2010’s hottest new nail colour is in your hands!

Whether it’s the standout shade of your favourite killer heels, your must-have cupcake frosting or the glow of the city skyline, Illamasqua want to hear what inspires your soul.

The UK’s hottest and most talked about make-up brand, Illamasqua is famed for its unique and daringly different collection of cult Nail Varnish colours.  

And now they want YOU to get creative.

Illamasqua is asking finger fetishists the world over to submit a description of their dream nail varnish colour, for their chance to make it a reality. 

Run in conjunction with luxury retailer, Selfridges, this incredible competition is giving nail varnish fans the world over the opportunity to push their imaginative boundaries further than ever before and design their very own perfect shade. 

Entrants must explain in no more than 50 words what inspired their unique choice, and provide an image or photograph to illustrate their big idea. 

The prize? Two winners will see their dream colour created and sold exclusively at Illamasqua.com and Selfridges in London, Manchester Trafford and Birmingham from October 2010. In addition, they’ll receive a bottle of their winning colour before anybody else!  

The winning entries will be selected by a high-profile judging panel consisting of legendary make-up artist Alex Box, nail artist to the stars Sophy Robson and YouTube sensations Pixiwoo.

The rules:

In 50 words or less, submit a description of your dream colour and the thinking behind it – please include pictures to illustrate your inspiration if possible. 

Entries must be submitted in one of the following three ways, no later than 
14^th March 2010: 

Via email: competition@illamasqua.com  

Via blog post: email the link to competition@illamasqua.com

Via mail:

NAIL COMPETITION
c/o Illamasqua
6-8 Amwell St
London
EC1R 1UQ                    

One entry per person. Competition is open to entrants globally.  The competition officially opens on February 21st, but Illamasqua is taking advanced entries from MAF readers from now!

Hallo all

I’m a TV Producer developing a new series for BBC3 on beauty and body image. I’m really keen to chat to anyone who spends an unusual amount of time on looking their best. Perhaps you’re obsessive about your health and beauty treatments, or you might have a strict daily beauty routine you just have to follow. Perhaps you even plan your day around it.

Maybe you’re ready for change but not sure how to go about it? Or maybe you’re perfectly happy with things just the way they are. Whatever your story, I’d love to hear from you.

If you’re between 16 and 25 and want to find out more, you can call me in total confidence ad with no obligation on 020 8008 3862 or you can email me at sarah.brodbin@bbc.co.uk.

Thank you! I look forward to hearing from you.

best wishes
Sarah

KISS IT BETTER - for children with cancer

Clinique is delighted to partner for the third year running with Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity for the KISS IT BETTER appeal – raising money to fund research into the causes and treatment of childhood cancer.

KISS IT BETTER is the brainchild of Carmel Allen whose daughter Josephine was treated at the hospital for Neuroblastoma – a type of cancer. After many months spent at the hospital, and struggling to reconcile life as a Beauty Editor, Carmel decided that she wanted to help and devised the KISS IT BETTER appeal.

“The premise was really simple, Kiss it Better is something every parent says and does when their child is sick or injured. I wanted to turn Josephine’s experience into something positive and to help make a difference to the lives of children with cancer everywhere” says Carmel.

Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children first opened its doors on Valentine’s Day, 1852 and to help celebrate the hospital’s birthday and raise funds for the KISS IT BETTER appeal, Clinique has again puckered up with House of Fraser throughout the month of February 2010 to help raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity.

“I am thrilled to support this amazing campaign.  Kiss it Better is helping Great Ormond Street Hospital to raise funds for research into the causes and treatment of childhood cancer – the biggest disease affecting children today.  As a mum, I can’t imagine a more worthwhile cause.”  Edith Bowman

This year, Clinique has created a special NEW Long Last Glosswear SPF15 in

‘I ? Kisses’ shade. This long-lasting, high shine gloss with the added benefit of SPF 15 will be sold exclusively in House of Fraser stores nationwide during the month of February, with £2.00 going to the KISS IT BETER appeal. 

The NEW Long Last Glosswear SPF15 in ‘I ? Kisses’ shade can also be purchased on www.clinique.co.uk throughout the month of February, with £2.00 going to the KISS IT BETTER appeal.

This £2.00 donation will also apply to all Clinique lipstick or lipgloss sold at House of Fraser stores nationwide, throughout February 2010. (£1.00 will be donated by Clinique and £1.00 will be donated by House of Fraser).

