Arizona Muse

I am so into pink at the moment. Pink eyeshadow, cheeks, and definitely lips. Don’t ask me why – I didn’t get it from the recent show season but perhaps a spot of pink is in the air, as October’s Paris Vogue features this divine pic of Arizona Muse looking, well, Pretty in Pink to say the least.

Maybe because it makes you fresh and amazing, even when you roll out of bed looking half-dead. Maybe because it suits everybody and we associate it with the bloom of youth, and flowers. Or maybe because it’s an excuse to post this video of a film I watched MANY times back in the 80’s, when we all wanted red hair and a pink wardrobe like Molly Ringwald:

So my picks for Best in Show. First let’s be clear, in all my years of makeup I’ve not had a pink moment before. So my pink stocks are low. Dangerously low. Worryingly low. Which I’m in the process of rectifying at the moment, but it’s taking a while. For some reason I’ve always got by without an extensive collection of pink lipsticks – I have a few and I just kind of cook stuff up out of my cream makeup or my pencils. But now I want flirty pinks, 60’s pinks, lady like pinks – hell, even scary nanna pinks can be great if you rock them with the right attitude (and wardrobe). So without further ado, here’s what I have been experimenting with in the pink department:

Chanel Rouge Coco Lipshine in Boy – Boy oh boy is all I can say. This one is going in my kit AND in my handbag as it’s the perfect little nothing mouth – insouciante but done at the same time. That ladylike polish you want from a lipstick when you don’t want to commit to full on colour. Now I know what the fuss about the Chanel Rouge Coco Shines is about. Sheeny, moisturizing, not pearly but gives your mouth a lift. It’s a grey-ish pink as opposed to a full on one, but I happen to love that (so there).

Chantecaille Powder Blush in Laughter. Chantecaille blushes are awesome and I’ve been meaning to blog about them for ages. This one is gorgeous as it has a gold shimmer in it, so the cheek area gets a very subtle iridescence (indisputably flattering). This has been in my personal makeup bag for awhile.

NARS Baby Doll Lip Lacquer – No one understands baby doll pink like NARS – this gloss in a pot has been around for over a decade yet it’s still as fresh and fabulous as when it was launched. Do use if you want your lips to look like sweet, shiny petals.

Chanel Blush in Rose Ecrin – the latest addition to my Chanel wardrobe arsenal, and these make my job hard – as in hard to choose which ones to use. This is the perfect mauvey pink which is surprisingly flattering – and gorgeous for those with blue eyes. It’s quite a sophisticated pink so I think this might be my blush colour for Christmas parties (although I haven’t quite decided yet. I’ve penciled in some time to think about it over the weekend).

Chanel Poudre Tisee in Brompton Road, from the current Knightsbridge collection. Strawberry pink and shimmering pearl powder luminser, mm-hmm, oh no you DIDN’T. Oh yes Chanel did. Kay Montano sent me one from London but it’s too gorgeous to use. I can’t bear to ruin the sweet texture of it and those interlocking C’s. I may have to get drunk to do so. I don’t have to use it to know it’s divine. (Plus now with the magic of the internet I can see swatches from other bloggers and it is heaven in a compact).

Illamasqua Collide Nailpolish – One of the things I love most about Illamasqua is their hot nail colours, and a hot nail is a great look for the summer party season, which is just around the corner. This is an amazing shocking pink.

Bobbi Brown Creamy Lipcolour in Dry Rose – This is one of my favourite lip colours of all time for your lips but better – it looks like nothing special in the tube but when it’s on, well you know about it. I’m a huge fan of Your Lips But Better (wow, I may trademark that) lip colours. Laura Mercier’s Baby Lips is another nice one.

Revlon Mock Snob Top Speed nail colour – my favourite colour of the season! Speaking of crazy nanna colours, this is just the one. It looks like a polish colour from 1963, a shrimp cocktail peachy pink that would look perfect poolside in a Frank Lloyd Wright home overlooking LA. Imagine Betty Draper in Season 4 of Mad Men (her nails, not the brittle vindictive crazy).

NARS Schiap lipstick – the best fuchsia around. Exactly the colour of Schiaparelli’s Shocking Pink – she invented it, don’t you know. I love this lipstick quite matte without gloss and a simple, elegant eye for tout le soirees de Noel.

But I’m still on the look out for more pink divinity – if you guys have any pink favourites, please comment below!

chanel.com

illamasqua.com

revlon.com

bobbibrowncosmetics.com | bobbibrown.com.au

esteelauder.com | esteelauder.com.au

NARS and Chantecaille are available at Mecca Cosmetica in Australia and Space NK in the UK.

This is, quite literally, a hot polish. It’s a fluoro orange colour that’s so bright that it hurts your eyes, and it’s exactly what I need at the moment. I’m in desperate need of a holiday and I’ve been quitting caffeine, so when you’re tired and the only vices you have left, are well, nailpolish and other assorted beauty items, you want them to be retina searingly fun. And Gamma is that. It’s the type of polish that looks like Gidget in Hawaii on acid, and I for one am currently in need of both (well, Gidget in Hawaii yes– less so the acid part.)

Roll on les vacances!

www.illamasqua.com

Wine lips aren’t just for winter

For ages I’ve been wanting to write a post about wine coloured lipsticks as they’ve been having a moment in my kit the last few months, but recently I’ve been crushing on other colours too – pinks and raspberries and fuchsias.

So I thought – let’s cover them all off in one big sangria drenched lip festival!

Wine Lips

From deep claret to almost black bordeauxs, and into chocolates and blackberries, I love a deep, opulent rich lip.

