Illmasqua Complement Palette

I've had this palette since September but haven't come to showing it to you guys yet. And I love it!

Swatches are made over NYX Jumbo Pencil in Milk.

As you can see all of the shadows are super-pigmented, which is nothing less than I expected from Illamasqua. In my opinion this is the perfect palette for achieving a neutral goth-look (yes, there is actually such a thing ;) ). 

Slink 

This soft, shimmery champagne is a wonderful highlighting color for the inner corners or the cheekbones! It is perfect to combine with the darker shades in this palette for a more balanced look.

Focus

Focus a cool, metallic brown from Illamasqua's Liquid Metal range, which means it is a cream shadow (while all the other three shadows in this palette are powders).

Forgiveness

Matte, plumish brown. Great transition color when doing smokey eyes. 

Queen of the night

Doesn't the name of this shadow say everything? It is a shimmery blackened plum which is perfect for smokey eyes! 

Here's a more subtle goth-look I created with this palette.

Thanks for reading and have a lovely day! :)

Paranormal Palette Review

My sweet boyfriend has been abroad and brought me home some (or actually a lot) of presents, among them the Illamasqua Paranormal palette. :)

The shadows of this palette are rather unique since their texture is not really powdery but definitely not completely creamy either. It is something right in between a regular powder eyeshadow and a cream shadow, which makes them more pigmented and provides us with a long-lasting, water-resistant formula.

As usual, I swatched these first on bare skin and then on top of NYX Jumbo pencil in Milk, but to be honest, I couldn't see any difference. They are highly pigmented both with and without a base and the ultra-light formula makes them easy to apply smoothly and even easier to blend.

Paranormal - dark, rose pink with a rather subtle shimmer.

Aura - warm peachy copper with a golden sheen.

Possession - cool, pistachio green.

Trance - soft shimmery violet

My favorite in the bunch is definitely Possession, but Aura (which I thought I wouldn't like that much) was also a positive surprise. Paranormal is quite a cool color and I can imagine it looking amazing with gold and black! As for Trance it is the most boring of these shades. It is a pretty color, alright, but we have seen this purple shade a million times before.


Pros: The eyeshadows are very easy to work with, have great color payoff and a very pleasant texture with a water-resistant finish.

Cons: The lightweight formula easily leads to overdosage, overdosage leads to creasing, creasing leads to hate and hate leads to the Dark Side... So watch out, ok?

Price: £34 

Overall this is quite an exciting palette, especially if you're into pastels, and if you want to try eyeshadows with a texture that you (probably) haven't encountered before you should definitely get it.

I really hope that this review has been helpful and that you all will have a lovely day! :)

Illamasqua Haul

After having seen Cora's review on the sealing gel by Illamasqua, I thought it was about time to place another order from their website. Along with the sealing gel I got some other nice things which I'm going to talk to you about in just a moment. :)

Sealing gel

Sugarpill's Stella and Birthday Girl Chromalust eyeshadows mixed with a drop of sealing gel

This product is just awesome! One little drop and you can turn any eyeshadow you want into a fabulous, water- and smudge-proof eyeliner. Pure magic! Can you imagine what you can do with this baby along with Sugarpill's eyeshadows? :)

How to use it: Take a knife, spatula or other sharp object and scrape off a little bit of your pressed eyeshadow, or scoop up your pigment. Put the shadow on a clean surface and mix with a tiny drop of sealing gel. Voilá! You now have made your own eyeliner. Awesome, huh? :)

Price: £7.00 for one bottle containing 6ml 0.2 FL. OZ.

Lipsticks 

Since I'm much of an eye makeup girl it might be a little bit harder to guess that I am obsessed about lipsticks as well. My collection is ever growing and of course I had to take the opportunity to add another couple of dark wine-reds to it. :)

The first one is the new shade, Shard, which is part of the recently launched Sacred hour collection. This lipstick is just amazing! The texture glides on smoothly to create a velvety matte finish with a rather unique reddish purple shade. I didn't find this one as dry as the other Illamasqua lipsticks I have tried out, but you should still be careful with it if you have very dry lips. Of course the dryness makes it extra long-lasting.

