Mika Comes to Cardiff!

Mika will be making a highly anticipated guest appearance on the Debenhams Cardiff counter on Thursday 19th, Friday 20th and Saturday 21st November.

If you would like to meet the Selfridges London National Make-up Artist, star of the Dystopia collection adverts and infamous mainstay of the London club scene, give the Debenhams Cardiff Illamasqua counter a ring on 02920342278.

I grabbed a quick word with Mika to find out more about the Dystopia photoshoot, his favourite products and his excitement about visiting Cardiff...

Hey Mika! How are you?

"Really well - looking forward to meeting the girls at the Cardiff counter tomorrow. They have all offered to take me out on the town and I haven't visited Cardiff before so it's all very exciting."

Your always out on the town! How do you think the Cardiff night-life will compare to London?

"You'll have to ask me when I'm back! I am currently running a weeky club called Vogue at Willa's in Mayfair. The theme of the night is always the current issue of Vogue - inspired by the photo shoots or the adverts running in the magazine, the night is an artistic melting pot of fashionistas, club kids, models, socialites and a variety of people from the fashion, beauty and art worlds."

I have been dying to ask you what the Dystopia photoshoot was like - it must have been fabulous!

"You were there?!"

For about half an hour! How long did your day last?!

"The call was 8am and when I got there, Alex Box was already in 6 inch heels, which she lasted on all day - what an icon! Even I can't manage that - the whole shoot, from start to finish was 13 hours. Alex created three looks on me and each took about two hours to complete. My favourite look is the black and white one, with the swirly face patterns. Alex did all of it in one go and I was amazed at how little post-production there was. I've always assumed that everything was airbrushed for weeks after the photo shoot, but I saw the final images a few days after the shoot. You can't airbrush art; you would lose the point of it."

Too right. So, what are your favourite products from the Dystopia collection?

"I adore the Pure Pigment in 'Android' - the dark, sultry shimmer is just such a versatile product. I love to layer it on top of Cream Eye Shadow in 'Debauch' or 'Entangle' or even the Concealer in '350' for a really gorgeous, but quick and easy, smoky eye.
I also love the False Lashes 21. They are stunning."


Will you be wearing them on the Cardiff counter?

"Perhaps, but I am currently rocking the Limited Edition Decadence lashes - the silver ones. At Halloween I put them in my eye brows for winged brows!"

You'll have to send me a photo. What has been your defining moment working for Illamasqua?

"That's a tough one! The past year has been absolutely amazing for me, both professionally and personally. I think that the crowning glory would be the advert that is going to run in next months iD magazine - a double page advert of the back-to-back image of me in the Dystopia ads. I am so excited to see that I can barely contain myself! I also loved that the Sunday Times Style featured a picture of me and of course the Dystopia shoot was just the best day ever."


Here is a photo of Mika and myself - we bumped into each other at Gay Pride in the Summer... his pout is substantially better than mine!


Book now for a lesson with Mika - £20 redeemable against purchases made on the day.

Illamasqua launches in Birmingham

Great news - our fabulous new counter in Selfridges Birmingham is launching today! Birmingham is such a great city, with bags of style and a buzzing night-time scene, making it perfect for Illamasqua, so we are really excited about the launch. And the Bullring is the perfect setting for our new home as it is the place to shop for that night-time look.

At present, we're retailing via a temporary counter while the finishing touches are being added to our permanent home. We're launching with all of our best-selling products, with the full range due to go live in December. There's a great team on counter, ready and waiting to help you discover your alter ego. So if you're in the area, come check it out and treat yourself!

Alex Box Book Launch

I know I've already gone into great detail about the book launch last week, but thought you might want to know more about what looks the Illamasqua head office girls went for. As Halimah did Katie's make-up and she looked absolutely stunning, I've asked her to explain how she achieved it:

'As we were already running late for the book launch, we had to rush! So I basically focused on Katie's eyes. I used Powder Eye Shadow in 'Bronx' over the lid as a base. I then took Powder Eye Shadow in 'Lestat' and pressed this into the socket line, taking it out to 'wing' the corner of the eye. Using my finger, I took some Liquid Metal in 'Solstice' and pressed it over the lid area to ensure a really bright colour, and blended it more towards the socket line, as it approached the black. Pure Pigment in 'Breathe' was then used on the brow bone and near the tear duct. To finish the look, I applied Medium Pencil in 'Sophie' to the top and bottom lash line, and False Lashes no. 13 for a real 'wow' factor. Katie kept her lips nude with Sheer Lipgloss in 'Brillant', and we applied a little Powder Blusher in 'Lover' to achieve a natural glow.'

Illamasqua Icons: Edward Scissorhands

This time I have asked Halimah, our Product Development Intern, for her Icon and she was absolutely inspired to come up with Edward Scissorhands! Amazing.

So I asked Halimah, a professional make-up artist in her own right, to advise us on how to get the look [a bit late for Halloween, but ah well!]

