I am not a stranger to Illamasqua blushes in fact I own a few and do truly believe that the formula is faultless
but my recent purchase of the S.O.P.H.I.E shade came with a back story and one that tugged on my heart strings. 


Essentially in 2007 20 year-old Sophie Lancaster and her boyfriend were kicked, stamped on and left unconscious. Why? Because they happened to look a different, how truly vile humans can be. Most tragically Sophie later died from her injuries. The Sophie Lancaster Foundation was set up by Sylvia Lancaster and Sophie's mother, in her memory. The foundation works relentlessly to stamp out intolerance and discrimination in society. Illamasqua proudly support the foundation and offer a number of items cosmetic and otherwise to help fund the work of The Sophie Lancaster Foundation.


Like all Illamasqua blushes this comes in the instantly recognisable rounded square, large chunky packaging.
Each blush has an transparent window allowing you to see at a quick glance which shade is which -
particularly helpful if you have a good few of said brand's blushes in your stash.
S.O.P.H.I.E is listed as a golden coral on the Illamasqua website and this is true but to go a little further I would add that it changes to a mid tone bright pink shade once applied to the skin, is warm in tone and somewhat similar to NARS Orgasm and Benefit's Bella Bamba Blushes - both of which are summer staples for myself. Despite being a shimmer based shade the shimmer/glimmer particles are teeny tiny, no gritty
and pose no problems to any skin type. Essentially they simply liven up the shade and add a hint or radiance to the skin. 


S.O.P.H.I.E is a light shimmer formulated blush which is finely milled, soft in texture so it picks up
really well on a brush and blends like a dream yet is firm enough to withstand general wear and tear.
It is also extremely light on the skin despite providing high colour pay off.
At the moment I am really enjoying shimmer formulated blushes as they perk up dull winter skin
and unlike other shimmer formulas this does not sink into my enlarged pores and should behave in the same way with fine lines and wrinkles, nor does it cling to any dry areas of skin.
I find this formula to wear around 8/9 hours on my oily skin before signs of wear appear.
As some may know I am a huge MAC and NARS fan when it comes to blushes
but I do feel that Illamasqua may have pipped them to the post as I can not recommend their blushes enough,
even if there is slightly less product!

Illamasqua S.O.P.H.I.E Powder Blush £18/4.5g via Illamasqua - link

If you want to read more about The Sophie Lancaster Foundation you can visit here - link