Nail Varnish Competition - Update III

Another update for you all on the Nail Varnish competition - I am pleased to announce that due to the exceptional quality of entries, we have decided to pick FOUR winners!

We have spent the past two weeks testing the matched samples sent to us by our supplier [we narrowed it down to eight finalists] and everyone in the office has their favourites. I look forward to updating you all shortly on the final four winners and their matched products, but as promised - we will send to the winners first in order for them to be able to tell us what they think of their dream nail colour being made a reality!


On a relevant note, Sophy Robson has begun producing tutorials with Glossy Magazine. Watch her create her signature rainbow nails in the video below ...

Body Electrics Wins Cool Award!

Stylesight, the leading online trend forecasting service, put forward Illamasqua as one of the Cool Campaigns of 2010 for our innovative Body Electrics collection...


To see the rest of the winners [loving the Lee Stafford hair dye ad] or to browse the sight - I especially recommend checking out their image library - click here.

Bizarre Ball 2010

Illamasqua is proud to announce a collaboration with Bizarre magazine by hosting an Illamasqua Lounge at the annual Bizarre Ball on Saturday 5th June at Coronet Theatre, London SE1.

We are planning some exciting activity including a Best Alter Ego competition, which will be hosted by our very own Adam and Mika - national make-up artists at Selfridges, London. We will also be creating avant-garde looks for the like of Jodie Harsh, Immodesty Blaize and Alix Fox.

We will also have a memorial wall for Sophie Lancaster where guests of the event will be encouraged to share their thoughts. This will be donated to Sylvia Lancaster after the event for her to hang in her home.

Subscribers to Bizarre will also receive a complimentary goodie bag from Illamasqua and the chance to have their make-up done by our artists in the Illamasqua lounge.
If you want to buy tickets to this amazing event, or want to learn more about Bizarre magazine, click here.

More pics to follow on Monday 7th!

Hope Album Released In Memory of Sophie Lancaster

May 22nd saw World Goth Day and with it the release of the "Hope" Album, produced by 15 amazing international bands that have donated their tracks, with 100% of the £8 cost of the download-only album going straight to the Sophie Lancaster Foundation.

The support for this album has been incredible - click here to find out more.

HOPE” ALBUM RELEASED IN MEMORY OF SOPHIE LANCASTER
15 amazing international bands have given their tracks and we receive 100% of the £8 cost for the download only album
Please follow the link below to discover just what a treat you are in for !
By purchasing this CD, you will be helping Sylvia to deliver the educational groupworks that challenge the prejudice faced by alternatives, starting in the classroom.
This CD will help us STAMP OUT PREJUDICE HATRED & INTOLERANCE EVERYWHERE
in Sophie's memory.

Playlist:

01 - Joolz - The Prophet of Calgary
02 - Andi Sex Gang - Salamun Child
03 - Autumn Cannibals - Monument to Shame *
04 - Gene Loves Jezebel - Who Wants To Go To Heaven?
05 - The Eden House - All My Love
06 - Collide - Euphoria
07 - Alien Sex Fiend - Gotta Have It (Sliced and Diced mix)
08 - Andi Sex Gang & Marc Almond - The Hungry Years
09 - UK Decay - Battle of the Elements (club mix) **
10 - The Last Dance - Cages
11 - Anne Marie Hurst - I Have Changed **
12 - New Model Army - Dawn
13 - The Mission - She's Gone Away **
14 - Uninvited Guest - Death of an Angel *
15 - Faith and the Muse - To Be Continued

* Written for, and inspired by, the charity
** Previously unreleased

Of course, you can also purchase our best-selling Medium Pencil in 'Sophie' - the inkiest, creamiest black pencil you could dream of!

Marina and the Diamonds

Last night Rosa [PR and Press Manager] and I went along to the Marina and the Diamonds gig at the Bloomsbury theatre in London. Rosa and I are both big fans of this kooky singer Marina Diamondas - you may remember that Halimah created a look for her at the Sanderson Predicts event last Summer.