Favourite lipsticks for this are:

• MAC Lipmixes – to mix up your favourite shade
• Illamasqua Growl and Poison
• NARS Velvet Matte Pencils in Damned and Cruella
• NARS Lipstick in Scarlet Empress
• YSL Rouge Pur Couture in 8
• Estee Lauder Pure Colour in Plum Couture

Pinks and Sangrias

A deep, bold claret lip is not always appropriate, let’s be real. Sometimes one wants a stain, or more of a juicier version. Lighter-bodied lipsticks include:

• MyFace Strawberry Fields and Cherry Bomb
• Chanel Ballet Russes
• Clinique Black Honey (this has iconic status in Lip Lovers’ World)
• MAC Plumful

Fuchsia

This is my current hot colour preference for a statement lip – nothing says you got it goin’ on like a hot fuchsia. My current go-tos are:

• Illamasqua Atomic
• Tom Ford Perfect Pink
• NARS Schiap

If you want to go for a glossy version of the above, a clear gloss would suffice (I’m a MAC lipglass in Clear fan myself) or you could punch up a wine lip with the following glosses:

• MyFace Lip Pop Gloss in Crazy in Love
• Bobbi Brown Rich Colour Lip Gloss in Pink Raspberry
• NARS Hot Wired or Easy Lover for pinks
• NARS Rose Birman for Wine

When wearing a strong lip, you can either dab the lipstick on with your fingers for a casual take on the look, or layer on at least two coats using a good lipbrush (I like the Shu Uemura Lip Brush). If you find you have an unsteady hand, a matching lipliner can be useful for giving a super precise, finished look.

Photo by Jacie at www.youvegotnail.com

Today we have a special treat as I have an interview with the Founder and Joint MD of Illamasqua, Julian Kynaston. Recently named as the fastest growing makeup company EVER, he has good reason to be proud of the cult UK makeup brand that he started a little over two years ago and has taken the world, quite literally, by storm. It has heralded in a new era of pride in the art of wearing makeup – not just through the arresting visuals (part of the genius of their Creative Director, Alex Box), but in the incredible pigment pay off of the products that allows you to play and experiment in completely unique way. Other makeup companies have had this ethos in the past, but now most counters on the makeup floor play it pretty safe – but never Illamasqua! Here’s what Julian had to say when I spoke to him:
 
1. What prompted you to create Illamasqua?

People told me that the only way to make an impact in the global make up market was to have in excess of 25 million pounds or take 25 years. We had neither but love a challenge. We believe in out-thinking and not outspending competition

2. Why did you get involved with the Sophie Lancaster foundation?

We were setting out to build a brand which would empower women to wear make up louder and bolder than ever before and for men to wear make up way beyond the cliche of eyeliner and concealer. Somewhere else Sophie Lancaster was killed for being a Goth – murdered for the way she chose to look and live her life. It felt natural to work with Sophie’s mum Sylvia to help build the charity and spread the message to Stamp Out Prejudice Hatred and Intolerance Everywhere ( S.O.P.H.I.E)

3. How did Joe Corre come to be involved with Illamasqua?

When Joe sold Agent Provocateur he wanted to launch a make up brand. Joe was introduced to Illamasqua and thought ‘wow’. He decided to play with us as our ideas were exactly the same as his ambitions for doing something very different in a very safe sector.

4. What’s coming up next for Illamasqua?

More own stores, fragrance (Joe Correis leading this, having already achieved rare commercial success with the first fragrance at Agent Provocateur) and as with Illamasqua… more and more inspiration for those who crave it.

5. What do you like doing in your spare time?

Thinking up ideas for Illamasqua, walking, shopping, Tweeting.

www.illamasqua.com

Makeup by Kay Montano

Thandie Newton (this month’s UK Instyle cover girl) looked even more breathtaking than usual at last week’s Met Ball. Seriously, does the woman ever age? Wearing a black lace bespoke Stella Macartney gown she had her makeup done by her long-time makeup artist, Kay Montano. Here’s what Kay used:

Foundation: Olay Touch of Foundation

Powder: Illamasqua Loose Powder in LP235

Blush: MyFace Cosmetics blush in A Her Name is Rio

Eyes

• MyFace EyeTouch Eyeshadow trio in Midnight Hour
• MyFace Hi-Def Pencil in Black
• Chanel Inimitable Obscure mascara in Black
• Chanel Ecriture de Chanel black liner

Lips: MyFace Lip Pop gloss in 136

By now you’d have to have been living in a yurt in Outer Mongolia to have missed seeing the incredible campaign images from Illamasqua’s newest collection, Toxic Nature (Creative Director Alex Box in Uber box Mode on this one!)

Check out what went on behind the scenes..

I have to confess to not being a fan of Valentine’s Day generally – well not the sickly sweet chocolates and teddy bears version (unless you’re five, when it’s therefore age-appropriate and OK). Otherwise, really the flying cupids draped in red velvet and the love hearts on everything are just twee and make me feel vaguely ill.

Come on, we’re all grown ups, right? So in the spirit of Valentine’s Day in the raciest sense of the word, I bring you an Agent Provocateur video I worked on a couple of years ago, with the unbelievable Rosie Huntington-Whiteley playing the woman scorned. Fabulous director Greg Williams wrote and directed it, Kay Montano was on makeup, and Johnnie Sapong (one of my favourite hairdressers) was on hair. The set was closed (you’ll see why when you watch it!) and the AP underwear – well it speaks for itself.

Here’s my beauty recipe for a dangerous Valentine’s day – the kind you’re really looking forward to…

For a touchable body I’m loving Liz Earle’s delicious new Energising Body Lotion with Damask Rose Flower Water and Sweet Orange Oil (this is as sweet as this recipe gets).

