People Update!

Hello everyone - phew, it's been a busy past few weeks but I am here to give you all some updates!

We were really thrilled on Saturday because the Independant ran a great feature on theatrical make-up and even had our beautiful Dystopia promo image as the front cover of The New Review, the Saturday supplement.





Click on the images to enlarge them and have a read of the article - it's very interesting and thought provoking.

We had the House of Blue Eyes show and the All Walks Beyond The Catwalk event on Friday and yesterday we created looks for A Child of the Jago fashion show at Wilton's music hall. The label is the brainchild of Joe Corre [of Agent Provocateur fame] and was attended by Vivienne Westwood, amongst others. Unfortunately, I didn't get the time to go! I am awaiting some images from the show though and will get those up as soon as I receive them.



By the way, has anyone read the 1896 Child of the Jago book by Arthur Morrison? It's a Dickens-esque novel about the life of street children in the Victorian slums. I read it as a comparison point to Oliver Twist when I was about 16 and it's a very beautiful [but brutal] analogy of the streets of London in the 19th century.

So a quick update on people:

Katie, our wonderful Product Development Manager has several top secret projects on the go for next seasons collection [ideas currently being bandied around] as well as the mascara expansion project and special products for our birthday and Christmas coming up [the celebrations begin on 31st October - I'll let you know more closer to the time but it's going to be awesome!]

Jennifer is currently managing our Sephora expansion - 27 stores at present and I can reveal that we now have a new one in Roseville, California due to launch in November! Exciting stuff.

Kate is in Birmingham today, assessing sites for our new counter and taking a look around Birmingham for marketing opportunities. I have only been out in Birmingham once but it was a great city with a fabulous night-time vibe and we really want to embrace that!

Jonathan, our Retail Operations Manager has been hard at work picking a brilliant team to head up the new Birmingham counter - new additions to the Illamasqua family! To think we only had 16 artists when we first launched... we have over 50 now, less than a year on!

Alex Box is really busy with the Fashion Weeks across the globe - Paris is the big one for her but we have still managed to squeeze some time in for an appearance at Selfridges Trafford on Saturday 3rd October - more details on that to follow!

We have some great events coming up for our first Birthday and with the excitement surrounding Dystopia, we will be sure to include demonstrations and get-the-looks across town. Plus, we have a new recruit to our Selfridges London freelance team that I think that some of you are going to be very excited to hear about....

Liquid Metal in Phenomena has landed...

We are finally in stock of Liquid Metal - Phenomena. I am so excited to see the feedback from this cult product, especially now the wintry days are kicking in [in London at least!]

Place your orders here...

All Walks Beyond The Catwalk

I was honoured last week to receive a call from Erin O Connor [yes, I did nearly faint at my desk! She is one of my all-time fave models!] to ask for our help in the All Walks Beyond The Catwalk shoot that was taking place on Friday 18th September.

The initiative, co founded by Erin and supported by the likes of influential fashion and culture figures as Rankin, Alexandra Schulman, Sarah Brown, Nick Knight, Giles Deacon, Twiggy, Sir Stuart Rose, Georgia Jagger, Tricia James, Deborah Milner and many more, All Walks Beyond the Catwalk aims to expand upon the range of professional models used in fashion imagery, by by celebrating individuality and diversity.

Nick Knight, legendary photographer and founder of SHOWstudio says, "It's very important that we question the parameters that define beauty. I'm thrilled to support the All Walks initiative."

Alexandra Shulman, editor of British Vogue agrees: "The most important thing is to have a confidence in what you are and not to feel that you have to be like someone else; thinner, younger, blonder. Originality is the greatest treasure."

Our philosophy at Illamasqua could not be more in tune with the points that both Nick and Alexandra raise; to celebrate ones individuality and not be fully directed by the latest trends, fads and pressures to conform to a certain ideal. Our underlying commitment to encouraging our customers to discover their inner selves, their alter egos and what makes them unique through a kaliedoscope of colourful make-up is our contribution to this. Rankin, photographer, says, "I wholly admire and support the endeavours of the All Walks Beyond the Catwalk campaign. As a photographer, I am constantly confronted by perceived ideals of beauty. Interest and creativity is not about perfection but quite the opposite; beauty comes from our idiosyncrasies."