As well as the big hit I Am Not A Robot, Marina played her latest single, Mowgli's Road, with one of the strangest, most wonderful videos I have seen in a long time! Check it out below...



Tonight Spob, Rosa and I are off to Southampton Solent University to watch the fashion and beauty graduate show - really looking forward to it and I will be posting photos tomorrow!

Illamasqua Icons: New Romantics

Inspired by the Worried About A Boy TV film that was on at the weekend on BBC I thought that I would investigate the New Romantic's movement and their use of make-up for today's blog post.

New Romantiscism was a fashion movement that began with the youth of London and peaked in the 1980s. The electro pop sounds of David Bowie and his contempories were the biggest influence and the style of these icons of the era encouraged the exploration of androgyny and individuality in the club scene. The effects of this period can still be felt in popular culture today - our office especially loves a bit of Bowie blaring through the speakers!

The term New Romantic was coined by Richard James Burgess in reference to Spandau Ballet

The key clubs were Billy's in Soho and The Blitz of Covent Garden [featured heavily in the film Worried About The Boy] which was run by Steve Strange, of the band Visage. The Blitz even had it's own posse - the Blitz Kids, who would make an effort to dress as flamboyantly as possible and drawing influence from as many sources as possible such as the English romantics, Golden Hollywood, Egyptians, Glam Rock and Science Fiction movies.

Part of the Blitz legends recalls Mick Jagger attempting to get in and being refused entry by Steve Strange!

With roots in reggae, blues, glam rock and punk, the movement was a mish mash of influences. Boy George's band Culture Club - so called due to the ethnic background of each of the bands members - and his contemporaries brought androgynous dressing to an international audience and with the likes of Dead or Alive, Adam and the Ants, Bow Wow Wow, Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet also showcasing the trend for men in make-up, the London underground music scene was dramatically altered forever.


Get The Look

Face

The paler the better - the New Romantics were creatures of the night, after all! Prep a strong base to hold up to paparazzi lenses and the flash of Top Of The Pops such as Rich Liquid Foundation. Industrial strength Under Eye Concealer to hide the excesses of the previous night and Pressed Powder for a matt finish are essentials to this look.

To contour the cheekbones, I would suggest Powder Blusher in 'Storm' or a Pressed Powder a couple of tones darker than your natural skin colour. Use with Blusher Brush II that has a wonderful tapered edge for controlled contouring.

Eyes

If shaving your eye brows off doesn't appeal [or you could try bleaching them a la Lara Stone] then using an old mascara brush to comb through Rich Liquid Foundation will do the trick. Mixing Sealing Gel with a cake eye liner [try Eye Liner Cake in 'Mislead'] and get creative with the brows! Strong brows are a key part of Alex Box's work and there is nothing that defines a face as well as a deep, dark eye brow. The Sealing Gel will withstand the night's partying and will still look fabulous if you don't get around to washing it off the next day...

Apply Powder Eye Shadow in 'Sex' all over the eye - this bright white will encourage any other colours to blend together and increase the vibrancy of bright colours. Line the eyes with the Sealing Gel/ Eye Liner Cake mixture as before, flicking up at the outer corners for a feminine cat-eye. Experiment with bright colours, a staple of the New Romantic make-up kit, but remember to keep it matt! For George's above look, I think that Powder Eye Shadow in 'Feint' is a similar pinkish chocolate tone.

Lips

A gentle pink/orange tone will compliment the look but still keep it clashing and modern! Again, reach for the matt Lipsticks, such as Ignite.

Servane Gaxotte Gothic Romantic Jewellery

I thought I had died and gone to heaven when I saw these whilst browsing through Browns Focus last week. The London store on South Molton Street is a real destination; I adore the quirky, individual brands that they carry and Servane Gaxotte jewellery is my new obsession. From £365.

An Illamasqua Night on the Town...

Some of us from HQ and the Selfridges London make-up artist team headed out for a meal and farewell drinks for our lovely Product Development Manager Katie Sangers, who is leaving us to pursue her dream of creating a cream tea empire! We wish her the best of luck and I want to take this opportunity to publicly thank her for all the hard work she has put in to help create Illamasqua in the beauty force it is today.

