Beauty Obsessed

Even though the weather is still warm (though by no means as hot and humid as it has been!), and fall doesn’t officially start for like, 3 weeks, I’ve still jumped the gun and switched around all my makeup and nail polish to reflect cooler-weather shades.  What can I say – I love change!

Illamasqua Opulent Sheer Lipgloss

Helping me kickstart my shift into fall beauty are a few great key pieces from Illamasqua’s new fall/winter collection, Generation Q.  I love the idea behind the collection, that beauty is ageless – particularly for someone who is just moving out of the ‘downtown party’ stage, I like to think that even though I’m not out every night dancing it up, that I can still wear fabulous makeup without feeling I’m now ‘too old’.  Truth be told, it’s not something I think of too much – my mom is a perfect model of someone who still absolutely loves to have fun with makeup and manages to still look fabulous doing it!

Illamasqua Creator Nail Varnish

The three pieces I have to show you today pretty much cover the bases for a great transition between seasons: an antiqued gold liquid liner (Precision Ink in Wisdom); a rainbow beige gloss (Sheer Lipgloss in Opulent); and a magical sparkling black nail polish (Nail Varnish in Creator).  All three are crazy-wearable yet still edgy, which is my kind of makeup!

First, the glittering goodness that is Creator ($18CAD).

Creator is a black polish with small glitter particles heavily dispersed throughout.  It dries with slight texture that is totally eradicated with topcoat – the addition of which brings out the shimmer that much more.  As expected with Illamaqua polishes, this was easy-peasy to apply – easy flowing with good consistency, and you can almost get away with just one coat!

Just a quick comparison between this shade and Orly’s Goth as I’m sure some of you are wondering – and as you’ll see, they’re really apples to oranges.

Index and middle finger – Goth; ring and pinky fingers – Creator

Obviously, Creator is far superior!!  While Goth is nice and shiny without topcoat, it doesn’t make up for the fact that it lacks the density of Creator’s glitter – which helps give the latter it’s fabulous sparkling quality.  Add a topcoat to smooth it out and you’re good to go!

Next, we have the ultra-pretty Opulent gloss ($20CAD).

Opulent is a lovely sheer beige lipgloss with pearly multicolored shimmer.  It’s wearable on it’s own, imparting a beautiful amped-up nude look to the lip, but it would also be fabulous layered over pretty much any other shade of lippie.

The texture of the shimmer is slightly gritty but only just so.  It’s comfortable to wear with a touch of stickiness that helps it wear well for several hours.  The only drawback I found to this gloss was the applicator, the bristles of which are somewhat stiff and don’t allow the brush to easily lay the gloss down on the lip.  The brush was also slightly splayed from the get-go, so my technique is to use it merely to dab the gloss on my lip then blend with my finger or separate lip brush.  Not ideal, but not a deal-breaker either!

I left my favorite product for last – the liquid liner in Wisdom ($34CAD)!

I have another Precision Ink liner, Havoc, which I also adore – liquid liner is my favorite style of liner, and these are some of the best.  I find the pointed, sponge-tipped applicator terribly easy to use; if I’m having a particularly challenging day, I can even just hold the wand parallel to my lash line and dab it on and still get a great effect.  These liners are also uber-waterproof, and won’t come off ’till you wash them off with remover or cleanser.

On top of the fabulosity of the formula, I mean – check out this shade, dudes!  It’s soooo good   I love that it’s the perfect mix of khaki and gold, which means it’s pretty much wearable all year round, seasonally speaking.  And I’m pretty sure it’ll look terrific with every single eye color of life!  Gah…I absolutely Love Love LOVE this liner!!!

Here’s a quick face I did using both the liner and lipgloss, and then just adding a touch of Estee Lauder’s Illuminating Gelee in Shimmering Sands on cheekbones:

What I love about these three products is how well they go together; and looking at the entire Generation Q collection, I find it exceptionally cohesive.  I also enjoy that while the promotional images for the collection showcase vastly different and sometimes outrageous looks, the actual shades used aren’t hard to use and work for all skintones (and ages!).  I feel that this is one of the most enticing fall collections for me – I want to pick up each and every single product in the launch!  And I just might do so….but this is a good start, for now

What pieces from Generation Q are you lemming? 

*Products were provided by the PR company/brand for my unbiased consideration.