Illamasqua Powder Blush Swatches Part 1 of 2

Saturday, June 25, 2011

15 comments
Ooh, Illamasqua - the UK's answer to MAC, has garnered a huge following for their image of being as out-there and as daring as MAC - in fact, perhaps more so, due to the visionary leadership of Alex Box. They've definitely had the support of the blogging community in their early days, although there has been a lot of talk about the brand "selling out" to mainstream media now that they've ridden to success on the support of the blogosphere, and aren't engaging the bloggers who supported them anymore.

With that kind of image and background, it's almost kind of disappointing to find out that a lot of their Powder Blush colours are so tame. In fact, for today's first half of the swatches, almost all of these are really wearable and - dare I say? - some even ho-hum. That said, you can't fault the quality of the blushes - I have three of their blushes (none of the ones pictured here, unfortunately), and I love them all. They're well-pigmented, nicely-textured, and stay on for a decent length of time. What's not to like?

Illamasqua Powder Blusher Swatches

L-R: Katie, Nymph, Tremble, Chased, Hussy

Katie is one of the best selling colours in the Illamasqua line, and one of the more popular ones, but honestly, this is a little boring to me. Yeah, yeah, pale pastel pink. Looks good on most girls. Doesn't every brand have one of these?

Nymph is similar to Katie, but less pastel and a bit brighter, and maybe a hair darker. It's a good alternative to Katie for darker girls who might find that Katie could look ashy on them.

Tremble is a light coral-peach. This colour is pretty unique. Most coral blushes I've seen tend to be quite bright, so this is probably one of the few pale coral blushes out there.

Chased is similar to Nymph and Katie, but is the darkest and brightest of the lot. It also leans more purple than either Nymph or Katie. I like this the best in the lot.

Hussy is also another pretty, intriguing colour that would probably still be wearable with a light hand. This is a coral with a hint of hot pink - very pretty indeed. Me likey.

For some reason, almost all the Illamasqua blushes are matte. I think the formulation of this is deliberate - the theory is probably that if you want to add shimmer to them, you will layer on a separate shimmer product to customize the level, size, and type of shimmer/glitter you want - just like the pros. These are all work-appropriate since they are matte, and come in wearable colours. Despite the brand's outrageous image, today's swatches are all colours you can wear to the strictest office.

15 comments:

  1. I still have not convinced myself to buy Illamasqua blushes...even though I drool at them every single time I come across them in store or online (such as this one XD)

    One day...I will have Tremble and Lover!!

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  2. I have Hussy and Nymph and love them. Illamasqua blushes wear pretty much all day, especially if you can keep your hands off your face. I am a HUGE fan of them and am really pleased to get to see some of them swatched. Incidentally, I am ghostly white and can wear these, you just have to basically dab the brush on the powder so you don't overload. You definitely do not want to swipe over the color or you will have too much.
    Thanks for the swatch!

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  3. I love Illamasqua blushes! I have Hussy, Lover and Tremble. My Tremble though is decidedly pink. No orange or coral tones at it all? I'm really confused by your swatch. Do they have different versions floating around. Even Illamasqua's website describes Tremble as a soft lilac pink. Cool not coral?

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  4. 'tremble' is so beautiful with orangeish tone, I like it, thanks for the review ^^

    http://sparkleapple.blogspot.com/

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  5. I own Katie and I wasn't crazy for it at first but I've come to love the way it looks :) This brand is great! Had no idea they were like MAC in the UK!

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  6. Those look amazing! I want all of them.

    www.dgsbeauty.com

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  7. Tremble looks beautiful!!! GOtta get my hands on that blushy:)))

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  8. thanks for the nice comment, i appriciate it(:

    you have lovely swatches on your blog<333

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  9. @PeriouslyPale: I checked the original swatches and notes I made when I took these photos, and the colour is indeed Tremble. However, you are right in that there seems to be a bit of colour inconsistencies in the blush. In some other swatches (KarlaSugar being one) Tremble swatches as a light pink with a hint of coral. In some other reviews I've seen, the reviewers don't see the coral. In general however, the consensus is that Tremble is a light warm pink, possibly with some coral. Some have described it as a peachy-pink, which I also think is accurate. It is possible that the colour could have a couple of slight variations going around, some more peachy than others, but I wouldn't know for sure. I suspect that in this case, Tremble looks especially coral because it's swatched next to a bunch of very cool-toned blush colours, thus making it look warmer by comparison.

    Another reason could also be that Tremble is a complex colour due to the mix of peach, pink and coral in the blush, and thus appears differently on different skintones. This could be the explanation for the variation in swatches and reviews online as well. On me, it does tend to pull warm, but I've seen other FOTDs where it pulls more pink, and I feel like depending on the skintone of the person, the colour could veer either way. I hope this goes some way towards clearing up your confusion!

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  10. Hussy looks so pretty, I'd like it in a matching lipstick too thanks :D

    I own Unrequited, a warm Barbie pink. I love the colour but its so pigmented I tend to stuff up and have to blend the s**t out of it!

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  11. Thanks! Maybe my cooler skintone makes it seem more cool. I posted about it a while ago here: http://perilouslypale.blogspot.com/2011/06/illamasqua-powder-blushers-in-hussy.html I went back and looked an low and behold it does pull warmer on me! I suppose Illamasqua should likely take the lilac out of their description. It really gives the impression of it being quite cool which it is not. Katie would be the one to go for if someone was looking for a very pale, cool pink.

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  12. so pretty, i have to try their products one day. they all look amazing!

    Xo

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  13. Oh hello tremble...I love you so :)

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  14. Ohhh.. why did you leave out Lover? I thought it was the prettiest of the bunch.
    And hussy looks a really great natural flush on the cheeks. Crazy pigmentation.

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Thank you for commenting! I read each and every single comment! If you ask a question in your comment, please check back to this post, as I will reply in a comment to this post as well :) Please note that comments with soliciting links to shops or websites will be removed. Thanks!

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