Illamasqua recently released their Human Fundamentalism collection which consists of an array of vibrant shocking colours, typical of most Illamasqua collections. However, this time I’ve noted a twist. For this collection they’ve actually included a neutral palette, which I unfortunately do not have here for you to swatch, but if you’re interested you have check it out here. I have to admit entertaining the idea of purchasing it myself, but then I see all the neutral palettes I already own and can hear mini-me screaming and threatening to jump off a building…

One of the benefits of being in Sydney during the work week is that I can finally get a glimpse into what Sydney blogging events are like, and what a difference there is! I really had to admit that being in Melbourne we are missing out on some really lovely events, to no fault of any company, it’s just down to logistics.

One of the highlights was definitely meeting the Sydney bloggers and meeting some very familiar faces Thank goodness as I had my own reservations about going and knowing no one at first! But I’m so glad I went and even met some new faces!

Illamasqua were kind enough to gift us with a selection of products from the new launch which I’ll swatch below The Fundamental palette is really a gorgeous, true to the brand type of palette! It contains a Silver Liquid Metal, Mint Green Cream Pigment and Yellow & Purple Powder Eyeshadow.

You can see with the powder eye shadows I’ve included swatches with the Sealing Gel is used which creates much stronger pigmentation, unfortunately when swatched with the finger it gives of a bit of a chalky consistency, when used with a brush, especially an eyeliner brush the result is much better. The palette is currently going for $78AU and the Sealing Gel set (you get two) for $26AU.

I’ll review the nail polish and skin base foundation at a later date, but for now if you’re interested Illamasaqua is currently giving 20% off their entire range if you fill in a VIP card at any of their counters most of the month of April, so hop over if you’re keen

That’s a mouth full of a title isn’t it? Anyways, last week I was lucky enough to be invited by Illamasqua to interview the very lovely Clare Lille backstage as she prepped the models for the Myer Autumn Winter Fashion Show for 2012.

I also managed to pick up a few tips from Kevin Murphy’s team (responsible for the hair for all models that night). The style for the girls that night was a braided fish tail look, that was actually sewing together to make the look far more put together and secure, minus the need to use a million hair pins. As for the men, their hair was first treated with dry shampoo and given a tousled appearance. Very Burberry-like.

After which I was finally able to sit down with Clare, whom is truly a remarkable lady. Clare admits that her makeup style leans on the more natural to vintage style, if you have a look through her portfolio you’ll find that she uses a great technique known as Skin Sketching to help add natural shadows and highlights to a model’s face. She uses neutral coloured pencils from the Illamasqua range to carefully and accurately create dimensions. It’s similar to how I usually use highlighting powders and bronzers, only with far more precision.

You know I’m addicted to really out there crazy looks, so I asked Clare if she had a dream shoot. She mentioned wanting to explore 3D makeup with a particular gun that produces silicon, which would allow her to create 3D veins on skin. Or even create scales like those on reptiles. It did get my own creative juices flowing, now I’m keen to learn more about this silicon gun for my own Book of Fable chapters

Finally, because I’m a sticky beak, I asked her what her makeup pet peeves were. And they came as no surprise, when people use incorrectly matched foundation and when people use heavy shimmer products as a natural highlight.

All in all it was a really interesting insight to see what goes on backstage such a well known massive fashion event! I wish I had been there earlier to see everything unravel and to watch the show, maybe one day Thanks to Lucas Dawson for all the unwatermarked photos and to Illasmaqua for inviting me backstage

Crowds of people outside!

I had the fortunate opportunity to be invited by Illamasqua to meet their maker (pun not intended!) Julian Kynaston, founder of Illamasqua.

It was a lovely intimate Q&A session, with just a few of the girls and Julian, talking about everything Illamasqua, very informative and sweet. And check out his suit and makeup! Like a boss!