For a sultry gaze, mix up MAC Smolder and Coffee eye khols and add a little bit of grease like Vaseline or Elizabeth Arden’s 8 Hour Cream. Not loads but enough to give it that just-been rumpled look. Add lots of Lancome Hypnose mascara for some serious bedroom eyes.

Cheeks should be softly blushed – I like a good cream blush. Becca make a fab selection of cream blushes that look amazing on – particular faves are Geranium, Turkish Rose, Wild Orchid and Amaryllis.

To gild your body I like Illamasqua’s Ether Powdered Metal, which provides a golden glow for fair skins whilst Powdered Metal in Thalia is beautiful on darker skins.

Nails also must be Illamasqua this Valentine’s as they have the best polishes around – I’ll be using Throb, a deep blood red, or Load, which is well, a gorgeous creamy, milky colour.

No Valentine’s day would be complete without a kiss! Dab on Myface Gigabyte Lipstick in Strawberry Fields or Cherry Bomb, and add a touch of their Lip Pop gloss in 136 for lips that would give Rosie a run for her money.

Let Rosie be your Valentine… or else!

www.lizearle.com | www.maccosmetics.com | www.lancome.co.uk | www.beccacosmetics.com | www.illamasqua.com | www.myfacecosmetics.com

Because this is the site with no shame, and because I haven’t had any cheesily fabulous 80’s music on here for awhile, here’s some Spandau Ballet to ease you into this season’s hottest trend for holiday parties – Gold.

Now that I’ve blown your mind with some feathered hair and ostentatious guitar chord playing (check around the 1.23 mark if you’re into that sort of thing), it’s time to get down to business, how to shimmer like a star this Christmas.

The best way to wear golds is generally on the eyes – although this season there are some ace gold nailpolishes around too (but more on them later).

Gold suits every eye colour and in fact every skintone, and metallics in general are huge this season.

My fave way to wear gold on the eyes is to layer a cream with a powder, and for full-on Midas eyes you can’t really go past Illamasqua’s Solstice Liquid Metal with Pure Pigment in Marvel. This is what Alex Box used to create the Golden Goddess look for the Myer show in Sydney this year, and I can attest to its – well, golden-ness. I love these because the gold isn’t too yellow and fake looking, and they have a burnished quality when they catch the light (golds that are too fake and yellow looking make me feel, quite frankly, ill. So cheap and nasty!)

If you fancy something a little less full-on, Laura Mercier does a lovely gold metallic crème eyeshadow in, aptly enough, Gold, and Chanel do a beautiful gold powder eyeshadow. It’s also, funnily enough, called Gold.

There are a few tricks to making metallics work. Firstly you need to apply your shadow, then line your eyes right at the base of the top lashes with a black liquid liner or gel eyeliner. This defines the eye and makes it much more party-worthy. Black or brown pencil liner on the inner rims is optional, depending on whether you really want to get your sexy on. I like MAC’s Boot Black liquid and Bobbi Brown’s Black Ink gel liner for this purpose. You can either just do a wash of gold on the lids, or you can use a nice matte brown shadow to wash into the crease to give some good depth and definition (I’m currently loving NARS Bengali as a great all round chocolate brown eyeshadow). Two coats of your favourite mascara (my current fave mazzie is L’Oreal’s Volume Million Lashes mascara for a party lash), and false lashes are optional but always a winner for parties. MAC and Shu Uemura are great for expensive ones, Ardell if you’re saving your pennies.

You can keep the rest of the face simple by using the minimum of foundation and powder, some bronzer and keep the lip a delicious nude. I love YSL Rouge Pur in 132 a gorgeous golden pinky beige. Golden-beige gloss on top, something like Chanel’s Beige Guitare.

Nails

Nails are also a key place to go for gold. Myface L’il Bling is an amazing new range of metallic polish, and their gold polish is particularly lovely (it’s called Gilt-y). For the ultimate gold nail though you should check out Nail Rock. Nail Rock are individual nail wraps in different patterns, including metallics, that you heat up with a hair dryer onto the nail. They do take a bit of getting used to, but for a true Midas touch, you can’t go past these. They are the creation of London manicurist Zoe Pocock and they last up to 7 days on nails and 8 weeks on the toes, plus they are inexpensive (£6.50 per set), so there’s no excuse for not going for gold. (Feathered hair and ostentatious guitar playing are optional).

www.illamasqua.com
www.chanel.com
www.narscosmetics.com
www.lauramercier.com
www.maccosmetics.com
www.yslbeautyus.com
www.myfacecosmetics.co.uk

Nail Rock are available from www.asos.com or Topshop, and Sportsgirl in Australia.

This is a lady who really needs no introduction, and I am very proud to include her in my Interviews. She is the most creative of makeup artists, the Creative Director of Illamasqua Cosmetics and a regular contributor to Italian Vogue, I-D, Numero and Harper’s Bazaar, to name but a few. She works with photographers like Nick Knight and Karl Lagerfeld and her work is renowned across the world for it’s completely iconoclastic and other-worldly approach to beauty. It’s makeup, but not as we know it.

On a personal level I have assisted Alex for over six years now in London, Paris (and even Sydney!) and she really is magic with a brush. Her makeup truly is art, and she is still one of the most wonderful, down to earth (and hilarious!) people I know. Without further ado, I give you The Interview:

1) What are you working on at the moment?

