Introducing Illamasqua Freak Eau de Parfum and Illamasqua Freak Scarab Extrait de Parfum.

Hi lovelies,

You all know how much I love fragrances, so let me introduce you to two favourites which are currently getting a lot of wear time for me, Freak Eau de Parfum and Freak Scarab Extrait de Parfum*, by Illamasqua.

I'm a big fan of Illamasqua makeup, and the perfumes were 'love at first sniff' for me!

Illamasqua Freak Eau de Parfum on the left and Illamasqua Freak Scarab Extrait de Parfum on the right.

Freak Eau de Parfum is the original scent from Illamasqua. It's quite intriguing, with a deep, musky flavour traditionally present in male fragrances. Here are the top, heart and base notes as specified by Illamasqua.

TOP NOTES

Black Davana, Opium Flower and Belladonna bewitch the senses into uncontrollable lust and passion.

HEART NOTES

Poison Hemlock, Datura and Queen of the Night blossom, caress and kiss.

BASE NOTES

Aromas of Frankincense, Oud and Myrrh, addictively mesmerises and captures the senses. 

Keep reading after the jump!

Product Review: Illamasqua Blusher Duos in Katie/Ambition & Beg/Bronzerella (with swatches).

Hello lovelies!

Happy Hump Day! How quickly time is passing, we will be in December before we know it!

I've been feeling a bit under the weather lately, so I'm going to have to skip this week's makeup tag at Aqeela's and bring you a review instead. I go through phases where I'm obsessed with certain types of beauty products (think lipsticks/eyeshadow palettes, etc) and for the past few months, I've been obsessed with blushers! Here are the two gorgeous blusher duos which kick-started my blusher obsession.

Called Katie & Ambition and Beg & Bronzerella, these blusher duos are part of the Illamasqua I'mPerfection campaign. I already brought you a review of some of the Speckle polishes from the same collection, so this post is terribly tardy!

The blushers are all matte formulas, a texture which I've truly fallen for lately as they are just so flattering on the skin. Being of a darker skintone, I have to be careful with shimmery blushers as they can make me look like I've got a sunburn (not quite the look I usually try for). Matte blushers are also fantastic if you have wrinkles, as they don't tend to fall into the wrinkles and highlight them. These blushers are extremely pigmented, but blend beautifully, and you can layer them for more impact or blend them out for a subtle wash of colour.

First up, we have Katie (candy pink) & Ambition (neutral - but I'd describe it as more of a dusky rose). Both are extremely versatile shades, I do believe Katie might be a bit too pale for darker skintones, but I like using it as an eyeshadow. Ambition is very flattering on my cheekbones, and is one of my favourite blusher shades. I do think Ambition would work well on most skintones.

Illamasqua Blusher Duo in Katie (top) & Ambition (bottom).

Read more (and admire the pretty pictures) after the jump!

Illamasqua Beauty School Drop In Session at Chadstone.

Hello lovelies,

I hope you are all enjoying the Easter break! I must say it's delightful to have four days off from work!

After work yesterday, I dropped by the Benefit Brow Bar at Myer Chadstone to get my brows done. If you've never been but have always been tempted to, click here to check out my post on my first experience there. I'm pleased to say that I'm still going there regularly and my brows have never been better! I usually see Alani or Bec, but found out yesterday that Alani is leaving Benefit to move on to a new job. You can still stalk follow her via her Facebook page though, which is what I'll be doing!

After I got my brows done, I moved on to the Illamasqua Beauty School Drop In session, which I first blogged about here. The gorgeous and talented Rebecca was leading the lesson, which was quite an intimate little gathering with plenty of time to ask questions and have a giggle, which I quite appreciated. The theme was Global Beauty, and I had unfortunately missed out on the first hour where Rebecca demonstrated the best way to apply foundation, fill in brows and contour cheekbones, but I caught up just as she was demonstrating the best way to carry out a natural makeup look, on her lovely model Kim.

The Illamasqua Beauty School Drop In Session at Myer Chadstone.