A few bullet points to sum up my evening, written for your scanning pleasure:

• Illamasqua is dipping their toes into the fragrance market, they will be releasing them later this year. A hint, they will be made from flowers that only bloom at night! So Illamasqua~
• Julian runs Illamasqua like he would a band, as music is one of the main things that inspires him. (I can completely relate!!) Each time he releases a collection, it is like releasing an album.
• Makeup knows no age, nor gender and that no matter what your age, gender, height, weight is, makeup is for everyone. Makeup does not discriminate.
• Julian has no favourite Illamasqua product, they are all his children loved equally
• The S.O.P.H.I.E foundation is as you know, a massive deal to Illamasqua, a charity they will always continue to support.
• Julian is an incredibly tall man, my photo are very very deceiving (as he was sitting the whole time)

All in all, a very enjoyable night, it’s always great to get a bit of an insight into the face behind the brand I feel like I better understand where Illasmaqua’s philosophy and dreams come from. Thank you Illamasqua for such an insightful evening.

Jimmy, taking out photos like the pro he is!

I’m sure you all know where the inspiration for this look came from, and if you don’t then clearly you haven’t heard of wonders that are Illamasqua‘s Toxic Nature collection~

The hardest part was ensuring both eyes were even, which still didn’t turn out exactly the way I had hoped, still not too bad for a first go. Please note that besides the first and last photo, I’ve digitally removed my eye brows to enhance the overall look~ I wanted to leave them in for some of the photos to give you an idea what it looks like naturally.

Hope you enjoy the look

MAC Prep + Prime – Skin Base Visage
Face of Australia Mineral Therapy Liquid Foundation – Beige *
MAC Studio Fix – N4
Face of Australia Pressed Powder – Bronze *
MAC Powder Blush – Azalea
Canmake Highlighter – 01
MAC Brow Finisher – Clear
Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer – Beige
e.l.f Eyelid Primer – Sheer
MAC Superslick Liquid Eye Liner – On the Hunt
MAC Fluidline – Blacktrack
MAC Fluidline – Macroviolet
MAC Fluidline – Dipdown
Illamasqua Cream Pigment – Bedaub *
Illamasqua Cream Eyeshadow – Touch
MAC Creamy Blush – Posey
Face of Australia Opulent Eyes – Sapphire Desire *
MAC Eye Shadow – Nocturnelle
NP Set 10 Eye Shadow Palette
Non Pareil 9 False Lashes
DUO Eye Lash Glue
Lancome Hypnose Drama Noir Perles – Black *

_{Product marked with * were sent for consideration}

Face
After primer and foundation, use a powder foundation to set as we want as much coverage as possible. Next sculpt your face, don’t be afraid to use a heavy hand here, we really want the look to be dramatic. Use a bright magenta powder blush to the apples of your cheeks and blend, and then top off with a highlighter. Contour your nose with the bronzer.

This particular step of most tutorials is essentially the same, but what differs is the amount of product and pressured used. Using this same technique you can get a variety of looks just but adding or reducing the amount of makeup used.

Eyes
Coat your eyebrows with wax to flatten them, then cover up with concealer so that it almost appears like you don’t have any brows.

Prime your lids, then take a black gel liner and start to outline the design around your eyes. For the black droplets under my eyes I used a liquid eyeliner for added intensity. Randomly draw tiny spots all over your cheeks.

Fill in the area on your lids with a purple gel liner for colour intensity then cover with purple eye shadow. Next fill in the area above with a pastel green cream pigment. Fill in your lower lash line with the same pigment. Take a dark brown eye shadow and draw in the brows. Add a tiny bit of hot pink eye shadow to the inner corner of your eyes.

Retrace the black gel liner with a black liquid eyeliner, and heavily line your upper lash line.

Curl your lashes and apply a thick coat of black mascara, then apply the longest biggest set of black false lashes you have.

Lips
Fill in your lips with a tan cream eye shadow, then take a brown gel liner and line your lips and create the shape you see in the photos. Take a touch of a pinkish red cream blush and dab it on the centre of your lips.

Photo below is with half the look and half without any makeup! I thought the contrast was really interesting

Pros:

• Fantastic pigmentation
• Very long wearing
• Does not dry out lips

Cons:

• Feels dry upon application

Price: $39AU

Rating:

Where: Myer.

This is one of the two lipsticks by Illamasqua that is part of their latest Toxic Nature collection, this one was kindly sent to me for this review.

