of the pound to dollar exchange rate. So for a blush that's $27 here, I pay $34.88 online.
Well the nail varnish is what is amping up the cost. Postal laws dictate here that you cannot ship polish internationally and so Illamasqua need to use a special courier for that, t he cost you're paying is to get that polish to you. I'm not defending their prices but I think it's great that if you're willing to pay for it then you can get polishes.
You can also cheat the system and get 10% both times before the loyalty discount!
Haha yeah I remember doing a similar trick when I started shopping with them years ago! Ahh illamasqua, you could have been so great.... They used to be my favourite brand, I'd buy pretty much everything from their collections. The prices when it launched were fantastic and I remember how crazy cheap the sales would be! Then came the ridiculous price hike... Idk, it seemed to me that they started to shift too far away from their kryolan roots and became selfridges bitch, for want of a better expression! Any thoughts on illamasquas evolution?
I agree with you, they just aren't the same makeup and company I fell for when they first came out. At first when they moved from Sephora to Bloomingdales here in the US I was excited and thought this could be a good thing since not every Sephora had SA's available who could chitchat with you about the full line and in the beginning they brought out their big guns with super friendly artists who were very knowledgeable about the line, a big opening ceremony with Alex Box herself appearing and creating one of her gorgeous editorial looks on a live model and regular beauty school drop-ins scheduled every month featuring a timely makeup focus like "holiday party looks" and "intense Halloween looks." But things started to change...
That's so disappointing that they have staff as lazy and unknoweldgeable as mac staff in their department stores at least. The stand alone stores seem to have a greater emphasis on the artistry but then again, the one in Liverpool seems to just be another scouse full face of night out makeup shop :/ when I look at the SAs that's all I see now, not that I'm saying they have to be alternative looking at all but as a brand I think they've shied away from it. I have a lot of illamasqua nail polishes so I have my eye on the new melange one from the once collectionI agree with you, they just aren't the same makeup and company I fell for when they first came out. At first when they moved from Sephora to Bloomingdales here in the US I was excited and thought this could be a good thing since not every Sephora had SA's available who could chitchat with you about the full line and in the beginning they brought out their big guns with super friendly artists who were very knowledgeable about the line, a big opening ceremony with Alex Box herself appearing and creating one of her gorgeous editorial looks on a live model and regular beauty school drop-ins scheduled every month featuring a timely makeup focus like "holiday party looks" and "intense Halloween looks." But things started to change... I was excited to see last year's holiday palette and even though I knew they didn't run out of new items quite like MAC does during their LE madness, the SA I had gotten to know asked for my email contact and assured me he'd hold one for me as soon as it arrived and would let me know when it was in store. Weeks went by and I waited to hear from anyone at the store. I eventually dropped by to see the Chanel holiday collection and sure enough, the Illamasqua holiday display was up and they had product. I let them know that I had written my information down and was hoping to get updates on this collection so they took my name again for their "book" so that I could hear about any other upcoming collections. I never heard from any of the SA's. In fact the first few who I'd gotten to know in the first days of launch never seemed to return again. SIGH. Even their tweets about upcoming beauty school drop-ins went silent on my feed. They seemed to just be fading away. And then with edgy colors like Disciple, that gorgeous navy blue kind of like KVD's new Poe, being pulled from their counters but still available on the UK site, as well as some of their edgier nail colors quietly disappearing I started to wonder if the relationship with the mega department stores of North America wasn't working out anymore. And now to find out through the website overhaul that the line is just gone without a word from Bloomingdales, it's like a bad breakup that you get from a text that you knew in your heart was always coming but you never expected it to end quite so abruptly and online for crying out loud. BritishBeautyBlogger has a lovely review of their new collection coming out at the end of the summer (of COURSE now that they've already pulled out of NA and I won't see it in person) at this link (I swear I'm not affiliated! I was just excited to see their newest collection) http://www.britishbeautyblogger.com/2014/08/illamasqua-collection.html and I think she ends the review perfectly: "[COLOR=3D3D3D]The Illamasqua Once Collection is a bit of a mixed bag for me, I must admit. Sometimes, I think this brand has lost its way a bit; just lost a bit of its edginess that made it so exciting" -BritishBeautyBlogger[/COLOR] [COLOR=3D3D3D]Anywho, that's my armchair analysis/two cent sob story [/COLOR]
though the collection seems like it's half a collection if that makes sense? Where's the rest of it!? I can't see people tripping up over themselves to get those cream shadows, not at those prices. It's like they don't want to make money anymore!
