We introduce our debut fragrance... FREAK!

We are excited to introduce you to Freak, our debut fragrance...

 Freak has been expertly blended to awaken forbidden floral scents that are seductive, magical, timeless and unforgettable. 

Calling all Glamorous Screen Sirens and Matinee Idols...

We invite you to be transformed on Friday 7th October (6-9pm) into your own Hollywood movie star as The National Portrait Gallery sets up as a film studio for one night only. Strong, silent types and exotic vamps need only apply…

Inspired by its current exhibition Glamour of the Gods: Hollywood Portraits for one night only, the National Portrait Gallery will become the ‘NPG Film Studio’, where you will pick up your ‘NPG Film Studio’ contracts at the door before dropping into seven star-making departments to be transformed into famous movie stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood. 

You can enjoy a vintage glamour make-up transformation courtesy of us at Illamasqua in Department 1: IMAGE IS EVERYTHING – using techniques developed on our School of Make-up Art course Vintage Glamour - pose in a black & white photography studio and visit The Broken Hearts Cocktail Lounge for drinks, swing music and cabaret. 

You can also go to the movies and watch Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, hear talks on gender, clothes and beauty, take part in vintage styling and drawing classes and participate in a Vintage Twitter Bureau @NPGGlamour with vintage typewriters.  

This is going to be an absolutely fabulous event and we can not wait to see you there!

More information on Illamasqua’s Vintage Glamour course can be found on: 

http://www.illamasqua.com/professionals/somua/courses/

 

 

The Freak Poem

With the count down until Freak is available to pre-order [this coming Monday 3rd October] on illamasqua.com, we bring you the Freak Poem ...

 I am

Exquisitely rare

Mysterious midnight blooms

Unfurling only for Luna's light

Datura, Black Davana, Poison Hemlock, 

and Queen of the Night,

A covert gathering of forbidden flowers

Brought together in love's darkest hour

I am magical, timeless

Utterly unforgettable

I am bottled midnight

I am

Freak

A sneaky peak at Freak...

Today we bring you a sneaky peak behind the scenes of the Freak shoot as we lead up to the reveal of Illamasqua's first fragrance...

48 hour flash sale!

With 15% off all products, our 48 hour flash sale is the perfect opportunity to get your make-up kit ready for the new season...

Whether you're looking to create after-dark drama or an autumnal shimmer, we have all the tools required to transform your alter ego.

To redeem your 15% off, simply enter the promotion code 'FLASH15' at the checkout page, before Midnight GMT Friday 30th September 2011.

Click here to visit the Illamasqua shop

Get the Theatre of the Nameless Look...

Illamasqua's Creative Director Alex Box with a step by step guide to recreating one of the stunning looks from the Theatre of the Nameless collection with live footage from behind the scenes at the shoot

Introducing Nic Endo, our model for FREAK...

The lead singer of Atari Teenage Riot, Nic Endo has always lead an alternative rock and roll lifestyle, where she pushes the boundaries and is not afraid to be different.

 

Here at Illamasqua we wanted to capture her daring and distinct essence within our debut fragrance Freak.

Nic Endo continually uses make-up to self-express. Her signature make-up look is white face paint with Chinese symbols drawn on top symbolising 'Resistance'.

 We can't wait to reveal the campaign images to you... stay tuned!

 "Illamasqua make-up captures the essence of night-time transformations, unleashing your alter ego and celebrating self-expression. We have now managed, with great care, to distil that attitude into a fragrance and bottle it. It's time to dress up and howl at the moon. Get your Freak on!"

Joseph Corre, Illamasqua Joint MD

We reveal the exotic ingredients of Freak...

A new way to explore your alter ego in the form of our first unisex fragrance, we are excited to reveal to you the exotic ingredients and heady notes used to create Freak.

Freak is a concoction of dangerously exotic unconventional flowers which Illamasqua has unashamedly blended together to celebrate the night...

Top Notes

Black Davana, Opium Flower and Belladonna bewitch senses into uncontrollable lust and passion.

 Datura

Heart Notes

Poison Hemlock, Datura and Queen of the Night blossom, caress and kiss.

 Poison Hemlock

Base Notes

Aromas of frankincense, Oud, and Myrrh, addictively mesmerises and captures the senses.