Bec used a peachy shade from one of the duo blush palettes as an eyeshadow on Kim (a great way to use a blush shade that you aren't fond of using on your cheeks), and finished the eye makeup off using a pencil liner, that she then set by using a complementary shadow shade over, to soften the liner out a little. The eyes were finished off using the Illamasqua water-resistant mascara, Masquara, which Bec explained is the best way to get lashes to hold their curl. Last but not least, Kim's lips were dressed in a nude shade, where Bec applied a liner, lipstick and then gloss to give Kim the perfect pout (layering shades provides more depth of colour and also gives the lip colour more longevity).

Kim demonstrating the neutral look.

After the neutral look, we moved on to a more dramatic look. Bec demonstrated how to use the Skin Sketching technique to add impact to the eyes. If you're unfamiliar with this technique, click here to watch the YouTube demonstration. Inspired in equal parts by Kim's gorgeous green hair and the Global Beauty theme, Bec built on the neutral eyes by blending some teal shadow around Kim's outer eye socket, and along the crease line to form a cut crease. She switched to black liquid liner in Abyss as she explained that liquid liner often gives a more dramatic look than pencil.

Bec working on Kim using the skin sketching method.

She then added some sealing gel (it's an amazing clear gel that turns any eyeshadow into a coloured, waterproof eyeliner, and can also be used on brows for perfect grooming) to the same shadow and used it to line Kim's eyes on top of the black liquid liner.

Bec lining Kim's eyes with the sealing gel mixed with eyeshadow.

For the last look, Bec demonstrated how to really change the look into a truly dramatic one but using liquid metals and loose pigments. She began by darkening her cut crease from the previous look by adding some black shadow, and extending the wing of the cut crease and liners. She explained that liquid metals are gorgeous, metallic pastes that need to be 'set' with a powder to prevent creasing. Aiming for a Cleopatra-esque look, she dabbed a gold liquid metal in the inner eye corners (this did not have to be set as it was a relatively small area that wasn't prone to much movement).She blended some of the gold on Kim's brow bone, just above the cut crease, and in the the outer corner of Kim's eye (refer to photo below), before setting it with a loose pigment in a complementary shade. She also added some gorgeous upper and lower false lashes to create added drama. The lash glue provided with all Illamasqua's false lashes is truly a work of art, as it starts off as a white/clear gel that changes colour to a deep blue when the lash is ready to be applied to your eye.

The lashes used on Kim.
Top row was used on her lower lashes,
bottom row was used on her upper lashes.

Kim's Cleopatra-esque eye makeup.

For a little bit of fun, we experimented with different lip colours to finish off Kim's look. First, Bec used a teal pencil (the same used for skin sketching above) to line Kim's lips, then filled it in with the Apocalips lipstick.

The Apocalips lips.

She finally dabbed some of the same gold liquid metal onto Kim's cupid's bow to accentuate her upper lip, and onto her lips for a more dramatic look.

The blue look finished off with gold loose pigments layered over Apocalips.

Close up.

At our request, she then removed it and tried a pink lip for added contrast, using Eurydice, topped with Boost, for added impact and moisture.

Kim wearing Eurydice/Boost on her lips for added impact.

Overall, I picked up a great many tips on some of the products I've been longing to learn about (like the sealing gel and liquid metals in particular), and we really enjoyed watching Bec transform a neutral look into something far more dramatic in a few simple steps.

Bec with her model, Kim.

My gorgeous friend D also joined the session and generously bought me a little gift of a set of blue false lashes. Bec redid my makeup using a set of orange and blue shadows, before finishing off with the blue false lashes. At my request, she also used some sealing gel on my brows to teach me how to groom them using the gel. As a matter of interest, the sealing gel automatically darkens shades, so if you're going to use it on your brows, pick a shadow that's several shades lighter than your brows to have them blend in. Also only apply the gel to your arches, as applying it to the start of your brows can give them a harsh and unnatural look.

