Wearing Illamasqua Skin Base Foundation in 12

What’s lightweight, covers imperfections like a master painter’s brush and flatters faces with a flawless, natural-looking matte finish?

Is it A) your beloved Jason Voorhees mask from Friday the 13th, B) Tabs the cat or C) the $42 Illamasqua Skin Base Foundation?

If you answered C, yay! Count yourself among the lucky crew of Skin Base fanatics.

I just recently discovered this full-coverage, hydrating foundation, and dang if it’s not all kinds of awesome, blossom.

I’ve been wearing it off and on for the past few weeks, both in pics here on the blog and out and about (Trader Joe’s pumpkin madness, y’all!), and I’m finding myself reaching for it more and more often when it comes time to put on my warpaint.

Illamasqua refers to Skin Base as “the ultimate foundation” and claims the moisturizing, matte formula smooths skin, controls shine and creates a skin-matched finish that still looks natural. Heck, they say it’s even undetectable in HD footage (ooh, I wanna give that a try…)!

Sounds like a lot of hype, right? Well, you know what? I’m a believer.

Swatches of Illamasqua Skin Base Foundation in 12 (one of 17 shades) unblended on the left and blended on the right

Wearing Illamasqua Powder Blusher Duo in Hussy

Can a Hussy be sweet and kinda innocent? Sure, why the hell not?

Hussy and Lover, the two blushes basking in Illamasqua’s new Powder Blusher Duo ($41), probably sound more scandalous than they are. A lot less dramatic than scheming harlots and vengeful tarts, the look itself reminds me of sock-hop dances, candy necklaces, ruffled dresses and high ponytails with satin ribbons tied into neat bows.

Allegedly (according to the package), the world’s biggest candy necklace!

Illamsqua’s funny that way, and ironic, and it’s one of the things I adore about the brand… Gotta love a colorful makeup line with a sense of humor and a flair for the dramatic.

The new duo, one of nine limited edition kits and sets available now online, and coming soon to cosmetics counters and stores, is part of Illamasqua’s holiday 2012 release; it also happens to be the brand’s first powder blush duo, ever.

As a certified makeup hoarder (I should get a stamp to prove it…like a notary, haha!), I find this very exciting. Even though both colors can also be found in Illamasqua’s permanent line, the duo itself still seems like a special collector’s item.

Additional makeup worn in this look

• Laura Mercier Metallic Creme Eye Colour in Copper (lids)
• Prunella Eye Kohl (water lines)
• MAC Lipsticks in Crosswires and Sandy B topped with MAC Viva Glam Nicki Lipglass (pink lip in the top pic)
• MAC Lipstick in Scarlet Ibis (red lip in bottom pics)

I love the way these matte blushes look with bright, saturated lips — namely hot pinks, reds, coral and fuchsia. I think they get along swimmingly, making bright lip looks appear even more intense.

I get my best, most natural, polished-looking results with these when I apply one or two layers using a circular motion, really buffing and working them into the skin with my brush. That way, I can get the colors to combine with my foundation and face powder; otherwise, the blushes, being as pigmented as they are, can appear a little stark and obvious.

Oh! And I think these have no qualms about layering. For a dynamic effect, I’ll buff Hussy all over the apples of my cheeks, swirl a bit of Lover on the very bottoms of my cheeks with a tapered eyeshadow brush, and run a clean blush brush all over my cheeks to blend the colors together.

Hussy on the left and Lover on the right

Swatches from the left: Lover, Hussy, and Lover and Hussy mixed together

I can’t decide if I like the new Illamasqua Intense Lipgloss in Opulent ($20) more because it’s weird, or because it’s wearable. A bit of both, I suppose.

In its tube, this blend of beige, gray and taupe could have fooled me. If I hadn’t known better, I would have guessed it was an eyeshadow. The complex color, the undercurrent of golden pearl, and the way it flashes purple and pink when the light hits it just right remind me more of traits I’d find in an eye product than something I’d slick on my lips.

Not that I’m complaining (at all).

I like it, but weird colors are always a risk… Some tend to sit unused at the bottom of my makeup bag like shipwrecks lost at sea (hear what I’m sayin’, Apocalips?).

But this time — hallelujah! — Illamasqua figured out how to combine weird and easy to wear.

The trick: they made it surprisingly sheer. When I’m standing in the shade, it’s a clear pinky beige on my lips, and not at all like the storm cloud of color it resembles in the tube. But then, when I step into full sunlight? — that’s when the real fun begins.

Wearing Opulent’s flecks of pink, gold and purple glitter, my kisser sparkles like Vampire Edward’s lips!

I tried to capture the effect in these pics, but I think it’s a little too subtle, except for some of the arm swatches, perhaps. In person, though, BAM!

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Like a moth to a flame… I could see that’s how it was for you when you saw me standing there all dressed in black.

There was something in the air between us, a force bringing us together, something invisible. I know you felt it, too.

It drew you to me, coaxed you forward. I watched as you looked down at your feet, intoxicated by my beauty, and took a step toward me. First your right foot, and then your left. But it wasn’t you who moved them, was it? They moved of their own accord, powerless against me.

When your arms slowly drifted upward and away from your body, reaching for me as if on strings, and I saw that the hairs on your arms were also standing, I knew that you were mine.

“Try me,” I whispered, as you held me in your warm embrace. And you did as you were told.

You opened my cap slowly and then –

Gasp! You saw what I was wearing underneath…

A creamy raspberry pink, and the curves! Such beautiful curves!

You tried to look away, knew that you had to look away, but it was no use. You were caught like a fish on a hook. Illamasqua’s new Lipstick in Magnetism ($24.50) had secured her prey.

You covered the distance between us in less than a second, drawing me along your lips. “Where should we go?” you whispered into my cap.

“This way…” I replied, my voice little more than a sigh.

Gently, you placed me into your snakeskin clutch, and I felt my temperature rise.
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“A lure…? Like a fishing lure?”

No, silly! Allure. Like alluring, as in the new Illamasqua Powder Blusher in Allure, a dusky, rosy pink with sand-sized flecks of golden glitter.

It’s part of the new 12-piece Illamasqua Generation Q collection, which I haven’t spotted at Sephora yet, but I saw it online over at illamasqua.com.

Lots of bold eye and lip colors in the launch…

What do you think of these model shots from the campaign? Aren’t they great? Very edgy and real.

As for the blush? Gorgeous! I wasn’t sure what to expect based on that swatch down there, but I love how natural it looks, as long as I apply it with a light touch.

The little flecks of glitter don’t really show up very well in these pics (I tried!), but they’re there…doing their glittery thing.

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