  Queen of the Night

The rich and daringly provocative opening notes of Black Davana cast a magical spell of desire across the senses to celebrate the night. This compelling burnt orange bloom base is highly prized the world over for its ability to enhance the wearer's natural perfume. The subtle mustiness of Poison Hemlock haunts the background tone of Freak, adding alluring depths of mystery.

Datura, the moonflower, an intoxicating scent that has long been used as a heady aphrodisiac.

The exquisitely rare Queen of the Night blooms fleetingly for a single night each year, and completes this daringly provocative concoction with its warm, soft floral scent touched with sweetness.

We worked with the Master Perfumer, Azzi Glasser, to create this powerfully addictive potion.

"Freak is you, freak is me, freak is her, freak is he, freak's who you are and want to be, freak's the door, freak's the key, freak is out, freak is free. The freak's will inherit the earth." Alex Box, Illamasqua's Creative Director.

Illamasqua's First Fragrance: Freak

A sneak peak at the new Illamasqua fragrance Freak ...

Illamasqua launch in Manchester Exchange Selfridges... the first 50 customers receive a fabulous gift!

We are thrilled to be launching our 4th counter with Selfridges in the Manchester Exchanges brand new Beauty Hall this Tuesday the 27th September!

 To celebrate and welcome you to our new counter we have a fantastic gift for our first 50 customers who spend over £50! 

The gift includes the following pieces: Medium Pencil in Torment, Liquid Metal in Resolute, Intense Lipgloss in Hermetic and Pure Pigment in Alluvium 

Don't miss out! We look forward to seeing you there!

London Fashion Week: A Child of the Jago & Illamasqua

Our joint Managing Director Joe Corre is renowned not just for his fabulous work with Illamasqua, but also for the Menswear label A Child of the Jago, who showcased their Spring Summer 2012 collection at Wilton's Music Hall in East London.

This seasons show was even more exciting as it was A Child of Jago's first showing of Womenswear!

Two of our Art Team Mika and Leena created the striking looks for the show.

The brief for the make-up was described by Barnzley (one half of the design team with Joe) as "70's Punk Rock with a pirate edge, we want them to look like they have been on the town all night and have real attitude..."

 Liquid Metal in Superior and Skin Base Foundation were two key products used to create the fabulous looks.

Some great faces in the audience including Dame Vivienne Westwood, Kelly Kutrone, Whitney port, and Princess Julia graced the show.

Vivienne Westwood

Joe Corre and Whitney Port

"Corre and Armitage are acutely aware that the world their new child is entering will offer it no sympathy and give it no quarter. A Child of the Jago isn’t being raised to expect a warm welcome. It’s being brought up to cause trouble while it contrives to raise the bar." A Child of the Jago

A very big Thank You to Arianne Constantinou for the amazing photography!

Kelly Cutrone book signing tomorrow!

Our US Brand Consultant, Kelly Cutrone is in London this week and is signing copies of her must-read book 'Normal Gets You Nowhere' tomorrow...

The infamous founder of People's Revolution and star of The Hills and The City jetted in for London Fashion Week and to catch up with the Illamasqua team at the Child of a Jago show.

She will be greeting fans and signing copies of her hit title at the Waterstone's in Piccadilly, London from 2.30pm tomorrow.

Click here to find out more

Cosmopolitan Blog Awards... VOTE FOR US NOW!

We are really excited here at Illamasqua to announce that we have been shortlisted for the 2011 Cosmopolitan Blog Awards.

Please show us your support and vote for us here for best Brand Blog for 2011, every vote counts!

Thank you to all our readers who have shown us such great support since Illamasqua launched!

Behind the Scenes at the Theatre of the Nameless

Ashley Isham SS12

The wonderfully Renaissance-esque Il Bottaccio on Grosvenor Place made for an opulent venue for a collection rich in colour and mood for Ashley Isham's SS12 collection. With fans ranging from Christina Aguilera to Lady Gaga, Ashley is known for strong tailoring and beautiful draping, with an obsessive attention to detail.

I went along to the test shoot the Sunday before the show to work with Ashley, stylist Anna Trevelyan [check out her blog here - definitely worth a read] and make-up artist Jo Frost on creating a beautiful, smouldering and baroque-inspiring look that would compliment the collection.

I spoke to Jo about the look ...

What was the brief?

My aesthetic focuses on beautiful, expensive looking make-up with an edge. Ashley uses a lot of embellishment on his collections and this was no exception, I looked through samples and got very excited by an intricate lazer-cut leather piece and suggested using something similar in the make-up... using a stencil echoing tattoos on the face toughened up the look to give a challenging edge.

