Illamasqua Vanitas collection - rose gold palette review

Illamasqua’s new Vanitas collection has just hit stores and is already proving to be an Instagrammer’s dream with its rose gold packaging and luxe-looking tones.

Probably like virtually every other blogger in the world, I did an exited little dance when I saw the new palette – the rich, warm tones looked soooo wearable but weren’t your usual compilation of browns and taupes.

Vanitas has all been inspired by the ‘dark romance of 17th century still-life paintings’. The palette definitely seems to capture this feel, mixing up everything from champagne shadows right through to rich aubergines. They’ve included a mix of finishes inside the palette, with a good variety of matte, shimmer and satin effects. The top row definitely lends itself to more daytime looks than the bottom, but all are equally wearable and give the ability to create hundreds of different looks. Well, unless you’re me and aren’t that creative with your eye shadow. Ahem.

Other than Obsidian (the deep black swatch) which I found a bit chalky, the shadows are all great in terms of pigmentation and blendability. Some seemed to work better on my eye lids than they did in a standard skin swatch (Bronx, the copper shade, for example), so don’t be put off if a couple of these don’t seem quite as strong as you’d hoped.

I really love the concept of this palette and the shadows themselves, but there’s something that’s really bothered me about the packaging. Yes it’s cardboard, which won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but that’s not my problem. What I’m not loving is the fact that the shadows seem to have been glued in very loosely, at  odd angles and don’t feel very secure. At £44, I expect a flawless finish in all aspects and I feel that this has made the whole thing seem a tiny bit cheap. Based on the shadows alone I’d definitely recommend it, but it’s something to consider when making that sort of investment.

As part of the Vanitas range there are also five matte lipsticks in  arrange of nude, rose and plum shades. I’ve not tried these so far, but I do love an Illamasqua lippie so I’ll be heading down to their Beak Street store for a swatching session very soon.

You’ll be able to find the Vanitas collection online and in store across all Illamasqua stockists. It’s exclusive to Selfridges until 21st July when it will hit counters nationwide.

What do you think of the new collection?

*contains PR samples