An Illamasqua Night on the Town...

Some of us from HQ and the Selfridges London make-up artist team headed out for a meal and farewell drinks for our lovely Product Development Manager Katie Sangers, who is leaving us to pursue her dream of creating a cream tea empire! We wish her the best of luck and I want to take this opportunity to publicly thank her for all the hard work she has put in to help create Illamasqua in the beauty force it is today.

We are also saying farewell to Gillian Staal, who has been the Business Manager on the Selfridges London counter for the past year. Gillian will be relocating to Australia with the exciting job of supporting the Illamasqua launch at Myer on the 21st June - a date to put in your diaries, Sydney fans!

We went for dinner at Santore, a lovely Italian in Exmouth Market, followed by drinks in Soho...

Gillian demonstrates what International Trainer Daniel would look like as a platinum blonde...

Katie, Halimah [Product Development Assistant] and Natalie [Account Director] pose for the camera...

Carl [Managing Director] gives his speech ...

Amy [Account Manager], Natalie [Account Director] and Holly [Training and Professional Program Coordinator] at The Green Carnation in Soho...

I have plenty more photos, but I would be at the mercy of my colleagues if I was to post them all!

In other Illamasqua news, Leena from Selfridges Trafford, was featured in this months Company magazine. A great article that I have attached for you to read below. Why Leena decided to become a make-up artist is very inspiring...

Congratulations to the Twitter Competition Winner!

Congratulations to Sirvinya, the lucky winner of our Twitter campaign to celebrate all of our wonderful, cruelty free synthetic brushes. She will be receiving all of the brushes [including the new Angled Eye Brush] shortly.

In you want to stay one step ahead with our latest news, tweets, competitions and general life thoughts then follow us by clicking here.

In other news, we have Alex Box in today to discuss ideas stemming on from the Autumn Winter collection [and to steal another Box lipstick!] and she sent me this photo from the latest Japanese Vogue.

Daniel on ExposeTV

Brought to you from our BT2 Dublin counter...

My Elemental Competition Entry!

Ok, so I have found myself with a bit of time this weekend and I have been meaning to enter the Mizzworthy/ Illamasqua competition since we begun it about this time last year!

I have always been inspired by mythology [I studied Classical Civilisation at school] so I chose to explore the Earth elemental theme and here is what I came up with...

War and Peace Elemental:



I created a look to symbolise the ferocious element of the Earth [right side] - wars have been commonplace since the dawn of time as tribes fought over territory and land. Some Ancient civilisations believed that they were warriors when they lived on the Earth and peaceful spirits [left side] once they are in the Earth - this is what the female Amazon warriors believed and so they have been an inspiration in the look that I have put together.

Sorry for the bad photoshopping of putting the images together - in hindsight, I probably should have done my whole face as each look as opposed to painting half and half!

Peace


I wanted to create a pale, light and almost glowing look as my interpretation of peace. Bright colours, sparkling skin and those wonderful Birthday Lashes add a luxe edge...

Products used [all Illamasqua unless specified]:

Face

Rich Liquid Foundation 135
Loose Powder 115
Loose Powder 005 [pink based powder, beautiful for a subtle, fresh glow]
Illuminator in 'Poised' [blended into the top of the cheekbones and temples]
Powder Blusher in 'Katie'
Powder Eye Shadow in 'Tempt'
Barry M Shadow Pot [label rubbed off, but it's a sparkling orange buffed into temples and hairline]

Eyes

Cream Eye Shadow in 'Hunger' [All over the eye area and over the eye brows]
Powder Eye shadow in 'Shiver'
Medium Pencil in 'Paint' [waterline]
Birthday Lashes

Lips

Covergirl lipstick 593
Sheer Lipgloss in 'Brilliant'


War


As previously mentioned, I was inspired mainly by Amazonian women and also Courtney Love's baby doll look. Rough and ready for action!

