Illamasqua Discussion

[Tahti]

Just decided to post an update on how I've gotten on my my Illamasqua products!...

I've decided I love Illamasqua for their foundations, concealers, powders and sealing gels, and TBH that's all I'd recommend now...
As amazing as their products first seemed to me, the quality in the long run isn't worth the money you have to pay, MAC is way better for E/S's, L/S's, whatever. For Illamasqua you're paying more for the packaging than the product I think...

However, I LOVE their skin makeup range, I never use any MAC on my skin really - the shades just aren't light enough...

My favourite foundation type from Illamasqua ATM is their cream foundation, I love it for everyday use. I found it hard to apply at first, but now I've figured out a way to make it work on my skin (use lots of primer, and warm the foundation up for a good while)
I have 2 shades of the Light Liquid Foundation, and I'd advise everyone to stay away from the shade of 100... it separates into... water and white paste...? ;/ and goes on HORRIBLY, just sinks into your pores, highlights imperfections and is just vile in general. It's strange to me then that the 105 shade works, but it does..!
I think most people have heard how great the Rich Liquid foundation is... but IMO, only really for night time looks, or extreme looks... you know the idea, reaaaaaallly complete coverage. I love it on occasions but not too often! It works okay sheered down with primer too.
Their Powder Foundation is nice, but nothing too exciting. Again, I love it for the colour range.I do like their concealer a lot tough, it has a great shade range (again) and the formula is really nice and creamy, but not overly thick or cakey.

I'd recommend their sealing gel to everyone. This stuff is amazing, I use it for my brows, my E/S and my L/S. Paint a thin layer over your L/S and it will not budge all day, especially handy if you have a dramatic red lip!

But don't bother with any of their other products, especially not their E/S's. Seriously, stick with MAC... If pigment is power then most Illamasqua's E/S's are proper wimps! There are a few lovely shades, but on the whole it's kind of disappointing.
I thought their eyebrow cake would be awesome, and i do still use it sometimes just because it's handy to carry around with me, but IMO a normal well pigmented E/S would work just as well.
I do still like a lot of their L/S shades, in particular Obey and Strip (a pur white L/S, good to mix with other colours)
The only other item I'd big up a bit is the Intense lip glosses, merely because, well... they're really intense, lol. Really not too nice to wear though, very sticky and have an odd smell. Easy to apply though!

So all in all... I've ended up giving most of my Illamasqua makeup (other than the skin makeup and the sealing gel) to my little sister. D: I'd suggest this brand for the aesthetic quality of the packaging, and some certain products, and also for the fabulous range of skin makeup... but no more!

Hope this will help some people... ^_^

 

[LeeleeBell]

^I absolutely adore the lipstick I bought from them (Drench) and am looking forward to buying more when I can swatch them in person....Thanks for the tip on the sealing gel!

 

[Miss Mimi]

Yea! Dystophia A/W 09 Colllection is up on Illamasqua.com, looks like some things that use to say EU only is now available for everyone.
I bought
Nail Varnish Velocity
Pigments Static, Android
Lip Gloss Expode

I was going to get a few more things but I got an email and they have this LE Siren Muti-Palette available for sale- until they run out. I saw other people with this palette and never noticed it on their site. I always wanted it.
Here's a link to it-
Illamasqua Store - Kits and Palettes - Sirens Limited Edition Palette

A bit spendy but it has a lot of stuff in it I will use.
I guess now it's time for a no-buy for me!

Now I have to wait- I will take pix and post on here and blog once I get everything, I am super duper excited!

