Illamasqua Australia Rave

Being a Beauty Lover, I am always keen to discover new brands and products which could potentially change my life. Today, after hearing bits and pieces, I decided to check out the Illamasqua Counter at my local Myer. And let me tell you I was absolutely BLOWN AWAY!! I was inspired to blog a little about my experience and fill you guys in.... 

I was greeted by a beautiful girl called Victoria who was so friendly and helpful. She asked me if I had tried Illamasqua before and when I revealed my newbie status she was almost excited to share the brand with me.  She was more than happy to discuss the brand with me and tell me all about the fabulous products they have on offer. Also, and this is super, super exciting, she immediately gave me a voucher for two complimentary make-up transformations!!! This was just as an introduction to the brand, so that I could see the products in action... WOW!!! Now that's customer service!

Some of you may know that late last year Illamasqua stepped up to the plate in the fight for a fair price for beauty in Australia. Beauty products are ridiculously expensive in Australia, particularly in comparison with the rest of the world. Illamasqua has taken a stand against this by lowering their prices by 35% across the board! By doing so us Aussie pay essentially the same price as our friends in the UK. Finally, a company that cares about its customers and their needs! I am so impressed by this and I feel that Illamasqua deserves our support. In my opinion, if Illamasqua can demonstrate that it is viable for cosmetics companies to lower the RRP here in the land down under, then other companies may follow suit. Which means less hunting around online to find the products I want, at a price that wont completely break the bank. So, with that said, I strongly urge you to support Illamasqua in some way, shape or form and maybe, just maybe, some other brands will lower their prices too.

Anyway, moving right along.... I checked out a few of their products, but being a little poor at the moment I only picked up one. I grabbed their Cream Blusher in Dixie... and Oh Em Geee I am in LOVE!!! It is phenomenal. I am so impressed by it! It is so, so soft and creamy, out of this world pigmentation and it blends like a dream. Seriously, I literally dipped my finger in once, tapped it on to my cheeks and blended it out to cover my entire cheek. The tiniest amount goes the longest way. I am speechless! Truly an impressive product and I NEED more ASAP!!! 

I am really excited by Illamasqua as a brand and as a company. I am looking forward to exploring them more and sharing my experiences with you all. I will definitely be taking advantage of the complimentary make-up transformation and I will be sure to let you all know how it goes. If you have an Illamasqua counter nearby I highly recommend that you stop by and check out this awesome brand. In the mean time do check out my Illamasqua Australia Rave Video and subscribe to My Channel so you can keep up to date with my discoveries. 

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Australis Totes Smokin' Eyeshadow Palette

Recently, whilst shopping at my local Target, I came across this great little palette by Australis. The Totes Smokin' Eyeshadow Palette, with its perfectly balanced mix of warm gold, copper and taupe tones as well as deep cool toned purples, is a great go-to palette for creating gorgeous day or night looks all year round. At just $7.85 you can't beat this little powerhouse in terms of value for money, with each colour costing under $1!!!

The robust and compact packaging of this palette, in combination with its versatility, makes it the ideal travel companion. It's made of durable hard wearing plastic and features a full size mirror; it snaps shut securely insuring piece of mind!

The first and lightest shade in the palette is a gorgeous neutral, shimmery tone with subtle gold undertones which is ideal as an inner corner highlight. It has excellent colour pay off and the buttery consistency is reminiscent of several Urban Decay shadows I have used. Next is a simple taupe with a sight shimmer, which pays off as more of a sheen on the lid, perfect as an all over lid colour, this little number is fast becoming a favourite. The copper shade, with exceptional pigmentation and a stunning sheen, is another stand out. It's a versatile shadow which can be used in the crease or as an all over colour and is the perfect addition to any gold smokey look. The deep brown shade, with subtle almost copper undertones, features small amount of glitter and transfers nicely to the lid. The pigmentation is not exceptional, however it is very workable with the other shades in the palette.

The lilac shade contains small blue-ish/purple glitter particles, as gorgeous as the colour is in the pan, its pay off is weak on the lid and is probably my least favourite of the eight shades. Having said that, it is nice as an inner corner colour as it blends nicely with the darker shades to create a gradual smokey eye look. The deep purple tone features an almost silver glitter which transfers nicely to the lid, perfect for creating a night time party look. Next is a very unique  deep brown, almost black shade with slight gold glitter particles, I love this as an outer corner colour, or for deepening and darkening the crease. Colour pay off is decent, however it is slightly powdery so watch out for fall out! The bright purple shade is beautiful for providing a pop of colour to the lid or crease, nice for adding a little something extra to your smokey eye.

Below is a simple gold/bronze smokey eye look I created on my gorgeousl friend Chloe. I used the four gold/brown tones to create this look, working from the lightest in the inner corner, blending with the two mid tones and finally deepening the crease with the darkest shade. I absolutely loved working with these shadows, they blended beautifully and added just the perfect amount of drama to Chloe's big, breath-taking eyes.

Overall, the  Australis Totes Smokin' Eyeshadow Palette, is a great buy and a beautiful palette to use. As the name suggests it's ideal for creating gorgeous smokey eyes, however it is versatile enough that it can be used for day or night time looks. As a frequent flyer I personally love this palette for its compact size and range of quality colours. For me it's a brilliant travel companion, one which i enjoy traveling with in the future. If you're on the look out for a good quality, low cost palette I highly recommend checking out the  Australis Totes Smokin' Eyeshadow Palette, for the price you really can't go past it.

Thanks for reading! Hope you found this helpful. Feel free to comment below, let me know what your favourite budget palette is!

Until next time.... 

xo Lisa xo

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