“From wearing a pin badge through to treating yourself to a new lipgloss, there are so many ways you can get involved with Kiss it Better.  Check out the website for all the ideas.  You’ll really be helping Great Ormond Street Hospital in their treatment of children with cancer.” Kate Thornton

Clinique Lipstick & Lipgloss

RRP from £12.00- £14.00

‘I ? Kisses’ Long Last Glosswear SPF15 RRP £13.00

 Allergy Tested. 100% Fragrance Free.

 Donation during February 2009 at Clinique counters exclusively at

House of Fraser nationwide (excluding Ireland) and www.houseoffraser.co.uk

For further information on the KISS IT BETTER appeal and ways to donate, visit www.gosh.org/kissitbetter

 For further information or visuals, please contact Clinique Communications

on 0870 034 6951

For stockist details, telephone 0870 034 2566

or visit www.clinique.co.uk

Blogging.  Do you know what it is?  Its slang for WebLog – ie, an online diary.  We all had them as kids, a lockable diary that your brother always found and tortured you with when he came across hearts and kisses around a certain boy’s name….

In the modern millenium though, diaries don’t seem to be private anymore, they’re now online and for all the world to see.  Yes, I know that blogs can be anonymous, and yes, you can set privacy levels to heights where only a certain privileged few can see in, but they’re now no longer people’s personal musings, but are now becoming some sort of media in their own right.

I was recently at the IMATS in London, and because MAF is a recognised online magazine, myself and one of the regular contributers were granted press passes as members of The Media. 

Online magazines are relatively new, one of the more famous ones is Handbag.com, but then of course there are the online sites that sit next to hardcopy magazines – think Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire etc, but because of the content of MAF, we qualify to sit as a magazine!

So imagine my surprise when I met a couple of girls with yellow press passes who then, when I asked which Media company they were with, answered with ‘oh, we’re not media, we’re bloggers’!

I’ve since investigated their blog.  It’s long, they seem to churn out great long reviews every day, but don’t actually say very much.  By their own admission to me, neither of them are makeup artists, or beauty professionals, in fact their ‘day jobs’ are so far removed from the cosmetics industry that it made me wonder what qualified them to be counted as beauty journalists – after all, that’s what members of the Press and Media are.

I will hasten to add that I’ve never been to journalism school and don’t have qualifications in writing, however, I write with a journalistic approach.  When I review a product, I talk about it from both a professional point of view, and from a personal point of view.  I talk about the good and bad points of a product and my articles have a start, a discussion, and a conclusion. 

I read one particular blog post from this same pair of girls, where they were talking about counterstaff hygiene.  This is something very close to my heart – I’ve been going on about hygiene standards at work for years and years, long before I became a makeup artist, and will more than happily challenge counterstaff if I see their hygiene levels are less than perfect.

This post however very loosely hid that they were trashing Benefit cosmetics and the poster actually allowed a sales assistant to put an eyeliner on her, knowing it wasn’t clean or sanitised, went to another counter afterwards and removed the makeup (clearly she would have given a reason to them, I’m sure most counters won’t just let women randomly ask to remove their makeup using their products), and then proceeded to talk about whether she should or shouldn’t complain or not, saying that she didn’t want the counter staff member to lose her job.

What’s the point of that blog?  Should she have allowed someone to put an eyeliner on her knowing it wasn’t clean?  Of course not. 

Should she have gone to another counter and complained about the first company?  No.  It would certainly have put the 2nd company in an awkward position. 

Should she have complained to anyone?  Of course, and she should have done it then and there to the manager, and certainly not to worry about the member of staff’s job.  This is clearly a training issue where hygiene hasn’t been drummed into them enough, and Benefit are extremely tight on hygiene (I know, I’ve spoken with them about it in the past, and have observed head office staff working to the highest level with disposables etc.)  Put it this way, I’m sure the counter manager would have rather known then and there about a possible issue, so that she could deal with it straight away, rather than having them badmouthed across the internet.

I’m going to go out on a limb here now, and say that in my opinion, Benefit counter staff are pretty hot on their hygiene.  I have a number of stores that I can access easily, and haven’t yet seen an issue there.  That isn’t to say that there aren’t ocassional blips on counter, but that would be the same for every company, and not exclusive to Benefit.

So what was the point of the blog though, other than to talk for the sake of talking?

