Makeup Is Easy: Illamasqua Hack

When Sephora started carrying Illamasqua, I was immediately drawn to their intense colors and great looks. There's one example in particular that features these insane blue eyelashes that I desperately want to try. My favorite though was this one:

Isn's that glorious? I love the iridescence of it and the way the color migrates across her face. Here's how they tell you to do it:

Prime your skin with a mixture of Satin Primer SPF 20, $28 and Rich Liquid Foundation, $30 for a youthful, dewy finish. To add dimension to the face, smooth Illuminator in Fondle, $18 across cheekbones, up to the temples, and down the bridge of the nose. Follow by buffing Cream Blusher in Lies, $23 onto the apples of cheeks.

Bring a sparkle to your eyes by applying Pure Pigment in Furore, $24 all over eyelids and up to the temples. Add irresistible color with Pure Pigment in Involve, $24 on the ball of the eyelid then contour around the eyes. Create further drama by using Powder Eye Shadow in Moonflower, $20 to highlight the inner corners of the eyes and the brow bone. Finish with flirty False Eye Lashes in 016, $16.

For a glossy pout, layer on Sheer Lipgloss in Tantrum, $19.

So all told, this look will cost you $202. Now, does it have to be used all together? No, and you'll probably break it up, but it seems to me that $202 is just a sconch steep for this look. I decided to try and get the same look for less. I tried it a couple times and unfortunately I did not take a picture of the Going Out, high drama version, but you can see here how I adapted it for work.
My sister gave me this necklace for Christmas maybe five years ago and I love it so much. I still wear it ALL the time.
As you can see, I didn't carry the color out as far. That being said, I really need to start using a better camera, because I tend to lose the subtleties of my makeup regardless of what the look of the day is. This camera has a hard time picking up whites and light shimmer.
I went over to The She Space for some color at $4.50 per jar; I could have gone even cheaper and gotten samples at 50 cents a pop. I started with Dance With The Devil for the purple, which I applied in a kind of U-shape over my eyelid. I then applied a little spot of Snow Capped in the center of the lid for emphasis. I originally tried Clean White Shirt but it didn't provide quite the pop I was going for, though it's a really great highlight color. I then applied Angel's Blush over the top of the brow and over to the sides of my eyes, which is a kind of pinky champagney color, and fine tuned the edges of the whole look with some more Snow Capped. I used my Smoky Lash Mascara ($22) and Carmex lip balm (~$3) to finish everything; it also looks like I used NARS Orgasm blush ($25) for color. Total cost: $63.50. Even if we take the foundation out of the equation on the presumption that you already have a foundation you like, the eye colors alone drop from $68 to $13.50.

Am I saying you should never spend money on high end makeup? No. But when you want to test colors, it's nice to have a place like The She Space where you can try these looks out for much less with makeup that is still of excellent quality. This is the same reason I like the samples that Sephora hands out and their testers at their stores. I know I am on about The She Space all the time, but I just really like the lengths to which Heather goes to make sure her products are of the highest quality possible but still easily affordable.