MY DRAWINGS. RESEARCHING AND COLLECTING MY THOUGHTS TOGETHER FOR ILLAMASQUA’S SPRING SUMMER COLLECTION AND TOP SECRET PROJECT THAT COMES OUT NEXT YEAR, BOTH INCREDIBLY EXCITING. I’M ALWAYS JOTTING DOWN IDEAS OR DRAWING LOOKS ON THE BACK OF SOMETHING OR IN MY SKETCH BOOK, I’VE ALWAYS WRITTEN INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES OR WORDS TO PROMPT ALTERNATIVE AVENUES OF THOUGHT, INSTEAD OFJUST CUTTING OUT PICTURES ALL THE TIME, BECAUSE I FEEL LIKE IT ALLOWS YOU TO GO OFF IN YOUR OWN WORLD MORE. MY HOUSE LOOKS LIKE A CRAFT SHOP AT THE MOMENT AND I KEEP FINDING DOUBLE SIDED GLITTER TAPE IN THE MOST UNUSUAL PLACES!

2) Favourite makeup job ever?

THATS EXTREMELY HARD, I ALWAYS LIKE TO SAY ‘THE BEST ONE IS THE NEXT ONE’, I DONT LOOK BACK MUCH, I’M ALWAYS THINKING ABOUT HOW MY OWN PRACTICE COULD EVOLVE AND BE IMPROVED OR FIND A NEW TECHNIQUE , THE HOLY GRAIL OF MAKEUP, THE PERFECT MOMENT. AS A BODY OF WORK DOING THE BOOK WAS DEFINITELY A FAVOURITE, IT WAS AN OPEN SKETCH BOOK, I TURNED UP AND WHATEVER WAS IN MY HEAD THAT DAY, THAT’S WHAT WE SHOT…THEN I WOULD GO HOME AND WORK ON THE DRAWINGS. I THINK ALONE DRAWING AND BEING ALONE PAINTING ON A MODEL AND BEING INSPIRED BY HER FACE AND ENERGY IS MY FAVOURITE…

3) Top 5 products?

THAT QUESTION ALWAYS FREAKS ME OUT BECAUSE I NEVER USE THE SAME THINGS OVER AND OVER, I’M A MAGPIE AND A HOARDER AND WILL USE BEAUTIFUL PIGMENTED LUXURY MAKEUP AT THE SAME TIME AS CHEAP HORROR KIDS FACE PAINTS…FORCED TO CHOSE I’D SAY…..

• ILLAMASQUA EYESHADOWS AND BLUSHERS
• ILLAMASQUA SATIN PRIMER
• MAC BEAUTY POWDERS
• LAURA MERCIER SECRET BRIGHTEN POWDERS
• BLACK AND LOVELY COLOURED HAIR SPRAYS

4) Best makeup tip ever?

BOLDNESS OF ATTACK, LET YOUR MIND AND SPIRIT BE FREE, THERE ARE ‘NO RULES’, YOU ARE YOUR OWN CREATION.

5) How did you get started in the business?

I WAS AN ARTIST WORKING PRIMARILY ON INSTALLATIONS USING THE BODY AS THE CENTER OF THE ART, AND MY FRIEND INTRODUCED ME TO A FASHION DESIGNER WHO USED DANCERS INSTEAD OF MODELS MUCH LIKE LEIGH BOWERY AND MICHEL CLARK. I DESIGNED THE MAKEUP LOOK FOR THE SHOW AND THROUGH OTHER PEOPLE SEEING MY WORK IN THAT CONTEXT I BECAME A MAKEUP ARTIST. MY ART WORK IN THE FRAME OF FASHION BECAME ‘MAKEUP’.

6) How is it different to when you started?

YOU ARE MUCH MORE VISIBLE NOW, THE BUSINESS IS ALMOST TRANSPARENT, THE RISE OF BACK STAGE FILMING ETC AND NEED FOR CONTENT HAS MADE AN UNSEEN WORD PERMEABLE. I DO LAMENT THIS BECAUSE THE WORLD OF FASHION NEEDS IT SECRETS, THAT’S WHAT MAKES IT ALLURING, WITHOUT MYSTERY YOU HAVE NO MAGIC WITHOUT MAGIC YOU HAVE NO BELIEF.

7) What do you love doing in your spare time?

RUNNING, DRAWING, STARING INTO SPACE, TAKING CLOSE UP MICRO PHOTOS OF NATURE. MAKING SURE I TAKE IN THE ‘DETAILS OF LIFE’…

8) What are your favourite looks for the coming Autumn/Winter season?

I DONT REALLY PAY MUCH ATTENTION TO LOOKS…I NEVER KNOW WHAT TO SAY HERE….I JUST WANT TO SEE THE ‘LOOK’ OF CONVICTION AND CONFIDENCE REGARDLESS HOW YOU CHOSE TO PAINT YOUR FACE.

Here is Illamasqua’s new Brand Film as well, explaining their roots in sub-culture and pre-war Berlin. And frankly any makeup film that references Fritz Lang’s Metropolis – well I’m in!

Kelly Cutrone, star of MTV’s The Hills and The City, and now with her own show, Kell on Earth, will be signing copies of her memoir at the Illamasqua flagship store at 20 Beak St, London, W1, on Monday the 18th October between 5 and 6.30 pm.

Kelly’s pull-no-punches New York bestselling memoir, “If You Have to Cry, Go Outside (And Other Things Your Mother Never Told You)” combines personal and professional anecdotes that share her stories for success whilst remaining true to yourself. All profits from the book sales at the signing will go to the S.O.P.H.I.E charity, to benefit the Sophie Lancaster foundation.

Kelly will also be working on some exciting upcoming projects in the US with Illamasqua and their US retail partner Sephora. Watch this space!

