Illamasqua Haul

A very small haul, just two items in fact. These are from the new Art of Darkness collection. Pure Pigment in Alluvium & Liquid Metal in Stoic.

I've collected a few of the Illamasqua pigments but this is my first Liquid Metal. Usually, cream shadows aren't a high priority on my list but the colour of Stoic was just too beautiful to resist.

Pure Pigment in Alluvium

Gorgeous packaging. These pigments usually come in a black box but this has a green shiny sleeve over the top of it. Inside, the container is square with rounded off edges & a glossy black lid.  Unlike MAC's pigments, the whole of the container isn't open, there's a small hole to dispense pigment.

Alluvium is a rich blue, almost denim-coloured with large golden sparkles. The Illamasqua site describes it as being iridescent midnight blue, which is pretty accurate. Some blues are rather hit & miss for me, but I can see myself wearing this one quite a bit.
Texture is typical of the Illamasqua pigments. Although it has the larger glitter flakes, they aren't at all chunky unlike MAC pigments which have the same finish (think Rose or Steel Blue). The above swatch is one or two swipes without a base so it is a bold pigment & not one you'd have to continually apply over & over. Using their Sealing Gel (which is fabulous) will give an even bolder, brighter result. Alluvium would look stunning over a black base.

Liquid Metal in Stoic

Same deal with the packaging here, an outer sleeve on the standard black box. The container for the Liquid Metal is much like the one for the pigment. Same shape & lid.

On Illamasqua's site, Stoic is descibed as metallic emerald. Beautiful green colour with high metallic shine. It does have a very creamy feel to it. If you tend to have oily lids (as I unfortunately do), you'll probably need to powder this down or use it as a base for a similar colour for any chance of it wearing well. Stoic would make a great lower eyeliner as a pop of colour that isn't too bright with a black, smoky eye. This is probably what I'll mostly use it for.