Daniel comes to Times Square.

Some great news for you New York gals! Daniel, one of our International Make-up Artists, will be making an appearance at Sephora's flagship store at 5 Times Square on October 10th and 11th, from 11am-7pm on both days! Joining him will be our International Account Director, Jennifer - both will be on hand to answer brand and product questions and to help you discover your alter ego using our range of professional, high impact pieces. Hope you can make it!

Featured Artist: Lucy

We love to feature our artists' freelance work and today I am thrilled to show you some of Lucy's, who works on our Selfridges Oxford St counter.

I absolutely love this editorial look. Lucy told me more about it:
"I started off by prepping the skin with Satin Primer [which I use for almost all the shoots I work on!] and followed that with Light Liquid Foundation and a touch of Cream Blusher in 'Dixie' low on the apples of the cheek for a tomboyish, wind-kissed look.

To open the eyes I added Medium Pencil in 'Vow' on the waterline and Volume Mascara to Alison's fantastic lashes. The lips that go so well with the model's gorgeous fair complexion were made up of a base of Lipstick in 'Poison' finished with a slick of Intense Lipgloss in my favourite shade, 'Repulse'.

This was a shot from work I regularly do with Nevs model agency and the fantastic photographer Lee Mofo [www.the-mofo.co.uk], whose recent clients include Firetrap, FrostFrench and 28twelve. We hold shoot days for the agency at my warehouse studio and often shoot up to 8 girls a day, so it's important to create strong, camera ready looks with minimal time and product. Illamasqua's huge colour range makes my job a lot easier, and needless to say my male flatmates never complain about having a house full of gorgeous models!"
To book a lesson with Lucy, call the Selfridges Oxford St counter on 0207 318 3788

Another amazing masterclass event

Following the huge success of our London masterclasses, we thought it was only fair to give our fans up north a piece of the action! So on Saturday 3rd October, our long-awaited Manchester Masterclass took place. And it was well worth the wait!






Alex Box flew in especially from Paris fashion week to lead the two classes – 'Night-time Divas' and 'Dare to be different'. While she created key looks, International Make-up Artist, Adam, talked through the products and techniques, much to the delight of the eager audience! The crowd was a real mix of professional make-up artists and beauty lovers, all looking for new ways to uncover their alter egos. Judging by the pictures, I’m pretty sure they all did!
The counter was absolutely swamped after each session, as everyone rushed to get their hands on their favourite products from the class. This created a real buzz in store, and Illamasqua definitely became the centre of attention for the day – which we LOVED!! So much so that we actually ended up selling out of lots of our Dystopia products, foundations, primers and brushes.

Hopefully everyone who attended had as good a time as we did, and of course, hats off to the wonderful Ms Box!

Illamasqua Icons: Scarlett O'Hara

Scarlett O'Hara, the protagonist of one of my favourite books, Margaret Mitchell's Gone With The Wind, is the beautiful green-eyed, dark-haired heroine. Her drive to succeed, intelligence and business instinct mark her as a modern day feminist who although smart and beautiful is also narcissistic and often cruel.

Vivien Leigh played the title character of the 1939 film version of Gone With The Wind to arrogant perfection.

To recreate this vampish look, prep skin with Matt Primer. Follow with the Powder Foundation for a medium-full coverage, shine-free base. Lightly contour cheekbones with Powder Blusher in 'Disobey'.

Mix a touch of Sealing Gel with Eye Brow Cake in 'Thunder' to recreate Scarlett's defined, arched brow and highlight underneath with a smudge of Powder Eye Shadow in 'Sex'. This look is all about the brow and the lip, so keep the eye colour to a minimum by dusting on a touch of Powder Eye Shadow in 'Trollop' for a beige/coral finish and apply two coats of Volume Mascara in 'Harness' for catlike eyes.

Eye Brow Cake in 'Thunder'
Line the lips with Medium Pencil in 'Feisty' [perfect for Scarlett!] and fill in with Lipstick in 'Drench' - a juicy, tomato red with just that smallest hint of pink. Dab a drop of Sheer Lipgloss in 'Brilliant' into the centre of the lip to create the illusion of volume and to stop the look looking too matt.

Lipstick in 'Drench'

The perfect Lipglosses for smoky eyes....

Alex is on holiday this week, so I'll be updating the Illamasqua blog throughout this week! My name is Lindsay and I'm on the creative team at Illamasqua. So what do I do on a daily basis? Well, I work closely with all the departments at Illamasqua to make sure the most beautiful, unique and innovative elements of our fabulous brand and products are reflected. I also manage the planning of advertising, promotions, events and design - my big project at the moment is updating the swatch section of our website! I know many of you are anticipating the new-look online shop and it's nearly completed... so watch this space!

