Oooo I do love trying out a new make up brand! I was vey, vey excited a few months back when I heard that Illamasqua was launching in BT2. Illamasqua is make up that’s definitely not for the faint hearted! It’s for girls [and brave boys!] who love a bit of drama, something a bit risque, something quite unique and who demand bloody good quality in their make up! Now, I mentioned drama and Illamasqua is all about the dramatic. Once you go onto the website, you’ll be under no illusion that this is more than ‘mere’ make up for the masses, it’s ‘Showtime Make Up’. Taking inspiration from the ‘dark and illicit club scene of the 1920′s.. and members of the alternative scene for whom self expression was paramount.. it also combines a rich heritage in make up for Film & TV’.
What I do love is that each range makes a fierce statement, for instance ‘Bite – for lips that are intense and arresting.. lips that speak volumes’; ‘Scratch – for nails that say you are in control’; ‘Pierce – for eyes that reveal the inner person.. expressive yet mysterious’. And the website is just stunning and there is so much info on it! Everything from the full range of products and accessories to a blog section, latest news, loads of video tutorials and how to’s and even the biogs of the Art Team are interesting.
But what’s the make up actually like?! Well, colourful is one way to describe it. Deliciously inviting is another! All lined up on a solid black counter, their twinkly, shimmery hues just begging to be picked up and slathered on… but I digress. My first purchase of Illamasqua was a lipstick and a lip gloss. The lipstick is ‘Underworld’, a fabulously rich, jewel colour with a slight bluey tint – I get many compliments on this lipstick, which lasts and lasts by the way and it really makes a statement. I also bought ‘Indulge’ part of the ‘Intense Lipgloss’ range which while creamy is shiny, there’s a bit of texture to it so you can wear it on its own. There’s also a range of more sheer lipglosses but you will get more colour in the ‘Intense’ range.
More recently, I purchased from the latest range, Dystopia. the 4-colour palette in purple is right up my street! The white base has a hint of glitter and shimmer, as does the black shading eyeshadow. The purples are matt and very much stand alone colours if you’re more into block colours on your eyes, which I am but as you would expect, work great together as well. Again, the staying power is great, you won’t get any budging of this stuff until you, eh, actually remember to take it off!
I also bought ‘Explode’, an unusual sheer lipgloss that is a bright pinky colour on its own but it’s designed to add depth over any lipstick or gloss, which it duly does – a dab in the centre of your lips will add a new dimension to any colour!
Priced in the MAC range, with the palette above costing €35 and lipsticks and lip glosses under €20, Illamasqua is available at BT2 on Grafton St and for online purchasing here.
Oh I do like a nice military jacket! I have to say, it’s one of my favourite looks – sharp, edgy jacket with skinny jeans and boots with a heel just begs for a ‘I know I look great’ attitude. Back when I was a teenager in 1842 and not exactly living near Camden Market or the Portobello Road, there was a distinct lack of the kind of clothes I wanted to wear available in Smalltown. I did once resort to buying a man’s blazer in a charity shop and then fashioning epaulets out of gold material and sewing fringing that was actually meant for curtain ties into the kind of thing I wanted. I also managed to somehow find a gold brooch that resembled a type of battlefield medal and I looped some different gold rope-y kind of stuff that I also found in the local haberdashery store between one shoulder and the collar. Oh, I loved that jacket! And you couldn’t really see the sewing stitches unless you were really, really close up!
I’ve reserved writing about this piece of trash for some time now. In my aim to present both sides of the argument, on one side, I will say unashamedly say that Katie ‘Jordan’ Price appears to be a very clever and astute businesswoman. Well, she’s worth something around the £30m mark and she’s only in her early 30′s, is a self made, one woman operation that has diversified and multiplied the brand name that is Katie Price to become one of the most well known ‘celebrity’ figures around right now.
On a scale of 1 – 10, this girl must rate about a 134 in terms of how stupid she is. Belgian Kimberley Vlaeminck claims that she only asked tattooist Rousian Toumaniantz to ink 3 stars onto her face, not the 56 she ended up with. She also claims that because she fell asleep during the process, coupled with a breakdown in communication, she now cannot show her face in public and has become nothing more than a circus freak. Toumaniantz claims that she was awake during the process, looked into the mirror several times and actually asked for 56 stars to be tatooted onto her face in the first place!
Now, this pic to the left consists of a person that I really and truly will never envy. She is what she is because she decided what she wanted out of life and set about getting it, which is fair enough you might say. But by getting it any which way she could and feck what might be some semblance of normality, is what I say. Rigid fake smile which became a grimace as she *gasp* got older aside, Skeletor has become a parody of the female form and her *signature* wardrobe has become as androgynous as her womanly hips. Oh don’t worry, silly people, this isn’t going to be an all out rant about Skeletor [ no one could read for that long without a break], it’s just a few observations about her appearance from the knees down.
