Alex Box By Rankin - The Fallout

Several of us are nursing Champagne induced hangovers today - always the sign of a great night - and have been gossiping about the Alex Box by Rankin book and exhibition launch all morning.

Sam Chapman of Pixiwoo fame, Talita from theglossgoss, Helen from Helen and Sheenie's Nice Things, Ian from Diary of a Fashion Mister , Sophy Robson, the gorgeous Tricia Woolston, Johnny Blue Eyes, Anouck Lepere, Rankin, Tuli, Erin O Connor, George Lamb, Jefferson Hack, Gareth Pugh ... lots of familiar faces were present to witness Alex's finest moment - a collection of stunning images that she has been working on for over two years. I felt very priviledged to witness Alex's special moment... but I'll start at the beginning!

The plan was to leave at 6. . .

... the plan was to leave at 6. . .

... but girls being girls in an office full of make-up ...

... so at 7pm [!], Kate, Katie, Halimah and I hailed a cab and were whisked off to the gorgeous contemporary gallery/ studio space of the one and only Rankin , the newly built Annroy Gallery in Kentish Town.

As you walk up to the gallery, you are confronted with two images that seductively lure you in to the gallery - as it is all glass fronted, we could see that the crowd inside was already pretty big and it turns out we arrived about a minute after Alex has made her grand entrance!

She looked her usual kooky glam self in skintight Gareth Pugh and top hat and what I suspect were those headlining monochrome Chanel tights...

After grabbing a quick glass of champagne [which seemed to magically stay full for the next three hours....hmm] I managed to grab a few words with all the bloggers that I had invited to come along - everyone seemed genuinely thrilled to be there and be a part of Alex's triumphant night. I can't begin to comprehend how stressful the past few days must have been for Alex!

After about half an hour, Gareth Pugh made a grand entrance with a bunch of red balloons and after congratulating Alex on the exhibition, he handed the balloons over to her. She spent the rest of the night holding them so you always knew where she was!

I spent most of the night chilling with Gillian, Francesco and Mika from the Selfridges Oxford St counter and the Head Office staff - Julian, Illamasqua's Chairman and his PA Jo even made it down so it was lovely to see them, as well.

So a bit more about the images! To understand the full magnitude, I suggest you get down to the exhibition - which runs until 22nd December - or check out the book which is available to buy from today.

By using a variety of different mediums - including Illamasqua make-up, pigments, poster paint and post-its! - Alex pushes the boundaries of make-up application and conventional techniques and uses the face as a canvas with which to create innovative, thought provoking and sometimes radical art. No rules, so to speak.

You can really see Alex's art school [not make-up school!] trained obsessions about fantasy, science, environment, fashion and illustration jumping out at you from the canvases - it's powerful stuff. From strongly sculpted, directional images to impressionist-like images, there is something here that will make even the most jaded art critic go "wow!"

So what sort of gossip do I have for you? Well, there was some cracking outfits, funnily enough! There was also lots of directional make-up. Kate, Halimah and I rocked the new coloured lashes that are to be released on 31st October - in time for our birthday celebrations! We have three sets; one that is shot with purple 22, one that is shot with green [no. 23] and one that is shot with pink [no. 24] I had so many compliments on them [even some girls on the tube on the way home!] that I think these may soon replace number 19s as my favourite!

How cute did Katie look? Halimah created her look for the night and it looked stunning. I'll ask Halimah to do a look break down at some point!

Mika was modelling his new undercut...


I also saw a girl with a painted face mask and crystals around the edges which looked terrific - unfortunately I didn't take as many photos as I should have, something to do with the lack of canapes and abundance of champagne I am inclined to think!

Johnny Blue Eyes [from the House of Blue Eyes] turned up dressed as Jesus [!] with a full-on crown of thorns and stigmata!

I had a really, really great night and would like to thank Rankin and his team for pulling together and hosting a wonderful event.

Alex will be at the Illamasqua counter in Selfridges Oxford St on the 5th November to sign copies of Alex Box by Rankin.

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.

London Fashion Week is A-Coming...

London Fashion Week is coming and this is the first time we have dipped our toe in! The House of Blue Eyes is a show that promises to be wacky, fun and totally individual, so we just had to get involved with this.

Today I had a meeting with Johnny [the brilliantly extrovert stylist and founder of House of Blue Eyes] and Alex Box to discuss looks for the show. We didn't have a model, so yours truly got to sit down and have Alex create a look that will reference the ambience and theatrical splendour of the outfits that will be paraded on Friday night.

I can't give much away [obv!] but be prepared for a full report [and a pic of me in the test shoot make-up!] next week. Last year, Johnny persuaded Kate Moss, Beth Ditto and Alice Dellal to walk for him, so who knows who will be stalking the catwalk this time around...

Check out Johnny's work at http://www.houseofblueeyes.com/collections