Illamasqua Powder Blush in Lover.

Behold Illamasqua Powder Blush in Lover: the most perfect radiant, ochreous cheek colour. Ever. It is a cornucopia of ripe peaches and apricots, it is the afterglow of a sunset over water in the Caribbean sky; if you could powder and press them into blush form.

Enough with the hyperbole.

Illuminate, radiate, make your face come alive with the colour and drama of Illamasqua Powder Blusher. Colour-intense and highly pigmented, use it to shade, brighten, enhance and define the shape of your face. Be bold, be daring, be the centre of attention.

Forget Lady Gaga and her monsters, us beauty bloggers are rabidly effervescing from the mouths for Illamasqua. It seems we simply can't get enough; the fresh and unique branding, their fantastic utilisation of social networking and the incredible reviews the products themselves have received certainly caught my attention.

This is the most pigmented cheek product I have ever used. Illamasqua's blushes would be exceptional on darker skin tones, as the colour pay off is phenomenal and not powdery in the slightest. For us lighter skinned ladies, this blush is terribly easy to overdo. It does, however, buff out and blend super easily. Even though it is a powder, I've taken to using a stippling brush, just for sheering insurance. It also has super staying power, which is great for oily to combination skin like mine.

The sleek packaging furthers Illamasqua's lure. I gravitate towards simple, understated yet unique packaging. I also like functionality, and demand my blushes' colours be easily identified without the need to open them, which is why I love blushes with 'window' lids rather than adding a fussy little mirror that I'll never use. Added bonus: the blush fits perfectly on the palm of my hand with the curved edges seemingly made for gripping comfortably between your palm and fingers (does that even make sense?).

The blush smells faintly of a powdery vanilla, which is absolutely beautiful. Once on the cheeks, the vanilla is completely undetectable.

Swatchy goodness: blended out on the left, heavily swatched on the right.

I never thought orange toned blushes flatter my paleness or pink undertones.* In my mind, pink and orange clash. But, I knew I wanted a deviate from my stock standard pink (of which I have squillions), and so Illamasqua Powder Blush in Lover became my foray into orange toned blushes. And let me say it is beautiful. I love the subtle shake-up to my makeup routine it has offered.

However, it hasn't caused me to go orange-mad or speak in tongues. While I am crazy about Lover, I'm not about to pack away my humongous collection of pinks and embark on an orange craze. If anything, it has pushed me into major lemming territory for Illamasqua's pink toned blushes such as Hussy.

This blush is my first of what I hope to be many Illamasqua purchases, as they have certainly lived up to the hype.

Thank you, Illamasqua.

*More aptly described as pink blotchiness, but let's let that one slide, shall we?

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