It was a really lovely night and I picked up a great many tips, D and I really enjoyed learning more about the Illamasqua products and I even convinced her to try the much talked about Skinbase foundation, which looked gorgeous on her!

The eye makeup that Bec put on me, together with
lashes that D bought me.

Blue lashes!

I hope you enjoyed my review of the BSDI session, if you'd like to attend, there will be one last session running at the Illamasqua counter in Myer Melbourne tomorrow, beginning at 12 pm.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to compile a wishlist of more Illamasqua products, beginning with the sealing gel and eyebrow brush! Did any of these products appeal to you, lovelies?

Much love,
MM.
x

Illamasqua Speckle, Scarce & Fragile Nail Polishes - I'mPerfect Collection.

Hello lovelies,

I'm so glad Monday is over. It's been a helluva day and I feel a little bit like I've been hit by a truck! I actually came home from work and napped for two hours, that's how exhausted I felt! It's been quite a stressful day; I found out today that my parents home in Malaysia was burgled, with the alarm system, telephone wires and electricity lines cut, and the rooms ransacked while my parents were away overseas (but on the plus side, I'm so thankful they weren't home during the robbery). It makes me feel really helpless as I'm not around to lend them a hand!

Moving on to more happy topics, I'm so glad that Easter is a mere three days away, and we'll all get a much-welcomed four day break from work! In keeping with the Easter spirit, I thought I'd introduce you to the gorgeous Speckle, Scarce and Fragile nail polishes from Illamasqua's I'mPerfect Collection. I have to confess I did a little jig of joy when I was generously sent these gorgeous babies to review, they are such stunning polishes! The pretty finish reminds me of the mottled appearance of an egg, and the pretty pastel shades make it the perfect choice of polish to wear for Easter!

(Photo sourced from Google Images)

Consider yourselves warned, this is going to be quite a photo-heavy post as I try to do justice to these gorgeous shades. All photos shown are with two thin layers of polish applied over basecoat, and sealed with topcoat.

Speckle is a soft, pastel purple, tending more towards lilac, with small black hexagonal glitter and microglitter  ixed through it, though the colour does change somewhat, depending on the light.

Flaring quite purple in direct sunlight.

In natural daylight.

Natural daylight.

It even tends a little towards pink in some lighting, as evidenced in the photograph below!

Tending a bit more pink under artificial light and daylight.

Fragile is the powder blue version, again with small black hexagonal glitter and microglitter mixed through it.

In direct daylight (overcast day).

In daylight (overcast day).

In shade.

Scarce is a soft pastel pink polish, again with small black hexagonal glitter and microglitter mixed through it.

Direct daylight.

Direct daylight.

Direct daylight.

Shade.

The formula on these polishes, like all Illamasqua polishes, is really smooth and a dream to work with. I only needed two thin coats for opacity. What I love about the polish is although it's a glitter polish, two coats doesn't quite cover up the glitter particles, but allows them to peek through the polish layers for a subtle overall effect. The glitter is also small enough that it lies quite flat on the nail.

The longevity on these is also remarkable, I wore it for five days without chipping or tip wear.The only reason I took it off is because I was desperate to try the other shades! My personal favourite is Speckle, I  believe it's the stand-out shade of the collection, particularly with the way it changes tones slightly in different lighting conditions. I got quite a few compliments when wearing this shade! I believe that it's universal enough to flatter most skintones, and I've been told that it's actually been the most highly-purchased shade from the collection.

These shades are also gorgeous when worn with a matte topcoat over, although I think I prefer it with a glossy finish. What do you think?

Speckle with a matte topcoat.

The glitter particles make these polishes a little hard to remove, but nothing that can't be fixed using the soak-off method.

What do you think of these polishes, lovelies? Now that you've seen the photos, do you see what I mean when I say it would be the perfect beauty and fashion accompaniment for Easter? They would also make a more healthy gift option than chocolate!

(Photo sourced from Google Images)

These polishes retail for $22.50 and are available from Illamasqua counters in Myer, or from the Myer online store. You can also visit the official Illamasqua Australia Facebook site for more details.

