posted by Sheenie on Blushers, Eyeshadows, Illamasqua, In Praise Of..., Lipsticks, Make-Up

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When it comes to pushing boundaries, it’s second nature for Illamasqua. The boundary this time is the taboo of age and beauty, and Illamasqua smashes it with their new Autumn/Winter 2012 collection. There is no reason why beauty and age cannot go together yet it’s an area dictated by the rules and only granted if you have youth and flawless skin is on your side. And a blessing from airbrushing too.

Generation Q is Illamasqua’s exciting new offering following a recent competition to find the face of their new campaign.  It was open to anyone and everyone with a real sense for beauty no matter what their age, gender and race was. By featuring older models and most crucially, real people, the outcome is a celebration of ageless beauty without limits and restrictions and the products and shades Illamasqua have created will complement everyone, and I mean, everyone.

Earlier this week, I was invited to preview Generation Q at a special bloggers’ event and meet one of the faces behind this extraordinary campaign, the elegant Evelyn. At 72 years old age, Evelyn’s spirit and attitude was just incredible, and it’s fair to say I had a lump in my throat listening to this lady speak about how she wouldn’t let anyone stop her from wearing dark lipstick, applying shimmer on her eyelids and painting her toe nails black even on a bad day. She is the perfect candidate for Illamasqua’s manifesto and a representation that there really isn’t a best-before date stamped on beauty and make-up.

Generation Q boasts two remarkable eye shadow quads – Complement and Empower, each containing a New Liquid Metal, a New Pressed Pure Pigment and two Powder Eye Shadows, which will ensure no limits in what you can create from layering and blending these multi-toned products.

There are also two new lipsticks: Underworld (blueberry violet shimmer) and Magnestism (deep raspberry red), two new Intense Lipgloss in Opulent (rainbow beige) and Boost (blueberry violet), nail varnishes in Creator (magical black) and Charisma (deep raspberry pink), a new compact iridescent highlighter called Aurora, two new powder blushers in Sophie (stunning golden coral shimmer) and Allure (dusky rose pink shimmer) and a fabulous Precision Ink in Wisdom (antiqued gold). Prices range from £13.50 to £34 and the collection is available from 6^th September.

It really is really beautiful collection, and bound to appeal to a lot of people but still with Illamasqua’s unique twist. The subject of age and beauty is something I’ve questioned myself, more often now as I hurtle towards getting older. I wonder how long can I get away with wearing vibrant colours and shimmer, looking at my monstrosity of a collection against mum’s virtually non-existent one and it honestly saddens me. My mum hardly wears make-up, and this is sad as I know how much she misses it but feels it’s not suitable for her any longer. She still finds an opportunity to rummage through my stash but I know she is scared to wear anything that just won’t look right on her because society and the media have decided she’s past it.

I possess more make-up than I could have ever dreamed of when I was 15. I have more disposable income to blow on make-up and I do it spectacularly every month yet am I being frivolous when I should be thinking about downsizing? Well I don’t want to. I’m holding onto my shimmers and dark eye shadows and if I can carry off a smidgen of Evelyn’s attitude when I reach her age, I know I’ll be a happy individual on the inside and on the outside too.

Now tell me, has this given you some food for thought?

Generation Q arrives on 6th September. To keep in the loop, visit www.illamasqua.com.

Tags: Generation Q, Illamasqua