Illamasqua Powder Blush Swatches Part 1 of 2

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?



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.