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....

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

Alex Box Masterclass - Dare To Be Different: Part 1

Such an amazing event definitely needs two parts!

After a hectic set-up [Jonathan is still getting over it!] we set the scene in the Exhibition Room at Selfridges inky black table cloths, black chairs and white lillies with a place setting for each guest complete with canapes and Champagne.

We recreated the counter on two tables and with the majority of our products now in stock, it made for some impressive photos...

We had two make-up artists per table and so that made one artist per two guests. Below is Mika meeting Talita. Talita has written a great review of the night, so if you want to read someone elses view on the night, click here.

After a few minutes of getting-to-know-you, Alex Box picked up the brush and began working on her model namely: me. Sitting in front of 20+ people with no make-up on my face is something that only tends to occur in my deepest, darkest nightmares so this began as a slightly uncomfortable experience, however when you have a make-up artist legend creating a look on you, you learn to relax pretty quickly!

Alex started at the beginning, discussing tips and tricks of the trade when it came to applying primers and a base. After a few minutes of demonstration, she asked the artists at the tables to demonstrate how best to apply the base on to the skin of their clients. Of course, everyone is different and this was all about a tailored approach.


After creating a suitable base on one half of the guests faces, the guests then applied the make-up for the other half taking on board both the artists and Alex Box's advice. Once everyone had their bases done, Alex began to discuss contouring, highlighting and colour suitable for the face.

After everyone had created the look the wanted, with the help and encouragement of their artists [and with the 4th bottle of champagne readily flowing...] Alex moved on to the use of colour on the eyes. She created an extreme look on me and it was up to the individual guests on how far they pushed their own boundaries!
Above and below is Helen [whose personal style I absolutely ADORE by the way...] and her two guests.


After this it was all systems go as everyone started to go a bit wild with the colour and create some fabulous and original looks - it was great to see how everyones personalities translated through their make-up. To me, this is what make-up is all about.

Welcome To The Illamasqua Blog Page!

Hello and thanks for checking out the Illamasqua blog! This blog aims to bring you not only the latest news, events, gossip and development from the world of Illamasqua, but also endeavours to give you a glimpse into the hectic and fun world of cosmetics – introduce you to the team, see who does what and show you how a beauty company works.

Illamasqua is a privately owned company, based in London [where else?!] and have only been retailing since November 2008.

Celebrated make-up artist Alex Box is our Artistic Director and artist Anja Huwe former frontwoman of German goth band X Mal Deutschland and David Vanian, lead singer of the legendary Damned both had a big input into the creative development of Illamasqua.

There are normally nine of us in the main Head Office [I say normally as we are always constantly on the move and I think the last time we were all in the same office at the same time was about a month ago now!] and they are:

Julian – Chairman and founder...

Kate – Marketing and Product Director...

Carl – Managing Director
Katie – Product Development Manager
Crispian – Customer Service Executive
Maurice – HR Manager

Jonathan – Retail Operations Manager
Lucy – Intern

And me – Alex – Marketing Assistant. I will be writing most of these blogs so if you want to get in contact with me, just leave a comment on the post and I will be sure to read it.

For more information on our in-store artists, visit www.illamasqua.com and follow the About Us link to find details of our Manchester and London artists. Details on artists at the newer counters will be uploaded soon.

For a more thorough background of who we are and what we represent, check out the website at www.illamasqua.com - there are also some beautiful images on there and to quote Napoleon Bonaparte [why not, eh] A picture tells a thousand words…