When Alex Box was in Sydney a couple of months ago, she first told me about the new collection and I was hooked from her description – graphic gold liquid eyeliner, jewel toned pigments and BLUE LIPSTICK! Oh sweet heaven I have been looking for a great blue lipstick for years, never being able to find one that actually felt like a lipstick (not a gloss or a sheer lipstick, but a straight up out of the bullet, true blue colour). When I saw some of the pre-release imagery I nearly passed out as it was like some mad makeup World of Warcraft, a world that I never knew could exist, but the world of Illamasqua and their creative director, Ms Box, made reality.

Here are some of the campaign images and the film – enter a world where makeup has never gone before…

Thursday’s fashion parade for Myer’s Spring/Summer collections was all glitter and mayhem backstage, with 22 makeup artists, 75 models, 7 manicurists and a veritable fleet of hairdressers all working their creative magic to make the girls look breathtaking.

New makeup kid on the block, Illamasqua, just arrived from the UK and selling like the proverbial hotcakes at Myer, was sponsoring the show so we were using all of their products to create the looks. We were also fortunate enough to have the Illamasqua creative director, Alex Box, here to direct the show, which is a rare treat.

I’ve assisted Alex in London and Paris for a long time so I was heading up the Ready to Wear section of the parade whilst she was looking after the Avant Garde Gold section. Dressed in the season’s hottest trend of nude dresses the models literally looked like they’d swum out of a golden, glittery sea. Genius hairdresser Brad Ngata did an amazing job on the hair, which was either loose, gorgeous and sexy hair for the Ready to Wear models, or for the golden girls slicked back with gold leaf through it.

We were lucky to get some of Sydney’s top makeup artists to work on the show as many of them are fans of Alex’s editorial work, so backstage it was lovely to see some of our major makeup stars working side by side.

Illamasqua very kindly gave every artist a full set of Illamasqua brushes so we were all getting into those, particularly the Contour and Buffing Brushes. I love the feel as they are made of synthetic fibres so they are cruelty free, super soft and easy to clean. This was big makeup so we put those bad boys to work!

Both the looks were heavily contoured so we used cream foundation to perfect their skin, and then spent quite a bit of time buffing in contouring and highlighting powders (key to both looks was the layering of products). Here is a breakdown for Alex Box’s Gold Avant Garde Goddesses.

Illamasqua Avant Garde Gold
All products are by Illamasqua

Face

• Flatten brows against the skin using soap and a toothbrush to create an exaggerated bushy shape
• Illamasqua Satin Primer all over face
• Using Illamasqua cream foundation about two shades darker than their natural skintone, start bronzing the skin with the Foundation brush.
• Contour the skin using Illamasqua Rumour powder blush (a grey tone) then work into the same area with Disobey Powder blush, a biscuit colour, using the Blush Brush 2 over the brow, up into the temples, under the chin and down in to the neck. The combination of colours is what brings dimension to the face.
• Using Illamasqua Bronzer duo in Glint/Burnish, dust the dark side of the bronzing duo over the same contoured area again.
• Use the lighter side of the Bronze duo Glint/Burnish, fill in the areas of the face that weren’t covered with the contour/bronzer to start bringing radiance to the centre of the face.
• Using Create blush, go over the chin, forehead, neck, ears and cheek area using wide, sweeping motions and a Blush Brush 1 brush, but avoiding the nose.
• Take Marvel pigment and a Blush Brush 1 brush to go over the whole face, but adding more gold through the centre of the face. Work gradually to build the colour.

Eyes

• Illamasqua Wolf Powder shadow is used first to get the shape of the eye, creating a strong contour shape up into the crease and over the lid. Take the Wolf shadow quite high on the crease, and use an Eyeshadow Brush to smudge underneath eye to make a dramatic round shaped eye.
• Using Gimp shadow, a matte black, go over the whole lid and up into the crease, with the Eyeshadow Brush, and under the eye as well. Make sure it is stronger on the outer 2/3rds and up into the crease area for extra drama. Soften the outer edges with a Blend Brush 1 underneath so it blends in with the gold on the cheeks.
• Line waterline with black Sophie pencil and smudge all around eye. Blend in well with the Gimp shadow.
• Spatter Solstice Liquid Metal (Gold) on inner eye corners and tear ducts using fingers and a Lip Brush. It should cover the inner 1/3 of the eye, and look quite organic. Take under the inner eye corner as well with the Lip Brush.
• Gold Marvel pigment goes over this, with the same Lip Brush.
• Harness mascara (black) top and bottom lashes
• No 13 lash is applied to top lashes.
• Use Gimp shadow with Eyeshadow brush along the upper lashline to make sure there are no gaps in the black
• Illamasqua Android pigment goes on the outer corner of the lid, just up to where it meets the gold on the inner corners, with Eyeshadow Brush
• Solstice Liquid Metal is painted all over neck, body and ears with Foundation brush.
• Spatter large craft glitter in gold randomly over hairline and neck and shoulders

Lips

• Gold highlight lip using Solstice Liquid Metal on cupid’s bow and Lipliner Brush.
• Add Brilliant clear gloss with Marvel pigment in it with fingers in the centre of lips.

Alex Box's beauty shoot - Japanese Vogue

Most of you will no doubt know by now that makeup master Alex Box is in Sydney this week for the launch of her makeup brand, Illamasqua, at the upcoming Myer show. It’s been a pretty action-packed few days but yesterday’s Hair and Makeup trial for the show was an amazing experience – the glitter came out and Alex put her brushes and the full Illamasqua palette to work.

A very rare opportunity has come up as part of this visit – Alex will be conducting Master Classes this Saturday, 31^st of July at the Myer store in Sydney, so if you want to learn makeup from one of the world’s best makeup artists, this is your chance. The cost is $95, redeemable in Illamasqua product, and after yesterday’s makeup fun-fest I can tell you I have a wish-list as long as my right arm! I found out today there are only a couple of spaces left, so for bookings call 1800 661 210.

