Fun Stuff from Illamasqua for the Holidays

Illamasqua is one of my favorite make-up brands. I live in a pretty small town, we have a Sephora in our JC Penney's. I know, right? It has a nice Urban Decay set up, if you can get around the tweens trying to be grown-up, and tons of perfume. I call it Ulta Lite, because it is not offering me anything my local Ulta does except a Nars display, which I won't use because Nars is owned by Shisheido, Shisheido animal tests...you know the drill. So, unless I want to fight off the tweens, I usually just go to Ulta because it's on my way home and it's in an outdoor mall and I have a friend that works at one of the anchor stores there.

The moral of that long story is, that because I live in BFE, I can't wander down to my local Sephora and browse Illamasqua, which is the only place you can get it in the US. Unlesssss......you have the INTERWEBS! Yay Interwebs! I get little deals and steals and coupons and sales from Illamasqua, which if you read this blog at all regularly, you know I sometimes curse them for because I can't turn down Illamasqua.

This year they did a couple of little lip sets. I picked up one because bright red lips on me are OK, but I don't prefer it and the other set was bright red. Very sexy if you're Scarlett Johansson, not so great on me, especially if it clashes with my red hair. So...I went with the pinky purply thing, which was VERY pretty.

I know I don't normally do a lot of make-up reviews. Next to none, if you want the truth, but I thought these were pretty and maybe you guys get bored only seeing nails all the time.

If you have never ordered from Illamasqua.com, let me show you what you are in for. Like most devoted make-up and nail hounds, I am a sucker for pretty packaging, shipping, etc. It's all a part of the love. Illamasqua, being almost a cult following, but a VERY classy act, does a fun job. First you will get a matte black cardboard box, complete with a Royal Mail label and a customs declaration.
When you open it, you see this:

Everything is covered in black tissue paper. Peel the paper off and you'll see your order, nicely arranged:

These are packed in a nest of black streamers:

It's just fun and true to the spirit of the brand and I love getting them. It's silly, I know, but it adds something.

So I present: Illamsqua Midnight Kisses:

My lipgloss shifted in the shipping. Oh well.

Now you know you have Welt lipstick and Rouse lipgloss. Don't you love the names?

Once you get through all the pretty packaging, you wind up with these two. I've read other blogger's reviews and their not liking the packaging for Illamasqua. I do like it. Everything is in black, which shows off the colors best, and it's all practical and easy to grasp and use. I also really love that you're not paying for silly mini makeup brushes in anything that you won't use. No useless sponge applicators in the eye shadows and no too small for anything brushes in the blush. I think they know that if you're seeking out a brand such as Illamasqua, you're not a casual make-up user, you are serious about it and you want the good stuff. You already have your brushes of choice (mine are a combination of Estee Lauder, Chanel and Urban Decay) and you use them for everything. Well done. The price I pay is all product and I like that.
The lipgloss tubes are some that I like. They're clear, they're soft and you can see exactly what color you have and how much of it is left. This is a beautiful thing. I always end up feeling like Illamasqua is made by people who actually use make-up, not that it's designed to make me buy it. I like that, too.

Plus, I always get great service from them. They're on top of my issues. I'd love to tell you I'd never had any, but they are still rather small and issues sometimes happen. Last time I even got a personal note and a free lipgloss for the trouble. How do you not love that? Especially since they weren't getting angry emails from me, they were getting "Hey, I still don't have that? Can I get a status?" emails. I wasn't mad and I wasn't threatening to leave the brand. But they made it right anyways, and they did it with class. What's not to love?

Welt is gorgeous. I mean...fuschia-purple. Lovelovelovelovelove!

If you've never used Illamasqua, it's the most perfect layering make-up I've ever found. As strong as this looks in the tube, it will go on sheer and then you just keep applying until you get it as dark as you want it.

This is a couple swips, you can see where it's darker in spots. I did that on purpose so you could see the layering ability of this make-up. Not to mention, it's creamy and light, it feels like nothing more than a good lip balm.

A sheer lip gloss to Illamasqua is exactly that. It's sheer. These can be on the sticky side, but I've never found them goopy or uncomfortable to wear. You will want to touch up the lip gloss, though. I am a lip biter, which is why you will never see these on my lips on a swatch, so if you also tend to the licking biting habit....Minds out of the gutters! Focus! then you will want to reapply often. I don't mind this, personally. It helps keep me from biting.
As you can see, Rouse is quite pretty on it's own, and note...more color where I've layered it up.


Together, these are quite striking:

Pretty! This is pretty pretty princess pretty. Wearable, too. This is easily work OK. With a pretty lighter plum lip liner blended in, you can create the look on the box with no trouble at all.

Definite. Love.

Happy Lipses!!