FOTD: Party Time Look

The silly season is coming up. This means plenty of parties, school formals, weddings, BBQs and social gatherings. To help get into the festive spirit, I’ve created a look to inspire you this week.

This is a soft look that is both chic and glam and actually quite easy to achieve. The curls are a sure fire way to add to the soft feminine look

Key Products Used 

Eyes & Brows

• Bobbi Brown Ultimate Party Palette* RRP A$130
• Shu Uemura Glittery Mascara (LE holiday collection by Wong Kar Wai)* RRP A$55
• Kiss Me liquid eye liner US$12 from Sasa & reviewed here
• Three Trees Faux lashes  #112 （set of 10) US$5 from Ebay
• Dollywink eyelash glue US$10.20 from Sasa
• Illamasqua brow powder in Motto RRP A$27

Face

• Illamasqua Skinbase #9* RRP A$55
• Illamasqua concealer in UC200* RRP A$33
• Bobbi Brown powder blush in Apricot RRP A$58

Lips

• Cover Girl Smoother lip liner in pink velvet RRP A$13.75
• Tinsel (pink shade) from Bobbi Brown Ultimate Party Palette* RRP A$130

Tools Used

• Bobbi Brown foundation brush RRP A$68
• Shu Uemura Wong Kar Wai  Flashing Gold 4 piece mini brush set with pouch* RRP A$98 (featuring goat hair blush brush, sable hair eye shader, synthetic eye shader, sable eye/lip liner brush)
• Shu Uemura eye lash curler RRP A$39
• Mac #263 angled eyeliner brush RRP A$39

Top-bottom: Illamasqua Under Eye Concealer, Bobbi Brown Ultimate Party Palette, Shu Uemura eye lash curler, Bobbi Brown foundation brush, Shu Uemura WKW mini brush set, Illamasqua Skin base, Bobbi Brown Apricot blush, Cover Girl Pink Velvet lip liner, Illamasqua Motto brow powder, 3 Tree false lashes #112, Dollywink eye lash glue, Shu Uemura WKW glitter mascara

Look Breakdown:
This look is focused on having playful and precious looking smokey eyes and the feature product to achieve this is the new LE Bobbi Brown Ultimate Party Collection Palette. Its double decker compact palette features a collection of cool metallic and shimmer shades to ensure your eyes sparkles in the light. It also comes with 4 glitter lip glosses underneath which are all very pale in colour pay off and work best when layered over a richer lip colour.

1. Start by framing the face by filling in any area of sparse brows with a brow powder for a soft natural look. Motto is a greyish taupe shade that is natural looking on dark coloured brows and doesn’t look drawn on like some brown or red-brown based powders

As the eye colours were quite sophisticated, I only had to use 3 shades from the palette to achieve the look. 

Bobbi Brown Ultimate Party Palette

2. Apply Navajo (metallic champagne -A) as a highlighter on the brow bones,  Pewter (a silvery olive -B) on lids and along the lower lash line, the crease was darkened with Plum Steel (black purple plum -C).

3. Dolly eyes are created by lining the top lid with liquid eye liner and are glammed up even more with false lashes and this season’s hottest gold glitter mascara by Shu Uemura. This clear gel mascara won’t volumise or lengthen but its fine iridescent glitter particles means that your lashes will sparkle and glisten through all hours of partying.

Tip: curl natural lashes first before applying false lashes so they have a curl and blend in with the false lashes.

Shu Uemura KWK Glittery mascara

Face1. After applying skincare (a must before any makeup application to protect and hydrate the face), dot some Skin Base and blend with a foundation brush into skin with short quick patting strokes. 


2. Apply undereye concealer to hide dark circles and other marks on skin (applying concealer after foundation ensures that you don’t blend away the concealer while blending in the foundation).  
 
3. The cheeks are swept with Bobbi Brown’s Apricot (although it looks like a bright warm pink in the pan, it’s a pinky peach on my skin and the perfect spring shade) before a light dusting of NYX loose powder to set everything in place. 
 
4. Finally for a long lasting lip colour, use a light pink lip pencil to lightly shade in lips and blot away the excess and then apply a light shimmer gloss (Tinsel - D, a soft glitter pink from Bobbi Brown’s Ultimate Party palette) for soft fresh lips.