We are also saying farewell to Gillian Staal, who has been the Business Manager on the Selfridges London counter for the past year. Gillian will be relocating to Australia with the exciting job of supporting the Illamasqua launch at Myer on the 21st June - a date to put in your diaries, Sydney fans!

We went for dinner at Santore, a lovely Italian in Exmouth Market, followed by drinks in Soho...

Gillian demonstrates what International Trainer Daniel would look like as a platinum blonde...

Katie, Halimah [Product Development Assistant] and Natalie [Account Director] pose for the camera...

Carl [Managing Director] gives his speech ...

Amy [Account Manager], Natalie [Account Director] and Holly [Training and Professional Program Coordinator] at The Green Carnation in Soho...

I have plenty more photos, but I would be at the mercy of my colleagues if I was to post them all!

In other Illamasqua news, Leena from Selfridges Trafford, was featured in this months Company magazine. A great article that I have attached for you to read below. Why Leena decided to become a make-up artist is very inspiring...

Congratulations to the Twitter Competition Winner!

Congratulations to Sirvinya, the lucky winner of our Twitter campaign to celebrate all of our wonderful, cruelty free synthetic brushes. She will be receiving all of the brushes [including the new Angled Eye Brush] shortly.

In you want to stay one step ahead with our latest news, tweets, competitions and general life thoughts then follow us by clicking here.

In other news, we have Alex Box in today to discuss ideas stemming on from the Autumn Winter collection [and to steal another Box lipstick!] and she sent me this photo from the latest Japanese Vogue.

Daniel on ExposeTV

Brought to you from our BT2 Dublin counter...

My Elemental Competition Entry!

Ok, so I have found myself with a bit of time this weekend and I have been meaning to enter the Mizzworthy/ Illamasqua competition since we begun it about this time last year!

I have always been inspired by mythology [I studied Classical Civilisation at school] so I chose to explore the Earth elemental theme and here is what I came up with...

War and Peace Elemental:



I created a look to symbolise the ferocious element of the Earth [right side] - wars have been commonplace since the dawn of time as tribes fought over territory and land. Some Ancient civilisations believed that they were warriors when they lived on the Earth and peaceful spirits [left side] once they are in the Earth - this is what the female Amazon warriors believed and so they have been an inspiration in the look that I have put together.

Sorry for the bad photoshopping of putting the images together - in hindsight, I probably should have done my whole face as each look as opposed to painting half and half!

Peace


I wanted to create a pale, light and almost glowing look as my interpretation of peace. Bright colours, sparkling skin and those wonderful Birthday Lashes add a luxe edge...

Products used [all Illamasqua unless specified]:

Face

Rich Liquid Foundation 135
Loose Powder 115
Loose Powder 005 [pink based powder, beautiful for a subtle, fresh glow]
Illuminator in 'Poised' [blended into the top of the cheekbones and temples]
Powder Blusher in 'Katie'
Powder Eye Shadow in 'Tempt'
Barry M Shadow Pot [label rubbed off, but it's a sparkling orange buffed into temples and hairline]

Eyes

Cream Eye Shadow in 'Hunger' [All over the eye area and over the eye brows]
Powder Eye shadow in 'Shiver'
Medium Pencil in 'Paint' [waterline]
Birthday Lashes

Lips

Covergirl lipstick 593
Sheer Lipgloss in 'Brilliant'


War


As previously mentioned, I was inspired mainly by Amazonian women and also Courtney Love's baby doll look. Rough and ready for action!

Face

Rich Liquid Foundation 215 mixed with Illuminator in 'Glimmer'
Powder Eye Shadow in 'Wolf' and 'Moan' across the cheekbones
Powder Eye Shadow in 'Truth' [smudged in places over the face]

Eyes

Concealer in 350 [as a base, all over the eye area]
Powder Eye Shadow in 'Lestat' [on top of the base and winged out in to hairline as well as brushed through brows]
Jemma Kidd Define Stay-put Eyeliner in '10 Zodiac' [lovely silver glitter shot black pencil in wateline and under the eye]
Volume Mascara in 'Harness' [three coats]
Powder Eye Shadow in 'Predator'

Lips

Lipstick in 'Encounter'

15% Off All Illamasqua Synthetic Brushes!