London Fashion week showcased the launch of All Walks Beyond the Catwalk. The underlying purpose of the initiative creates a positive message for women of all shapes, sizes and ages to celebrate diversity.

The following words have been taken from www.allwalks.org, the official website of the initiative.

"On the 25th Anniversary of London Fashion Week, a groundbreaking new project, ‘All Walks Beyond the Catwalk’ will feature cutting edge designers showcasing a look from their spring/summer 10 collections on models, sizes 8-16 and ages 17-65.

Inspired by charity Beat and endorsed by the British Fashion Council co-founders Caryn Franklin, Debra Bourne, Erin O’Connor and Susan Ringwood, seek to engage the fashion industry in a conversation about body image and expand upon the imagery coming out of the heart of London Fashion Week.

Caryn Franklin explains, “This is about inclusivity. The traditional ready to wear method of design, with the model added at the end of the process makes it hard to accommodate individuality in shape and size. So this project is operating a bespoke approach. By giving each designer the opportunity to collaborate with the woman who will model the garment at London Fashion Week, we expand upon the expectations for ready to wear imagery. Curvy women are showcasing top design alongside slender women, as are young and mature models. The diversity is what we wanted.”

Sarah Brown, wife of Prime Minister Rt Hon Gordon Brown, comments, “London Fashion Week is all about celebrating British brilliance, and All Walks Beyond the Catwalk is a chance to be proud of British beauty. It brings together models of all colours, shapes, sizes and ages in a dazzling array that looks gorgeous – because it looks like Britain. It’s a reminder that true style and glamour know no boundaries – that each person can look radiant because each of us has a unique special something to cherish. I’m a huge fan of the initiative and very proud to lend it my support."

Sarah Watkinson, founder and director of 12+ UK Model Management comments, “It is a rarity for my models to be involved in London Fashion Week or a cutting-edge editorial. The simple reason is that designers don’t usually design for curvy models. The results speak for themselves.”

The All Walks Beyond the Catwalk event is the launch platform for an ongoing campaign to raise awareness, educate and celebrate the beauty of individuality and positive self-esteem - remembering that no two bodies are the same. The project has received support from key figures in the fashion industry including Twiggy, Rankin, Matthew Williamson, Giles Deacon, Mary Portas, Georgia Jagger and Sir Stuart Rose. It has also received support from the London Fashion Showcasing Fund.

We sent our artists Lucy, Amanda and Helen to help out Kay Montano on the shoot. With models including Jade Parfitt, the girls created looks that mirrored the i-D shoot that was in the previous months i-D magazine. I asked them what kind of products were hot behind-the-scenes...

Helen tells me: "I did several models' make-up ranging from a petite mixed race girl to a curvy knockout blonde; we created looks from natural through to sculptural. The girls loved Lipstick in 'Blaze' - a real candy orange that makes the lips pop. Erin and Caryn were both really nice - I loved how Erin came round and greeted everyone in a relaxed and friendly manner. It was nice to have such a relaxed vibe - most shoots are chaos!"


Check out the All Walks website at www.allwalks.org and log on to londonfashionweek.org for more details on the initiative.

House Of Blue Eyes - Get The Look

The androgynous/ futuristic/ Cleopatra/ Babylon/ Blade Runner-esque make-up was a work of art in itself. Alex Box tells me how she created the look...


Face

Smooth, glowing, glistening skin was the way forward. "As there was so much gold on the eyes, I needed to complement this with sparkling skin." Says Alex, "I mixed a small amount of Powdered Metal in 'Bebhionn' with Cream Foundation for the paler girls and Powdered Metal in 'Thalia' with Cream Foundation for the olive/ darker skins."

The face was heavily contoured with the Powdered Metals - 'Thalia' was used for a golden highlight whilst 'Erzule' was buffed in to cheekbones for an 80s, sculpted look. "These are the most versatile products" explains Alex, "They can be used on the body, face, cheeks... mixed with lipgloss creating a wonderful sparkling lip colour."

