Hello everyone!
Today's review is going to be of Illamasqua's newest color innovation, their Paranormal Palette!
But before I get into the product itself, let's just take a moment to appreciate some of the absolutely stunning promotional photographs for this collection. Being a spooky kid myself, anything 'paranormal' or slightly odd automatically has my interest, but after seeing these photos promoting these products, I needed them. All of them!
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| All Photos taken from Illamasqua.com |
So amazing. These photos are gorgeous and captivating.
Out of the entire collection, the thing that caught my eye the most was the new Paranormal eyeshadow quad.
Described by Illamasqua as:
"This unique water-resistant eye shadow can't quite decide if it's a cream or powder. Instead it combines the best of both worlds, delivering the textured silky appearance of a powder, but with the deep colour wash of a cream.
With a long-lasting hold, each shadow's silky texture allows for effortless application and blending. Choose from Paranormal (vivid cerise), Aura (warm copper), Trance (soft violet) or Possession (cool green)."
I bought mine from Sephora for $46.50 USD
I find that to be an extremely steep price for a 4-color quad, however Illamasqua is more of a luxury brand, and I really couldn't pass this one up. I don't own a lot of Illamasqua, but I love what I have!
When this arrived to me, unfortunately, the purple shade (Trance) had just up and fell out of it's pan, and was sitting ontop of the pink shade (Paranormal), so that was a bit of a surprise when I opened it. Luckily due to the unique texture, it's not a powder, so nothing broke, and I could basically pick up the purple chunk with my fingers and place it back in it's pan, there was minimal transferring onto the pink shade. So THAT was interesting. A quick fix, it didn't really bother me that much. Trance seems to be pretty set in it's pan now, as long as I don't put this thing through an earthquake or anything.
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| Left to Right: Paranormal, Aura, Possession, and Trance (Swatched over UDPP) |
The texture of these shadows is really something else. It's not a powder, looks and acts like a cream, yet applies smoothly and evenly like a powder. It is really unlike anything I've ever used before. I'm not a huge fan of cream eyeshadows, but once you get this on your skin it feels like the silkiest powder you've ever felt. Yet it's squishy in the pan like a cream. MIND = BLOWN!
These shadows are apparently waterproof, but I can't attest to that. It wasn't raining when I wore them, nor did I feel like dipping my face in water to prove that point xD However they are easy to remove with a regular makeup remover and water.
Using Paranormal, Aura, and Trance in this look.
I used them over UDPP, and honestly did not notice much creasing through out my day. A lot of people have been complaining that these crease, but maybe they're just using too much? I'm not sure. Cream eyeshadows sometimes don't agree with those who have oilier lids, but I have no issues with creasing. Which is totally a relief! I also had no problems blending these shades together. Once you get them on the lid, they act more like a powder than a cream, and are easy to blend together and blend out.
Overall, if you're looking for something new and fun to try, I highly recommend this palette! It's absolutely beautiful, and while it's a little pricey, it'd be a perfect little treat just for you! Those UV nail polishes are calling my name next!
(All products here were purchased by me)
