Something Blue?

Imagine if I turned up at my forthcoming nuptials with blue lipstick as my ‘something blue’?! Well, I can if I want, thanks to a fab new mini collection from out-there beauty brand, Illamasqua.

To Be Alive is the one of the more quirky collections which Illamasqua like to release now and then. Created by the brand’s Creative Director, Alex Box, it’s a gorgeous blue collection, with four products – an eye palette, a lipstick, a lipgloss, and a nail polish.

“To Be Alive is a raw state full of living, movement, life, feeling, spirit and emotion,” says Alex Box. “It is the freedom to surrender and to be still, A maelstrom, a moment. The forces that move us to be chaotic, yet peaceful. We are always in emotion and in motion.”

Now, I’m not entirely sure what she’s talking about there, but I can go with it. For me, the collection is otherworldly. There’s something ethereal, and maybe ghost-like about the campaign images. And blue evokes cold emotions, no?

Over to Alex Box again: “Blue is the colour of pure mind, healing clarity and stillness that gives way to movement and spirit. The authentic self and true gesture.”

Okay. She certainly has a way with words, does Alex. And I sincerely wish I could see that much in a colour,  but maybe if I created the collection, I would too?

Let’s get back to the products anyway, starting with the new Eye Palette in Spirit (£34).

It contains four colour-intense eye shadows, in cream and powder finishes, in Cascade, an iridescent white, Inspire, a rich royal blue, Refine, a matte navy, and Awaken, an iridescent icy blue cream.

You can wear them alone, or all of them together to create a gorgeous blue smoky eye.

The Glamore Lipstick in Vendetta (£18.50) is a gorgeous cobalt blue. Very odd, yes, but actually I thought it looked quite nice on.

I used a bright hot pink (Bobbi Brown Hot Pink Art Stick) on the top lip to create an ’80s-tastic lip look! I then blended the pink into the blue, and in the bottom left image you can see the deeper blue it created.

There’s a Lipgloss in Iridesce (£18), which is light and iridescent, non-tacky, and gives lovey colour alone, or on top of another colour.

Finally, there’s the Nail Varnish in Prismatic (£14.50). This is lovely.  A gorgeous two-tone effect, icy blue, I could definitely wear this as my something blue at my wedding! Two coats give brilliant colour, and it hasn’t chipped at all for three days and counting…

Illamasqua’s To Be Alive Collection is available from May 1, at Illamasqua stores and counters (Debenhams  in Glasgow in Scotland) and illamasqua.com