The Collection: Illamasqua I'mperfection

In an ocean of beauty brands all vying to get you looking as "perfect" as possible, it's a rare brand that dares to bob it's head up above the water and tell you that perfection is what you already are. That you don't need to worry about your freckles, your birthmarks, your wonky tooth (I'm looking squarely in the mirror on that one!) The brand that does so will always get my vote. Just looking around me at all the images presented to young girls today telling them what they should look like, with a Kardashian smokey eye, TOWIE false tan and lashes and Hollyood-style whiter-than-white teeth just leaves me in despair for many reasons. Where is the individuality? Are these girls really wanting to be clones of each other? And how many of them are really happy on the inside, when the pressure to look Barbie-doll pretty on the outside can be so demoralising and depressing.

Illamasqua has always been the champion of individuality. Think of a look and you'll find a product in Illamasqua that will satisfy your artistic craving. Think of a beauty taboo and it's a fair bet that Illamasqua will have smashed it, and if they haven't yet, you can take a second bet it's on their radar. Think back to the Generation Q collection, categorically bringing the fun of make-up back to the more mature woman.

Alex Box, Creative Director of Illamasqua

The new collection launching next week, called I'mperfection turns the whole concept of imperfect beauty on its head. Celebrating your imperfections rather than trying to hide them away. Finding the beauty in them instead of covering them up. Freckles are fantastic, birthmarks are beautiful. I'mperfection encourages women to incorporate their imperfections as part of their beauty, empowering them by celebrating their differences as something that makes them unique and therefore beautiful. It's all about perception, even the fabulous play on the word - Imperfection becomes I'mperfection becomes I'm perfection with just a change in punctuation or two. Clever eh?

L to R: Fragile, Speckle, Mottle

I'm in love with the speckled story that emerges as the strongest look from the collection. The five spring colours for nails take their inspiration from the beautiful irregularities found in eggshells, each of them speckled to perfection, with two different matte glitters. Alex Box, Creative Director and David Horne, Director New Product Development, created a beautiful speckled eye with just the black and white Precision Liners. Perfect for eye-liner lovers who just can't master Le Flick, this 'deconstructed liner' doesn't require perfection. I'll be doing a tutorial for you on how to achieve this easy yet hugely dramatic look - I wore this the whole day, and can't even begin to tell you how many people stopped and talked to me about my eye make-up! 

Blusher in Duo 1, Shades Lover and Hussy, Lipstick in Immodest

The other stand-outs for me are the new Blusher Duos and the amazing new brush. Recently, I've become a bit of a brush bore, obsessing over which brush I use. This new shape is perfect for creating cheekbones in literally one sweep; quite an achievement when sculpting is the look for cheeks this year. Just a light tap on the highly pigmented blusher, place the brush just under the cheekbone and flick up - voila! Literally a "How to elevate your cheekbones for dummies". Or as David put it, "a push-up bra for the cheekbones"! In the photo above, I'm wearing the speckled eyes, the "Hello Boys" cheekbones using the blusher in Beg and the new Lipstick, Immodest, a vibrant blueish-neon pink that's going to look perfect when we ever see any sun!

The fresh green Lipgloss in Shoot is the most Illamasqua-ish from the range - something I hope I'll be brave enough to wear, perhaps with very neutral eyes and cheeks, but I'm going to need a little convincing!