I made a promise to myself earlier this year,that I would step outside my comfort zone and start branching out on the brands that I buy my makeup products from. Firstly, because I don’t like being narrow minded, but secondly (and most importantly) because my career of choice demands the knowledge and utilization of all available brands, high-end or not.

On my quest for the best quality products out there, I couldn’t have not stumbled upon the infamous European brand, Illamasqua. Having heard a ton of positive commends and having seen their products in use by many YouTube gurus, it didn’t  take much else to get me convinced.

So,during their summer sale,I managed to get a few items to try out. First and foremost, an item that has been on my wishlist for months. The Complement Eyeshadow Palette

The palette consists of 4 gorgeous shades. Slink, Focus, Queen of the Night and Forgiveness.

Out of the four, only Focus is a cream eyeshadow. I normally dislike palettes that combine cream and powder products in the same compact without any kind of devider of some sort, but luckily I have yet to experience the dreaded “contamination”. And that’s because I have noticed minimum fallout with the powder shades. Well, GOOD, because this palette will cost you £34.00 and with that pricetag, you should have NO complaints. And I truly don’t. The shadows blend like a dream, the cream shadow can be used as a base without any creasing and the shades complement (see what I did there?) each other nicely. Two thumbs up! The Complement Palette gets the “Macy’s Seal of Approval” stamp. Let’s move on.

Next thing I added to my cart, was the Ambition blush. Ambition is a muted peachy/pink with gold shimmer and swatches HORRIBLY but applies beautifully.

When I first swatched it on my hand, I was struck by a wave of disappointment by how powdery and non-pigmented it seemed. But, when I actually got to use it on my cheeks, it gave a very pretty flush, without being too shimmery or hard to blend. All in all not bad, but you can find just as good, or even better blushes at the drugstore for a fraction of the price. The powder blushes retail for £21.50. Ouch…

Last but not least, I snatched an Intense Lipgloss in the shade “Fierce”, which is a cool-toned purple. The color is beautiful for the purple-lovers, but the formula is a bit “heavy” and sticky, but not overpoweringly so. The thing that I wish was different, is the wand. It has a brush wand, which with others of its kind I have found to get all messed up as time progresses, but…fingers crossed. The Intense Lipglosses go for £16.50.

You can see all the products used in a makeup look on my Instagram page, @macygreyhorse or by following the link up there!

Before you jump to conclusions about my mental health and account balance, I did not pay that much. My total landed at £51 with 2 eyeshadow quads, 2 lipglosses, a blush and a donation to the Sophie Lancaster Foundation. To see all the products mentioned and get information about the

S.O.P.H.I.E.

program, please visit the company’s website at  www.illamasqua.com

Do you have any Illamasqua products? What are your thoughts?