Growl is a gorgeous dark, mahogany red that would be the lipstick if it hadn't been for one thing, it is so damn hard to apply it evenly. It is not as bad as Disciple though, but I do wish that the formula had been slightly thinner.

Price: £16.50 for NET WT. 4g 0.14 OZ. 

Pigment

The fourth and last thing that found its way into my shopping cart was the sapphire blue pigment Alluvium. It reminds me a little bit of MAC's Deep truth but also contains golden sparkles. It is a lovely pigment that will make a pretty eyeliner indeed! :)

Price: £16.50 for NET WT. 1.3g 0.04 OZ.

Which pigment or eyeshadow would you want to make into an eyeliner? :) 

Thank you a lot for reading and hope that you liked these swatches!

New Makeup Geek Pigments

Very recently 5 new shades of pigments has been launched by Makeup Geek. All of them are fall colors and the shades are definitely flirting with the current metallic trend. As usual with my swatches the one to the left is the pigment applied dry over NYX Jumbo Pencil in Milk and the one to the right is the pigment applied wet.

Blitz is a medium reddish brown with a subtle shimmer. The shade would probably fall somewhere in between copper and burgundy and is the kind of shade that can be used to turn a regular smokey eye into a far more exciting creation. Pair it with a lighter copper or gold and your fall-look is done!

Vegas lights is more of a glitter than a pigment and is almost identical to MAC's Copper sparkle, except that the latter has larger chunks of glitter. The color is perfect to bring out blue eyes and looks astonishing paired with Blitz.

The color of Nightlife is a little bit harder to pinpoint. After having given it some thought, though, one can see that it is a medium taupe with a slight hint of pink. A lovely mysterious color that can be used in everyday looks as well as more festive creations.

As the name suggests Kryptonite is green, but a muted, olive-ish green rather than the cartoon-style radioactive color that one might associate with the name. Wonderful metallic finish that can be used on its own for a subtle, yet more fun everyday look or with a darker moss-green to add some drama to your eyes.

Makeup Geek describes Bewtiched as a "light amethyst purple"which is definitely the best words to describe it. :) The color makes you think of magic and Glinda the good witch. Oh boy, do I wish I had had this pigment in February when I made my Amethyst birthstone look? :P

You already know that I love the compact eyeshadows by Makeup Geek but I have to say that I am even more impressed by their pigments. The only thing I have to complain about is that the jars are kind of overfull so the pigment tends to escape when you open it, but honestly, it's no big deal. Otherwise, they are beyond awesome and I really hope there will be more colors in the future. :)

Price: $6.99 and you can buy them here --> Makeup Geek Store

Thanks for reading everyone! :)

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Disclosure: Some or all of the products shown in this post have been sent to me by the brand(s) for use or consideration. This however, does not in any way affect my opinions about the product(s) and I assure you that all of the opinions stated are my own. You, my dear reader, are my priority number one and I would never recommend a product that I do not think is worth spending money on. The product(s) are also, to my best knowledge, completely cruelty free.

Lime Crime Time!

I don't know what took me so long but finally I have ordered some Lime Crime products and of course I want to show them to you guys! :)

Lime Crime are probably most famous for their lipsticks so I will start with those.

Recently a new kind of lipstick was introduce to Lime Crimes makeup line; the Velvetines. These lipsticks are more like lip glosses in appearance except for one significant difference - they are completely matte! Due to the matte-ness they stay on very well. Believe it or not, I wore Red Velvet for a whole day, through both lunch and dinner, and I didn't need to reapply! Ladies and gentlemen, that sure is worth an applause!

The cons with the Velvetines are that they feel very dry on the lips.

Pigmentation: 5/5
Longevity: 5/5
Texture: Very dry
Price: $16.99 here

Glamour 101 has, except for Styletto, been my dream-lipstick from Lime Crime. My expectations on this lipstick was sky high and I can't really say that I was disappointed with it, but it didn't quite live up to these expectations. The pigmentation wasn't as good as with the other Lime Crime lippies and it didn't stay on as good as I had expected either. I had to reapply twice during my day at work to keep it looking perfect.
But enough with the negative stuff now; the color on this baby is to die for and it is very moisturizing so your lips feel soft and nice.