Eyes

The eyes were liberally painted with Liquid Metal in 'Solstice'. "We used a template by cutting some tape to mask the areas we didn't want to cover and then painted over this template. We then piled on the Liquid Metal in 'Solstice' with a foundation brush to create a smooth, even base of colour with which to contour on top."

Contouring was done with the Powdered Metals and a mix of Powder Eye Shadow in 'Lestat', 'Wolf' and 'Fallen' to create depth. Illuminator in 'Halcyon' was used to highlight under the brows and down the bridge of the nose and on the cupid's bow to catch the light.

Alex's trademark brow completed the look. "Mix a drop of Sealing Gel into Eyebrow Cake in 'Vehement' and stroke over the natural line of the brows using the Eyebrow Brush. Then go back over it and take the colour above and beyond the natual brow for a real Cleopatra look." Explains Alex, "balance this with the strong eye. We used False Lashes in number 15 on top for the spidery effect, and number 13s below to create a very open, framed eye."

Lips

To soften the effect of the strong eye, the lips were painted with a mixture of clear gloss [try Sheer Lipgloss in 'Brilliant'] and Cream Foundation. Some of the models had extravagant head gear on, and these guys had Liquid Metal in Solstice painted on for a pure molten mouth.

House Of Blue Eyes - The Fallout

What a cracking night at Jalouse on Friday 18th September! It was all hands on deck for the House of Blue Eyes "I Feel Love" Spring Summer 2010 show - I turned up at around 6:45pm [the show was due to start at 8] in my evening outfit [was going out after the show with some friends] and was immediately roped in by Alex to start painting the boys gold!
It got pretty mucky and by the end of it I was just coating the boys in moisturiser and showering them in gold glitter!

Alex Box, Aga, Helen and Halimah were all on hand to create the look of the night - so what was it?

A futuristic blend of Ancient Egypt and Babylon with a slice of Blade Runner thrown in!

Last Monday, you may recall that Alex and I went to visit Johnny Blue Eyes, the creator of The House of Blue Eyes, at his flat to work out looks for the show. I was holding back from showing you the pics as I didn't want to ruin the surprise of the look, but here is what Alex came up with that day. I can tell you now, I had a real sense of 'John Malkovich' seeing all the models looking identical to how I looked on Monday!

The host was Mahogany Hair Academy [owned by the lovely Richard] who created some fabulous gold locks and the atmosphere was one of bustling excitement. The models - who ranged from the winner of Britains Next Top Model Mecia and the runner-up Jade to tattooed 6ft 3 hunks - were all given individual spins on the key look of gold, gold and more gold!


Johnny told me on Monday that he wanted to create an atmosphere of optimism and disco with fierce make-up and directional, futuristic clothes in a palette of slick black and bold gold and variety of textures from soft knitwear to skintight spandex.

The models were eventually rounded up at around 8:40 and ushered to the street where they stamped down the road to the flash of the photographers cameras and the whoops of the city boys in the pub next door! After this, to the tune of 'Sing it back' by Moloko and, of course, 'I Feel Love' by Donna Summer.



The show was great because everyone was actually having fun, unlike how it seems at some fashion shows. Johnny did a couple of celebratory victory laps around the club at the end, Voguing like there was no tomorrow! Don't you just love the fabulous outfit [especially loving the gold codpiece...] and gold veil that Johnny rocked.

Everyone got up and had a boogie [including yours truly!] and then headed off for the after party in Shoreditch.

This was my first show and I absolutely loved it because it really celebrated why I became interested in make-up in the first place - it was about creating a look; an ideal and then building upon that to create your own individual, unique look that compliments who YOU are as a person. As Johnny told me " We are all beautiful and we are all beautifully different".

Couldn't put it better myself.

New York Fashion Week Beauty Looks Part 1

Oh my goodness, is style.com just the best website ever for fashion?! All the looks get uploaded so quickly it's unbelievable! Anyway, I stumbled across the Doo.Ri show, who I have never heard of before, but this dress has my name written all over it. Actually, if that was true, my bank manager would chase me out the country... but I'm smitten all the same.