What was the corner stone of the look?

Ashley booked me for the show because of the gorgeous, luxurious skin that I'm known for so that was always going to be essential to the look. The creamy textures and luminous quality of the make-up was a modern take on Marie Antoinette and was created by layering Illamasqua's creamy Medium Pencils, Cream Pigments, Cream Blushers and Liquid Metals with Pure Pigments and Powder Eye Shadows.

The look balanced soft romance with the fierceness of the baroque tattoo design that I developed just for the show. 

What was your favourite piece from Illamasqua to use and why?

I really loved the Gleam Cream - it was used as a highlighter in all the right places on the face as well as the body. Illamasqua's textures and formulations are fantastic to work with as most of my make-up involves layering product repeatedly to give perfect blending that gives an illusion of hyper-real skin.

 Silk dresses and cut out leather were the stand out materials, showcased in a variety of cuts that glided over the models as they strutted the catwalk.

 

And the highlight? A burst of gold tickets at the end as the models lined up for an encore. The neccessary talent of walking in sky high platforms has never been needed more - I held my breath that they would strut their way over the [slippery looking!] gold tickets on the floor and luckily we didn't have any models down!

Look Good Feel Better... One Week to Go!

Release your Alter Ego while you do your bit for charity at the Look Good Feel Better Beauty Editors' Day in Selfridges with our Illamasqua Team on Thursday 29th September!

Now in its fifth year, this unique fundraising event takes place at the flagship Oxford Street store ... and is set to be bigger, better, and more fabulous than ever.  Come and join us for the amazing opportunity to have a one-to-one appointment with Company magazine’s gorgeous Beauty Editor, Sophie Qureshi, who has teamed up with us for this year’s not-to-be-missed event.

Not only will you discover beauty secrets, trends, and receive personal advice, you will also be offered a fantastic mini-transformation with a member of our Art Team, and a fabulous complimentary Illamasqua goodie bag!

For just £20, all proceeds will be donated to Look Good...Feel Better, the beauty industry’s charity which supports women with cancer across the UK. Cancer affects so many of our lives, so lets all join together and support this fantastic charity. Book now for your personal appointment and a unique opportunity to pick the brain of an industry expert.

When:  Thursday September 29th, 2011

Starts: 12 midday-7pm

How to book: call Selfridges hotline on 0800 138 8140 to book your appointment.  Don’t miss out as numbers are limited and appointments sell out very quickly

Cost: Tickets cost £20 and all proceeds will be donated to Look Good…Feel Better.  

   While you are in Selfridges make sure you come and visit our brand new counter!

Look forward to seeing you there!!

Ada Zanditon SS12 Collection: Poseisus

Key Make-up Artist Mika worked closely with Ada to help bring her SS12 collection to life on Friday 16th September 2011 at London's Somerset House as part of the London Fashion Week schedule.


ADA Zanditon ss12 from Andrew & WIlliam Ho on Vimeo.



The ethically produced collection's strength lies in Zanditon's ability to fuse innovative shapes and intricate prints with a startling attention to detail - and this was mirrored in the make-up that Mika created.

"The inspiration was drawn from sea horses and sea dragons - mysterious creatures transmogrified in to clothing."

The collection was shown via a beautifully produced film, that showed cascading colours across an urban backdrop and a model infused with the spirit of carnival dancing to a building crescendo of music and colour.

"I used Pure Pigment in 'Beguile', thrown all over the models limbs. Sea horses crests and tails have really inspired the make-up;  iridescent gleams and wet, crystallised skin. I used a variety of pink and purple tones: Powder Blusher in 'Hussy', Powder Eye Shadow in 'Savage', Intense Lipgloss in 'Galactic' and Medium Pencil in 'Bait' where the corner stones of the look. And lots and lots of Gleam Cream!"

For the models on the day, Mika created a more toned down version of the film; "I used Powdered Metal in 'Ether' for shimmering skin and a luxe feel, and whacked Pure Pigment in 'Beguile' over the cheekbones, browbone and cupid's bow. We also used Nail Varnish in 'Scorch' on the nails - a brilliant white shade."

Enjoying the show - from Left to Right: Hayley Smith [Marketing Assistant], Helena Liddiard [Marketing Intern], Alex Cummins [Junior Brand Manager] and Mika [Key Make-up Artist].

www.adazanditon.com