"Prep the skin with Rich Liquid Foundation in 100, buffed on with a highlighter brush so it's not too geisha white. Hollow out the eyes and cheeks with Powder Blusher in 'Disobey' and then use Powder Eye Shadow in 'Feint' to enhance the depth of shadow in the collarbones/ cheekbones/ jawline/ temples etc.

If bleaching your eyebrows is going a bit far, use a little extra Rich Liquid Foundation to smooth them down and de-colour them.

For a deeper socket, blend in a generous amount of Powder Eye Shadow in 'Lestat' - a pure black, with a touch of 'Savage' for a multi-tonal look. Powder Eye Shadow in 'Fluke' - a fleshy tone - underneath the eye and around the lash line for a wide-awake, innocent look. Using Medium Pencil in 'Vow' on the waterline will enhance this.

On the lips, line with Medium Pencil in 'Severe' and fill in with Lipstick in 'Diablo' for a gothic berry colour.

Alex Box by Rankin Book Signing

For all of you who couldn't come along - or who live in other countries! - here are some photos from the event yesterday.

Alex Box came to Selfridges Oxford St to sign copies of her critically acclaimed book Alex Box by Rankin.

Alex is rocking the green lips - is she on to something here?! - and a gorgeous green 80s jumpsuit.

The lovely Holly provided the canvas for Alex's extrovert creativity and was soon made up with a variety of Powder Eye Shadows, Pure Pigments, Powder Blushers and just about every other product on the Illamasqua counter, by the look of things!

She also signed copies of her beautiful new book.

Mika [star of the Dystopia collection] was also there and he is pictured here, modelling his new hair cut, with Aga.

A Note From our Brand Director

From Kate Massarella, Brand Director of Illamasqua:

About a month ago, Wayne Goss bought to our attention a payoff issue with a small number of our Powder Eye Shadows. I am pleased to say that we feel we have got to the bottom of this after a period of detailed testing and analysis. The issue was one of over-pressing on a small batch of the shadows, i.e. the powder was too heavily pressed, which damaged the payoff despite the product still being of great quality and as highly pigmented as all of our shadows. We now have a new system in place that we are confident will avoid pressing issues going forward. I hope this answers all concerns on this issue and want to thank those of you who bought this to our attention.

Ready to Rock Birmingham!

Selfridges Birmingham is the latest store to be excitedly anticipating an Illamasqua counter - we are looking at a mid- November launch at the moment, but will keep you all up to speed on the latest developments!

The team have been chosen and the training is taking place for them next week, so not long now!

Halloween Looks From Illamasqua!

I hope everyone had a great Halloween! I almost forgot about it as we had been concentrating on the first anniversary of Illamasqua, so I loved it when some of the pictures from Propaganda's [our creative partner] Halloween party started to sift through to my inbox!

I am loving what our Account Manager Natalie did - an evil ladybug! Inspired choice, Nats!


I gave the normally platinum blonde bombshell a call to find out what she used...

"Well, the lashes are from a fancy dress shop," she tells me, "but everything else is Illamasqua! I used the Cream Foundation in 100 and topped it off with Loose Powder in 100 for a semi-matte glow. I used Powder Eye Shadow in 'Forgiveness' on the cheeks to sculpt the look and defined my eyes and eye brows with Eye Liner Cake in 'Mislead'. I love mixing this product with the Sealing Gel for maximum longevity."

What about those high impact lips? "I lined them with Medium Pencil in 'Spell' and painted over the top with Intense Lipgloss 'Besotted' for a juicy red lip!

Natalie also spread the art to her fingertips, using Nail Varnish in 'Ruthless' for a rich red base and blobbing on Nail Varnish in 'Boosh' for the ladybug effect.

Here is Natalie with Jo, Julian Kynaston's PA. Jo is rocking the new Birthday Lashes in 'Decadence' as well as plenty of Dystopia! On her lips is the shocking pink Lipstick in 'Avenge' and she has Powder Eye Shadow in 'Matter' smudged around her eyes for a sexy smoky eye.

Alex Box Book Signing 5th November

Alex Box will be at Selfridges Oxford St between 4 and 7pm on Thursday 5th November to exclusively sign copies of the Alex Box by Rankin book.

Alex and the artists will also be creating looks from the book.

I have also heard that Sharmadean Reid from Wah Nails salon in Shoreditch [the hot spot for creative nail art!] will be on the temporary site opposite the Illamasqua counter - the perfect excuse for an artistic beauty afternoon!

Did anyone else spot Mika [our lovely artist from Selfridges Oxford St and star of the Dystopia ads!] in the Sunday Times Style magazine last Sunday? In case you missed it, here is the clipping!

Lack of Posting...

Sorry I have been a slow on the updates over the past few days - lots going on with our Birthday celebrations so I will get back underway with these [I have lots to show you guys!] as soon as possible.

Just a quick snippet of today - Alex came in to sign copies of her Alex Box by Rankin book [book signing at Selfridges Oxford St this Thursday between 4 and 7pm for those of you who haven't got your copy yet!]

I love her hair clips! Halloween or no, Alex loves to channel her inner goth!