The Makeup Mole

By starting my blog, I have discovered a few strange things about myself that I didn’t know before: I don’t like writing in the afternoon, I’m obsessed (and probably always will be) with Shu Uemura eyelash curlers, I’ve never met a primer that I didn’t think was a load of old bollocks , and I have a secret, unexplored fetish for nail polish. Bizarre in that I have no desire to wear it myself (can’t be bothered), but I absolutely love all the colors it comes in. So when I found out about this new nail polish comp from Illamasqua, I just had to let you know.

They are launching a global competition to discover the ‘It’ colour of 2010 – right up there with the Chanel nail stars like Jade and Particuliere. Simply send in your entry describing in 50 words or less why your color should be the one. Include an image or photo of the idea (the grey of your cat’s tail, the inside of a crocus, your favourite cupcake frosting – whatever floats your boat), and the winning idea will be put into production and sold at Selfridges around the UK by October 2010. The judges are indeed a stellar line-up – the world’s most creative makeup artist Alex Box, manicurist to the stars Sophy Robson, and Pixiwoo, the YouTube makeup artists who leave Lauren Luke in the dust.

Get those thinking caps on fellas!

Last night was the champagne fueled and much anticipated launch of makeup artist Alex Box’s amazing new book, The Makeup Artist, with photographer Rankin.

At the Annroy gallery in North London over 400 of the city’s fashion luminaries were there to mark the occasion. Jefferson Hack, Anouk Lepere and Erin O’ Connor were just a few of the fashion pack who came to admire Alex’s incredible makeup artistry. Blown up and super-sized it was possible to really admire her attention to detail and her extraordinary imagination. It is the first publication and exhibition of her work – if you want to see makeup without boundaries, this is it! The exhibition is on at the Annroy Gallery, Kentish Town, from the 23rd October to the 23rd November, and the book is published by Turnaround and retails for £50. For any lovers of the divine Miss Box’s work – and they are legion! This book is a must-have.

Alex Box is creative director of Illamasqua Cosmetics and her editorial work can regularly be seen in V, Numero and Vogue.

Selfridges, Oxford Street, London

The genius makeup artist Alex Box is doing her first master class for her eponymous line, the wonderful Illamasqua, at Selfridges on Friday July 3^rd (6-8 pm), and Saturday July 4^th (11-1pm).  The class costs £20, redeemable in product, and places are filling fast so if you want to go you’d better call them NOW on 0207 318 3788.

Having seen Alex work I can tell you that you are in for a real treat – she is an absolute master at what she does. To get you in the mood, here is another of her Illamasqua videos, the Siren.

Also don’t forget to check out their new blog at www.illamasqua.blogspot.com

Major makeup artist Alex Box demonstrates how to do smoky eyes the Illamasqua way.

It was hard to choose which brand to look at first in an in-depth way because there are so many great ones, but I have chosen Illamasqua a)because it’s new, and b) because it’s ace.

It’s a UK brand (the first UK beauty brand to launch in 16 years!) that launched in November in Selfridges in London and has done so well that this week alone they have opened counters in Dublin, Newcastle and Glasgow. The next move is to open in the US, but until then our American cousins can buy from their internet site, (as of today!) at www.illamasqua.com.

One of the things I love about it is that it’s such an extensive range – 842 products, to be exact. The pigmentation is quite frankly unrivalled as the products have the heft of a theatrical product but amazing blendability – plus the color selection is extraordinary. If you are a fan of a MAC, you seriously need to check out Illamasqua. To my mind it’s what MAC used to be back in the day before when they first started – remember those rugby scrums on counter to get a Spice lipliner? Good times!

The line itself has been designed to go as far as you want to go with it. It has quite a gothic, sub-culture bent which lends itself to extreme makeup, so you know whatever you’re looking for you will find. The creative director is the amazing makeup artist Alex Box and she brings to the line her painterly approach and unique editorial eye. Alongside her work with Illamasqua  she can be found shooting magazines like Vogue, W and Visionaire with photographers like Karl Lagerfeld and Nick Knight, and doing shows for Gareth Pugh and Alexander McQueen, so she really knows what she is doing!

Her sensibility comes clearly through the line in her extensive use of color and the rich pigmentation. They have fabulous eyeshadows (and if you’re a bright eyeshadow fan, is this the place for YOU!), great blushes, amazing lashes, a nailpolish range designed by manicurist to the stars, Glenis Baptiste that will seriously rock your socks off, and matte lipsticks that are both creamy and dense, plus they come (apart from the normal stuff like red, pink, orange etc), in black, white, gold and silver. Makeup happiness found here!

The star product from their new Sirens collection for me would have to be the Liquid Gold, a shimmering gold crème. What I like about it is that it’s not too yellow, it’s more of a burnished color – none of that nasty Goldmember business!

The foundations and powders I have yet to try but what I do love about them is that the foundation comes in 21 shades from purest white to almost black, and I do love a line that recognizes that not everybody is the colour of a melted Barbie doll and has something for everyone.

The coverage on the foundations and powders is definitely on the fuller side as the range was designed to be a night-time, going out range. My style is generally more about seeing the texture of the skin, but when you are doing a very full makeup it is necessary since the style of Illamasqua makeup is almost reconstructive. It’s not about enhancing your natural prettiness as much as it is about creating a brand new face – whatever that fantasy face might be! For editorial work though the Rich Liquid foundation has better coverage than MAC Full Coverage foundation, and the Light Liquid is like a heavier version of MAC’s Face and Body (which I love). And a lot of the color products (like eyshadow, blush and lipstick) are matte, which is wonderful as you can always add shimmer but you can’t take it away. They do lovely shimmer pigments and creams which can be added to any of the makeup (including nailpolishes), but it’s nice to have a range that wasn’t designed with a disco ball in mind.

Basically it’s pretty much makeup nirvana!