Alex spent the back end of last week swatching the Sheer Lipglosses as, by her own admission, smoky eyes tend to be the big look of the Autumn. She has compiled, for your viewing pleasure, the top four Sheer Lipglosses that perfectly complement the dark and dramatic smoky eye.


From top to bottom, 'Electrify', 'Provoke', 'Lily-rose', 'Kindle'.


Electrify

'Electrify' is a bubblegum pink - think a sheerer, slightly milkier version of Intense Lipgloss in 'Indulge'. This looks great on all skin tones, but especially fair, blonde girls. It has a subtle amount of shimmer [not glitter!] which prevents the colour looking flat.

Shown above without flash and below with flash


Provoke

'Provoke' is a coffee coloured bronze/nude that again, works on all skin tones. On Alex, it looks very nude - she told me this is her go-to for a nude lip as it cancels out her natural lip colour and warms up her pink-toned skin. It also has shimmer in it to create a very multi-dimensional effect.

Shown above without flash and below with flash

Lily-Rose

One of the cult items of the Illamasqua collection is Sheer Lipgloss in 'Lily-Rose'. This gorgeous, sheer red/pink is fabulous because of its versatility - it can be mixed with a variety of lipglosses to add a pink or red dimension, dependent on the base colour. It also looks pretty darn good on its own, as shown here.

Shown above without flash and below with flash

Kindle

Been searching for the perfect toffee coloured lipgloss? Then 'Kindle' may well be the gloss for you. This lovely light beige is the perfect creamy toffee shade and also has a small amount of shimmer to really make lips pop. Perfect for all skin tones, but especially gorgeous on medium-olive girls who like their lips nude!

Shown above without flash and below with flash

Below is a picture of Alex's 'face of the day' last Wednesday. She is wearing:

Satin Primer
Cream Foundation 215
Under Eye Concealer 140
Powder Blusher in 'Disobey' to contour
Powder Blusher in 'Nymph' for a flush of pink colour
Illuminator in 'Halcyon' on the cheekbones, cupids bow and down the centre of the nose
Cream Eye Shadow in 'Delve' as a base
Powder Eye Shadow in 'Matter' and 'Machine' from the Dystopia collection
Medium Pencil in 'Sophie'
Volume Mascara in 'Harness'
Sheer Lipgloss in 'Kindle'

Swatches: Cream Foundations - the lighter shades

In response to some recent requests, I have done a quick swatch of the lighter foundations colours.

To give some perspective, I am a 210 in Cream Foundation. I am also wearing Intense Lipgloss in 'Drag' - a lovely tangerine.

From left to right: CF140, CF135, CF120, CF110. Above without flash, below with flash.

I'm off on holiday tomorrow, so Lindsay will be taking over the blog posts next week!

A Little Bit Of Inspiration...

... for a rainy afternoon in London Town. A good friend of mine sent through this awesome link to me a couple of days ago. Since then, I have been obsessively absorbing the gradientmagazine.com site - it features arts, fashion, music, culture and lifestyle posts that explore vivid, original and unique people, including the work of Spain-based photographer and art director Paco Peregrin whose work below is beautifully surreal.

I seriously suggest you take a look at this so-cool-it-hurts website.

Product of the Week: Powder Blusher in Katie

This month's Product of the Week [yes, yes I know, I know...] is the unbelievably popular Powder Blusher in Katie.


I have personally never been a big fan of pink blusher [coral, coral, coral for me!] but I can't deny the sales figures and the shouts-from-the-rooftops about this blusher! It was named after Illamasqua's Brand Director Kate Massarella [before Katie joined the team!] as it was her favourite blush in the collection - she has quite pale skin, deep brown hair and brown eyes [the italian in her!] and the pop of pale pink that this blush gives her means that it is never out of her handbag.

Katie even has it's own Youtube video, it's that popular! I mean, a nine and a half minute video dedicated to a blusher?! Has to be put forward for a Product of the Week nomination!

This blush has received a massive amount of coverage both in Editorial and online, being described as

Weheartthis.com gave a great review:

"As a self-confessed blush addict, I was euphoric when I received the powdered blusher in Katie to test. A little background on my coloring—I am ridiculously pale with dark hair and pale hazel eyes. I need blush to look alive. Most of my blushes tend to be in a deep rose or red shade and I blend them down, but even then, it’s probably a little too much color for bolder lips.

For years, I’ve been searching for a pale pink blush that is a good counterpoint to dark lips, but everything I’ve found was so pale that it didn’t show up on even me or it just didn’t last very long. Answering my prayers is Katie. First off, the packaging is gorgeous.