Hair

KMS Freeshape Hot Flex Spray*  RRP A$31.95
KMS Silk Sheen Styling Crème * RRP A$31.95
KMS Curl Up Wave Foam* RRP A$36.95
Remington Tribal Compact Tong* RRP A$33.95

1. Prep hair with a heat protectant (KMS Freeshape Hot Flex Spray) and some curling mousse (KMS Curl up wave foam) to help enhance curls when using with curling tongs.

2. I used the Remington Tribal Compact Tong, which is a mini version of its bigger sister that gives smaller ringlet curls and is exceptionally handy for travelling. The only downside to its size is that it takes longer to complete the look, particularly if you have lots of hair like me – the plus side is pretty tight curls! To prevent too much volume, I only curled the hair from below the ears.

3. Finish with KMS Silk Sheen Crème to lightly smooth away any flyaways on top of head and added some gloss into hair and provides a softer more natural shine than silicone based serum products.

You can also pop on a floral headband for a cute youthful look. I picked mine up from Forever New.

Shu Uemura, Bobbi Brown, Illamasqua are all available on counters now.
KMS products are available at Hairhouse warehouse, Petra Hair and selected salons.

Products marked * were provided for consideration or received at events. All other products were purchased.

Illamasqua Freak: An Unrequited Love

Dear Freak,

When Monsieur Kynaston from Illamasqua announced that you would be making a debut appearance on our counters this month, I was utterly excited. 

He has never failed to deliver for me exquisite colours and beautiful textures but he has never indulged my senses before. So I waited with breathless anticipation for your arrival while I sneaked around looking to find out more about you. 

I saw your profile online recently and found out that you’re the creation of Azzi Glasser and already thought you were pretty special when I saw you had little cute silver snail trailing up the tilted side of that broody and smokey looking glass of yours. With your name, I imagined you to have quite a radical personality – one that would either assault me with your heady beauty or shock me with your intense display of your alter ego. 

But you did neither. Instead you just bewitched me. At first I couldn't understand what is it about you that had such an effect on me because you are such a rare and complex beauty. It was only afterwards that I realise it was your warmth and tenderness that had me intoxicated in your headiness. 

During our first encounter, you displayed your seductive powers through a sweet heady blend of dark davana but hinted of your darker side with and deadly nightshade (belladonna) and opium flowers and exotic frankincense. 

After that, your complex side with the datura flower and mysterious Queen of the Night Blossom surfaces. You then cast this aside after half an hour in exchange for a softer and slower tempo by showing your true floral heart interwined with woody oud and light powdery myrrh. 

I am now addicted to you, but your visits are always fleeting. You give me great pleasure for 2 hours and leave me with a faint memory of lingering powdery sweetness and have me hungering for more. 

Please visit me often any time you want for you are delectable day or night. I am truly suffering terrible withdrawal symptoms whenever you're not around.

Your unrequited love,
lilpil.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
75ml RRP A$149. Get your own intoxicating fix of Freak now at Illamasqua counters in selected Myer stores in Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney.

A sampler of this featured product was provided for consideration.

Illamasqua: Theatre of the Nameless

Last week, I was invited to Illamasqua's Theatre of the Nameless Melbourne launch where we were treated with a makeup transformation demonstration that allowed us to learn more about the colours in the collection.

This latest collection is inspired by the heady and pleasuring frenzies of the underworld subculture in 1920s Berlin where exotic dancers and exhibitionists come out to play at night. 

It was also there that we learned of Wittenberg Platz's dominatrix Boot Girls and how the different colour boots and laces worn by each girl represented an S&M service that each lady specialised in (curiousity got the better of me and I did do some more research later on it - if you are interested, head over to Cabinet magazine's overview on it)..   

One of the looks for the Theatre of the Nameless collection

The colours are bold and vibrant, the shades daring and edgy - all great representations of its hedonistic and theatrical inspirations.

The collection includes

• Pure pigments in Xeitgeist (deep black shimmer), Beguile (light shimmer) which I dubbed 'fairy dust', and Berber (auburn shimmer) - A$39
• Cream pigment in Androgen (coral) and Depravity (magenta) - A$44
• Shimmer blusher in Ambition (neutral taupe), and Morale (flushed rose) - A$42
• Lipstick in Kontrol (blue violet) - A$39
• Intense lip gloss in Facade (grey pink) and sheer lip gloss Violate (dark green shimmer) - A$33
• Mascara in Raven (midnight black) - A$40
• Precision ink in Havoc (aubergine) - A$43.50
• Nail Varnish in Kink (bottle green), Vice (deep cerise, Faux Pas (blue violet) and Taint (cool stone green) - A$34
• False lashes in  (dramatic thick and tapered) and Weimar (blackened auburn lashes) - A$36

The collection

Back to the event, the wonderful MBBE do what we do best- chitter and chatter while we wait for the demonstration to start. 