This was just the tip of the iceberg though, so I decided to delve deeper into the world of beauty blogging.

I’m going to add a further disclaimer here, I am going to generalise and talk about beauty bloggers in the main, though I do know that there are exceptions to the rule, however, most non professional (non makeup artist/beauty professionals) bloggers are relatively fickle.

I struggled to find blogs about core products that brands offer.  Very few talk about foundations and powders and base makeup, and even less talk about staple eye products, like neutral eye colours and shades.

What they all talk about is the ‘latest thing’ that’s on the market, new ‘cult’ lip products or wacky eye colours.

In fact, while at the IMATS, I was talking to another blogger/youtuber who mentioned a new brand just on the market.  Now I have a selection of these products here, kindly sent to me for my review and professional opinion.  I actually really like them and the packaging, have found the products to be pretty flipping great, and have tried them on a variety of people.  I think the packaging is great and so far (6 weeks of testing in) faultless.

This particular blogger hadn’t tried them herself, but told me that they were rubbish and that they weren’t very good.  She said she’d heard that the dispensing mechanism was poor, and that people were saying they were too heavy.

I asked her if she’d used them or even seen them herself.  She said no, but that she’d read blogs on them.  I urged her to try them, but she said she didn’t want to, because she’d read what other people have said.

Again, I’ve done my investigation since this conversation, and are you kidding me?  These are NON professionals who’ve tried them out 2 or 3 times and trashed them straight off.  I’m a professional makeup artist and have been using them for about 6 weeks on dozens of different faces and am now prepared to give them an appropriate review, based on experience and a test over time.

So is there too much being read into what bloggers are saying?  Are they being taken too seriously?  Can a handful of bloggers make or break a brand?

I spoke to Illamasqua, who’ve had great success in the last 14 months, and put a lot of that down to bloggers.  Illamasqua have a blog of their own, and have done events for their favoured bloggers, so it seems to be successful for them, and their feeling is that blogging will be the new media in a few years time.

On the other side though, OCC (obsessive compulsive cosmetics) have had great success with their Lip Tar based on blog reviews, but their other mineral products have had less than favourable blog reviews, and as a result aren’t selling anywhere near as much.

But what about brands like MAC and Bobbi Brown who don’t go in for modern day ‘media’?  Do they need to worry about the lack of blogs of their own?  I don’t think so.  Yes, it’s a shame that there aren’t more blogs that talk about good quality base products and its a shame that some move on from one product very quickly, to the new ‘latest thing’ and that some brands can’t even get off the starting block because of a handful of biased reviews.

So is blogging the new media?  Well it would appear that we’re going that way, but perhaps its time to take more seriously, the blogger who has a professional background to what she’s saying, rather than the one that talks the most and the loudest, often with not a lot of content.

February 19 2010 – The bloggers who were referenced above regarding counter hygiene, have stated that they were not discussing the Benefit counter when they were discussing hygiene.

Embrace the new season with fantastic launches, offers and promotions at House of Fraser!

Tracy Van Heusden, Senior Beauty Buyer says…

“February is the perfect time to re-vamp your make-up with the newly arrived Spring colours and treats in store, soothe skin and repair hair after the snowy start to the year. With Valentine’s Day around the corner spoil your loved one with something indulgent or alternatively treat yourself to a gift with purchase!”  

New launches include:

• Bobbi Brown Cabana Corals Lip & Eye Palette £48
• Laura Mercier Radiant Crème Colour in ‘Polished’ £28
• Dior Capture One Essential Skin Boosting Super Serum £75
• Aveda Light Elements Texturising Crème £20

February Fragrance Offer

Enjoy up to £10 off any fragrance with House of Fraser’s Valentine fragrance offer from 7th-13th February. There’s a fabulous selection in store or online at www.houseoffraser.co.uk including:

Acqua di Parma Iris Nobile Limited Edition 100ml £92

Pure DKNY 50ml £44

Vera Wang Glam Princess £34

EXCLUSIVE! DSquared2 She Wood Mac Lipglass Collection £50

Customers who purchase this collection at House of Fraser Bluewater, Glasgow, Manchester or Gateshead (Metro Centre) will receive a complimentary MAC make up application!

