ILLAMASQUA'S PARANORMAL PALETTE

This palette retails at £34.00, and I can see why.

First off, I'm not sure how to describe the texture of these eye shadows. They flit between cream and powder: you can squash them in the pan, but they appear powdery on the skin. Somehow Illamasqua have managed to gather the best of both worlds, ensuring high pigmentation and incredible staying power.

I've swatched each shadow on my arm, to show the intensity that you can get from just one swipe. Paranormal is a vivid pink/red, Aura is a beautiful iridescent copper, Trance is a lovely deep purple, and finally Possession is a green that's almost like a glittery Fledgling!

Every shadow has a gorgeous satiny look, and a wash of glitter running through. I'm normally a matte shadow kinda girl, but this has won me over. It's so versatile, and each shadow works perfectly on its own, as well as part of a colourful eye look. They're also water resistant, so great if you're an artist creating a wet face or doing a water shoot.


Here's some looks I created with the palette alone. No primers, no other shadows, just the palette, mascara and liner on the eyes. Each look took less than ten minutes to do, due to the pigmentation of the shadows, which are really easy to blend.

Above: I've used every single shadow in the palette, to show how they work together. The green really brings out the three warmer colours, and I especially like Paranormal & Possession alongside each other. 

Here's a copper look, created using Aura in the inner eye, and Paranormal over the lid, with a hint of Trance in the socket line.

All of this is the green shadow: Possession. It makes my eyes look bluer than they are, and looks great against black lashes. I know this colour would look incredible on black skin, too.

CON(S)
It may be due to the formula, but it does feel like you don't get much product in this palette. The other Illamasqua palettes seem to last me a lot longer.
As an MUA, the palette isn't perfect: pans often fall out of the casing, so I'm scared to travel with it. However, I've superglued every pan back down, and there's been no movement since.

You can buy the palette here.