ILLAMASQUA! THE LINE IS WORTH MORE THEN JUST A GLANCE! IT IS PHENOM!

"I used to be Snow White but I drifted..." Mae West.

Goddess Granny here and I'd give a lot to have tea with the divine woman who said this originally: someone who was physically amazing and to have a sense of self-depreciating humor as well is truly a legend in my eyes. (Yes Meg...you TOO have those rare qualities, so there! :)

To my way of thinking,the most "beautiful" simply don't take it all so seriously.

I think that most of us dream of being able to maybe just one time, re-create our physical-selves into that which we usually only admire from afar? I think we all most likely have SOMEONE who inspires us to be a bit "more than" we are in our day to day to day lives but unless you are a model, an actor, entertainer, or someone else who deals in the more theatrical aspects of life, we really don't get that many opportunities or options to even attempt such a thing, multiple weddings aside. :)

Like most of us,I have my git n' go daily routine down to a science and it allows me to free up my hands and time so that I can get things done. However,when I'm out and about and spy someone who obviously and for whatever reason HAS taken some extra time with their appearance,I often sigh and wish I had at least made a half-baked attempt at "being" who I TRULY felt like that day and for me, makeup has that power to transform and get the mood and message going faster than just about anything else I might choose to  put on.

A couple of weeks ago,the incredible "MissRo" posted about a new cosmetic line on the scene: Illamasqua.

 a LOT of what's out there! To impress me so profoundly was a real feat.

I ordered up 2 lipsticks, a highlighter, a powder blush,and an eyeshadow...several items are "backordered" that I am lemming so I get on the damn wait-lists. I want it all but honestly,these days I have SUCH a tough time justifying cosmetic purchases because Meg is very generous with her writers and I am a sucker for a great review as well, often resulting in smokin' my credit card up! :) At this point,I am not a bit skeptical that any of the items will be "typical" simply because they couldn't possibly be based on what I had researched.

Box arrives...not much better than a Sephora order in the mail,right? Elegant but simple glossy black packaging and high-quality slick black cases...better than expected actually. What grabbed me was the "commentary" printed in tiny letters on the back of the lipstick package:" Bring a room to it's knees without saying a word. Each of these glorious colors makes a statement as individual as YOU are!" Now get this....I LOVE THIS and it's my NEW mantra!!!:

"Worn by those who refuse to be everybody...."

I can't think of a better way to express the individuality that is all of us or how better to celebrate it than by experimenting outside one's "comfort zone" and possibly morphing into that special-someone who may inspire us OR to simply cultivate and encourage that which MIGHT just be lurking beneath the surface dying to get out!!!

Yes, I am very passionate about this makeup line for "your alter-ego" because I think that's why we gravitate towards makeup in the first place: we crave that which is beautiful, unique, and special and WANT the world to see us as we do ourselves. :) This is powerful stuff.

Oh, how are the products you ask???? Amazing:simply and completely amazing.

The lipsticks I bought were "Encounter",the most perfect red ever and "Welt", a shade of purpley-pink I have been hunting for forever...smooth and light but very pigmented and go on effortlessly without any dryness or tugging. Staying power is epic! I "needed" a powder blush in a true-pink to wear with the lippys and I chose "Unrequited",  a flawless full-blown rose that blends to perfection and gives me an "afterglow" like nothing else.Husband told me I looked "younger" when I first applied it and I promptly smooched the case!

The eyeshadow colors are breathtaking but again,I tried to choose a "need" (such a silly word in this case!:) and picked "Tango" powder-shadow,the copper of a burnished penny that turns my brown eyes to a glowing ginger! I thought I had tried every flippin' type of "highlighter" out there but no...bring on their "Illuminator"  in "Halcyon", an ivory-pearl.This goes on wet but quickly dries to a won't-budge finish that adds GLOW to wherever you touch it! Multi-purpose and literally like nothing else I have ever tried,I am captivated by it!!!

I apologize in advance: you'll notice that a lot of Illamasqua's items are "sold out" on the Sephora site...I'm not happy about it either so I'm hoping that Meg can work a pink-spell or two with this incredible company and let them KNOW they are needed, wanted, and desired!!!

The latest collection has me gasping for air and it's not even at Sephora yet....wondering how the plane-fares are to the UK these days? I defy you to check out ONLY the lipstick colors on the Sephora site and tell me that there isn't something you crave?
Now check out the eyelashes...swooning yet?

My current "inspiration" is Rachel Evan Wood as the diabolical and ravishing "Vampire Queen of New Orleans" on my FAV HBO series "True Blood" (the show is genius,directed by Alan Ball of "American Beauty" fame but can be bit gory? LOVE IT!!!) which features some of the most gorgeous human beings/actors I have ever seen. Her makeup as this character is SO over the top 1940's glam and perfect that I am hoping to perhaps re-create her look for Halloween at the very least or preferably, for a local wedding in someone's barn. (you think I jest???)

I have jeans older than this redheaded-Vamp but I can copy her look and pretend for a while, right?

The best part is that is allllllll comes off in the wash. What do you have to loose?

Whether your inner-self sometimes craves the look of the  ever so divine "Dita Von Tease" (OOPS... probably shouldn't say her name along with Rachel's, rumor has it the very young Miz Wood caused the marriage of Marilyn Manson/Dita to implode) or the cool-perfection of Greta Garbo, the smokin' hot harshness of a young Joan Jett,  or the bombshell/goddess look of Mae West herself, you CAN and OWE IT to yourself to try a product or two from "Illamasqua" and see what you can "make of yourself" when you are inspired in a way perhaps never before!

I am in their debt: Illamasqua has renewed my LOVE of makeup and color and re-inspired me to dig deeper and find those elusive and FABULOUS creature lurking within!

Who knows who's hiding inside just begging to come out and play....:) Whose look would you love to be able to re-create on yourself though the magic of makeup?