Quickie Review and LOTDs: Illamasqua Fatale Palette

Initially I wasn’t drawn to this palette at all, until I saw Karla Powell use it in a look on a models lips and had to have it! I’ve never tried a pressed eyeshadow from Illamasqua that wasn’t matte so didn’t really know what to expect. My experiences with the matte shades they make have varied from ‘meh’ to ‘pretty damn good,’ so I was interested to check out the shimmery shades and see what the payoff was like in real life – the moving swatch on the website made them look like the pigmentation was great!

L-R, swatched on bare skin:

Bronx : bronzed gold
Ensnare: sultry berry shimmer
Mystify: chestnut brown
Charm: seductive violet shimmer

The shade names are from the Illamasqua website. Apart from Ensnare, which in my opinion is much too cool to be called chestnut, these are pretty accurate descriptions. I’m happy to report that these indeed are pretty damn good. I’d venture to say excellent, actually. They feel very smooth and lightweight, and with the possible exception of Charm, which is a *little* sheerer than the others, they all give you really rich colour in one stroke. They’re not unique colours by any means, but the quality is certainly there. While I do prefer a mix of matte and shimmery shades in my palette, these aren’t so shimmery they make you look like a glitter ball and Mystify is dark enough to help give some definition even with the sheen it has.

Let’s see it on the old mug, shall we?

Bitchface ahoy

Eyes: Illamasqua Ensnare, Mystify and Charm, with Illamasqua loose pigment in Beguile in corner of lids.
Cheeks: Etude House Minnie Touch Highlight, MUA Blush in shade 2 (I think, label worn off), Too Faced chocolate bronzer
Lips: MAC Magenta, Illamasqua Boost

Ensnare and Charm actually work really well together – I’d never really have though to pair a cranberry and a light violet colour together but I think it’s a pretty combination. You can see on the lower lashline that the grey-taupe of Mystify is nice with Charm as well. I’ll have to play with those two together again soon.

When I ordered this palette, I also got Boost lipgloss to go with it. It’s pretty sheer and the applicator is sadly terrible, but my gosh, it looks beautiful over hot pinks and magentas!

Eyes: Illamasqua Bronx and Mystify
Cheeks: MAC Margin
Lips: e.l.f Studio matte lipstick in Coral, Illamasqua Sheer Lipgloss in Provoke

A simpler combination, but one that I really like with my colouring. I don’t normally care about wearing colours that make my eyes ‘pop’ or not, but I do really like this pairing with my blue eyes

Pretty colours, no?  I think this palette would suit a decent range of skintones and that they all actually work very nicely together as well as. The warm tones are something I’ve seen on lots of celebrities at the moment and work well as part of a Christmas collection.

I thought this palette was pretty pricey – you get 6 grams for £34. It seems a lot, but compared to something like one of the little baked Chanel quads which is around £37 for 1.2g, it’s actually not that bad for something on the higher end of the scale. Even so, I probably wouldn’t have purchased this palette without my Illamasqua pro discount due to the price. I’m really glad I went for it though - the formula is lovely, the colours are on-trend and I just think it’s a beautiful little palette. A perfect treat for a beauty lover this Christmas!

If you’re up for putting this lovely bit of stuff on your face, you can get it at www.Illamasqua.com.