Illamasqua Lip Glosses

I don't know if you've heard of Illamasqua or not but assuming that you haven't let me link their 'about' post here, which explains a bit about their beginnings. Basically, from what I gathered .. Illamasqua is a makeup company which caters to the more alternative side of beauty, boasting that their products provide makeup for your alter ego. Thus, colours that would be either one-offs for other brands like black lip products, green lip glosses and silver highlighters etc. are permanent features in the Illamasqua line. In addition, Illamasqua products are not tested on animals and fully supports changing attitude towards subcultures with their S.O.P.H.I.E products.

Being the makeup junkie that I am, I have known about Illamasqua for some time but, the fact that Illamasqua is a pricey higher end company meant that this girl admired their lippies from afar. Yet, with a few sales and my general lust for Shoot taking me over, I managed to dip my lips into the colourful and intriguing world of Illamasqua lip glosses ... This post will be about my thoughts (and swatches).

I have four shades of lipglosses from the Illamasqua line. Three are from the intense range and one from the sheer. I bought 3 shades on sale and 1 at full price. Illamasqua does really good sale deals around Christmas/New Years so its always worth checking their website or peaking in store to see what can be had. The products are great quality and all my experiences with the company have been positive. I think they are a fantastic company and I'm so glad that they exist. Mini rave over now, onto the product pics ...

Intense Lip gloss in Fierce, Shoot, Mistress and a Sheer Lipgloss in Divine

Illamasqua Lip Gloss swatches in Intense: Fierce, Shoot, Mistress and Sheer: Divine.

Illamasqua Intense Lip Gloss in Fierce

Colour: A vibrant blue toned purple.

Opacity: Full but, prone to being slightly patchy in places.

Finish: A glossy cream with no shimmer.

Overall thoughts on Fierce: For being a really bright in your face colour its pretty wearable from the tube. I assume that it would work well with many different skin tones but probably will look more 'socially acceptable' on a paler person (but who cares what people think) . On my skin it comes across quite chalky (meaning that it has a white tone to it) but I ~~like to~~ think I can still pull it off. If you are concerned about the chalkiness of this colour you can definitely mix it up with darker lipsticks to slightly change the hue or overpower the colour altogether (you'll have to use less of Fierce though, or more of the other colour because its really pigmented). I've also found that in different lighting the dramatics of the colour can change - yellow lighting flatters looks wearable - blue lighting makes it pop and look out of this world (probably strengthens the blue tones against my warm skin tone). Wearing this shade makes me feel like I'm actually expressing my strange identity outwardly ... Its definitely my kinda shade ... weird but not too weird (ya know what I mean?).

Ingredients: Polybutene, Octyldodecanol, Pentaerythrityl, Tetraisostearate, Silica, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Linalool, Limonene, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Benzyl Benzoate, BHT, Parfum (Fragrance), Silica, Tin Oxide, Calcium Aluminium Borosilicate, Calcium Sodium Borosilicate, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Mica [+/- May Contain: Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Iron Oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), Carmine (CI 75470) Red 22 Lake (CI 45380), Red 28 Lake (CI 45410), Maganese Violet (CI 77742), Bronze Powder (CI 77400), Red 36 (CI 12085), Blue 1 Lake (CI 42090), Red 40 Lake (CI 16035), Yellow 5 Lake (CI 19140), Red 7 Lake (CI 15850), Bismuth Oxychloride (CI 77163)].

Illamasqua Intense Lip Gloss in Shoot

Colour: A bright spring leaf green.

Opacity: Full but, a bit streaky in areas.

Finish: Cream no shimmer and glossy.

Overall thoughts on Shoot: At first I found Shoot very hard for me to wear (still kinda do). I think its because it has a lot of yellow in it so I felt it was an absolute no-no for me. Plus, the applicator brush, is the worst applicator brush I have ever come in contact with, this was a massive disappointment for me as not only did I pay full price for this lip gloss (£16.50) but, I was so obsessed and so excited to get this lip gloss that when I realised the negatives I was really downtrodden. Green is one of my favourite colours so to have my first true green lip product make me feel like an ogress (in a negative way) put me off from buying other alternative shades (not only from Illamasqua but all brands). Yet, I got over my initial horror and now I really like the shade. Yes it is very odd - my sister has likened it to Kermit and me Dad said I shouldn't wear it because I'll scare the public (he's so funny). I admit, this shade is very out there but I can't help but love it in spite of the extortionate price and terrible brush applicator (curse my love of green). Shoot was initially meant to be a Limited Edition but was brought back to life after popular demand and I'm glad it was, this really is a unique shade.