Much love,
MM.
x


Note: These products were kindly provided for my consideration. This has not affected my opinion in any way. For more information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy.

A peek into my week.

Hi lovelies!

Happy Friday! I'm so sorry, it's been a week since I've blogged last! And this following on the heels of my amazing record of blogging continually for three-four days. I feel like quite a bad blogger!

Let me justify it by giving you a peek into what I've been doing for the past 7 days. It's been crazily busy! Warning, this might be quite photo-heavy, please bear with me while I try to cram a week of blogging into a single post...

Friday.

Finished work and headed to Myer where we'd scored two tickets to the Myer Autumn/Winter 2013 fashion show (we also managed to sneak in a quick glass of bubbly before the show). I fell in love with a YSL lippie and nearly impulse bought it, but luckily, I managed to control myself! The photos are a little blurry as they showcased 150 outfits in 30 minutes (!!!), so it was rather hard to get clear photos when the models were walking past so fast. I was especially keen to see Jennifer Hawkins and Kris Smith in person, as I think they are both incredibly perfect looking individuals!

Glasses of Blue Pyrenees bubbles at the Louis Roederer bar in Myer.

R and me exercising some creative skills with lighting.

Myer Mural Hall.

Jennifer Hawkins in that gorgeous Arthur Galan dress.

Blurry photo of Kris Smith.

Ladies, you're welcome.

The Myer autumn/winter finale.

Saturday.

Had brunch, then headed to Myer for the waxing mentioned earlier. I must say I was very happy to have shapely brows again; thank you, Benefit Brow Bar for giving me back my brows (if you're wondering what the experience is like, you can check out my first experience there by clicking here)! Then I popped over to Illamasqua to buy the new green lipgloss from the I'mPerfection collection (I'm in love, a review will be following shortly)! While I was there, I just had to try on the speckled eyeliner look from the I'mPerfection campaign. It's so pretty, I've added Scribe (the white liquid liner) to my must-have list! Finished the day with a delicious pizza and salad dinner, washed down with a refreshing glass of lemon granita.

Brunch!

The speckled liner look created with Abyss and Scribe.

Lemon Granita.

Prawn pizza and mozzarella/prosciutto salad.

Sunday.

Caught up with some gorgeous blogger girlfriends for lunch and cake, all in honour of Sarah (A Beautiful Story) who was visiting from Adelaide. It was a lot of fun spending time with Jenny (My Funny Valentine), Emma (Emma Bovary Beauty), Mel (The Beauty Dispensary), Amy (Things I love), Tine (Beautyholics Anonymous), Ling (The Best Beauty Blog), Norlin (Baubles, Bubbles and Bags) and Kerri (Beauty and Things), do swing by and show them some love (just click on the blog names to be taken to their blogs), as they have great blogs!

Moving around the table, L-R, Mel, Sarah, Kerri, me,
Ling, Emma, Norlin, Jenny, Tine and Amy.
(Photo courtesy of Jenny, posted to Emmas Facebook page)

Back row: Norlin, Emma and Ling.
Front row: me, Sarah and Kerri.
(Photo courtesy of Emma)

Monday.

After work, dashed home to change, and then went out again to watch Les Miserables. Fantastic movie, it's just a beautiful story, with characters that you can really identify with (and let's face it, Hugh Jackman was in it, enough said). Also drove my boss's big 4WD Kluger around (it's got a manual transmission and is quite a 'macho' vehicle), I got quite a few interesting looks from fellow commuters!

4WD Toyota Hilux.

Tuesday.

Caught up with Sarah again for dinner before she left, and we had some delicious tapas, followed by ice cream and coffee. It was a lovely, balmy night, so we had a lovely time chatting under the stars (I forgot to take photos but you can stalk her blog for some enticing photos of the tapas we ate).

Wednesday.

Dropped by my cousin's place to visit with family for a little bit. He's just had a second baby a month ago (and his first is two years old), and both kids are absolutely darling! Im not getting clucky (it's lovely when you can hand them back to their parents when they start to cry), but it was wonderful cuddling them, they are such gorgeous children!