MBBE ladies Mel, Jacie, Ling, Celina and Tine (photo credit: Val)

Then the lovely Violet was transformed on the night using the colours from the collection. She looked stunning don't you think? 

Violet's transformation

Mandi with her Boot Girl inspired coloured nails - these polishes have a satin rubberised texture. 

We were also gifted a little goodie bag afterwards. My booty contained the nail polish in Taint and lipstick in Resist (which isn't part of the new collection). I'll be reviewing  Resist soon. 

Many thanks for Mandi and Illamasqua for a great evening of fun with my favourite girls. 

All Theatre of the Nameless products are available at Illamasqua now.

NOTD: Illamasqua Nail Varnish in Taint

Illamasqua has just released a new collection this week in time for the northern Autum/Winter season known as the Theatre of the Nameless that draws inspirations from the riotious and pleasure seeking scenes during the nocturnal underworld subcultures during 1920s in Berlin (this sort of reminds me of Underbelly Razor show with the working girl references).

I'll talk more about the launch another time on but for now, I just want to show you the nail varnish from the collection that is both opulent and exuding in confidence.

Illamasqua Nail Varnish: Taint

Taint is a cool stone brown shade. In some lights it looks like a deep grey brown. I was initially unsure of the shade, especially in the bottle, thinking it might be too muddy on fingers but boy was I wrong.

This shade is rich and broody and being a strong opaque shade, it exudes strength, confidence and edginess. Yes - I will admit to quite liking it on my nails.

indoor white light - note the satin finish

It's also boasts a chip resistance formula that is quick drying and streak free for very easy application, even for clumsy people like me who have difficulties at times with getting even finishes.

Taint dries to a beautiful satin matte finish that is described as having a rubber finish which feels flat and smooth, one of the best matte finishes I've tried as they can sometimes feel 'rough'.

with flash

This deceptive shade has completely won me over and is a great colour with denim or for the cooler months and even though it's now Spring in Australia, Melbourne is in the grips of a cold front this week.

So what do you think of Taint? Would it be a shade you would sport on your digits?

RRP A$34 from Myer Sydney City, Melbourne City, Brisbane City, Robina and Bondi Junction and Myer online.
This product was provided for consideration.

Happy Birthday & Win Illamasqua Makeup

Would you believe, Things I Love quietly celebrated its first birthday 2 weeks ago?

What - I hear you say? how come I only mention it now? I have many excuses but really can only put it down to work load and lack of time for the delay in writing this post.

When I first started writing this blog, it was out of frustration on the limited reviews on Australian brands and swatches of products on people with similar skintone and skin conditions to myself. Back then I only had one aim - to share with readers my thoughts on products I've used and tried in the hope that it helps others decide whether these products would be suitable for them too.

Today, this blog has met that goal and nailed a couple more other dreams as well. It has been an unbelievable journey for the me in the last 12 months, gaining an authoritative voice online to share my love for beauty products, to the fun opportunities to test many of the latest products, attending events where I learn more about the brands and its products to meeting their creators and sometimes even able to provide input into the upcoming releases (look out next year for amazing FOA products). But the most amazing thing that I will treasure always have been the meeting of amazing people and the friendships forged with like-minded beauties.

And all this couldn't have been achieved without the wonderful support of you readers over the past year. You are my constant inspiration and motivation throughout this journey and I want to give you something back for all the love and support you have given me. To that end, I will be running a series of giveaway to celebrate the achievements of Things I Love. To kick it off I have a fabulous set of goodies from Illamasqua. 

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.

WIN THIS:

This week, I have 2 prize packs kindly sponsored by Illamasqua. Now you guys know how much I love Illamasqua's products - their pigmentation and formulas are amazing and the colour ranges from daring to muted so you can't create the ultimate alter ego look. 

Below is the fabulous prize pack you could win.

• Preen Powder Eyeshadow (deep purple/blue)
• Powder Blusher in Tremble (light rose pink)
• Dab Cream Pigment (lavender)
• Welt Lipstick (mid fushia pink with fine shimmer finish)

Like what you're seeing? You're already half-way there if you are a subscriber but you can increase your chances of winning below. Here are the deets:  

1. One entry for being either a follower of this blog via Google Friend Connect or a confirmed email subscribers. This means all you existing members already qualify - yay!