 

[Tahti]

Just for anyone who wants to try out Illamasqua - I'm selling off some intense lipglosses and a foundation at reduced prices here ^_^

 

[Ursula]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tahti Just decided to post an update on how I've gotten on my my Illamasqua products!... I've decided I love Illamasqua for their foundations, concealers, powders and sealing gels, and TBH that's all I'd recommend now... As amazing as their products first seemed to me, the quality in the long run isn't worth the money you have to pay, MAC is way better for E/S's, L/S's, whatever. For Illamasqua you're paying more for the packaging than the product I think... However, I LOVE their skin makeup range, I never use any MAC on my skin really - the shades just aren't light enough... My favourite foundation type from Illamasqua ATM is their cream foundation, I love it for everyday use. I found it hard to apply at first, but now I've figured out a way to make it work on my skin (use lots of primer, and warm the foundation up for a good while) I have 2 shades of the Light Liquid Foundation, and I'd advise everyone to stay away from the shade of 100... it separates into... water and white paste...? ;/ and goes on HORRIBLY, just sinks into your pores, highlights imperfections and is just vile in general. It's strange to me then that the 105 shade works, but it does..! I think most people have heard how great the Rich Liquid foundation is... but IMO, only really for night time looks, or extreme looks... you know the idea, reaaaaaallly complete coverage. I love it on occasions but not too often! It works okay sheered down with primer too. Their Powder Foundation is nice, but nothing too exciting. Again, I love it for the colour range.I do like their concealer a lot tough, it has a great shade range (again) and the formula is really nice and creamy, but not overly thick or cakey. I'd recommend their sealing gel to everyone. This stuff is amazing, I use it for my brows, my E/S and my L/S. Paint a thin layer over your L/S and it will not budge all day, especially handy if you have a dramatic red lip! But don't bother with any of their other products, especially not their E/S's. Seriously, stick with MAC... If pigment is power then most Illamasqua's E/S's are proper wimps! There are a few lovely shades, but on the whole it's kind of disappointing. I thought their eyebrow cake would be awesome, and i do still use it sometimes just because it's handy to carry around with me, but IMO a normal well pigmented E/S would work just as well. I do still like a lot of their L/S shades, in particular Obey and Strip (a pur white L/S, good to mix with other colours) The only other item I'd big up a bit is the Intense lip glosses, merely because, well... they're really intense, lol. Really not too nice to wear though, very sticky and have an odd smell. Easy to apply though! So all in all... I've ended up giving most of my Illamasqua makeup (other than the skin makeup and the sealing gel) to my little sister. D: I'd suggest this brand for the aesthetic quality of the packaging, and some certain products, and also for the fabulous range of skin makeup... but no more! Hope this will help some people... ^_^

I appreciate this Tahti. This is what I was already thinking but you've confirmed it nicely for me.

 

[LeeleeBell]

Any recs for what my match would be in the rich liquid foundation if I am Buff in Revlon Colorstay and MAC NC20ish (tho MAC is not a great match for me)? Aside from gossmakeupartist has anyone done some good swatches of their shades?

 

[Delfina]

Any recs for what my match would be in the rich liquid foundation if I am Buff in Revlon Colorstay and MAC NC20ish (tho MAC is not a great match for me)? Aside from gossmakeupartist has anyone done some good swatches of their shades?

Hi, I've received today my Illamasqua order and among other things there was the Cream foundation in CF135. I'm NC20 too, and the CF135 is a reasonable match for me, though not a perfect one.
I have some samples at home (NC15 and NW15 too) and have swatched them side by side on my arm. It's much lighter than nc20 (I'm talking Studio Fix Fluid shades), it's a tad lighter than NC15 too! On my arm the Illamasqua was the lightest one, though when I put it on it didn't seem so much lighter. Maybe because of the different texture? I'll see in the next few days
I'll try to post the swatches as soon as I can.

 

[Ggxox]

Tahti, thank you for that really honest and useful post.

xoxo

 

[User67]

I can't wait til this makes it to my area. I called a few of my local Sephora's today to see if they had it. Some didn't know what the heck I was talking about & others told me that they should be getting their shipments of it in the next few weeks. I am dying to try the Rich Liquid foundation! I love full coverage matte foundations & not enough companies make good ones. But, I have heard that theirs are awesome! Has anyone with an NC40-42 skin tone tried these? What shade matches you?

 

[Elle_P]

Questions regarding Illamasqua Primer, Foundation, Blush

Hi,

I made an online purchase of the Satin Primer and found it soooo watery..is it supposed to be this way? I realize the item is water based but Woah..its like milky water, not creamy at all. I am soo tempted to try their Rich Foundation though I cannot find any close up photos of people actually wearing it (Gossmakeupartist does have a video though not close up at all), so I can see the result of its application. Please..if you have photos of the Rich Foundation on your face ..whether sheered out or layered on..please post!