Pigmentation: 3/5

Longevity: 3/5

Texture: Soft and nice! 

Price: $15.99 here

Like a neon sign Countessa fluorescent will light up your face and send echoes of the 80's through the minds of everyone who has the luck to lay their eyes upon it. :)

Pigmentation: 4/5

Longevity: 4/5

Texture: Creamy

Price: $15.99 here

Coquette is a pretty peachy nude with an opaque, creamy texture. 

Pigmentation: 5/5

Longevity: 4/5

Texture: Creamy and very opaque

Price: $15.99 here

And now on to the eyeliners. I very much wanted to try out the one called Blue milk but it was out of stock when I ordered my stuff so I didn't get the chance to do so. The ones I got were 6th element and Orchidaceous, which are both very much to my satisfaction. :)

I can't say that they are as insanely pigmented as Scribe by Illamasqua but honestly, they don't really have to be, they're awesome anyway! You might have to apply two layers to gain the best out of them but that's definitely not any major problem. The colors are awesome and correspond very well to the swatches Lime Crime have provided on their website.

None of these colors are anywhere near waterproof so don't do any advanced makeup masterpieces with them before jumping into a swimming pool, ok? ;)

Pigmentation: 3/5
Longevity: 4/5
Texture: Rather thin but dries into a matte opaque finish.
Price: $13.99 here

Well, that's that for now! :) Have you ever tried out Lime Crime's products and what are your opinions about it?

NOTE: I'm not asking what you think of Lime Crime as a company or of what Doe Deere has or has not done in her past. It was long ago, this "drama" with Lime Crime, and to be honest things tend to get blown way out of proportions on the internet. Besides, everyone can make a mistake. My point; as far as I am concerned Doe is a very sweet and kind woman and until she proves otherwise to me I will continue to believe so. :)

IsaDora Zinfandel Review and Tutorial

The Swedish drugstore makeup brand IsaDora has a wide range of moisturizing lipsticks of which the one that has always caught my eye is the dark plum-ish wine-red Zinfandel. Very recently IsaDora launched their fall 2013 look including a lip-pencil matching this lipstick, and sharing its name, so I decided to buy them both.

Left: Zinfandel lip pencil, Right, Zinfandel lipstick

The lipstick has been out on the market for a while but I have never tried it on until now. It is one of the  Perfect Moisture lipsticks although its texture feels almost matte on when applied on the lips.
Like most dark lipstick from the cheaper selection of brands this one tends to get a little blotchy after a while, so you have to make sure your lips are perfectly scrubbed and moisturized before application. Reapplication is necessary during the day.

Pigmentation: 4/5

Longevity: 2/5

Texture: Creamy with a slightly shimmery finish

Kiss-proof? No

Price: 119 SEK (~$18) 

As for the pencil it is the perfect complement for the lipstick. It has a smooth, velvety finish and would look good on its own as well as underneath the Zinfandel lipstick.

Pigmentation: 4/5

Longevity: 3/5

Texture: Dry and opaque

Kiss-proof? Yes, without any lipstick on it actually is

Price: 69 SEK (~$10) 

Step 1. Begin with outlining your lips with the lip pencil. This way you can compensate for any asymmetrical lip shapes, so when you perform this step do it with relaxed, neutral lips. It sure is tempting to distort your mouth in order to stretch your skin for an easier application of the lipliner, but this will not help you achieve an even and symmetrical lip-shape.

Step 2. Fill in your entire lips with the lip liner. Now you can grimace as much as you like as long as you won't transform the outline you made in Step 1.

Step 3. Using a lip pencil fill in your lips with lipstick in the same shade as your lip liner (or a completely different one - who knows, it might turn out looking fabulous!).

Step 4. If your lip line is in any way still a little wonky-donkey, despite all your efforts with the lip liner, pick up some concealer on a thin brush and smooth out any un-eveness.

