Illamasqua News - Alex Box Masterclass and Powdered Metals

Oooh, I have been looking forward to today for so long! (Well a few days anyway, but it's seemed like forever!)

I recieved an invite a few days ago to an Alex Box Masterclass in London - Alex is one of the artistic directors of Illamasqua and as a makeup artist, her work has appeared in mags such as Vogue, Numero, V, Another Magazine, Dazed & Confused, 10 and i-D. She has also worked with some fab designers such as Karl Lagerfeld, Stella McCartney and Alexander McQueen.

It goes without saying that I am very very excited about this! I have no idea what to expect, but It will be fab to see this lady in action!

Tonights class is all about creating alter ego looks and runs from 6-8pm in Selfridges. There is another class tomorrow too, focusing on glamourous night time looks. I just wish I could have gone to both lol! (Each class costs £20, but this is redeemable against anything from the range).

I was also overjoyed by the arrival of the postie yesterday - or rather at having to shoot-down-to-the-post-office-and-pick-up-a-parcel-because-the-postie-couldn't-be-arsed-knocking - because he brought me some fab samples of the new powdered metals from Illamasqua!

These are gorgeous - lovely, extremely finely milled powders which add a metallic sheen to the skin, and they are designed to be used on the face or the body. They would be perfect for adding a dramatic highlight to the cheekbone/browbone, or doing that sheen on the collarbones and down the leg thing!

These were actually developed after the Illamasqua Sirens collection shoot - Alex Box created them after getting fed up with having to hand grind various products down to get that gorgeous sheen seen on the models skin - "After an age of hand crushing the Powder Eye Shadow in 'Moonflower', Liquid Metal in 'Solstice', Pure Pigments 'Furore' and 'Marvel' and blending them together, she started to mix them in a pot." (Quote from the Illamasqua blog). Here they are used to their full glory;

The powders come in three shades, and they have chosen names of Goddesses for them (which I think is a lovely touch).

Erzule - The Voodoo Goddess of Beauty - Described as a golden bronze shade with a brown base (made for olive/black skin-tones). My initial thoughts on this one? Definitely made for darker skin tones as a highlighter, BUT I did quickly swish this over my eyes last night to see how it worked and it was lovely, so I will def use this for eye looks, and should I ever get one of those deep tans (Stop laughing you!), I could use this on skin - down the legs...

Thalia - The Greek Goddess of Poetry - Described as a warm bronze with a gold undertone (for medium skin tones). My initial thoughts? A gorgeous golden bronze shade - Great on the body - I've fake-tanned my legs recently (testing out the Garnier spray tan!) and this looks great dusted over that. I have also just swatched this on my cheekbone and it adds a lovely warm bronzed sheen.

Bebhionn - The Irish Goddess of Pleasure - Described as a light bronze with a pink under-tone (for pale skin). My Thoughts? I think I want to buried with a pot of this, in case I do get to be a goddess of some form when I die - it's divine on pale skin! It looks amazing as a highlight both on the face and body (I will be dusting my collarbones and arms with this today and testing its longevity in the heat), and somehow it gives me a summery sheen whilst still playing up my paleness - the pink undertone seems to brighten the skin as well - I love the fact that Illamasqua cater for us pale types!

All three colours just give a lovely sheen to the skin - they don't mattify and they are NOT glittery, but they add a gorgeous metallic sheen.

As you know the winner of the contest gets to pick one of these for their very own! I shall post swatches asap and will also report back about how well these lasted in the heat of the tube etc in London! Don't forget to get your entries in asap - contest closes 7th!

I have also just spoken to Alex at Illamasqua, who has informed me that following the rush on Liquid the Liquid metals and the sirens collection, the company are going to be setting up a waiting list facility on the website hopefully in the next couple of days - so if you want to be certain of getting your hands on these then keep checking the website out for that!

MizzWorthy xxx

Contest News - The Mystery Prize is finally Revealed!

OK first of all, a reminder - The contest CLOSES ON THE 7TH JULY AT MIDNIGHT UK TIME so please get those entries in asap!

Secondly, as you know the first place winner is recieving a mystery prize - well, this is a mystery no more! I have now learned what the prize is and also more about its Launch!

So the winner will recieve a brand new product which is called a powdered metal -

"Whats a powdered metal?" I hear you ask?

Well according to Illamasqua "Powdered Metal is a gloriously shimmering powder for face and body. Available in three dazzling shades, the intense metallic finish leaves skin glowing, and perfectly complements our current Sirens collection."

The company have decided to do an exclusive launch of the product at Manchester's Trafford Centre counter in Selfridges - Their National Makeup Artist Adam Sidwell will be demonstrating the product in the "dome" of the shopping centre from the 8th to the 11th of July and will also be available for makeup lessons and makeovers (£15 - redeemable against any product from Illamasqua - you can book on 0161 629 1187). I'm booked in on the Friday so I hope a few of you can make it?

As you know the product is not launching nationally or on the website till about a week later, which means our winner will recieve this at the same time as it hits counters in the rest of the country! I'm going to be getting a sneak preview of these soon too, so I'll let you know what I think of them all - I'm told that they did well on the tube yesterday in the 40 degree heat in London though, which is impressive!

I'm well pleased they decided to launch at Manchester for once - London usually get all the good stuff!

So PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PEOPLE, GET THOSE ENTRIES IN!!! Remember we are more worried about people having FUN, coming up with ORIGINAL MAKEUP LOOKS and being INSPIRED than having world class makeup artist skills! So get inspired and get creative!

MizzWorthy xxx