OH..I almost forgot!! I'm tempted to purchase Hussy and wondering if it looks similar to Shu Uemura's P Pink 30??

Thanks.

 

[Shypo]

I just wanted to give my comments on the e/s that I have....after using them several times. First, I have the following

Sex
Moonflower
Vapour
Forgiveness
Poem
Dizzy

I agree with the person who said that Vapour is kind of odd....I'm not sure if I like it or not - so I'll continue to work with it, but I prefer MAC's Off the Page.

I LOVE Moonflower, Forgiveness and Dizzy:

I've been using Moonflower as a sheer wash over my finished look, just for a bit of pizazz. It is a nice, sheer shimmery white that can be intensified if needed.

Forgiveness is just a great crease color - I've used it both as a base for other crease colors and on its own....it reminds me of a much more pigmented MAC Haux (on me, anyway).

Dizzy is fabulous - I've been using it as a substitute color-wize for MAC Yogurt (which for the life of me I can't get to show up, despite how much I pack on).

​

Poem is a great color too, and I use it regularly with my more purple-y looks, usuallly in the center lid.

I will likley NOT order any other colors (given the US Sephora selection) as I have many MAC shadows that I can use....but these from Illamasqua are unique for me.

 

[LeeleeBell]

Re: Questions regarding Illamasqua Primer, Foundation, Blush

My satin primer has the consistency of a nice moisturizer...not water. Shake it up and see what happens...otherwise I would return it. HTH

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elle_P Hi, I made an online purchase of the Satin Primer and found it soooo watery..is it supposed to be this way? I realize the item is water based but Woah..its like milky water, not creamy at all. I am soo tempted to try their Rich Foundation though I cannot find any close up photos of people actually wearing it (Gossmakeupartist does have a video though not close up at all), so I can see the result of its application. Please..if you have photos of the Rich Foundation on your face ..whether sheered out or layered on..please post! OH..I almost forgot!! I'm tempted to purchase Hussy and wondering if it looks similar to Shu Uemura's P Pink 30?? Thanks.

 

[Girl about town]

Yeah my satin primer was just like moisturiser too.

 

[Ursula]

Here's the Rich Liquid on my face. Tahti has some nice FOTD's with it on her face in the FOTD section also.

and super close in the eye area

I did use different colors for each image and the darker one was after a trip to the lake, FYI. I darkened the foundation by mixing for the photo that looks like darker skin, the lighter one I decided was a little light for me.

 

[Girl about town]

It looks good on you ursula!! i did a FOTD with the rich foundation It gives amazing coverage but you ndefo need a good moisturising base under it and need to blend like mad.

 

[Ursula]

Thanks girl! Yeah definately need good moisture and also a primer is important.

 

[LeeleeBell]

Gorgeous!! I am NC20ish...any idea what color would be the best fit for me?


Quote:

Originally Posted by Ursula Here's the Rich Liquid on my face. Tahti has some nice FOTD's with it on her face in the FOTD section also. and super close in the eye area I did use different colors for each image and the darker one was after a trip to the lake, FYI. I darkened the foundation by mixing for the photo that looks like darker skin, the lighter one I decided was a little light for me.

 

[kabuki_KILLER]

I am actually kind of curious about the quality of their cream shadows. I considered getting a quad of that to test out some colors. Any suggestions or swatches any of you ladies can post on the swatch thread?

 

[Elle_P]

I did shake the Satin Primer and moved it to a colder area to see if it would thicken up..but no. I was so anxious to try their products after reading the rave reviews and ended up making a purchase from their website and not from Sephora...so a return could be problematic since (I'm in the States). I've emailed them and crossing my fingers. I still intend to try many of their products and replace/repurchase the Satin Primer.

Ursula..you look beautiful and thank you for posting close ups.

 

[ambodidi]

Does anyone know what shade an NC 30-35 (I'm probably about 32 most of the year, shame the shade doesn't exist) would be in Illamasqua? I saw a swatch that suggested 215?