Face

Rich Liquid Foundation 215 mixed with Illuminator in 'Glimmer'
Powder Eye Shadow in 'Wolf' and 'Moan' across the cheekbones
Powder Eye Shadow in 'Truth' [smudged in places over the face]

Eyes

Concealer in 350 [as a base, all over the eye area]
Powder Eye Shadow in 'Lestat' [on top of the base and winged out in to hairline as well as brushed through brows]
Jemma Kidd Define Stay-put Eyeliner in '10 Zodiac' [lovely silver glitter shot black pencil in wateline and under the eye]
Volume Mascara in 'Harness' [three coats]
Powder Eye Shadow in 'Predator'

Lips

Lipstick in 'Encounter'

15% Off All Illamasqua Synthetic Brushes!

The world of cosmetics make-up brushes is a complex place for those of us who make a point to live our lives with none or as little animal testing products as possible.

Illamasqua's products are not tested on animals, and we have invested a lot of time, money and testing in our top-of-the-range synthetic brushes.

Spob, international film and theatre make-up artist and our Head of Professional Development, tells me: "Real hair brushes are absorbent which has always been used as a selling point. The hair grabs the product and absorbs it and then sticks under the cuticles. This make-up can sit in the hair even when cleaned, it can rot the brushes and it can trap bacteria. Illamasqua brushes still grab the product but it is easily moved on to the skin and easily washed off making them more hygienic and ultimately longer lasting."

Alex Box, Creative Director of Illamasqua, believes "Synthetic brushes are the future".

To help you switch to synthetic we are offering an incredible 15% off the entire range of synthetic brushes.

I asked around the office to find out which brushes everyone will be ordering [yes, we take advantages of discounts, too!]

Rosa [PR Manager] - The Kabuki Brush "I think it's amazingly soft and you can cover your body and all over shimmer in seconds!" £32.30 for a limited time only...



Halimah [Product Development Assistant] - The Highlighter Brush - "I find this brush extremely versatile which is important to me as a working make-up artist. You can buff in foundation, apply precise blusher or contour beautifully with it." £19.55 for a limited time only...

Adam [National Make-Up Artist] - The Blending Brush I - "Fabulous for precise concealer application as well as it's intended use as a blending brush for eye shadow. Effortlessly merges colours for a flawless finish. Love." £17 for a limited time only...

Daniel [International Trainer] - The Eye Brow Brush - "Everyone should have a fabulously groomed eye brow as it adds structure to every face. It just helps with the overall make-up look, more finished and refined." £15.30 for a limited time only...

Me! - Alex [Junior Brand Manager] - The Angled Eye Liner Brush - "OK, so I don't actually own this yet but it's in the post on it's way to me now, so I am really looking forward to trying it! It's like a smaller version of the Eye Brow Brush, which I use for everything from creating cupid's bows to thick eye liner. And for £13.60? It's a steal!" £13.60 for a limited time only...

Illamasqua Competition: ELEMENTALS

The Mizzworthy/ Illamasqua competition is off and running again and we have a great theme for you!

So what are Elementals?

According to folklore, the Elementals are the fundamental elements of nature; Fire, Earth, Air and Water. With roots in classic mythology, these elements have been personified in a variety of cultures and this could definitely be worth exploring for inspiration...

Fire:

Destructive, aggressive, hostile and dangerous or passionate, hot, sexy...

Water:

Tumultuos, dark, deep, unpredictable or peaceful, calming, still, serene, zen, lifegiving...

Earth:

Imposing, strong, indestructable or natural, organic, tranquil...

Air:

Stormy, fierce, noisy or whimsical, carefree, freedom...

The Prizes:

1st Prize: Illumine oil in your choice of shade, with a Liquid Metal Palette containing all four of the Liquid Metals...


2nd Prize: A Full size Bronzer in Burnished with a Nail Varnish in 'Prism'.


Of course, the short list will have their work viewed and rated by Creative Director Alex Box and the winners will receive coverage on our blog and website!

The contest will run from now until May 31st 2010.

For competition rules, and to enter, please visit www.mizzworthy.com

Nail Varnish Competition - Update II

We have been getting some enquiries in to when we are going to announce the winner of the Nail Varnish competition, and the answer is... soon!

