Illamasqua Delirious palette
Illamasqua were the original, cool guys of high-end makeup. They were the arty, edgy, older sister to Mac. Illamasqua don’t seem to be on anyone’s radar nowadays, and that’s a real shame. While former cool-girl brands like Urban Decay now pander to the masses with a new palette every Sunday and PR packages to Beautubers every other week, Illamasqua have stayed apart, just doing their thing, and making great products. And Illamasqua do make great stuff. Everything I’ve bought from them has performed.
This palette is no exception. Limited edition and part of a line with the Shiver palette, the TKMaxx Gods smiled upon me once again and I found Delirious instore for £12.99. To say I was ecstatic was an understatement, some might even say I was delirious with excitement (okay, I’ll show myself out). But was my excitement warranted? Well, yes.
This little palette is great. It’s a good size, and has some trippy, red-and-black, Darth Maul-esque packaging. The shades inside are a nice mix of warm browns, and shimmery pops of colour. I was especially drawn to the deep pink. The shades are very wearable but you can easily build up something more dramatic. The eyeshadows are easy to work with. They’re very smooth but not super soft which makes them easy to blend but keep their intensity. They don’t sheer out, and they stay where you put them, no matter how much you pack on. There’s no dusty kickback or fallout. The eyeshadows don’t flake or crease. They’re easy to blend whether you use a brush or your fingers. They don’t fade, even with hours of wear. My only complaint is I would have liked another shade in place of the black. I’m so fed up of every high-end eyeshadow palette shoving a black into their selection. Not everyone uses black eyeshadow! You can also use the shadows as contour or highlight, and the shimmery white shade works great as an inner-corner highlight although I haven't yet tried it on my cheeks.
Delirious is currently half off on their website and I urge you to pick up this little treat of a palette while it’s still available. I look forward to seeing what Illamasqua bring out next.
Above: An eyeshadow look created with the pink and warmest brown.