Illamasqua has both cream and powder blushers that come in a gorgeous myriad of colours from contouring shades to pinks, reds, oranges and purples. I only have one colour, Nymph which is a pale, soft candy pink colour and has fast become my go-to blush.
I adore this blush. It is so, so pigmented (WAY better than the mac colours i own) which could be too much for some people (particularly if they chose a more in-your-face colour like a red or purple) but i find it's actually quite easy to just leave a sheer burst of colour when using a large powder blush. Or it also makes for wonderful dollycheeks when applied less sparingly. It's such a beautiful colour - truely the colour of candyfloss and really makes my face look healthy and youthful. Personally i like to use this mainly on the apples of my cheeks for a proper porcelaine doll look, but it also works if you use it from cheekbone to temple for a soft contour. It is a really soft, fine, matte powder, very easy to blend and build as you wish. Once applied i find this lasts all day without fading.
Ok i don't know why but i could not get a good swatch of this! I wear it in a lot of FOTDs though so that will probably give you a better idea of how it looks in use anyway.
The packaging it comes in is Illamasqua's signature design for all pressed or cream products, a square with concave sides making it very unique. The sides and back are made of a shiny black plastic and there is a frosted Illamasqua logo on the clear top window which allows you to see the colour of the blush. It then comes in another black cardboard box with cream writing. I really love the look of the packaging but there is one problem with it, the shiny, shiny black plastic collects fingerprints and so can look less than pristine in a very short while.
I really don't have any cons to speak of with this blusher's quality but i know the price (£16 for 4.5g) will be very off putting to some people. Personally i think it's sort of worth it, it performs better than my Barry M blushers (although they are still really lovely) which is the cheapest brand of rouge i have at the moment and is far, far superior to the Mac blushes i own which are only slightly cheaper (£16.50 for 6g). There are many colours that are very unusual for blushes and look really stunning, however as i've only tried Nymph i can't be certain the other colours are the same high quality.
So i would recommend this blush definately, i think it's wonderful. It's not really any more expensive than other high-end brand cosmetics (a lot cheaper than some) but i know a lot of people will still think it's overpriced, and if you think of it that way you won't get the same enjoyment out of it.
