Illamasqua Icons: Greta Garbo

When I think of Greta Garbo, I think beautiful, curved skinny eye brows, perfect cupid bow and one of the most strikingly symmetrical faces of Hollywood's Golden Age.

Garbo was a beautiful actressm, of Nordic origin, who became legendary for her beauty and enigmatic personality. In 1955, she received an Honorary Oscar for "unforgettable screen performances" and has subsequently been ranked as the fifth greatest female star of all time by the Ameican Film Insitute. She was also one of only a handful of actresses to successfully make the transition between silent and "talkies" movies.

Get The Look

Prepping the skin with Matt Primer With SPF 20 is a great start - Garbo loved her skin pale and milky. On top of this, Rich Liquid Foundation, buffed in with a Highlighter Brush would ensure maximum, flawless coverage [and would have made Garbo's skin perfect under the harsh set lights]

Garbo's cheekbones were sharp enough to not need any contouring, but I would suggest Powder Blusher in 'Risk' or 'Mischief' depending on your skin tone, to create the illusion for those of us not so blessed!

The arches look very pencilled, so try Fine Pencil in 'Peace' to lightly trace them in. If you have thick brows, Alex Box taught me a trick of using an old toothbrush, rubbing it in soap, and then slicking your brows back against your skin. Stipple on Rich Liquid Foundation and they just disappear; it's quite extraordinary. You can then line on top of this. Highlight underneath with Powder Eye Shadow in 'Sex' to keep the look matt.

To enhance the depth of her eyes, Garbo has exaggerated her crease line using a cut crease technique - this means minimal blending! I would try a deep slate grey Powder Eye Shadow such as 'Gimp'.

A slick of Eye Liner Cake in 'Mislead' mixed with a drop of Sealing Gel would complete the eye look. Our Eye Liner Cake's were designed with the traditional cakes of the 1920s in mind, so the finish and packaging would be very similar to what Garbo would have used!

Alex Box once told me that actresses in black and white movies used to paint their lips all kind of colours to create different effects of grey within the movie and to add alluring depth to their faces. What a challenge! Garbo would have used a dusky pink for this kind of finish - I love Lipstick in 'Resist' for a beautiful matt result.

Otherwise, we do have a grey Intense Lipgloss for the ultra brave - 'Liaison' is a thick cement grey.

Hannah Marshall - Get The Look

I promised a Hannah Marshall SS2010 Get The Look a while ago so here it is. I just spotted Alex walking down Old Compton Street in Soho and it reminded me!

Hannah and Alex discussed the look prior to the show and agreed on a "very sexy, very desirable look. Something that was both soft and strong at the same time. I wanted to use minimal products and focus on the technique," Alex told me. "I wanted a real masculine, strong graphic from the front and yet when the model is on profile, it looks soft and ultra feminine." I have tried to source a profile shot, yet no such luck!

Face

Alex used Matt Primer to create a very matt, one dimensional base. This was then built upon using Cream Foundation to create a very real, but quite full coverage.

The strength of the look is based on the contouring. Alex told me she was going for a "slick goth" look. She used Powder Blusher in 'Rumour' to contour the temples, sides of the nose, cheeks and under the jawline and emphasised the hollowness of the cheek with Powder Blusher in 'Spite'.


Eyes

As previously mentioned, Alex wanted to use minimal products, so using an Eye Brow Cake mixed with Sealing Gel to create a strong line across the brows, she blended the colours down, mixing with a slate grey [try Powder Eye Shadow in 'Incubus'] concentrating the colour at the point where the side of the nose joins the eyebrow and fading down across the browbone and eye lid until there is minimal colour on the eye socket. Build up the concentration at the outer corner of the eye again. A touch of Pure Pigment in 'Furore', a nude champagne shimmer, on the centre of the eye lid added a touch of depth and photographed beautifully. This look used no mascara.

Lips

Alex painted over the lips with the Cream Foundation to tone down the colour of the lips and keep the focus on the brows and the cheek bones.

Rich Foundation Tutorial

This is a great link to the Gossmakeupartist blog - a brilliant demonstration on how to use the Rich Liquid Foundation to get the best out of it.


To summarise:

It can be used neat or mixed with moisturiser/ Primer. As Goss mentions, a little goes a long way so mix about one part Foundation to three parts moisturiser for suitable daytime coverage.

Buffing it in with a brush [our Highlighter Brush is my fave for this] will create a flawless look.

The Foundation will last a very long time, due to the consistency and thickness of the formula meaning you only need to use a little of the product.

Enjoy and thanks Goss!

Ask An Artist: Foundation Shades

Hi Illamasqua! I wanted to try either the Cream or Powder Foundation and was having a little difficulty in choosing a shade. I am of Asian (filipino) descent and am medium complexioned. Usually when I test foundations from different brands I land right smack dab in the middle of whatever shade range I am looking at. I am yellow based but have a bit of beige undertones in my skin as well. I don't think I have as strong a yellow undertone as do a lot of asian women. Can you please help?


Francesco and Gillian from Selfridges London have helped me out with this query:

"We think she may be 320. This would fall closest to the competitor shade that she mentioned.
230 will be to muddy in tone for her and 215 may be a little to light.

We would also suggest the Matt Primer - Asian skins can tend towards oiliness, so this primer would help to smooth out that out and rebalance the texture of the skin."

Illamasqua Icons: Karen O

Lucy, our Product Development intern, has chosen Karen O as her beauty icon.

We are all massive fans of the Yeah Yeah Yeah's at Head Office [we frequently have the amazing 'It's Blitz!' playing through the speakers] and their lead singer, Karen O, has become a style revelation with her unusual half polish, half korean looks and unmistakable voice.

With her dark, tom boy hair cut and pale skin she can pull of a variety of make-up looks but tends to rock her trademark red lip.

To recreate a Karen O look, prep your skin with Matt Primer + SPF20 to help even out skintone and lightly mattify oilier areas. This will also allow your foundation to sit on top more evenly and achieve that flawless finish that Karen O has. For a nod to the 80s, apply a contour colour [Illamasqua has a great selection of contour specific Powder Blushers for all skin tones] such as 'Mischief' Powder Blusher just under the cheekbone to define and sculpt.

This is a very matt look, so dust some Loose Powder in '010' for a translucent finish to the skin. Add a little more to the lips to help lip products 'grab' on. Line lips with Medium Pencil in 'Spell', a gorgeous, rich pillar box red and fill in with Intense Lipgloss in 'Besotted' for a rich, edgy red that is both intense in colour and juicy in finish.

Line all around the eyes with Fine Pencil in 'Classic' which is a lovely dove grey and then smudge with Illamasqua Eye Liner Brush to break up the line and give it a Rock N Roll edge. The look is very matt, so try Powder Eye Shadow in 'Incubus' all over the lid and contour under the lashes and in the crease of the eye socket with Powder Eye Shadow in 'Lestat', a very buildable matt black.

Three coats of Volumising Mascara in 'Harness' will give you dark, fluttering lashes and apply a touch of Sealing Gel with your Eye Liner Brush around the lash lines to give the colour ultimate staying power. Add some False Eye Lashes in '17' if you want maximum impact.