What a genius idea – cult UK makeup brand Illamasqua has come up with a way for you to clear out your old makeup and embrace the extraordinary.

Bring in your old makeup (that can be in any condition, including smashed, broken or just plain out of fashion), and replace with fresh, spanking new Illamasqua products at 25% off! There is no limit to how many pieces you can bring in and it’s 25% off ANY Illamasqua product – so if that isn’t a good excuse to go and refresh your makeup bag, I don’t know what is. My current favourite is their Liquid Metals palette.

This offer runs from the 17^th to the 31^st July at the following counters in the UK – Selfridges Oxford St, Trafford Centre, Birmingham Bullring, Fenwick Newcastle, BT2 Grafton St Dublin, Debenhams Glasgow, Belfast and Cardiff.

Unfortunately it doesn’t run on their online shop, but to whet your appetite go to www.illamasqua.com

There is a bonafide revolution going on in makeup halls not just around the country, but around the world – Lipstick is Back.

Relegated to the status of a makeup also ran since, ooh, about 1999, when gloss usurped its position as women’s choice of lip enhancer, lipstick has quietly been easing its way back into our lives.

For me the tide turned on a shoot with David Bailey over a year ago – Kay Montano had these beautiful, creamy lipsticks from Bobbi Brown that she had been using on Nicole Kidman (aptly named ‘Creamy Lipsticks’), and I fell in love all over again with their delicious texture and the fact that they were moisturizing and had a sheen on them, but no stickiness. Gloss had been feeling a little passé for awhile, but this was the first time I had tossed an actual lipstick in my handbag in years.

My gloss bag at work started to shrink, and my lipstick palettes increase. I was using bolder colors at work – bright oranges, corals, fuchsia, red in all its permutations from deep wine to eye-popping cherries and strawberries.

Then came the launch of Chanel’s Rouge Coco lipstick in March this year with its ethereal image of Vanessa Paradis. Chanel’s Global Makeup artist, Peter Phillips, was so vocal in his championing of the forgotten makeup product, that it heralded something of a return. In the last couple of months it feels like every line is bringing lipstick back, and when the master of the fashion zeitgeist, Tom Ford, decides to launch a line of lippies, you know it’s a done deal.

My new-found love of lipstick has led me to try out quite a few lately, and my top winners at the moment are:

YSL Rouge Volupte – love the colours and they are super-creamy

Bobbi Brown – perfect for your natural lip shade but better

Chanel Rouge Coco – they really are as good as the buzz

Estee Lauder – if you’re re-investigating the classics, why not go to the source?

Illamasqua – For mouth-watering statement lip shades

NARS – from nudes to reds, his colour selection is unparalleled

MAC – like a lipstick candy store for grown ups

Lipstick is not just about applying lip colour – it’s an attitude, a feeling, a gift to yourself. It’s time (if you haven’t done so already), to make like a lady, and get yourself a lipstick.

Great excitement at MM HQ! Illamasqua, the incredible UK makeup brand with an almost evangelical cult following in the UK and US (where they sell nationwide through Sephora) is launching in Australia in June. It caused a sensation when it launched in the UK last year with its theatrical grade pigment, amazing range of foundation shades (from pure white to dark chocolate), and its extraordinary aesthetic make it beloved of makeup heads everywhere.

Having worked with Alex Box, the brand’s Creative Director, for a number of years I can attest to the fact that no-one does avant-garde better than Alex (even, and I’m going to whisper here, because it’s heresy) Pat McGrath. Just witness some of the work from her best selling makeup book, The Makeup Artist, full of the most incredible and creative makeups. But Alex also does incredibly beautiful straight makeup as well. Last time when I worked with her in Paris, at Karl Lagerfeld’s studio for Numero magazine, she had Freja Beha, one of my favourite models and a Chanel muse, looking incredible in nothing but gleaming skin, contour and graphic eyeliner (and couture darling – needless to say!)

Alex’s creative approach to makeup infuses the whole brand – quality pigments in unique colours and finishes, an artistic sensibility and the idea that difference should be celebrated, diversity is wonderful and everyone should be able to express themselves with makeup – all ideas that I can fully get behind.

I for one can’t wait until it hits stores Australia-wide. It will be on counter in Myer as of the 21^st of June. To whet your appetite, have a look at www.illamasqua.com, which is a dangerous site as they also ship internationally for those of you who just can’t wait!

Illamasqua Body Electrics

With summer on it’s way, even more exciting than getting out in the sun at lunchtime to eat your sandwiches is the new makeup collections coming out. The new Body Electrics collection by Illamasqua is based on body creams and kinetic energy, and if the videos and images are anything to go by, it is ace! The photos were shot by famed London based photographic duo Nick Thornton Jones and Warren du Preez (who I have also had the pleasure of working with on a number of occasions), and hair by the hair whisperer, James Pecis. Makeup of course is by makeup master chef, ALEX BOX. This is makeup for just the fun of it, and Illamasqua fans will be delighted to see a four palette of their Liquid metals in this collection – that’s right, gold, silver, bronze and frosty white, all in one handy little palette. Already, I’m I love. Plus the nail polishes – don’t get me started…

Here to get your pulses racing, I have for your enjoyment backstage footage of Body Electrics, and Alex talking about the inspiration for the collection.

I don’t know about you guys, but I for one am Officially. Over. Winter. In my mind it’s done – I’m sick of the scarves and coats and hats and ready for some tropical style—ee warm weather.

So if I can’t have summer in actuality, I’m going to fake it. Which means getting into the color on everyone’s lips and cheeks. Yep, coral. A shade you might be frightened of, quite rightly, because you think “Oh my God, Nana”. But like lots of things (such as clogs and double denim) that are so wrong they’re right again, coral is the lip color for spring.