We had so many entries that going through them, in all honesty, took a bit longer than we originally anticipated and there were so many amazing entries that it took a few tantrum-throwing, stropping and general anarchy until we got it down to the short list. We are awaiting the first samples to come back from our Nail Varnish team and once we receive those we will choose the two that we feel are most impactful, so please give us a couple more weeks!

SOPHIE Film Plays At The Hole Gig 02 Academy, Brixton

Many of you will be aware of the special place that Illamasqua has in the heart of Courtney Love; not only was she a huge influence in the early days of the brand, but her love for the products and Illamasqua philosophy is something she identifies with. Human fundamentalism; the right to live and let live, the right to self expression and the right to be who you want to be, regardless of who you are 'told' to be.

The S.O.P.H.I.E foundation and Illamasqua work in synch to raise awareness of the brutal murder of Sophie Lancaster - who was killed for being part of the Goth subculture by a group of narrow minded, ignorant thugs in 2007.


Courtney is rarely seen without her S.O.P.H.I.E wrist band [click here to purchase if you haven't yet got yours!] and specifically requested that the film be shown prior to her performance at the O2 Academy in Brixton yesterday.

My colleague Rosa and I went down to the venue at 6pm yesterday to run the video from my laptop and do some last minute sound checks and video checks. The staff that were setting up the gig all stopped and watched the film as it played it's practice run and it was a touching moment.

Having never been backstage [as in literally on the stage...] I was quite in awe of all the wires everywhere and was terrified of accidentally pulling out the wrong lead after the video had played!

The doors opened at 7pm [at which point Rosa and I ran out to grab a bag of Quavers for dinner - healthy, healthy!] and the Academy was soon packed out.

The film played after the supporting act had performed and the crowd reaction was great as the Academy went quiet to observe the haunting animation that documents the last moments of Sophie's short life.

Lynne's Blogger Selection Tutorial

January Jones Reveals Her Alter Ego...

Check out January Jones at the Costume Institute Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York last night.

The Mad Men actress stepped neatly away from the 50s princess look that we are so used to her working, and rocked up to the MET Ball [one of the social events of the year in New York] looking incredible in YSL and a brave [in the celebrity world] take on a smoky eye.

Recreate The Look

For the glowing finish, prep with Gleam Cream for a perfect, even base. Blessed with beautiful porcelain skin, I would guess that January would match well with Cream Foundation in 120 with the pink-ish undertones in her skin. Buffed on top of the Gleam Cream with the Highlighter Brush [a wonderful, domed brush that is a great size for application of foundation; not too large to feel out of control and not too small to take ages to apply!]

A dot of Cream Blusher in 'Rude' on the cheeks adds a lovely peachy flush.

A tip I learnt from Alex Box in regards to using strong, matt eye colours with a radiant base is to prep below the eyes by adding a generous dusting of Loose Powder beneath the eyes. This will pick up any pigment that may drop from your brush and instead of ruining your perfect base, can be easily dusted off with a large Powder Brush. As our Loose Powder's are so finely milled, they won't settle into lines and can take off just that excess shine without creating a strong matt finish.

You could, of course, apply the base after the eye, but looking at this picture, the make-up artist is unlikely to have done this budging by the wonderful fading technique of the eye shadow in to the hairline and temples; this has been expertly blended and worked in to the existing base, in my opinion.

The focus of this look is the eyes. Dramatic dark blues and a smoky grey look very similar to our Powder Eye Shadow in 'Intense' and 'Gimp'.


Using a large Eye Shadow Brush, dust the deep blue 'Intense' all over the lids, right the way up to the eye brows and blend in to the eye brow hairline using Blending Brush I. As the colour deepens towards the outer corner, add 'Gimp' and using Blending Brush II, blend this out in to the hairline. Quick, easy and yet extremely eye catching. I love how January has disregarded the 'no blue eye shadow with blue eyes' beauty "rule" [we aren't big fans of beauty rules at Illamasqua...]. Some captivating False Eye Lashes - no.19's would look great - stop her eye's getting 'lost' within the smoky depths of the eye shadow.

The nude gloss [try Sheer Lipgloss in 'Provoke'] brings all the elements of the look together.