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Do you have any favorite lipsticks in this shade? :) 

Thanks for reading and welcome back! :D

Terracotta - A Gothic Fall Look

This beauty from the Nomad collection by Make Up Store is simply irresistible. Since I didn't have an eyeshadow in this color I just had to buy it. The shimmery terracotta  shade is perfect for bringing out blue eyes and combining it with a light shimmery gold creates a colorful look for us who are longing for autumn's arrival. :)

The swatch to the left is on bare skin and the one to the right on top of NYX Milk. You can see it is extremely pigmented.

Always when I find eyeshadows with bright colors, like this one, I try to come up with ways of using them in looks that are still suitable for us who loves darker shades. Here's a tip how to use this one!

Step 1. Begin with priming your eyes with your favorite primer. Then, apply a white base all over your lid, but don't take it too far above the crease.

Step 2. With a stiff, flat brush pick up some yellow-based golden eyeshadow and pat it gently onto the inner corners of your eyes. I couldn't find my Goldilux so I used a mixture of Buttercupcake (Sugarpill) and Honeypot (Too Faced)  to achieve the right shade.

Step 3. Time for this post's special guest star! Apply Terracotta on the middle of your upper and lower lid and blend it into the gold. It is not that important to blend the outer part right now so leave it be until next step.

Step 4. In the outer corner, apply Burlesque by Makeup Geek (or similar color). Smoke it out with a clean blending brush and finish by blending a little more of Terracotta into the upper, outer part. This will add a little more warmth to the look and contribute to the autumn-ish glow.

Step 5. Now on with the darkness! Apply a black eyeshadow lightly in the outer corner and drag it along the crease to the inner corner of your eye. Blend, blend and blend a little more! Repeat until you've gotten the desired darkness.

Step 6. Line your eyes with a black eyeliner pencil and then trace the upper lash line with black liner or eyeshadow.

Step 7. Finish off the eye makeup with two coats of black mascara and a pair of corner lashes. :)

This look is best gothed up with a dark, wine-red lip. Here, I've used a dark plum lip liner and on top of that Glamour 101 by Lime Crime. :) The lipliner I used here was Jazz by Make Up Store which is unfortunately discontinued. I will make a post with possible dupes later.

Thanks for reading! Have a lovely day! :)

Illamasqua Haul and Reviews

About a week ago I decided that I had tried out far too few Illamasqua products and placed an order from their website. :) These are the things I got...

Powder eyeshadow

This is definitely one special lady! I don't have anything like her in my makeup collection so far which is always interesting since my makeup collection is very large. :)
Anja is a sky blue beauty who is extremely pigmented. I'm definitely impressed!

Lipsticks

Bold and blood red - Sangers will definitely be part of my everyday makeup! 9 days out of 10 I wear red lipstick for work and this one will definitely be among them.

Pros: Glides on smoothly like a dream and doesn't feel dry on the lips despite the matte finish, stays on for a very long time
Cons: Honestly, I couldn't find any.

This lipstick is a tricky one. It is not very pigmented and the dry and thick texture makes it a nightmare to apply and no matter how carefully you work with your lip brush it will still be somewhat blotchy. My first thought - when I had abandoned any hope of a smooth result - was "Okay, this just isn't worth it!". Then I popped on a little lipgloss and voilá; gorgeous navy lips that aren't shrunken into nothingness! :D

Pros: Gorgeous and rare color
Cons: Not very pigmented, dry and extremely hard to apply

Flare has the classic dry Illamasqua texture that makes it stay on your lips through blistering ice storms and scorching deserts. It is nevertheless easy to apply and leaves your lips fiery hot.

Pros: Easy to apply, gorgeous color, long-lasting
Cons: Yellow teeth alert!


Precision Ink Scribe

This is also so good you won't even believe your eyes when you try it. Just look at the picture and you'll understand what I'm talking about...

Also, if you're worried that it will smudge or disappear when you cry - don't be! This picture is taken after washing my skin twice; the first time with soap and water and the second time with waterproof makeup remover! Isn't that incredible? :O Yet, when you use it on your eyelids (which are oilier than the skin on your arm) it won't be difficult to remove it with waterproof makeup remover.

Have you ladies and gentlemen (do I have any male readers? It is hard to know sometimes from just a username of the people who comments!) got any favorite items from Illamasqua? Have you tried any of these and what did you think of them?

Thanks for stopping by! :)