2. Comment on this post to tell me what look you would create for your alter ego look for an additional entry. Also, please let me know how you are subscribed to this blog.

The boring details.

• Giveaway will run from 08 August 2011 to 6pm AEST 14 August 2011. 
• 2 Winners will be drawn via random.org 14 August 2011 and announced no later than 15 August 2011. 
• A maximum of 2 entries will be awarded to each reader of Things I Love. 
• Tweets and any other online links to spread the news of this giveway is not required but will be greatly appreciated.
• This giveaway is open to all readers including international readers. 

Illamasqua Cream Blushers: Seduce, Rude & Dixie

I've been a little obsessed with blushers lately and have been wanting to find the right shade to convey my mood in this chilly winter weather. My lovely enabling friends, Maddy, Jess and Tine over at twitter tweeted on and on about Illamasqu's cream blushers last month and they have on my wishlist ever since.

So when I finally had a chance to try them out, I knew I would not be dissapointed.

Illamasqua Cream Blusher

L-R: Rude, Seduce, Dixie

Now Illamasqua is known for their superior pigmentation, amazing quality and performance and these cream blushers are no exception. In fact they probably rank right up there with Becca (review on those soon here) and NARS.

• Love the sturdy, albeit slightly bulky curved packaging of the product and the clear window from the top lets you easily see the colour inside which speeds up the shade selection process when you need to dig around your makeup stash. 
• Has a beautiful texture - non-sticky or tacky, it's thin, almost gel-like feel that goes on like a dream and blends very easily with fingers. It's slightly oily to the touch at the start but once blended out, that oily feeling disappears. 
• The colours can look scary in the pan and swipes opaquely but fear not because of the texture, it blends out rather sheerly for buildable colour and with its dewy finish, will give you that natural lit from within pop of colour all day long. 
• You wont find any glitter or shimmer here, it's just glorious pure matte pigments. 
• Did I mention the staying power already? amazing for a cream blush stays put all day long. It also smells faintly of sweet biscuits in the pan but not detectable when applied to skin. 
• Now fingers works well for 95% of the situations but if you want to take it up to the next level, a cream blush brush will make it 100% fool-proof. I used the MAC cream blush brush #192 (a flat synthetic mid size brush with stiff long bristles - will have to try it with a concealer brush which is softer to see if it gives the same beautiful results) 
• These can also work as lip colours - just swipe and lightly pat over conditioned lips for a lush tinted look. It is lightweight enough and I didn't experience any feathering with it. 

Dixie - A red tone rose pink that resembles that natural flush on my cheeks and is the perfect winter time shade. This is the lit from within pink on my NC30 skin. The shade is very universal and would flatter all skintones. It also comes up as a nude pink colour on my medium pigmented lips.

Seduce - A neutral medium plum raspberry/rose that comes up as a natural stunner on cheeks and universally flatter all skintones.

Rude - A corally pink that adds a fresh pop of colour would make the perfect Spring shade or any time you want to brighten up the face.

Top-bottom: Unblended, blended (flash lighting)

ingredients listing

Have you tried any of Illamasqua's blushers yet? What colours are your favourite?

PRP A$42 | US$26 for 4g (that will last you forever with these babies)
Available at Illamasqua counters in selected Myer stores or in limited colours selections at Myer Online.
This product was provided for consideration.

Look of the Day: Cabaret Girl

Over the weekend, I attended a costume party for a girlfriend's 30th birthday and went as a Cabaret Girl for the evening. The costume itself took relatively little time to put together as I was lucky enough to have various pieces of clothing that went together to give the sexy show girl look (thank you Celina for the satin gloves) and all I had to do on the evening was concentrate on my hair and makeup.

The Hair 
For the hair I decided on soft curls. My straight hair was prepped with heat protectant Moroccan Oil's latest Curl Control Cream to give it a bit more texture and so that the curls would last when used with VS Sasson's Magic Curl styling wand.

Hair was sectioned in 6 parts - bottom, mid and top layers and left and right of each layer. I then put the VS Magic curl stying wand to work at the highest temperature setting for maximum hold and created medium size ringlets by twirling the hair around the wand.

