by Rochelle O’Brien
Illamasqua is an up and coming British makeup brand which launched in Selfridges, London in September 2008 and has slowly since been rolled out in limited stores across the UK and online. Developed by professional makeup artists and produced by Kryolan, Illamasqua is fast becoming a rival for Mac and perhaps no coincidence that their flagship concession is right next to Mac in Selfridges, London. They also give a generous 40% discount to professional MUA’s.
I was so excited when I saw the visual promos for this brand, they are really stunning and unique and unlike anything else we’ve seen. Quirky, like the Carrie Bradshaw of the makeup world. Illamasqua’s tag line is ‘makeup for your alter ego’ and the brand is broken down into four ‘stories’:
1920’s Berlin 
Noir
Fantasy 
Romance 
with a limited edition ‘Sirens’ collection also just launched,
because we’ve all got a hidden siren in us, haven’t we girls?!
I ordered a few things from the regular line and a couple of items from the Sirens collection and I will be doing a FOTD using the products from the Sirens collection soon – watch this space!
The brand has a slightly dark, naughty feel to it and I would have so loved to have been in the meeting room when they came up with the names for all the products (slut, moan, sadist anyone?!). It’s all about bringing out that sexier alter ego we all have. The eyeshadows in particular are unusual in that all but two or three of them are matte shades. It’s so nice to have a brand that has kept the colours striking but simple without shimmer overload. The cream eyeshadows are also lovely. Illamasqua also have a line of pure pigments which have amazing colour payoff. The eyeshadow pans themselves are very generous too, larger than Mac pans and you can customise your own eyeshadow quad by choosing your own colours to go in the four pan palette.
I’m a bit of a Magpie when it comes to gorgeous packaging (hel-loooo Chanel!) and I wasn’t disappointed by the beautiful but simple design of the Illamasqua products. Sleek black compacts with a discreet Illamasqua logo and the pigment containers are particularly novel in their design which stops you tipping out too much (ever had your heart stop when you’ve accidentally knocked over a Mac pigment and seen that lovely stuff all over your bathroom floor?).
If you’re ever in London, get yourself down to Selfridges to check out their concession. You can book a makeover (£30 redeemable against products) and the stand has laptops on each counter so that, say, if you want the MUA to do a certain look for you, you can Google ‘Dita Von Teese’ or whatever floats your boat, and voila! You’ve got a picture to hand. You also get to take away a DVD of your makeover – how cool is that!
Price wise, I would say it’s mid range, slightly more than Mac but not as much as Chanel.
I have to say I really love this brand and think it’s become my new favourite obsession.
