England Week Day 3 - Illamasqua Sheer Lip Gloss

"Makeup for your alter ego" is the catch phrase of the niche line Illamasqua. This brand takes their inspiration from nighttime makeup, the 1920s club scene, and a heritage of film and theatre. This British makeup brand has only recently become available in the United States, carried on the Sephora website and in select stores (I have found in only in the store on Fifth Avenue in NYC so far). This is line that I was semi-curious about but mostly ignored since none of the makeup looks like anything that I could pull off. Also, with the lack of product available at my local Sephora, I was never able to get my hands on some testers to check out the shades. Last winter, I went the store on Fifth Avenue, walked in, and saw this giant display of Illamasqua. Needless to say, I ran over to it and purchased two products before leaving the store that day.

Both of the products that I purchased are "safer" products, less color and pigmentation than many of the others in their line. This company currently makes two lip glosses, the Sheer Lip Gloss and the Intense Lip Gloss. If you follow this blog, then you can guess that I purchased the Sheer Lip Gloss to try and ease myself into their "look".

This is the description of the product from the Illamasqua website, "Super glossy, with a sensual sheer designed to enhance your lips. Use Illamasqua Sheer Lip Gloss on its own or with Illamasqua Lipstick for added pout. Add a little more sexiness to your smile". At the moment, I use this product on its own since I have never really worked up to using a lip gloss on top of a lipstick for more of an impact.

Here are the shades that this product is available in (the website does state that some of the shades are only available in the European Union)...

- Brilliant - clear

- Divine - deep fushcia pink

- Electrify - iridescent baby pink

- Enchant - warm pink nude

- Lily-Rose - warm raspberry pink

- Mina - shimmering berry purple (EU only)

- Provoke - warm caramel nude

- Rouse - cool candy pink

- Tantrum - deep berry pink

- Torture - warm coral peach

- Soul - shimmering champagne nude
- Explode - iridescent creamy pink

I bought Electrify when I was at Sephora, which is the iridescent baby pink shade. My first impression when playing with the testers of these glosses in the packaging. The gloss is housed in a plastic slant tube with a very small hole to release the product. It is impossible to overdo the product with this package design and I have found that a little of this lip gloss goes a very long way. Electrify packs a punch in the shine department and still has quite a lot of pigment for a product that is considered "sheer". I put the pigmentation of this product up with the NARS Lip Glosses, I get more of a punch from this product than I do from Urban Decay, MAC, Lancome, Clinique, and almost every other lip gloss that I have used. Even those who don't do sheer lips will find that this product has enough pigment to suit them.

With the amount of pigment that is already contained in the "Sheer" formula, I don't know that I could handle the "Intense" formula. But, I love this lip gloss and am now curious about the rest of the products in the collection, especially the Lipsticks and Blushes. I have a feeling that as I try more products from this line, it will take its place among NARS and Urban Decay in my favorites list.

"Illamasqua is for the bolder person hiding inside all of us. It is an act and an attitude. A symbol of tolerance. A celebration of idiosyncrasies. A confident statement of self-ownership."

photo courtesy of Illamasqua