Working from my way up from the bottom layers, I proceeded to curl the hair below the ear length to ensure they didn't become too puffy at the top. When all the hair is curled and brushed into place, copious amounts of hair spray was used to keep the fly aways and curls in check for the night.

Hair Products Used
Frizz-Ease Heat Defeat Protective Styling Spray
Moroccan Oil Curl Control Cream*
Schwarzkopf Strong Styling Hairspray

Moroccan Oil curl control cream is designed to give defined curls for those with curly and wavy hair, add shine, volume and control. It did an amazing job with helping to hold the curls in my normally (permanently) straightened hair throughout the night and the whole of next day, it even survived being slept on - now that's impressive!

The Makeup
I went for a heavier coverage base for a flawless look to allow me to emphasise the eyes and lips. Thick false lashes and firey red lips helped to sex up look whilst keep keeping the rest of my face fairly simple and neutral.

Face 
Dermablends Cover Creme in Chroma 2.13 Natural Beige
Bobbi Brown Concealer in Warm Beige
Milani Minerals Blush #203 Mai-Tai
Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick in Rose
MAC wedge eye shadow as contour powder
Kryolan Anti-Shine powder
NYX loose powder #07 transparent medium

Eyes 
Face of Australia Oppulent Eyes in Endless Nights*
3 trees false lashes #6 design 
ColourSoft eye lash glue
Kiss Me Heroine Smooth Liquid eye liner

Lips 
Illamasqua Box *(layered underneath)
Rimmel London 230 Red Fever applied with a lip liner for precise definitions.

• Moroccan Oil Curl Control cream A$44.50 is available at all good hair salons
• Dermablend Cover Creme A$49.95 is high pigment waterproof makeup and is available at selected Priceline and Pharmacies.
• Kiss Me Heroine Smooth liquid liner is an amazing Japanese smudgeproof eye liner that can be purchased from Sasa.com
• Milani is a US drugstore brand and can be purchased from CherryCulture.com

Products marked * were provided for consideration

Illamasqua Toxic Nature Collection: Torture Sheer Lip Gloss and Glister Precision Ink

The Illamasqua Toxic Nature collection was released back in March this year so I am very late to the party to do a review on the products from the collection.

Truth is though, I only received these items recently so am trying to get this out ASAP so that if you are interested in the shades, there's still opportunity for you to pick it up in stores or online. 

Sheer Lip Gloss in Torture 7ml - A$33

As its name suggest, this medium thickness in consistency is very sheer and wearable despite the vibrancy in the tube. In fact, I wish there was more pigment as I quite like the colour of Torture – a pretty coral peach. 

It’s non sticky formula will be welcomed by those who hate sticky glosses and imparts a subtle layer of colour whilst keeping lips moist for hours. It's perfect for adding hydrating shine to lips and can be layered over your favourite warm colour lipsticks. 

Torture looks almost bare on my lips

Precision Ink in Glister 1.8ml - A$43.50

Precision ink is a liquid liner with a sharp felt tip that makes drawing precise lines a easy and fool-proof. 

Glister is a pink nude shade with iridescent pink shimmer. Although I found the shade too light to use as a top lid eye liner, A thicker line over eye shadow brightens up my peekers and it also works very well on the lower lids to widen the eyes and give is a light shimmering dimension.

For anyone artististly inclined, you can draw it anywhere on the skin for added shimmer and is one of the more unique shades that won’t be found in any other brands as a liquid liner. 

Once dry, the colour stays on for hours and is smudge and water-proof. The precision ink formula is definitely a keeper and has me keen to explore other precision  inks shades. 

Illamasqua is available exclusively at Myer Melbourne, Chadstone, Sydney, Bondi, Brisbane and Robina. 

Products were sent for consideration.

Illamasqua Competition

With another new store opened in Chadstone shopping centre late last week, Illamasqua in Myer is truly taking Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne by storm.
Don't worry Adelaide and Perth, your turn will come early next year with your own Illamasqua counter birth.

So the good guys at Illamasqua thought to celebrate, 
Let's have a competition for you to participate!
Yep, that's right y'all.
This is one goodies filled galore. 
1 of 3 prizes to be won, 
Each worth $1000 of makeup fun. 
To be redeemed at your nearest store, 
All you need to do is answer a short question for a chance to score. 
Once you're finished saying WOW, 
Head over to the competition now!
Here's a hint in case you get stuck, 
The revelation is in the last minute, Good Luck.