The two year old, S.

The 1 month old, A.

Thursday.

That brings us to today! I'd had a rather stressful hour at work when I kept running my hands through my hair while struggling with some statistical calculations, and my hair ended up looking almost like I'd had a professional blow-wave! If only that happened more often...I later dashed over to my hairdresser to get a semi-permanent colour put in, as my hair was feeling a little dry from when I had bleach put in for the balayage look I did a few months ago (click here), and a semi-permanent colour actually conditions your hair. We ended up deciding on using INOA, which is an innovative permanent colour instead, so stay tuned for more photos and a brief review to follow soon.

Stress-head hair, green smokey eyes and neutral lipstick.

Phew, that took quite a bit of typing, I do hope I haven't put you to sleep yet!

I'm also taking part in a 30 day photograph challenge by Priceline Pharmacy on Instagram, you can follow my progress by stalking my Instagram account (click here).

I'll be putting up the weekly tag post in the next couple of days so stay tuned!

What have you been up to this week, lovelies, anything interesting? I must say I'm really happy that the weekend is almost upon us, and it's a long weekend here in Victoria to boot!

Much love,
MM.
x

Illamasqua Raindrops Nail Polish - Broken Hearts Collection.

Hello lovelies!

Happy Friday, woot! Whoa, I've got my blogging cap well and truly on this week, with all these posts (almost) in a row (I got home too late to publish this or it would have been THREE in a ROW)!

I think that means we can all take the weekend off and relax, don't you think? Actually, I think it will be quite busy this weekend anyway, as I'll be attending a fashion show at Myer tonight (thanks to my awesome friend who scored us tickets) and a lunch date on Sunday with some lovely blogger friends...and in between I will have to find time to do chores, get myself waxed (eyebrows, people, I meant eyebrows!) and see loved ones, so it's probably a done deal that you won't be hearing from me much in the next two days (yes, I can hear your sigh of relief from here).

On to the topic of this post, if you follow me on Facebook (and if you don't, it's time to start...pretty please?)...you may have noticed me posting that my manicure matched Melbourne's weather perfectly. It was cold and wet today, which was a perfect match for Illamasqua Raindrops! Raindrops is a soft grey polish with a jelly-like finish and silver microglitter through it. It's a stunning polish and is, in fact, one of the highest selling polishes Illamasqua has ever brought out. It was discontinued a little while ago, but due to it's popularity, they reintroduced it in January 2013 as part of the Broken Hearts Collection.

Illamasqua Raindrops.

Raindrops is a really sheer polish so I have layered three thin coats to achieve opacity, application was easy-peasy as the formula and the brush are a dream to work with. I think this will also look gorgeous layered over other polishes, OPI's Skull and Glossbones is one that immediately comes to mind!

The only downside, to me, is the bottle cover, I find it a bit unwieldy to hold while painting my nails. I know that you can actually separate the inner cap from the large square one, but it just seems like a bit too much of bother. Overall, a very minor inconvenience to suffer for such a gorgeous shade.

In daylight.

In daylight.

In shade.

In natural light.

In sunlight.

In natural light.

What did you think of this shade, lovelies? I think it's a lovely colour and would go very well on most skintones. Illamasqua actually said that if they got to 100,000 likes on their Facebook page, they would release a pink version of this, and guess what...as I was writing this post, they hit their target (check out the photo by clicking here)! So it's official, stay tuned for a release of the pink version of this to hit stores, I know I would definitely be keen to purchase this!

Have you tried Illamasqua polishes before? Are there any shades you think I should check out? Illamasqua Raindrops retails for $21 and is available from Illamasqua counters in Myer, or from the Myer online store.

Much love,
MM.
x


Note: This product was kindly provided for my consideration. This has not affected my opinion in any way. For more information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy.

P.S.- If you're based in Australia, don't forget that you can enter my Illamasqua giveaway, there is a $50 prize pack up for grabs! Click here to check it out.