Illamasqua Lip Twin Sets Make for No-Brainer Pairings!

Throughout my entire New Zealand trip*, I never purchased one cosmetic save for a mascara in the airport en route, so it was a nice end to my self-imposed purgatory to arrive home to three different holiday sets to play with.  I was most excited to play with one of Illamasqua’s holiday Lip Twin Sets ($41CAD), which provide you with a matching gloss and lipstick to wear separately or together depending on your look that day.  The set I received contained Obey, a pale peachy pink matte lipstick (reg. $29CAD), and Plentiful, a bright peachy pink gloss (reg. $27CAD).

*note: I’m fairly certain I’ve mentioned New Zealand in every single post since I got back – forgive me, I’m just hanging on to those memories for dear life!

The two shades are very close, albeit Obey is lighter, and compliment each other exceptionally.

On a pale complexion, or perhaps someone lighter with less pigmented lips, these shades would be quite pretty.  They veer into nude territory without being dead-looking, and the effect would be very flattering.  However, because the two lip products are so pigment-rich, the paleness of the colors in their opaqueness do not work well on me.

If blended out as I’ve done here, Plentiful is a nice peachy shade that makes me think of spring.  With the makeup I have on in the photo, it actually works well as a more nude-natural lip.  The gloss is fairly thick however, and must be applied carefully to avoid it looking milky and obvious (at least on me).

Obey, on the other hand, washes me out completely.  If I had a smokey eye here, it *might* work ok, but I would have to sheer it out to be comfortable with the shade.  As well, due to the somewhat chalky nature of the color, you MUST have your lips in perfect condition – otherwise flakes and other issues are entirely apparent.  I had exfoliated and hydrated my lips for a good hour before trying this again, with the same patchy results.  Again, I think if your lips are less pigmented than mine (and you hair a more fair complexion),  you could wear this shade well.  I don’t think it’s a total no-go, just a complete NO-NO for me.

On top of the general shade issues of Obey, I discovered that the Illamasqua lipsticks contain lanolin, another no-no for me.  The gloss also contains linalool and limonene, two potentially irritating ingredients I try to avoid, and both the lipstick and gloss contain fragrance.  Neither appear to contain parabens, however.  Here is the ingredient lists for both products:

Overall, I love the idea of the twin sets and I think Plentiful would be a gorgeous shade on the right person.  I withhold making a full judgement on Obey until I see it on someone with the ‘right’ skin/lip tone, but have my reservations.  Even the lip swatches on the Illamasqua site don’t make it look all that appealing.  However, if you’re interested in the twin sets, there is another available on the website with the shades Sangers and Succubus, a rich blood red duo (and much more up my alley!).

What do you think of the lip twin sets? Would you wear a matching gloss on top of your lipstick? What lip shades do NOT work on you and why?

Products were sent by PR company/brand for my unbiased consideration.