Why? Because it’s just really gorgeous and flattering, and it’s more interesting than pink and not as full on as red or orange, so you can feel like you’re making a statement and flirting with a trend yet not feeling like an escapee from Disney’s Small World. Coral is pretty, flattering and lady like. Call it the Mad Men effect.

It’s no longer a color for Mrs Slocum. It’s more a modern version of Grace Kelly in To Catch a Thief. (For really, who DOESN’T want to be cuddled up in a convertible with Cary Grant on the Riviera?)  It’s true, it’s a color that had its heyday in the 50’s and 60’s, called something clever like “Shrimp Cocktail”, and everybody’s gran had a tube of the stuff in their bathroom. But now with the improvements in technology and a wider range to cater for all skin tones, it’s possible to find a shade of peach for everyone.

Corals to Covet

Bobbi Brown has a whole Coral collection out this season, called Cabo Corals. I’m loving the Cabo Coral Pot Rouge, which is the yellow-er sister to Calypso Coral Pot Rouge (which has a bluer undertone.) Cabo Coral would be beautiful on anyone, but it’s gorgeous on deeper skin tones, and those with more yellow-ish skin. The Cabo Coral lipstick and the shimmery nectarine Sunset Beach gloss are pretty spesh as well. I even like them all together – call it the Double Coral Face! Bobbi Brown  Lip Crayon in Coral Pink is also on my wishlist – it’s gorge.

Benefit – Coralista blush, which came out last year but is still right on trend for 2010. We do love Benefit’s blushes,( although why they insist on calling them “Face Powders” is beyond me –  I think it’s confusing and misleading.) But call them a blush and they are DIVINE. Coralista  went straight into the Top Ten of Benefit’s prodiucts as soon as it was released, so I’m clearly not the only one with a love of all things peachy.

Illamasqua – Obey lipstick, the perfect 60’s peach lip and Excite powder blush, a vivid apricot, are my top shades in their range.

Paul & Joe Cheek cream in 03 – this gives you that watercolor, lit from within glow.

NARS – Casablanca and Barbarella lipsticks are both classic corals, plus the new Summer 2010 collection which I’m BEYOND excited by, has Love Devotion Lipstick, a sheer guava stain, and Enchanted, a coral cream blush (which J Lo, and  Zoe Saldana  wore to the Oscars.) And let’s face it, full monty coral needs luminous skin, so add a bit of Orgasm Illuminator whilst you’re at it. Oh and you could add NARS lipgloss in Orgasm whilst you were there. You know, if you wanted.

How to Wear It

Even though grannies are cool again (witness the incredible resurgence of grey hair and the lavender rinse that Kelly Osborne has been sporting lately), still there are limits to how Gran can you go? Let’s think about it instead as how Grace can you go?

So I would advise  going coral strongly only on one feature – for instance, if you’re sporting a coral cheek, just do a peachy stain on the lips, and vice versa. There is no need to become a Technicolor Shrimp Cocktail billboard! I love it with a soft, neutral shadow on the eye, something like NARS Cyprus or Estee Lauder Cinnamon single eyeshadow. And natch, neat brows, lovely skin and lots of ladylike lashes (but no clumps please, this is the Riviera).

Serendipitously, I found a video from the new NARS Youtube channel that is the look from the Autumn/Winter 2010 Marc Jacobs show that has, drumroll please, Lilac Eyes and Coral lips together in one look!

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!

It’s that time of year again, when it’s time to start thinking about loved ones and what they would like for Christmas. And given that the holiday season can be stressful, and tiring, and there are lots of parties, isn’t it time to start thinking of a gift guide for yourself? After all, ‘tis the season of tiny little lip glosses, bundled together into one gorgeous package, of miniature elf sized nail polish in a whole rainbow of colors, fabulous brush sets in tiny clutches, in short, makeup that is good enough to eat. So follow my lead – one for you, and one for me, one for you…

Here are my picks for cute as a button present giving (and keeping!)

Illamasqua

The Gold Goddess box contains Liquid metal in ‘Solstice’, Pure Pigment in ‘Furore’, False Lashes 019 and the Medium Pencil in ‘Sophie’ – £3 of the sale of this box will go to the Sophie Lancaster Foundation. The Silver Seductress box contains Liquid metal in ‘Phenomena’ and is complemented with Pure Pigment in ‘Android’, False Lashes in 19 and the Medium Pencil in ‘Sophie’. Again, £3 of the sale of this box will go directly to the Sophie Lancaster Foundation.

NARS 15^th Anniversary Palette ‘Everlasting Love’

NARS is justly famed for his palettes and this little Christmas cracker to commemorate his 15^th year of makeup goodness is no exception. It has eyeshadows in Edie, Nightbreed and Underworld Duo, plus one of my all time favourite nude lipstick colors, Belle de Jour, and lip lacquer in Chelsea Girls. Nice!

Nude

Nude’s adorable little box set of travel sized potions is just what the doctor ordered for party-weary skin – a Cleansing Oil, Miracle Mask and Age Defense Moisturiser to come soothe your over-partied spirit. And your conscience can feel as good as your skin does since it’s not tested on animals and has no sulfates or parabens.

MAC

As always MAC comes into it’s own at Christmas and this year is no exception. The eyeshadow sets are gorgeous – particularly noteworthy is Smoke and Mirrors which has six beautiful smoky eye colors, for those times you need sultry eyes in seconds.

And their mini pigments and gloss sets are back! For budding makeup artists they are a great way to build your collection, and quite frankly for anyone who loves something small and squirrelly (and let’s face it, who doesn’t?) you really can’t go past them.