The three pictures from the left show how the brush looks each time I take it out of the tube. The last picture on the far right shows what happens after I apply the gloss to my lips and have basically worked it into the shape that its supposed to be - in order to have neat application. At the end I put the brush back into the tube like picture no.4. ... to only then be reawakened to the first 3 pics of the wand when I reopen the lip gloss *face palm*. Note: None of my other lip gloss brushes by Illamasqua has done this weird brush thing so I'm sure this is just a random occurrence.

Ingredients: Polybutene, Octyldodecanol, Pentaerythrityl, Tetraisostearate, Silica, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Calcium Aluminium Borosilicate, Parfum (Fragrance), Linalool, Limonene, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Benzyl Benzoate, BHT, [+/- May Contain: CI 77891 (Titanium Dioxide), CI 77491(Iron Oxides) , CI 77492 (Iron Oxides), CI 77499 (Iron Oxides), CI 75470 (Carmine), CI 45380 (Red 22 Lake), CI 77742 (Maganese Violet), CI 12085 (Red 36), CI 42090 (Blue 1 Lake), CI 16035 (Red 40 Lake), CI 19140 (Yellow 5 Lake), CI 15850 (Red 7 Lake), CI 77163 (Bismuth Oxychloride), CI 77400 (Bronze Powder), Tin Oxide, Mica,](Non US Shades: CI 77007, CI 77000, CI 77288, CI 77289).

Illamasqua Intense Lip Gloss in Mistress

Colour: An orange based coral.

Opacity: Applies smoothly and is pigmented. Colour intensity can be built up to intensify the shade to bring out its orange tone.

Finish: Full cream no shimmer.

Overall thoughts on Mistress: A very wearable shade that can give a subtle or strong look depending on how many coats you apply to your lips. Its a beautiful shade and there's not much more to say about it really.

Ingredients: Polybutene, Octyldodecanol, Pentaerythrityl, Tetraisostearate, Silica, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Calcium Aluminium Borosilicate, Parfum (Fragrance), Linalool, Limonene, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Benzyl Benzoate, BHT, Tin Oxide,[+/- May Contain: CI 77891 (Titanium Dioxide), CI 77491(Iron Oxides) , CI 77492 (Iron Oxides), CI 77499 (Iron Oxides), CI 75470 (Carmine), CI 45380 (Red 22 Lake), CI 45410 (Red 28 Lake), CI 77742 (Maganese Violet), CI 12085 (Red 36), CI 42090 (Blue 1 Lake), CI 16035 (Red 40 Lake), CI 19140 (Yellow 5 Lake), CI 15850 (Red 7 Lake), CI 77163 (Bismuth Oxychloride), CI 77400 (Bronze Powder), Mica].

Illamasqua Intense Lip Gloss in Divine

Colour: A sheer pink fuchsia.

Opacity: Sheer but can be built up a little.

Finish: Sheer cream no shimmer.

Overall thoughts on Divine: I really love this colour. Its completely wearable and maybe not too unique yet, I think it has a little something extra about it. Again not much more to say it speaks for itself.

Ingredients: Polybutene, Octyldodecanol, Pentaerythrityl, Tetraisostearate, Silica, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Linalool, Limonene, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Benzyl Benzoate, BHT, Parfum (Fragrance), Silica, Tin Oxide, Calcium Aluminium Borosilicate, Calcium Sodium Borosilicate, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Mica [+/- May Contain: Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Iron Oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), Carmine (CI 75470) Red 22 Lake (CI 45380), Red 28 Lake (CI 45410), Maganese Violet (CI 77742), Bronze Powder (CI 77400), Red 36 (CI 12085), Blue 1 Lake (CI 42090), Red 40 Lake (CI 16035), Yellow 5 Lake (CI 19140), Red 7 Lake (CI 15850), Bismuth Oxychloride (CI 77163)].

...

Summary of Thoughts

I think the lip glosses are fantastic. They have great colour, feel moisturising, are pigmented and can be mixed with other products to change/deepen/brighten/intensify the colours. However, there are negatives like the bad brush on Shoot and the fact that sometimes the colours are a bit streaky because of the applicator brush.

Now speaking on smells and texture : the smell and consistency of this lip gloss reminds me of Becca Lip glosses - in fact if I blind tested it - I'd think that they were the same thing (a bit fruity) but of course Illamasqua wins on pigmentation and colour choices ... of course. The consistency of Illamasqua Intense lip glosses are quite thick but they are not sticky. However, if you hate the feel of a weighty lip gloss I imagine you won't like it. Alternatively the sheer lip gloss is not as weighty so I'm guessing it will be more appealing to those who like lightweight feeling lip products. Personally I don't mind ...

Price: Usually retails for £16.50 for 7ml/0.2 fl.oz but on sales can be reduced by as much as 70% off

Expiration: 9 months
Made in Germany