1920's Makeover!

Ever feel like you were born in the wrong period of time lol?

A couple of weeks ago I blogged about the fact that my nearest Illamasqua counter were launching the powdered metals, and that their fab artist Adam, (who also happens to do the makeup for the Pussy Cat Dolls!) was venturing Ooop North fromhis usual haunt in London, to celebrate and help launch the powders... naturally I was unable to resist booking in for a makeover/makeup lesson with him! I have been loving 1920's looks for a long time now, so I decided to take the opportunity to have that done, Illamasqua style...

I have to say, having my makeup done by Adam was a really fun experience - I always love popping into Illamasqua and having a play, but this time I had some great demo's of dance moves as performed by "The Dolls" thrown in for good measure! I'd highly recommend having your makeup done by any of the Illamasqua artists, especially if you love to try something different - although I am reliably informed that they often get requests for more tame looks, which they are very happy to fulfil as well!

Adam was a lovely lovely bloke, who not only kept me entertained (and was more than happy to pose for a pic with me!), but he also taught me a lot about the 1920's look...

For starters, the shape of eye makeup was very different back then - whereas we now concentrate on creating a more "winged" look which elongates the eyes, creating a bit of a cat-eye shape, back in the 1920's it was all about creating a rounded shape -ie widest above and below the highest/lowest parts of the Iris... In the 20's there was far less choice of makeup colours too - makeup was usually dark and quite dramatic by todays standards...

The "round eyed and innocent" look was also further empasised by adding a pair of false lashes which were longest in the centre, rather than the outer part - Adam used Illamasqua false lashes number 5 - these were probably the most comfortable false lashes I've ever worn, as they were very light and natural.

Adam created the eye look by using a concealer slightly paler than my own skin tone as a base. He then used a flat shading brush to pack on the matte shade "Lestat", a very very dark charcoal grey, in a rounded shape.

He then applied Sophie liner pencil below the lash line in a rounded shape also and patted Lestat over this. Over which he patted Pure Pigment in the shade "Fervent", a gorgeous multi-faceted dark coppery brown shade with teal and blue reflects. He used the edge of the shadow brush to soften the edges of the shape very slightly. Lestat was also used to brush through the brows to create a rounded brow shape... Pure pigment in the shade "Breathe", a pure sparkling white, was used as a brow highlight.

The next thing he did was apply the base - matte primer was applied in the "T-Zone", and satin primer was then applied to the cheeks. Cream foundation in my usual shade (CF125) was then applied (We did toy with the idea of "paling down" my skin, however I think Adam then realised I was quite pale enough!). This was kept porcelain pale by setting the foundation with transclucent loose powder (LP010). The rest of the face was kept minimal as blusher was not commonly used in the 20's apparently, however the cheekbones were highlighted with a touch of pure pigment in "Breathe".

Finally uber-dramatic dark dark red lips were carefully pencilled in using a medium pencil in the shade "Torment", over which lipstick in the shade "Growl" was applied.

Obviously this is not a look for the feint hearted, but I loved it! The look could also be made more modern and wearable by using different colours and perhaps a gloss instead of a lipstick - I actually loved the lippie so much I bought it though!

What do you all think? Do you have a favourite "makeup era"?

MizzWorthy xxx