Contouring with Illamasqua Delirium

I mentioned in a previous post how unhappy I was with Mac Harmony as a contouring agent. Harmony is generally well reviewed on the web, but it's not a ballet stage product and it's also not highly tenable for infrequent Mac users. It just doesn't budge.

So, Elizabeth and I took a brief jaunt over to Bloomingdales to look at another well-reviewed product by Illamasqua: the Cream Pigments in Hollow and Delirium. She purchased Hollow, which will be featured in a subsequent review, and I took home Delirium. Both of us also bought the Illamasqua Blush up Brush and I absolutely love this brush. For me, it's the ideal tool for applying the Cream Pigment and it blends decently.

Here we are, working on the face of a five-year-old who actually seemed to enjoy the process. He has been primed with MAC Studio Fix Powder in NW20 and I applied Delirium with my super special brush to the classic contouring areas: the hollows of the cheeks, the jawline, the forehead (he moved about a lot during this part), the crease of the eyes, and along the nose.

I used a Sigma contouring brush for the nose and eyes because I needed a narrower tool.

I totally get that in some of these photos our protagonist looks like he's had too many popsicles...

Delirium is exactly what I wanted in a contour product. It has this mauvey brown-greyish hue that creates a nice vampiric stage effect. In fact, one of my childrens' little dance pals was over and, upon viewing my son's makeup job, commented, "He looks like a zombie!"

YES. EXACTLY.

I want this contour to be noticeable, and I don't want it to be acorn warm. I also want the product to be striking which is why Delirium is so perfect. It blends well enough for stage, but I could imagine that every day use might be an issue. Also, my Illamasqua B;ush up Brush distributes cream makeup in a nice stagey way, but this might not be the correct tool for individuals looking to contour their daytime makeup. It just doesn't blend things in seamlessly--not that I tried to blend it to that degree.

Would Delirium be a truly workable product for dancers? It's questionable because Illamasqua is not the easiest line to find off the web, and though it retails for about the same as Mac products, I'm not sure everyone likes to use their Visa with my recklessness. The way I feel when Bloomingdales authorizes my credit card is probably the same as the stereotypically awkward high school freshman who's been asked to the prom by the popular heart-throb quarterback. It's total validation.