Illamasqua Mystery Selection

Last weekend I met up with the lovely Rachael (and Sarah!) and she was a total babe and got me an Illamasqua Mystery Selection box for Christmas! Woohoo! Exclusive to Debenhams, there’s an Eye and Nails box and this version, where each box comes with their liquid metal in Electrum and nail polish in Collide, along with a mystery full size Intense Lipgloss, Lipstick, Powder Blush and Eyeshadow.

 

Here’s what I got!

 

 

 

Clockwise from top left: Liquid metal in Electrum, Powder Eyeshadow in Dance, Nail Varnish in Collide, Powder Blusher in Expose, Intense Lip Gloss in Absorb, Lipstick in Welt.

Intense Lipgloss in Absorb, Lipstick in Welt.

Well – Absorb is scary, no?! Applied full on, it’s terrifying, not to mention it’s not the easiest colour to apply straight from the squeeze tube. Applied very, very lightly though, it makes for a nice nude lip and I can see it being really useful for paling down other colours, so I’m very intrigued to play with this more.

As for Welt? I’m delighted with it! I’d seen it in a couple of other boxes and had my fingers crossed for it in mine! It’s a beautiful colour and the formula is lovely – when Illamasqua get their lipsticks right they apply like a dream and last really well and I’m pleased to say Welt falls into this category. I don’t have Boost from Illamasqua yet, but that would go great with this colour!

L-R: Powder Blusher in Expose, Eyeshadow in Dance, Liquid Metal in Electrum.

Look at that blush! Apparently this has now got the axe, and for the life of me I can’t see why. I love me an Illamasqua blush and this soft orange is really beautiful. If this type of colour is your thing, the box may well be the only place to get it now, which is a shame!  Moving on to Dance, I can see this being a product a lot of people would be disappointed to receive as it’s a very typical “bad 80’s” colour, but I love it! It’s smooth, pigmented, not chalky in the slightest and something I don’t really have in my collection, so I’m very happy with it! I’ve had mixed experiences with their single eyeshadows and I very much like this one.

Moving on to Electrum… how pretty is it! Now… a lot of people hate the Liquid Metals and find them unusable, and I agree to a certain extent. They do feel very greasy at first! However, once you’ve had them for a while, they dry out slightly and then become much, much more useable. Until then, I’d recommend just using them on the lips and cheeks where they look beautiful and I am really, really keen to play with Electrum as a facial highlighter.

Collide is a highlighter pink neon – and it’s really neon! Unlike the nasty, chalky, gummy neon polishes of my teen years, this applies really wonderfully and dries very fast. I’d recommend a top coat for more shine – as a neon, it’s not going to be as glossy as most of Illamasqua’s offering. However, if you’re in the market for a pink neon polish, I don’t think you could do better than this one.

While a lot of the boxes do seem to have the same products – Rachael and a couple of other blogger I’ve spoken to have got the exact same items – it’s a really stonking deal and a great gift for a makeup junkie. Absorb is the only slightly iffy product, but only because I wouldn’t wear it on its own – it’s certainly useable and useful.

Exclusive to Debenhams, the box costs £34.20 (worth over £90) for this version or £31.50 for the Eyes and Nails selection.