The pigmentation on this is fantastic, bold, strong, it’s a real stand out shade. I would recommend using a lip brush for application if you are worried about messing up, something I recommend for all darker lipsticks with rich pigmentation. The finish is a semi-matte sheen, very unique and looks great in photographs.

I would suggest you wear a lip balm before applying this as the formula feels drying upon application, though strangely is not actually that drying once on the lips. If you are worried, top it off with a gloss.

One of the upsides to this formula, like the cream pigment is the grip this has to your lips is amazing. It really does last much longer than most lipsticks.

So tell me, have you tried anything from Illamasqua’s Toxic Nature collection?

Pros:

• Strong pigmentation
• Long wearing, not prone to creasing
• Does not dry out lips
• Can be used on eyes, lips and cheeks

Cons:

• May need a lip balm if used on lips
• Difficult to use on cheeks

Price: $44AU

Rating:

Where: Myer.

Illamasqua‘s Toxic Nature collection recently hit the shelves in Australia late last week and they were kind enough to send me a couple of products to play with. The first was a cream pigment in Bedaub.

Bedaub is a pastel mint green crème, it is extremely pigmented. Just 1-2 swipes can give you a lot of colour, it is a lot drier than most cream products I’ve tried such as eye shadows and blushes. But surprisingly I didn’t feel much drag when I applied this to my lids or lips with my fingers. Using a flat brush will pick up the same amount of colour, but allows for a more precise application.

One of the benefits to having a drier formula is that it works as a great eye primer / base, I wouldn’t wear this colour on it’s own as it does crease after an hour of so.

For the lips, I recommend applying a lip balm first, or top it off with a gloss else you may notice that over time it will feel drying.

Now, based on the formula alone, I don’t think these would be the best for cheeks because it is quite a bit harder to blend out to achieve that “glow” to the cheeks, unless you’ve primed your cheeks to give it a smoother canvas like a primer. I felt like I needed to pull on my cheeks quite a bit to blend it out, perhaps a creamier formula would be more suitable for cheeks only (didn’t experience this issue for lids or lips).

But I don’t really know when you would use this pastel green colour for blush

Love this pigment, keen to see what sort of looks I can pull out of it

So tell me, have you ever tried cream pigments before? What are you thoughts?

A little while back Siera asked whether I could do her makeup for a shoot she was planning for a character created by the artist Sylvia Ji. I wanted to test out the makeup on myself first to get a feel for the look, this is my second attempt which I stupidly started at 10pm at night and finished at 12:15am on a weeknight So I didn’t manage to do as much detailing as I had originally wanted since I was craving sleep instead :/

Given time and a third attempt I’d confident I could do a much better job, fingers crossed when Siera arranges a time for the shoot she’ll look many more times amazing

Face
MAC Prep + Prime – Skin Base Visage
Illamasqua Rich Liquid Foundation – RF100
e.l.f High Definition Powder

Patterns
MAC Fluidline – Blacktrack
MAC Fluidline – Macroviolet
Revlon Colorburst Lipstick – True Red
Rimmel Colour Rush Quad Eye Shadow – Smokey Noir
NYX Jumbo Eye pencil – Yellow
MAC Eye Shadow – Chrome Yellow
Savvy by DN Luxury Liner – Shimmering Slate
Maybelline Falsies Mascara – Very Black

Prime your face, and then apply white foundation all over the face, neck and upper chest. I’d considered doing the shoulders too if you’re planning a real shoot.

The rest of the look is actually very straight forward, simply copy step by step each detail from the original artwork to your face. I primarily used a black gel liner for all the black patterns and used a purple gel liner for the finer details (though it seems to have photographed black) Make sure you have a fine eyeliner brush and be prepared to constantly have to clean out your brush from the white foundation build up.

For the eyes, after placing the gel liner I would set it with a black eye shadow to prevent creasing.

For the yellow I used a yellow cream eye shadow then put on a yellow powder eye shadow to intensify the colour.

I don’t think there is much else I can say about the look tutorial wise, but if you have a specific question let me know in the comments~