Little black box (an Illamasqua surprise!)

Click on the images to enlarge them. I had to reduce them because I was getting errors from blogger.

When I came home from the gym on monday morning, I found a very nice surprise:
a very elegant black box with a bow, from Illamasqua.
The box was sent to me by the lovely Alex Cummins, who was already sending other boxes to the bloggers who were supposed to attend an event that was cancelled. Therefore, she kindly decided to send one to me as well, to let me try out their products. Thank you, Alex, I really appreciate this!!!

This is what I've got:

posters, postcards, catalogues, and two products.
(not from the new Body Electrics collection)

First off, I want to take a minute to show you the amazing visuals this brand makes:

click on them to see a larger version. this one reminds me engravings from the 1500's - like Durer, for instance.
Behind this, was the release leaflet:

much more modern, futuristic.

again, this is very futuristic.
Talk about kinetic energy...
From this visuals, you clearly get the hint of what the brand is about:
not merely beauty, but the expression of one's personality, or one's art.
That is really innovative in the make-up field. It detaches make-up from the beauty and fashion industry, and accentuates the artistry behind it, which is great, and immediately scored in my books!
Even the expressions they use to promote their products are more artistic: they often use the word "adorn".

On to the products I received:

Liquid Metal in Phenomena (£ 17,00)

close up. click on it. I have tried to capture the milion lights from the metallic shimmers. I could not.
I will not post swatches of this, because I am sure you have already seen it all.
If you haven't, go to Bubblegarm's blog, she has amazing pictures of liquid metals.
This will be great for the summer, or for a night out, as a highligther or an eyeliner.
Unfortunately it creases as an eyeshadow, but who said adorning the eyes is only done with eyeshadows?

The second product I've got is a Powdered Metal in Thalia. (£ 22,00)
This can be used as a bronzer with a kabuki brush, or dusted all over face and body to create a soft sheen with a powder brush (and this usage will be great for the summer).
There is also a puff provided, but I've always found it hard to use puffs.

This is a close up of the Powdered Metal. Can you see how finely milled it is? Great quality for a powder!
Unfortunately, I could not get its gorgeous sheen in the pictures. I'd say these products can only be captured with very good photography skills and certainly not a normal digital camera!

Here is the powder on my hand.
I used it today as my contour powder, I will post a fotd photo when my connection allows me to.
It will also feature an Illamasqua cream eyeshadow, used as an eyeliner.

Overall, Illmasqua is a unique brand, and despite buying their products from Italy is really expensive, I will certainly buy some more when I go to London again!

Now, quick questions:

1. Do you know where they got their name from? Can it be from Latin, Illa mas quam?

2. Does their packaging remind you of something maritime too? And what about their logo?