Bobbi Brown

Loving the Earth Metal Lip and Eye palette from the Chrome Collection, which features six yummy eye shadows and four natural but better lip colors.

Black Plum Mini Travel Brush set – I LOVE Bobbi’s brushes as they are exceptionally good quality, just the right size to do the jobs you want and they last forever. And what have we here… Look at this bad boy! Six travel size brushes in a little bag. Perfect for all of those of you out there (ahem!) who have grimy,

mismatched brushes lying in dust at the bottom of your makeup bag (not mentioning any names… That goes double if you’re blending things with cotton buds.) No more excuses!

Laura Mercier

Mini Lip Glace set contains five little glossy bonbons, all in a row.

Eyeko

Tiny vials of nail varnish in 8 different shades – and at £3 each, you could definitely bundle these into one sweet gift!

Becca

The Showgirl palette is what’s in their stocking this year, with a deep brown shadow, orchid and a stone color that work surprisingly well together, and a rosebud stain with a pink gloss. What you need to look gorgeous this party season.

This time of year one’s mind starts turning to all things cosy and wintry, so it’s time for a snuggle-fest on the Mole Patrol. Crack out that duvet, whip up some hot chocolate and slather yourself in serious moisturizer for that dry and winter parched skin – it’s a cold weather delight!

Embryolisse moisturizer

This is a must for winter skin. It’s heavy and glues back all those lovely dry

crack-y bits you get when your nose turns red. I always put it back in my kit at this time of year as more and more models start turning up with their faces falling off due to too much heating inside, the cold outside, and seeing as they’re so gorgeous and can get away with it, often a diet of caffeine and cigarettes. Embryolisse to the rescue. Word on the makeup streets is that what you buy in Parisian pharmacies is better than their export stuff (which you can get in London at the makeup shop PAM in Shepherd’s Bush).

Illamasqua Cake Liner in Mislead with Sealing Gel

Because this sucker don’t move. I’d read all the raves on the internet but only recently have I tried it, and it is amazing. So when the wind is blowing and you’re swaddled in scarves and beanies, at least your eyes will still look like Audrey Hepburn’s (even if the rest of you looks like Freddie Krueger).

Bobbi Brown Eye Palette in Velvet Plum

Fab neutrals that would suit any eye color, and an amazing dense black brown eyeshadow which is a surprisingly difficult color to find in other ranges. Combined with the Illamasqua Cake liner it is a wintry winner.

Chanel Particuliere Nail Polish

Straight from the Paris shows (where she created 50 shades of nude nails for Louis Vuitton) Sophy Robson’s top nail color for the coming season is Chanel Particuliere. Sure to be as coveted as last season’s Jade and the original got-to-have-it nail color, Rouge Noir, I fell in love from the second I saw it. It’s a weird taupe-y mauve color that’s like dead people’s hands, but better. The fashion pack are going to love it! I think the new Chanel shade is chic, effortless and original – just like Chanel really.

Benetint by Benefit

Aaah, a hardy perennial – just rescued from the makeup Vault where it has been languishing for quite a while, this is the perfect outdoor flush for when it gets cold. I do love a wind burned cheek (well a fake one, not a real one!) this time of year, and this bestselling 30 year old tinted liquid made from rose petals is still the original, and still the best.

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

How many of my Makeup Molettes have bought a cream eyeshadow expecting it to be amazing and got it home, smeared it on, and it’s just well…not? I’m constantly mystified as to why magazines tell people to try a new color eyeshadow in a cream texture, as if buying a powder  eyeshadow to test something out would be too shocking. Ladies, I think we’re strong enough to handle it!

What the magazines don’t tell you is that cream eyeshadows are the diet version of powder eyeshadow – the anorexic younger cousin, the Lite to powder’s Maxi. Yes, they can be beautiful on their own, but you’re never going to get a full fledged rockin’ look if you don’t layer it with powder.  So expecting to get some amazing strong effect from a cream shadow, well it’s just not going to happen (sorry).

Because cream is more transparent than powder it’s always going to give you a sheerer wash of color – so for a neutral, natural everyday look they can be lovely. For this transparent, taupe-y effect I highly recommend NARS cream shadows in Corfu and Savage and Laura Mercier Metallic Crème Shadows in Gold and Rose Gold.

They are great as a base – MAC Paint Pots and Paints (which come in dinky little tubes) are often used as a base color to give the powder something to adhere to. Personally I don’t like using a ‘base’ color as I think it changes the color you put on top, but on any given Sunday Youtube is awash with people who disagree with me, so it’s really personal choice.

If you are looking for something with more oomph, Illamasqua cream eyeshadows come in amazing strong colors and strong pigments, (the strongest I have come across), so for creating really bright colored eyes I would definitely recommend these. MAC Paint sticks are also a winner although the color range is a bit limited.

I do love creating editorial looks with creams, and for this I generally turn to my trusty MAC Cream Color Bases (or CCB’s as they are fondly known around the traps). These are a staple, staple item in my kit in pretty much every color available. They are unbeatable for smudging and creating beautiful shadows and highlights – once you try them you will be hooked!

I have also recently tried and LOVED the Bobbi Brown cream eyeshadows which are the only ones that I have found that don’t crease. For this is the definite drawback with cream eyeshadows – most of them crease like crazy, which means they need to be repaired throughout the day (not usually something most people want to worry about!) They also crease more on those with oily eyelids or in summer. You can help prevent this by setting with a small brush and a translucent powder, or a powder eyeshadow in a similar color.

And if you are channeling your inner 80’s diva, nothing beats the combo of powder and cream eyeshadow to give you mega glam slam eyes. And just like painting, half the fun is in the mix. Get to work!

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!