Illamasqua Lipstick in Immodest - Me likey the colour, me no likey the lipstick.

I have a lot of time for Illamasqua, I love the ideals which they stand for, their independent nature and the fact that they stand up for the individual.  Spring saw the release of the Imperfection Collection which had some amazing speckled nail varnishes and a very interesting looking blush brush.  I always try and pick up something from each of their collections which are always innovative and their artwork is always phenomenal.  As I am a bit of a sucker for the bright lipstick I was very interested to try the lipstick Immodest from the collection.

I have a couple of Illamasqua lipsticks which have left me underwhelmed, so underwhelmed that I decided I would never buy another one again (famous last words) until of course I saw the brilliantly bright Immodest.  I had hoped that Illamasqua had improved the formula of their lipsticks - they have not.  Immodest is a beautiful colour, very pigmented, in pretty packaging but that is where its good qualities end.  Its a matte finish which is notoriously a difficult finish to work with but Immodest brings difficult to a whole new level.  When you apply the colour it grabs and pulls,  it makes you feel like your lips are being pulled off, the colour doesn't apply evenly and you're left with blotchy lip colour, while your lips have had the sensation of being pulled off.  Not a pleasant application, which I could almost live with if the lipstick looked ok when applied - it doesn't look pretty, it looks uneven and blotchy.

It was very difficult to cover the lips evenly with colour and while the shade is very pretty I think it appears chalky on the lips.  The texture is also very uncomfortable to wear. Below is the best I could get the lipstick to look on my lips.

To get the lipstick to apply at all evenly I found that using a lip balm underneath helps the lipstick to apply smoother and  more evenly, this dilutes the shade of the lipstick but I find its the only way to wear Immodest.  Below is a pic with Immodest over lip conditioner.

I am really disappointed with Immodest, the lipstick is so hard to work with, too much work has to be done to make the lipstick wearable and ain't nobody got time for that.  I am kind of shocked that Illamasqua have not sorted out their formulation especially when drugstore or chemist brands such as NYC and Rimmel are making amazing lipsticks at a fraction of the cost.   Illamasqua lipsticks cost £16.50, I picked mine up from ASOS with a discount code.  Do me a favour and remind me not to buy another Illamasqua lipstick until they improve their formulation.