I wanted to see that nail polish too! It's one of the most unique things I've seen them do in a while! And I totally agree on those cream shadows, they are really underwhelming. So many other companies do that product in those colors and their version seems to have nothing any better. I remember those gorgeous pastel cream pigments that came out with one of their earlier collections like the pastel mint and lavender. Really fun colors in a versatile cream format before Dior and Chanel and other big companies expanded their range of cream eyeshadows.I have a lot of illamasqua nail polishes so I have my eye on the new melange one from the once collectionthough the collection seems like it's half a collection if that makes sense? Where's the rest of it!? I can't see people tripping up over themselves to get those cream shadows, not at those prices. It's like they don't want to make money anymore!
I included the nail polish since we all seem to be eyeing "Melange" from the forthcoming collectionWell the nail varnish is what is amping up the cost. Postal laws dictate here that you cannot ship polish internationally and so Illamasqua need to use a special courier for that, t he cost you're paying is to get that polish to you. I'm not defending their prices but I think it's great that if you're willing to pay for it then you can get polishes.
A simple conversion of the premium shipping rate still shows it being cheaper than Selfridges
I can't really comment on how much out of pocket you're going to be if you got from the site. We had the price hike on all Illamasqua products a few months ago. It's ungoldy expensive in GBP compared to what it used to be.
Plus I actually quite like Illamasqua nail polishes, and there were a number I had planned to buy from Bloomies and now it's too late. I understand shipping polish internationally (or at all for that matter) is an issue, so, yep, it comes down to whether or not you think it's worth paying the extra price for. I think I'm just most annoyed because neither Illamasqua, nor Bloomies, nor Sephora gave any advance warning of this. Had they given their customers that courtesy, I might not be griping so much. (Maybe ;-))
Thanks, Shellygrrl. I wasn't aware of that loyalty discount. Ten percent is better than nothing! I did see the free shipping offer - not bad and a relatively easy target to meet given their prices. Just a bummer about the nail polish.
Awesome tip - thank you! Every little bit helps
It really does suck. :nods: Their other focus in the UK seems to be their freestanding stores (especially their flagship store in London). Makes me wonder if things would've been different if they went that route here in North America: a few freestanding stores here and there along with a North American warehouse or whatnot (basically, similar to how Inglot was in North America before they started getting counters at various Macy's), rather than having the line carried by Sephora or Bloomies. Personally, I'm not sure if the problem is with the brand itself or if it's more to do with the fact most makeup buyers in North America have little interest in creating bolder looks or with experimenting with their makeup (something that was -- and, to at least some extent, still is (IMO) -- at Illamasqua's core). Let's be real; most makeup buyers are not enthusiasts like Specktra-ites. Or even makeup artists. They just want some neutral colours, maybe a red or coral lipstick, and that's all. Add in the fact that other brands are cheaper, or that you can spend a bit more for luxury brands, or roughly the same for other existing brands, and there you go. That said, it is disappointing they're out of North America.
Exactly! I really wonder how things could have been if they had just started with a single flagship standalone boutique, no bigger than say a Lush store but with just their staff and their managers calling the shots. Sigh.That said, it is disappointing they're out of North America.
Oooooh I haven't ventured down the rabbit hole of indies yet
Don't forget the fees that your credit card will charge for having to convert from pounds to dollars.
Second the love on A-England. Their shimmer finishes are unbelievable. I have Dragon, Princess Sabra, Lancelot, She Walks in Beauty and Tess of the D'Ubervilles. of those, Lancelot was a little disappointing, but the others are excellent, in particular the first two. They're among my all-time favourite polishes.
