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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Entertainment
Bethan Shufflebotham

I tried three products by Illamasqua loved by Royalty - and one had me panicked

Luxury makeup brand Illamasqua is well known for being bold, daring and generally anti-conformist. So it might surprise you that one of the brands’ faces was none other than a member of the royal family.

Back in 2018, Lady Amelia Windsor - now 43rd in line to the throne - became the face of Illamasqua’s Reign of Rock collection, which celebrated the brand’s 10th anniversary.

The 26-year-old high-fashion model has been dubbed the ‘most beautiful royal’, donning big blonde curls, a smoky eye and red lip in the Illamasqua shoot.

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And well, if it’s good enough for a royal, then it’s good enough for me - so I tried three of their best selling makeup products, and one of them left me in a bit of a panic.

A started off with their global bestseller, the hydra veil primer, which is a really unusual gel texture. It did glide onto my skin really well and left a nice smooth base onto which I could apply my makeup.

It’s almost a skincare-makeup hybrid, as it doubles up as a moisturiser and leaves my skin looking glowy in all the right places.

The £34 primer may seem pricey for one makeup product, but there’s a reason it’s racked up more than 200 five star reviews on the Illamasqua site. It’s really lightweight and my foundation went on like a dream.

One shopper said: “I received this primer for the first time over a year ago in a subscription box. I instantly fell in love! No matter what moisturiser or serums I use on my face first, once I apply this primer, and let it set…my makeup is flawless.

“I will not go without it. I struggle with hormonal/cystic acne at times, and with this it’s way less obvious because it smoothed my complexion. Huge believer in the product!”

Another added: “This product is amazing. It gives a real glow to the skin. I mix mine into my foundation and apply with a brush. It goes on so beautifully. Very impressed. Will buy again.”

In an interview with Marie Clare , Amelia Windsor revealed that the Illamasqua skin base concealer pen was in her makeup bag.

It’s easy to see why she loves the £24 concealer so much. It’s got really good coverage and leaves a matte finish, and quickly made me look more awake and bright eyed.

The concealer comes in five shades - which I really do think they should extend - and is priced at £24. Luckily, a little goes a long way, so use sparingly and you won’t mind the price so much, as the results speak for themselves.

But when I opened the gel sculpt contouring stick , I was a little worried. The shade looked way too dark for my typically 0.5/porcelain/ivory skin.

However when I looked online, I saw that the shade ‘outline’ was the lightest of the three available. Trusting Illamasqua, I dotted the contouring stick onto my cheekbones and discovered that the gel formula was actually really subtle, leaving little but a shadow behind.

It’s a water-based formula, so I was able to glide it onto my skin to create an almost transparent sheen before blending in to define my cheeks and jawline.

The £25 stick left no harsh lines behind, and despite my initial panic, it’s quickly become the contour product I reach for each morning.

I’d definitely like to try more from Illamasqua , and they’ve currently got an offer where you get a free full-size Antimatter Lipstick when you spend £40, and new customers get 25 per cent off.

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