After hearing tons of buzz about Illamasqua and its arrival at select Sephora stores, I finally had the chance to sample some of the brand's wares. There are more shade selections - in every category - than you can shake a stick at, so if Illamasqua is available at your local Sephora, I strongly encourage you to get in there and check it out.

What struck me most was how intense and saturated the colors were; somewhat similar to Make Up For Ever. I wanted to grab up all the eye shadows, even those I'd never wear, and take them home to arrange and admire. There's just something so enticing about the display; sleek black packaging with beautiful technicolor squares of color within.

It would be impossible for me to give you the full rundown of this brand in one post, so I'll just share a few highlights.

The eye shadows that really stood out for me were the dark blues, violets, and greens. Some bright, some dusty and dark, but all beautiful. You could easily use these to pull off either a deep, dramatic smokey eye or add a bright pop of color. Favorites: Melodrama (matte deep turquoise), Intense (matte dark teal), Preen (matte purple), Fiasco (matte peacock blue), Never (matte navy blue), Fatal (matte deep violet) Sadist (matte bright royal blue) would make a gorgeous liner for a bright stroke on lower lids. Danger, a dusky navy blue cake eye liner, would make a perfect overall eyeliner shade.

Frenzy and Follow Intense Lip Glosses are gorgeous bright pinks - Frenzy is a dark fuchsia and Follow is a red-pink. Temper is a stunning tangerine. For a lighter formula, I like Sheer Lip Gloss in hot pink Divine.

I've had red blushes on the mind since last week's post about the Shiseido rouge blush stick, and Illamasqua has two gorgeous offerings - Panic is a true cherry red and Tweak is a reddish pink (both are powder formulas). For a gorgeous bright pink with a soft, dusty undertone, pick up Charged.

One somewhat oddball product that caught my eye was the Liquid Metal, a metallic highlighting cream available in two shades, Enrapture (metallic copper) and Solstice (metallic gold). The description indicates that it's meant to be used on the body, but I see a few reviews on Sephora's site that talk about using it on eyes. I absolutely can't imagine doing that - while Liquid Metal is eye-catching and gorgeously metallic, it's a bit greasy and feels like it would migrate straight into the crease. Not only that, the colors looked gorgeous in the pan but a little odd on skin (at least on my skin). Enrapture, the copper, looked a bit orangey, and Solstice, the gold, actually had a strange green cast that pretty much rules it out as a body glimmer for me. I was amazed at how heavily pigmented both shades were, though; they immediately put me in the mind of Goldfinger!

Have you tried out Illamasqua yet? Get thee to Sephora! Even if you don't end up buying anything (I didn't), the display is a visual feast.