A little while ago I stumbled upon this little gem hiding away on the Debenhams website, it encompasses everything I love in life - Make Up and Surprises.
Well what is it Kayleigh? It is a full box of surprise Illamasqua products everything from blushes to eye catching pigments!
The box itself is the Alter Ego Mystery Selection box and contains 6 FULL SIZE products :D Each box comes with 1 Nail Varnish in Collide and 1 Liquid Metal in Electrum but then the rest of the goodies are left as a surprise! I am really liking the 'alter ego' references as you will see from the pictures that some of the colours are a little bit out there, and not necessarily what you would pick up and put on to head out for the papers. And I really like that, I would never usually reach for anything but peach blushes and neutral shadows and to be able to experiment and become your own 'alter ego' is exciting.
On opening the box you will see all your products nestling together all cosy in a little straw like nest, I cant tell you how eager I was to get everything opened and swatched. So excuse the finger prints in the products because I just couldn't help myself.
Here we go with the picture overload....sorry about that! I have a new lens too so I think I went a tad overboard when taking the pictures....overall for this blog post I took 88 pictures! Holy Moly - I was even shocked when I uploaded them. Ready, Steady, Go!
First up I shall talk about the products that every 'alter ego' box contains.
Liquid Metal in Electrum
This amazing antique gold shade is so dazzling in real life, as it says it really does come off as Liquid Metal on your eyes. You can blend it if you wish to create more of a sparkle of colour across your lid or if you want more pizazz then layer it over your lid for an amazing guiled effect. This would look Ah-Ma-Zing on tanned skin across your shoulders, arms or decollete. Gently add some sparkle to set off that amazing golden tan...oh what I would give sometimes to have olive tanned skin!
Nail Varnish in Collide
If you have seen a snippet of my nail varnish collection you will know that I love me some bright pink nail colours! This is right up my street and have worn it so much since it arrived, I even have it on my toes today :D On my nails it dried to an almost semi-matte texture which I love but if you fancied more of a high shine look just add your fave topcoat. I did need 3 coats so make sure you have time for it to dry but I do say it did well and stayed put for 3 days with no chipping....That is great in my books at the mo. Puppies, Babies, washing = nail damage, so it held up really well.
Now onto the surprises :)
Powder Blush in Panic
WOW - how amazing is this blusher! I don't recall ever owning anything like it, I am a little scaredy cat when it comes to bright colour and stick to peaches and maybe the odd coral but nothing as vibrant as this. But I surprised myself and I love it. I will admit I did 'Panic' (see what I did there) when I first attempted to use this but a little definitely goes a long way. Don't overload your brush as you will end up looking like a gnome that is teething haha, a light dusting blended over the apples gave me a warmed up glow that looked amazing on my pale skin. Like I had cute pinched cheeks from walking in the cold winters breeze.
Intense Lipgloss in Move
Again another fab product I have been wearing so much recently, the past month or so I have switched around and heading towards wearing gloss a lot more than lipstick. This is a firm handbag fave as it is almost natural to wear with anything but still has an amazing purple/pink hue to look eye catching. My lips tend to be more purple than pink so I think it suits my skin tone really well, the only problem is my hair! Long hair and gloss don't mix haha - so my hair has to be up or out of the way when I wear it.
Powder Eyeshadow in Fallen
This deep grey purple shade is somewhat of a huge step for me to take, so much so I haven't yet plucked up the courage to wear it in a look yet. From a girl who loves a soft neutral eye to then consider a deep extremely pigmented eye shadow is a huge leap for me. But from swatching the shadow the pigment is amazing, so rich and deep just like the blusher a tiny amount gives amazing colour pay off. So when I finally pluck up the courage I need to be very careful to no overdo it. Any ideas how to incorporate this pleas let me know?
Lipstick in Fetish
First when I saw this lipstick I was shocked, when will I ever wear this? I thought, but then I remembered that is what Illamasqua want you to think, you are looking to become your alter ego so embrace the shade and think go for it. I love the vampy 1930's look that people wear, dark lips are eye catching and beautiful but again I have been stuck in my ways and never ventured out to purchase a lipstick like this. Now I am thinking of an occasion to wear it, I cant wait. Or do you think I should just pop down to the library with it on and rock out a vamp look? The texture is creamy and the shade itself is matte but not as intense as on the bullet so can be toned down with a little lip balm mixed over the top.
Swatches
Overall I am ever so impressed with this Illamasqua Mystery box and would highly recommend anyone who is looking for something new to try it out. Especially like me if you don't always have the budget to buy a handful of full sized products no matter how much we wish we could regularly top up our make up stock! Shall we all chip in for a lottery sweepstake haha!
I bought my box in the Debenhams sale for......£19! Yup £19 for 6 full sized products - amazing value. I think totalled up the collection would be over £90. You can buy yours Here from Debenhams - I think they may be out of stock at the mo but they always keep coming back so keep checking back. They also do a more nail focused box if that tickles your fancy and you can check that one out here plus its even cheaper at £17.50. Come on Debenhams - top up the supply soon please :D
Hope you are all okay, sorry I haven't been around too much recently but my next post is a little update on that cheeky boy Finley and how his appointment went :) Now we are over the waiting and worrying stage I am back and here to stay!
Love you all so much
Kayleigh x
