SimplyAbuDhabi XII

2 9 5 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I Fragrance is also an important accessory in completing any image. Once you’re looking your best and your ‘alter ego’ is strengthened, it’s important to have a scent to stop people in their tracks. ‘Freak’ and the newer ‘Freak Scarab’ are perfumes like no other. Indulgent, exotic and glamorous, each encased in bottles as unique as what is inside. Taking their main influence from theatrical and film makeup, Illamasqua is truly a brand that has brought professional expertise and products to the masses. Now we can all benefit from backstage secrets with products that deliver tone and texture, all in one. Alex Box was kind enough to lend me her thoughts and answer my questions…I could listen to her all day… As the Creative Director of Illamasqua, what has been your greatest challenge so far? It’s an ever-evolving challenge, to constantly deliver innovative products with a heartfelt message, intrinsic beautiful images with poetry and feeling. I like the fact that you describe yourself as an artist who works with makeup. Can you explain your feelings behind this? 'Feelings ' are the key word. I paint with emotions and create worlds for people to get lost in or stir emotion and feelings. Art is the key to the heart - it provokes, evolves and evokes. Makeup is an ever-evolving tool to create and transform image; it’s the perfect medium for me as a painter. My art surface is the face instead of the canvas, I see the two as the same. You are your own work of art. Illamasqua is a brand that is unlike any other, how do you think it encourages people to be inventive with makeup? By giving permission to engage with their soul and their heart, their, inner child and diva. Saying it’s ok to play! Ok to explore, ok to be one person one day and another the next. To have a day of glowing skin then a day as an exotic princess. Everything is possible and permissible. Makeup is a pallete of possibilities and instead of being prescriptive and saying 'this is the look of the season' and one look fits all, I’m saying here are the beautiful products of our seasons campaign, here is an inspirational image to ignite your imagination and here is a brand that will support your beautiful journey of exploration of the products. Everyone’s international use of the products are unique, as we are all unique. Inventive could be just trying a new lip shade or a complete transformation, no matter how large or small your engagement with Illamasqua, we support and encourage an exploration of beauty, beauty that comes from the spark that is ignited. Has anything surprised you about creating a makeup line? Yes! The acceleration and magnitude of our growth. It’s an incredibly large undertaking and grows as the brand grows. What starts as just you and one other person in a room with colour swatches, in a blink of an eye becomes a global phenomenon. I always knew and hoped that people would love what we were doing but the depth of devotion of our fans and consumers is both humbling and beautiful. ‘Makeup for your alter ego’ suggests fantasy and escapism through the use of cosmetics, was this a concept since the birth of Illamasqua? Yes, ‘Alter Ego’ doesn’t have to mean you have to be a completely different person with a split personality - what alter ego can mean is the fact that we are an ever evolving emotional entity. One day wanting to have a no makeup fresh dewy innocence, the next a seductive vamp. The next a busy mother wanting a look you could do in a few minutes! Your escape could be the few quite moments at the start of the day whilst the children are asleep and you are putting on make-up in the bathroom, or your escape could be adorning yourself with beautiful colour and gem stones and becoming a princess in your imagination. Cosmetics are the material, Illamasqua is the key to unlock that escape and exploration of beauty. The brand has just had its 5th Birthday, congratulations! What would you still like to achieve with Illamasqua? To bring more understanding to our beautiful products, we have so many that people still don’t know fully about the fact that we have the best foundation I have every used, the best colour rich lipsticks and eyeshadows. I want Illamasqua to be known for the outstanding quality as well as its innovative exciting imagery and message. You have visited the UAE market, how do you feel about introducing Illamasqua to a new audience there? Very excited, it’s beautiful to see what people do with our products and how a new audience takes us to their hearts. How did you discover your own sense of style and why do you think some people struggle to find their own? I was born asking questions, it’s in my nature, I have always wanted to know 'why? I’m an explorer and a experimenter. I’ve always converted what I find visually exciting and emotionally stimulating into image, this is one of the things I bring to Illamasqua. My style is ever evolving and it takes on many different visual incarnations. I think style is immensely personal and can be difficult for people to express for a number of different reasons; social and peer group pressure, lack of confidence etc. The point to start if you feel lost with your own style is looking to your confidence, beliefs and curiosity. You have to start by asking questions, looking at why you feel you may have been conditioned into thinking you can only 'be' or 'look' a certain way. It’s a little bit like unwrapping a multi-layered parcel with the inner gift being you! Your makeup application techniques at shows like IMATS are quite spectacular, do you enjoy this ‘theatrical’ aspect of your role? Absolutely, I was a born entertainer, I want to create live visual magic to suspend people’s belief for a moment, like falling in love or being overcome by emotion. A playful innocent space full of possibility and...MAGIC! What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given? 'It’s a stayers race'…meaning you have to stay in the game and go the long distance to get anywhere. What’s your biggest vice? I don’t believe in vice. I don’t tell myself this is naughty or this is nice. I believe in treating yourself with understanding and that you can be happy and sad, extreme and introvert and that vice and virtue are one and the same thing. Tell us something we don’t know about you and the Illamasqua line? At the beginning designing of Illamasqua’s cosmetic range it was just me in a room with and a blank piece of paper with the heading 'makeup' and thinking to design the range chronologically from the first thing you put on your skin to the last brush stroke. So…primer, concealer, foundation and all the way to perfume being the finishing touch. It was the only way I could begin to tackle the magnitude of the shape the first Illamasqua line would look like. Sophie McMullan with Alex Box