Illamasqua Complement Eyeshadow Palette Review, Photos, Swatches

Christine — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 18:00:28 +0000

Illamasqua Complement Eyeshadow Palette

These Shades Definitely Complement Each Other

Illamasqua Complement Eyeshadow Palette ($42.50 for -0.20 oz.) contains four shades: Slink (soft champagne shimmer), Focus (cool brown metallic), Forgiveness (rich chocolate plum), and Queen of the Night (blackened plum).

Slink is a pale champagne beige with a frosted finish. The color payoff was good, and it applied smoothly. It’s not an uncommon shade, though, so you may find you have several similar shades in your stash. Just a few shades to consider: Tarina Tarantino Elektron, MAC Call Me Bubbles, Giorgio Armani Madreperla, Urban Decay Booty Call, MAC Baby It’s Cold, MAC Dazzlelight, and many more.

Focus is a medium-dark brown with a gray-ish tinge and a soft, metallic finish. This is a Liquid Metal, so it’s like a cream eyeshadow in feel. When I used it alone, it was prone to creasing after a few hours. When I used it underneath other eyeshadows in the palette, it didn’t crease. Bare Escentuals Most Requested has more plum in it. Tom Ford Platinum has less red-orange tones. Urban Decay YDK is more golden. Urban Decay Wreckage is grayer.

Forgiveness is a soft plum with red undertones and a matte finish. This shade had decent pigmentation but was a little sheer and powdery. Lancome Color du Jour is a bit darker and has gold sparkle. Make Up For Ever #131 is darker and more intense. NARS Grand Palais is browner, less plum.

Queen of the Night is a dark, smoky purple with a blackened brown base and very fine shimmer (that doesn’t really translate). The texture was very, very dry and somewhat powdery, while the color payoff was good. Queen of the Night Pure Pigment is much better than the eyeshadow iteration. Bare Escentuals Romp is lighter. Urban Decay Rockstar is purpler. MAC Hypnotizing is lighter. NARS Lhasa is lighter and grayer. Bobbi Brown Black Violet is somewhat similar when sheered out.

All four shades work really well together, and it’s a very smoky, purple-themed look. The quality, overall, is just okay. The dryness and powderiness of Forgiveness and Queen of the Night were disappointing, especially because those are the two more interesting shades in the palette. I really had to pack on Queen of the Night to get decent intensity, and it was prone to disappearing when you went to blend the color. I noticed that after eight hours, Queen of the Night looked rather faded when applied over Focus. I didn’t see creasing, but there was some fading. However, I also layered Slink over Focus, and I didn’t see any fading there.