The world of cosmetics make-up brushes is a complex place for those of us who make a point to live our lives with none or as little animal testing products as possible.

Illamasqua's products are not tested on animals, and we have invested a lot of time, money and testing in our top-of-the-range synthetic brushes.

Spob, international film and theatre make-up artist and our Head of Professional Development, tells me: "Real hair brushes are absorbent which has always been used as a selling point. The hair grabs the product and absorbs it and then sticks under the cuticles. This make-up can sit in the hair even when cleaned, it can rot the brushes and it can trap bacteria. Illamasqua brushes still grab the product but it is easily moved on to the skin and easily washed off making them more hygienic and ultimately longer lasting."

Alex Box, Creative Director of Illamasqua, believes "Synthetic brushes are the future".

To help you switch to synthetic we are offering an incredible 15% off the entire range of synthetic brushes.

I asked around the office to find out which brushes everyone will be ordering [yes, we take advantages of discounts, too!]

Rosa [PR Manager] - The Kabuki Brush "I think it's amazingly soft and you can cover your body and all over shimmer in seconds!" £32.30 for a limited time only...



Halimah [Product Development Assistant] - The Highlighter Brush - "I find this brush extremely versatile which is important to me as a working make-up artist. You can buff in foundation, apply precise blusher or contour beautifully with it." £19.55 for a limited time only...

Adam [National Make-Up Artist] - The Blending Brush I - "Fabulous for precise concealer application as well as it's intended use as a blending brush for eye shadow. Effortlessly merges colours for a flawless finish. Love." £17 for a limited time only...

Daniel [International Trainer] - The Eye Brow Brush - "Everyone should have a fabulously groomed eye brow as it adds structure to every face. It just helps with the overall make-up look, more finished and refined." £15.30 for a limited time only...

Me! - Alex [Junior Brand Manager] - The Angled Eye Liner Brush - "OK, so I don't actually own this yet but it's in the post on it's way to me now, so I am really looking forward to trying it! It's like a smaller version of the Eye Brow Brush, which I use for everything from creating cupid's bows to thick eye liner. And for £13.60? It's a steal!" £13.60 for a limited time only...

Illamasqua Competition: ELEMENTALS

The Mizzworthy/ Illamasqua competition is off and running again and we have a great theme for you!

So what are Elementals?

According to folklore, the Elementals are the fundamental elements of nature; Fire, Earth, Air and Water. With roots in classic mythology, these elements have been personified in a variety of cultures and this could definitely be worth exploring for inspiration...

Fire:

Destructive, aggressive, hostile and dangerous or passionate, hot, sexy...

Water:

Tumultuos, dark, deep, unpredictable or peaceful, calming, still, serene, zen, lifegiving...

Earth:

Imposing, strong, indestructable or natural, organic, tranquil...

Air:

Stormy, fierce, noisy or whimsical, carefree, freedom...

The Prizes:

1st Prize: Illumine oil in your choice of shade, with a Liquid Metal Palette containing all four of the Liquid Metals...


2nd Prize: A Full size Bronzer in Burnished with a Nail Varnish in 'Prism'.


Of course, the short list will have their work viewed and rated by Creative Director Alex Box and the winners will receive coverage on our blog and website!

The contest will run from now until May 31st 2010.

For competition rules, and to enter, please visit www.mizzworthy.com

Nail Varnish Competition - Update II

We have been getting some enquiries in to when we are going to announce the winner of the Nail Varnish competition, and the answer is... soon!