The blush itself looks like a nondescript pale pink. Looks are deceiving. Once applied with a big, fluffy brush, I had the prettiest rosy cheeks every. It was pale enough to not compete with my other makeup, but had enough color impact that I looked alive and fresh. The best part? I didn’t have to reapply and this carried me through a whole 12 hours before I finally removed it when I washed my face at night.
I don’t think I can say enough great things about this blush, other than if I could give 6 stars, I would. I can’t wait to try their cream blush now…"

All of Illamasqua's Powder Blushers are high in pigmentation and the size of the product means that the pieces last a long, long time.

Powder Blushers retail at £16 through www.illamasqua.com

Box News Flash!

Carrying on from Friday 18th September, when Alex created the magnificent "glitter bomb explosion!" Ancient Egypt meets Blade Runner looks for the House of Blue Eyes SS 2010 show, London Fashion Week roared ahead with plenty of Alex's work on display.

On Saturday 19th September, Hannah Marshall presented her first SS 2010 collection at Somerset House. The show consisted of LBD's in a variety of architectural forms, from sculpted shoulders to pointed hips and jagged spines. The edgy, yet very wearable, collection was adored by Alex, who describes the make-up look as, "very sexy, very desirable with a strong graphic. Hannah and I work very closely on make-up looks as she is so clued up on make-up and creating a statement through make-up. I wanted the overall look to be very strong and masculine from the front, yet soft and feminine from the side." Cue frantic googling of Hannah Marshall to try and find a profile catwalk image from the show! I couldn't find one, so you'll have to take Alex's word from it! This is a very unusual look, I say to Alex. She laughs, "I call it slith - the slick goth!"

If you don't know much about Hannah Marshall, you will soon - she has designed outfits for the likes of Florence and the Machine and counts Erin O Connor as a close friend. Erin even suprised the fashionistas on the front row by closing the show. Alex, of course, did her make-up.

I personally love the make-up from this show and I have a step-by-step from Alex on how to recreate it, so I shall put a post up about that later this week!

Alex also worked with Malcolm Pate on a film called 'Encryption' for Hannah Marshall that ran during the show. "It was filmed where I live - it was such a great location, really industrial and fitted the mood perfectly."

Alex also worked on shows for Wintle ["a menwear show with a very strong, Leonardo di Caprio style brow"] and Carolyn Massey ["such fun - the feel was sunburnt, festival boys so I used a lot of reddish bronzer on the face and neck!]


So, other than fashion week, what else has Alex been up to? "I've had a lot of time talking to journalists about my book. Not just fashion and beauty press, but art and culture press too as the book is as much about art and photography as it is about beauty." Sounds tiring. "It is! I also have Homes Etc coming over to my flat soon to run a piece on my decorative style." I'll keep an eye out for that one!

What is on the agenda for this week? "Well, today I have a meeting with Katie to discuss product development and then I am heading over for a Gareth Pugh test shoot." Further probing gives me no details - all artists are sworn to secrecy on their looks with designers until after the show.
As it is Paris Fashion Week next, Alex is set to be very busy, so I ask her how she takes time out. "When I'm in Paris, I always take time to go around the vintage shops. And there is a great bar in the Louvre hotel, which is where anyone whose anyone is after the shows!"

Alex sets off for Paris tomorrow for a test at Anne Valerie Hash in the morning and again with Gareth Pugh in the evening. Wednesday is the show day for both Anne and Gareth and on Thursday I have the test for Veronique Leroy followed by the show on Friday. "I'm then jumping on the Eurostar from Paris to London and early Saturday I will be on a train to the Masterclass is Selfridges Trafford which I am really looking forward to. In the evening I will be back to London and then back on the Eurostar." Phew! "Doesn't stop there - Sunday is the test for Leonard and Monday is the Leonard show. Tuesday is the test for Collette Dinnigan and Wednesday is the show. After that I shall be coming home and chilling out!"

Trafford Centre: Alex Box Masterclass

Alex Box hosted a Masterclass at Selfridges Oxford St on Friday 3rd July and Saturday 4th July for the make-up obsessives of London - as most of you are aware, we are now hosting a similar event for all you Northern lads and lasses at Selfridges Trafford!

The date of the event is Saturday October 3rd and there will be two classes - Night-time Divas is at 12-2 and this class has only 9 spaces left! The second class - Dare to be Different - has sold out, but we are asking Selfridges very nicely if they would mind if we brought along some more guests!

Come along and learn the art of application whilst honing your own skills and revealing your inner alter ego from a master of creative, artistically innovative make-up.

If you would like to attend the Night-time Divas class [or try your luck with the Dare to be Different class!] give the counter a call on 0161 629 1187.

I will post all the pics and gossip from the event next week!