ILIA Beauty Illuminator in Polka Dots and Moonbeams

Cracked out the first one of my samples today. This highlighter is a warm champagne shade with quite a glowy finish that is very subtle on the cheeks - I could barely see it indoors. However, it did last a whole day on me (around 8 hours)

(Oh dear Lord, my nails. I am out of nail varnish remover.)

It really is a very subtle highlight. The following photo shows a very heavy swatch, I didn't put nearly that much on my face. I used my fingers to apply and, since my fingers warmed it up a little, it was very easy to blend.

Honestly there wasn't much point in uploading a face shot as it was so subtle. It's like "my lips but better" only "my cheekbones but better". It's pretty nice, and I love spending $$ on cosmetics, but unless the natural ingredients aspect of the product is a real selling point for you, I'd hold out for either something cheaper or something better. I'll be interested to see whether I prefer RMS Living Luminizer.

ILIA Beauty is an American brand but is stocked at the Conran Shop, beingcontent.com and Net-A-Porter. The highlighter is currently in stock in all of those places at £30, but you can get free delivery at beingcontent, whereas the Conran Shop's cheapest delivery charge is £5.95 and Net-A-Porter's is £10. I was surprised to see that it isn't stocked in Selfridges Beauty Rooms, which stock an amazing range of American and Japanese products.

Spirit Beauty Lounge Sample Set

I came home to a sample set that I ordered from the American beauty site Spirit Beauty Lounge. The site lets you order 9 samples of almost any product from their inventory for $25.00 (free shipping but I had to pay £11.32 in customs charges).

I ordered RMS Beauty Lip 2 Cheeks in Promise and Rapture, RMS Living Luminizer, ILIA Beauty Illuminator in Polka Dots and Moonbeams and Multistick in All Of Me, Kjaer Weis Cream Blush in Blossoming, Acure Organics Brightening Facial Scrub, Vered Therapeutic Balancing Face Oil and Suti Rejuvenate Face Oil.

I can't for the life of me get this photo to rotate (Google says other people have had similar problems) but the top row is RMS Promise and Kjaer Weis Blossoming, second row is RMS Rapture and RMS Living Luminizer, ILIA All Of Me, ILIA Polka Dots and Moonbeams.

The samples are teeny-tiny but still enough to get multiple uses. Will update as I test them out! I'll also try and find the best English stockists of the various items.