Illamasqua Loves... Lucy Gibson Make-up Artist

One of the things that I love about working at Illamasqua is hearing about all the shoots and shows that our artists have worked on. One of the hardest working freelancers I have met is Lucy Gibson. I frequently receive texts from her about who she is working with and where they are working - for instance, recently she has worked on diverse shoots such as the come-back video of Bananarama, Agent Provocateur's latest shoot and a SHOWStudio shoot with Nick Knight amongst many, many others.

So, I thought I would showcase some of Lucy's work right here for you all to see. I took inspiration from the berry lip girl today - I have layered on Medium Pencil in 'Severe' to match my new burgundy coat [I say new; my pregnant friend gave it to me... she can't fit in it anymore, what a shame!] - and Lucy has given me a breakdown of the look below...

"The berry lip girl is wearing Satin Primer (which I use for almost all shoots!) and a little light foundation, with 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 clear 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, who's 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 pay-off and great range of shades makes my job a lot easier, and needless to say my male flatmates never complain about having a house full of gorgeous models!"

"The dark, smoky eye was created for a Shoreditch clothing label called Blank, shot in the City with the fantastic Odi Caspi. Despite dodging heavy downpours of rain and having to adopt a somewhat guerilla approach to shooting to avoid the hoardes of rather unfriendly security guards, we managed to get some fantastic shots on the day!"

"Our stunning model Ashley had incredible blue eyes with a great fierce stare that I wanted to accentuate, so taking inspiration from the runways of Versace, I created a very dramatic smoky eye. I used Medium Pencil in 'Sophie' as an eyeshadow - drawing it onto the entire lid, waterline and below the eye, then using my fantastic Illamasqua Blending Brush I, II and the Eyeshadow Brush to disperse and blend the colour into a dramatic wing around the eye. I set this with Powder Eye Shadow 'Incubus' then added Powder Eye Shadow in 'Truth' to the brow bone right up to the eyebrow which was filled in with Illamasqua Powder Eyeshadow in 'Boomerang'. To finish I added lashings of Illamasqua Volume Mascara and a touch of Sheer Lipgloss in 'Brilliant' to the inner corners of the eye to give a tarry, rock chick look." [Note: Tarry! Awesome word for the look I think *mentally adds to dictionary*...]

"The skin was created using Satin Primer again, with Cream Foundation buffed into the skin using Blending Brush II (I love using this brush with foundation, it really gets into all the "nooks and crannies" giving the fantastic coverage of our foundation, but with the texture and feel of natural skin). I contoured the cheeks with a darker shade of Cream Foundation (this will differ from person to person, ask one of Illamasqua's fabulous on counter artists to match your skin tone!) before finishing the look with another of my favourite products, Lipstick in 'Submit', pressed into moisturised lips with the finger tip."

On an all day shoot like this, it's important to use longwearing products, especially in the rain, and luckily with Illamasqua's range I don't have to compromise my creativity for durability :)"

Ask An Artist: Vitiligo

Leena from Selfridges Trafford has very kindly answered this weeks question. Leena has worked for Illamasqua since the counter launch at Selfridges Trafford back in February and has unbelievable product knowledge. She has worked with brands suc as Oasis, Al Saints and USC as well as at the Clothes Show Live. She also wrote some tips and tricks for Anjana Gosai's [the Beauty editor of Asiana magazine] 'Ultimate Guide to Beauty'. To book a make-up lesson with Leena, call Selfridges Trafford on 0161 629 1187 and to read her full biography click here.


I have vitiligo, so my skin is beige with patches of white. What do you recommend I use to match my original skin tone and completely cover the white spots while still looking natural and not made-up?

Leena says: "Basically, you need your base to look as natural as possible. I'm a bit of an expert at camouflage make-up as I myself suffer from vitiligo."


I'm Asian, with a very tanned skin tone, so the white patches are very white - I've helped many people with vitiligo and other skin problems whilst on counter and I have got it down to a fine art now! I use Light Liquid Foundation to give me a sheer, natural even base rather than using a heavy foundation which people seem to think will cover up skin problems.
Then I use our high-definition ready Concealer with Blending Brush 1 or 2 and buff over the vitiligo patches using a small amount of the Concealer in small circular movements.


After setting with a powder [I love our Loose Powder for it's finely milled texture] go over the patches again using the same Concealer and brush, but this time stipple the Concealer over the top to camouflage completely. Re-set with powder if necessary.