I love the make-up, too. Chiselled cheekbones give a nod to the trend of everything 80s and the purple lips give it a very cool, individual twist.

I'm not a big fan of winter - no more throwing-on-a-sundress and sunglasses moments, we now have to *gasp* layer...! - and I hate the rainy days and leaving my house in the morning [and it's dark] and leaving the office at night [and it's dark] and having to take an umbrella on nights out... you get my drift. However, the one thing I love about this season? More excuses to turn the make-up a notch! Dark, thick brows and smoky gothic colours are what winter is all about.

I would use Lipstick in 'Fetish' for this look and for the gorgeous, statement brows I would try mixing a drop of Sealing Gel with Eyebrow Cake in 'Vehement'.

Update on Swatches on The Website

I know we have come under some critiscism for the swatches on our website. As reported a few weeks back, we are working on this! We don't have a set date when the new look swatches will be ready, but I will keep you informed on this however I think we are on track for November. They are looking really good and thanks to everyone for your patience!

Nail Art Competition: Update

We have been receiving a lot of unexpected feedback from members of the nail community in regards to the winner of our Nail Art Competition that was announced yesterday.

We set the competition up to encourage creativity and judged the competition purely on the nail art itself and not on the individual entrants. We had no idea that our decision would cause any offense and we were completely unaware of any issues such as this within the nail community.

Your opinions and thoughts are extremely important to us and after consulting with some top forum figures, we have decided to award the two runners up [Helen and Loungie] with the first prize.

Nail Art Competition : WINNERS!

The Runner's up [and winners of three Nail Varnishes from our core range] are...

Helen's Wonder Woman Alter Ego

This was such an unexpected and unique entry. Well done Helen! Helen also has an absolute must-read blog. Click here to check it out.


LoungiesPunk Rock Alter Ego

Such an imaginative use of self expression [and use of props!] and beautiful application has resulted in this absolutely wonderful entry.


And the winner is...

OriginalWacky's Naughty/Nice Alter Ego

Sophy and I just fell in love with this entry - the contrasting colours, the creative theme and the explanation in to how this look was obtained and the inspirations behind it meant that this is a very worthy winner. Originalwacky has won both of the new Nail Varnishes from the Dystopia collection and two Nail Varnishes of her choice from the core range.

Thanks to everyone for entering and if the winners can contact me at info@illamasqua.com to let me know what products they would like, I can get those sent out to you! Thanks also to Sophy Robson for judging the competition - it was great fun!

Ask An Artist: Porcelain Doll

The Porcelain Doll look is an iconic image now. We have had several questions as to how to recreate this look at home and so I asked Jon from Selfridges Trafford for his expert advice...

Jon: Start by applying Satin Primer all over the skin with the Foundation Brush to get a smooth, even and glowing finish. Then apply Cream Foundation in 100 or 110, depending on your skin tone and how porcelain you want to go! I find that using the Highlighter Brush to buff this product in gives the most flawless finish. Stipple the foundation over the brows to fade them out to fully replicate this look - the focus is on the lashes, not the brows. [nb: Alex Box likes to use soap and a toothbrush to press the eye shadow hairs against the skin to help them merge away!]

For the cheeks, apply Powder Blusher in 'Chased' under the cheekbones to faintly sculpt and work it up towards the temples, blending in to the hairline.

For the eyes, apply Powder Eye Shadow in 'Vision' all over the lid, then take the Powder Eye Shadow in 'Forgiveness' and apply all over the mobile lid and along the lower lash line. Apply Powder Eye Shadow in 'Wicked' to the inner and outer corners of the eye and along the lower lash line. Line the inner rims with Medium Pencil in 'Hex' for a natural colour that will make the whites of the eyes 'pop' - essential when using red and purple toned eye colours that can make eyes look a little bloodshot.

Take the False Eye Lashes '10' and apply several sets along the lower lash line for added impact. Heavily coat the top lashes with Volume Mascara in 'Harness'.

For the lips, line with Medium Pencil in 'Severe' and apply Sheer Lipgloss in 'Brilliant' for a glossy finish.



To book a lesson with Jon, call the Selfridges Trafford counter on 0161 629 1187