Entries closes 12th December.
Get in quick while you remember :)

Review: Illamasqua Lipstick - Box

Until earlier this year, I've never been much of a lipstick girl. I've always preferred the shine and gloss that lipgloss provided and the subtle colour that it gave. I even put up with the sticky feel on some glosses in the hope that I get some hydration and chapping protection from using them.

But as with many beauty products, you don't know what you are missing out on until you find the right products, there are moisturising lipsticks out there that provides colour, pigmentation and hydration; you just have to search for them.

Illamasqua lipstick - Box 

• Box is a deep scarlet hue that is matte in finish - on me it looks to be a stunning red, with a hint of blue. I feel it's the perfect red for me and has got me looking like a starlet from a 50s film.
• Honestly this is quite unlike any other lipstick I've ever tried. It goes on completely weightless. I don't even realise I'm wearing this lipstick until I caught a glimpse of my reflection. The pigmentation is beyond belief; it is so pigmented, one gentle swipe and you get pure colour on your lips. 
• I like to use a lip brush to apply this lipcolour to get precise lines on lips. I can easily for forgo using a lip liner with this given the matte finish, I did not find that it bleed or feather at all, even hours after application. 
• Amazingly, this matte lipstick is not drying on my lips at all. I like using Box after applying a bit of lip conditioner (Guinot vital lipcare), and honestly for the lightweight feel, I'm happy to use another product to give it a hydration boost that I need in air-conditioned environments.  
• Staying power is phenomonal; it resists fading and without eating lasted for hours. I believe I have found a new love. 

top - applied with lip brush, bottom - swiped directly from tube

Rating: 9.5/10. I needed something slightly more hydrating under or over it as I have super dry lips.

RRP A$39/£15.00 at selected Myer stores or Illamasqua online.
This product was provided for consideration. 

Illamasqua Melbourne Launch

The day started as a gathering with the beautiful MBBE girls for a serious session of Yum Cha at Shark Fin House. That 2 hours long session then eventually saw us meandering down to the shops to look at makeup (as we tend to do) and before we knew it, it was time to head over to Illamasqua at Myer Bourke St Mall for their launch event.

Illamasqua is a UK cult beauty brand that has last month launched into the Australian market. Only 2 years young, they have already made an impact to the world of cosmetics and the creative stage makeup industry or anyone partial to the alternative culture with their array of bold and pure colours. The motto of Illamasqua is to 'unleash your alter ego' and bring out the bolder, more confident you within so you can walk into the night with drama and colour.

Exclusively partnered with Myer, Illamasqua  has already set up counters in Sydney, Bondi and Brisbane, Robina stores and this weekend, Melbourne joins the coveted list that enables us to experience the artistic flairs the Illamasqua team brings. To celebrate the occasion, a few lucky Melbourne beauty bloggers were invited to join in the fun and play with the beautiful vibrant makeup in the latest Art of Darkness collection. I was lucky enough to participate thanks to Christabel from TheMakeupMole.

Illamasqua wall display - absolute stunning show of their products

Nail and lash bar - I want all the shades!

Illamasqua look books - Art of Darkness collections

Being a brush addict, I want all these beautiful brushes

I was overwhelmed by all these beautiful things waiting for me to play with all at once - the displays were amazing and vibrant, the colours so bold. We all marvelled at the exquisite mannequin hand painted and flown all the way in from London this week.

expressive mannequins - Illamasqua Style as inspired by Alex Box (creative director)

and after that wandered around and started to play with the colours and the manequins...

playing around (Violet, Hannah, Tine)

Jess & Daniella showcasing a fine piece of art

Our little refreshing treats

We then got serious and had some one-on-one time with make up artists to unleash our alter egos:

Daniella with her MUA

Valerie's alter ego was created by Illamasqua international creative trainer Daniel - I think there's an avatar inspiration in there somewhere

my rather conservative alter ego - the colours were 5x bolder in real life I swear. I <3 the look

In all, I had the most amazing time. If not for my expired parking meter, I would have stayed to play around until the the guys at Illamasqua kicked me out.  But of course I could not leave empty handed after finding so many new pleasures to play with. Here's my purchase and products from the goodie bag we each received.

I've put about another dozen items on my wishlist and will slowly work my way through them :)

Brow cake powder in Motto
Lipstick in Box* - review soon for swatch see below
medium pencil in Sophie *

*items were received from the event.

For more photos of the day, click here