Powdered Metal Play Time!

The lovely Daniel has popped in to the Office today. He is one half of our training team [the other being the lovely Adam, both based in Selfridges Oxford Street] and is in to discuss the latest addition to the Sirens collection - the Powdered Metals -and how we can communicate it with the rest of our teams across the UK and Ireland!

This is always a really creative exercise; we want to be able to demonstrate the versatility of the product and a number of ways it can be used. As you all no doubt know by now, our ethos at Illamasqua is a strong belief that make-up application should be about free artistic license and creativity, so we are experimenting with ways to use the Powdered Metals. As I wrote below, they were born out of a necessity for a body product but it's great to be able to have a product that can be used in multiple ways.

'Erzule' looks gorgeous on olive and black tones, but also if you want an intense, temporary shot of bronzing - above is a pic of my arm to demonstrate - bottom arm doesn't have anything on and the top arm has 'Erzule' on - as you can see its quite a nice difference - and because the undertone is brown, and not red, there is no likelihood of looking orange! Always a worry with us pale skins! See below for a pic of 'Erzule' on Crispian - sorry again Cris!

I currently have 'Bebhionn' in my hair - it makes it a slightly pinky/ gold colour with a shot of subtle shimmer - the below photograph isn't picking it up as I had hoped - that would look amazing in the sunshine we have been enjoying here in London.

Daniel has remarked how 'Thalia' looks like a warmer version of the Pure Pigment 'Furore', which is my second favourite pigment [after 'Involve, of course!] and Kate has been experimenting by mixing it with Sheer Lipgloss in 'Brilliant' - it looks a bit like 'Utopia' Lipstick.

Above is 'Thalia' photographed with flash...

And above without flash...

These products can be used on both face and body and I'm sure our resident experimental Selfridges Oxford Street artist Amanda will be swiping it over her nails, too!

If you want to get on the waiting list for this product, just call your local counter or apply online - this feature will be added soon!

Foundation Breakdown

Lure: Bring out the face kept hidden. The face of your bolder half. The faces that dares to take on the night...

I receive a lot of emails from international customers interested in our Foundations and asking if I can help them to pick out an accurate colour. I am of the belief that being able to actually try the product on your own face is the best way to judge if the colour is right, texture is suitable and that you like the finish that the product gives you! I hate buying a foundation and then getting home and seeing that it's all wrong...

For those of you who do like to buy foundation of the internet, I've had a chat with Katie, our Product Development Manager and composed a quicklist that will give you an insight into our foundations:

Rich Liquid Foundation

Texture: Extremely rich and thick, suitable for night-time make-up as it creates a fantastic base for colour application.
Performance: Flawless and opaque. Mixes beautifully with Satin Primer for a dewier look. Dries semi-matt.

Skin types: All
Colours:
100 - purest porcelain white
105 - our lightest 'skin' shade
110-145 - best for pale skins
205-240 - best for medium skins
320-335 - best for dark/ black skins
340-355 - blackest black - brilliant for theatrical use as opposed to a real 'skin' shade


Light Liquid Foundation

Texture: Lightweight and airy, with a very fluid consistency.
Performance: Beautifully easy to apply and very cooling. Dries to a dewy, light to medium finish.
Skin types: All
Colours:
100 - purest porcelain white
105 - our lightest 'skin' shade
110-145 - best for pale skins
205-240 - best for medium skins
320-330 - best for dark/ black skins
340-350 - blackest black - brilliant for theatrical use as opposed to a real 'skin' shade
Performance:
Skin types: All, especially combination to dry.


Cream Foundation

Texture: Cream compact that gives a rich, opaque finish but blends beautifully.
Performance: Has a mirror in the compact, so great for on-the-go touchups! Dries to a semi-matt finish with a medium-full coverage and can be used wet or dry.

Skin types: All, especially drier skin types.
Colours:
100 - purest porcelain white
110 - our lightest 'skin' shade
110-145 - best for pale skins
205-240 - best for medium skins
320-330 - best for dark/ black skins
340-350 - blackest black - brilliant for theatrical use as opposed to a real 'skin' shade


Powder Foundation

Texture: Matt finish creamy feel powder.
Performance: Can be used alone or over any of the foundations. Gives a full, matt finish. Also comes with a mirror for touching up on-the-go. To sheer it out a bit, use with a damp sponge or brush and it still dries matt.
Skin types: Especially good for combination to oily skin types.
Colours:
100 - purest porcelain white
105 - our lightest 'skin' shade
110-145 - best for pale skins
205-240 - best for medium skins
320-330 - best for dark/ black skins
340-355 - blackest black - brilliant for theatrical use as opposed to a real 'skin' shade

Thanks to Lucy, our lovely intern and Crispian, our Customer Services Manager for letting me paint their faces whilst they were trying to work! You can see how thrilled they are....!

I hope this helps! I will do similar posts for our Concealers and Powders - leave me a comment if you would like this, or any other similar info on our products.

Welcome To The Illamasqua Blog Page!

Hello and thanks for checking out the Illamasqua blog! This blog aims to bring you not only the latest news, events, gossip and development from the world of Illamasqua, but also endeavours to give you a glimpse into the hectic and fun world of cosmetics – introduce you to the team, see who does what and show you how a beauty company works.

Illamasqua is a privately owned company, based in London [where else?!] and have only been retailing since November 2008.

Celebrated make-up artist Alex Box is our Artistic Director and artist Anja Huwe former frontwoman of German goth band X Mal Deutschland and David Vanian, lead singer of the legendary Damned both had a big input into the creative development of Illamasqua.

There are normally nine of us in the main Head Office [I say normally as we are always constantly on the move and I think the last time we were all in the same office at the same time was about a month ago now!] and they are:

Julian – Chairman and founder...

Kate – Marketing and Product Director...

Carl – Managing Director
Katie – Product Development Manager
Crispian – Customer Service Executive
Maurice – HR Manager

Jonathan – Retail Operations Manager
Lucy – Intern

And me – Alex – Marketing Assistant. I will be writing most of these blogs so if you want to get in contact with me, just leave a comment on the post and I will be sure to read it.

For more information on our in-store artists, visit www.illamasqua.com and follow the About Us link to find details of our Manchester and London artists. Details on artists at the newer counters will be uploaded soon.

For a more thorough background of who we are and what we represent, check out the website at www.illamasqua.com - there are also some beautiful images on there and to quote Napoleon Bonaparte [why not, eh] A picture tells a thousand words…