Illamasqua Earth collection review

It would’ve been far too easy for a collection called ‘Earth’ to be one full of browns, but Illamasqua’s new launches have managed to be seriously wearable, exciting and without a brown shade in sight.

Alex Box, creative director, describes the collection as being inspired by the nomads of the desert, with rich shades of burnt orange and soft green, all of which are designed to be layered and layered to create washes of colour that will work for everyone.

The second I saw the Nomadic palette* at the launch, my eyes lit up. I don’t often leave the safe territory of my Naked palettes, but hot damn, that orange shade was calling my name. The palette features four powder shades in earthy green, burnt orange, a slate metallic grey and a light griege. The orange looks a little scary in the pan, but it can be used lightly across the lids for a flash of warm colour, or more intensely for a brighter pop.

They all seem to work well together and the long-lasting formula means that they’ll stay on the lids all day without creasing or fading. If I had to pick one thing from this collection that I think you really NEED, it’d be this one.

For all you pigment lovers, Illamasqua have launched two limited edition loose pigments as part of the Earth collection. There’s Ara, a soft pewter shade and Draco, a gentle grey-green. These are both shot through with the loveliest shimmer finish – a little of these layered over the matte shadows of the palette looks absolutely stunning. Expect a little fallout during application, but I think that’s pretty much the norm when it comes to loose powders.

For the lips, there’s Kin, a rich, deep red that somehow seemed to work on every skin tone that tries it. It’s lovely and warm, but without a heavy orange over tone, and I have a feeling this will be an incredibly popular shade throughout the autumn.

Last up is Element, a pewter polish that looks stunning on the nails and one of the only metallic formulas I've seen that doesn't look streaky. Whoooo!

Prices range from £14.50 for the nail polish and go up to £34 for the palette. You can find the range now, online and in store at Illamasqua.

What do you think of the new collection from Illamasqua?

*PR samples