Illamasqua Liquid Metals: Enrapture, Solstice and Phenomena

Illamasqua's Liquid Metals need no introduction.
They 've been among the most discussed beauty products for quite some time now and well-loved by many beauty bloggers, makeup artists, even celebrities.

Naturally, as soon as I first heard about them, I knew I had to have them, as I didn't own any similar products in my makeup collection and knew that these were going to be the sort of items that you just don't want to miss out on!
Now, unless you have an Illamasqua counter near you (in which case I 'm super jealous), you probably know that it wasn't so easy getting your hands on them - not because ordering online is difficult (on the contrary, Illamasqua's website makes ordering really easy), but because these were out of stock for a long time (well, it seemed really long to me anyways).

Well, it may have taken me some time, but I managed to gather them all: :)



Many of you own these already and know first hand what they 're like: the Liquid Metals are richly pigmented, multi-purpose products in a cream-like formula, that give this pretty stunning intense metallic sheen wherever they 're used.

And that last part is where I fail: I don't use them a lot, fearing that I 'm gonna run out!
That proves to be a mistake, as I 've noticed that the first two from the Sirens collection, Enrapture and Solstice are starting to dry out a bit, has this happened to you too?
When I use them, however, I tend to go for the following looks:




Enrapture is the bronze one and probably the most "solid" in consistency, meaning it doesn't "melt" as much when you try to warm it with your finger. It's not as insanely rich as the other two - I needed a few more swipes of colour when I was swatching it to get it to look like that, but I find that exactly for those reasons, it's the one that creases the least.
Here I used it over MAC Tempting (with MAC Buckwheat as the crease colour) for a bold "rusty" effect on the lid. The photo doesn't do it justice, it's way more metallic in real life.




Solstice is noticeably more creamy and you only need to warm it with your fingers for a few seconds before it's ready to give it's "wow" effect. It's probably reached a cult status among the three Liquid Metals, as it's a gorgeous gold shade, that compliments all skin tones. Think of gold leaf melted into a cream and that's pretty much Solstice for you. This one does crease though, even over UDPP, so I prefer to use it as an accent for the inner corners. In this picture I used MAC Creme De Miel as a wash and MAC Lucky Tom (from the HK palette) for the crease.




Phenomena is the silver one, from the recent Dystopia collection. It's the creamier of the three, just a dab and it's ready to use. It's the most reflective one as well, as the glitter particles are slightly bigger. Unfortunately it creases like mad: I used UDPP and the NYX jumbo pencil in Pots & Pans (No. 603) to try and provide a base for it, but it barely stayed in place (Illamasqua pigment in Android was also used for the outer V). I do love it though, basically because sexy, glittery eyes are really hot right now - in any other case this one would drive me insane (creasing nightmare).


This is how I wear my Liquid Metals, but they can be used in other ways as well: together in one look (check out this look by Su-Pah) and not just on the eyes (I think we've all seen this Pixiwoo video).

Overall, I really like them, minus a few problems with their consistency: the ideal would be a little creamier than Enrapture, but a little less than Solstice, if that makes any sense, so that they would keep the rich metallic sheen with minor creasing. I can't wait to see what other colours will be released in the future: I 've heard some rumors about a purple, but I would really love a black one!!!


So, what's your experience with the Liquid Metals?

How do you use yours if you own them, and do you have any similar products in your collection? :)