We had so many entries that going through them, in all honesty, took a bit longer than we originally anticipated and there were so many amazing entries that it took a few tantrum-throwing, stropping and general anarchy until we got it down to the short list. We are awaiting the first samples to come back from our Nail Varnish team and once we receive those we will choose the two that we feel are most impactful, so please give us a couple more weeks!

SOPHIE Film Plays At The Hole Gig 02 Academy, Brixton

Many of you will be aware of the special place that Illamasqua has in the heart of Courtney Love; not only was she a huge influence in the early days of the brand, but her love for the products and Illamasqua philosophy is something she identifies with. Human fundamentalism; the right to live and let live, the right to self expression and the right to be who you want to be, regardless of who you are 'told' to be.

The S.O.P.H.I.E foundation and Illamasqua work in synch to raise awareness of the brutal murder of Sophie Lancaster - who was killed for being part of the Goth subculture by a group of narrow minded, ignorant thugs in 2007.


Courtney is rarely seen without her S.O.P.H.I.E wrist band [click here to purchase if you haven't yet got yours!] and specifically requested that the film be shown prior to her performance at the O2 Academy in Brixton yesterday.

My colleague Rosa and I went down to the venue at 6pm yesterday to run the video from my laptop and do some last minute sound checks and video checks. The staff that were setting up the gig all stopped and watched the film as it played it's practice run and it was a touching moment.

Having never been backstage [as in literally on the stage...] I was quite in awe of all the wires everywhere and was terrified of accidentally pulling out the wrong lead after the video had played!

The doors opened at 7pm [at which point Rosa and I ran out to grab a bag of Quavers for dinner - healthy, healthy!] and the Academy was soon packed out.

The film played after the supporting act had performed and the crowd reaction was great as the Academy went quiet to observe the haunting animation that documents the last moments of Sophie's short life.

Lynne's Blogger Selection Tutorial

January Jones Reveals Her Alter Ego...

Check out January Jones at the Costume Institute Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York last night.

The Mad Men actress stepped neatly away from the 50s princess look that we are so used to her working, and rocked up to the MET Ball [one of the social events of the year in New York] looking incredible in YSL and a brave [in the celebrity world] take on a smoky eye.

Recreate The Look

For the glowing finish, prep with Gleam Cream for a perfect, even base. Blessed with beautiful porcelain skin, I would guess that January would match well with Cream Foundation in 120 with the pink-ish undertones in her skin. Buffed on top of the Gleam Cream with the Highlighter Brush [a wonderful, domed brush that is a great size for application of foundation; not too large to feel out of control and not too small to take ages to apply!]

A dot of Cream Blusher in 'Rude' on the cheeks adds a lovely peachy flush.

A tip I learnt from Alex Box in regards to using strong, matt eye colours with a radiant base is to prep below the eyes by adding a generous dusting of Loose Powder beneath the eyes. This will pick up any pigment that may drop from your brush and instead of ruining your perfect base, can be easily dusted off with a large Powder Brush. As our Loose Powder's are so finely milled, they won't settle into lines and can take off just that excess shine without creating a strong matt finish.

You could, of course, apply the base after the eye, but looking at this picture, the make-up artist is unlikely to have done this budging by the wonderful fading technique of the eye shadow in to the hairline and temples; this has been expertly blended and worked in to the existing base, in my opinion.

The focus of this look is the eyes. Dramatic dark blues and a smoky grey look very similar to our Powder Eye Shadow in 'Intense' and 'Gimp'.


Using a large Eye Shadow Brush, dust the deep blue 'Intense' all over the lids, right the way up to the eye brows and blend in to the eye brow hairline using Blending Brush I. As the colour deepens towards the outer corner, add 'Gimp' and using Blending Brush II, blend this out in to the hairline. Quick, easy and yet extremely eye catching. I love how January has disregarded the 'no blue eye shadow with blue eyes' beauty "rule" [we aren't big fans of beauty rules at Illamasqua...]. Some captivating False Eye Lashes - no.19's would look great - stop her eye's getting 'lost' within the smoky depths of the eye shadow.

The nude gloss [try Sheer Lipgloss in 'Provoke'] brings all the elements of the look together.