Clinique ‘Kiss It Better’

For the third year running Clinique is collaborating with Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity for the KISS IT BETTER appeal – raising money to fund research into the causes and treatment of childhood cancer. ‘I ? Kisses’ Long Last Glosswear SPF15 will be sold exclusively in House of Fraser stores nationwide during the month of February, with £2 going to the KISS IT BETER appeal.  £1 will be donated by Clinique and £1 from House of Fraser ‘I ? Kisses’ Long Last Glosswear SPF15 RRP £13.

Gift with Purchase

EXCLUSIVE! From 4th – 20th February enjoy an Estée Lauder Gift with Purchase complimentary with any two or more Estée Lauder purchases*

From 25^th February – 13^th March enjoy a Sisley Gift with Purchase complimentary with any two or more Sisley products (one purchase to be skincare)*

*terms and conditions apply

adesign  ”Offering an incredible array of materials and finishes”
 Academy of Freelance Make Up
 ACMUSE  “Australia’s leading professional make up and special effects school”

Airbase High Definition Professional Make-Up  “The Professional, silicone based spray make-up designed for everyday use.”
 Alcone 

 Andrea Leanza / Roberto Mestroni
 Aurifere  “specialising in the production of brushes used in the cosmetic industry”

www.Backstageshop.co.uk ”the online supplier for all of your backstage requirements”
Beauty Call—Hair & Makeup Artist Agency  “Whether it’s a wedding, hen party or special occasion
then the Beauty Call team are the girls for you!”
BECTU  “BECTU is the UK’s media and entertainment trade union”
Brushstroke Makeup School and Agency  “Brushstroke is the UK’s leading school for Cinema, Television, Theatre and Fashion”
Charles Fox
Cinema Makeup School ”one of the top Hollywood Makeup schools in the entertainment industry.”
Crown Brush ”A stroke of elegance”
Dermalogica   “when dermalogica meets skin, skin health is redefined”
Dinair  “Airbrushing makeup since 1981″

Embryolisse  “Dermo-cosmetic expertise, providing the skin with its essential requirements.”
Essential Therapy  “sensational hair and beauty products”
Eve Pearl   “Makeup and skincare for every complexion”
Fero Beauty ”Suppliers of Professional Make-up, Brushes and Beauty Therapy Equipment”
Guru Makeup Emporium  “Professional makeup art supplies”
Hakuhodo  “We manufacture the ultimate makeup brushes.”
Illamasqua  “Illamasqua is for the bolder person hiding inside all of us”

Joe Blasco Professional Make-up Artist Training Centers 
Kett Cosmetics   “Makeup for the digital age”
London College of Fashion
M.A.C. 
M.A.C. Pro 
Make-Up Artist magazine
Makeup International

minke-props  “Clear stage for new ideas”
Mouldlife

MUA-TV
MUD  “A school by make-up artists, for make-up artists.”
Naked Cosmetics “if it’s not naked, it’s not natural”

Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics  “A refreshing, gimmickless approach. No false claims, no empty promises, just great makeup.”
PAM (Makeup Artist Provisions) 
Paris Berlin  Makeup supplies
Principality FX SFX makeup supplies
THEPROMAKEUPSHOP.com ”love me, then dump me” disposable applicators
Royal Brush Brush manufacturers
Sensational Hair  “sensational hair and beauty products”
Smooth-On, Inc. ”liquid rubbers and plastics”
Somerset College 
St. Tropez 
Temptu ”beauty is in the air”
Tom Savini  Douglas Education Center (DEC)
Treasure House Makeup 
West Thames

Yaby Cosmetics  “colours that don’t lie”

It’s 8.15am, you need to get in the car in the next 15 minutes, you haven’t got any makeup on, the children can’t find their book bags and you really want to have another cup of tea.  Do you

a) ignore the children shouting for book bags because you know you put them out the night before and they haven’t moved from the front door since.

b) have said cup of tea and feel guilty because you’re meant to be a busy mum and a tea break is a luxury isn’t it?

c) throw on some makeup and avoid the question of ‘do you feel okay, you look peaky’ all day?

d) all of the above.

Well, the answer is d!  At least, in my house it is, and if I can get 3 children and myself up washed, dressed, breakfasted and out the door, plus makeup and hair done, and in the space of an hour, anyone can.

Yes, part of it is organisation, it is down to laying out school clothes (or in the case of my toddler, clothes and nappies), it is laying out my own clothes, it is about having the breakfast table laid up, and it is about making sure homework is done and in book bags ready.  But part of it is down to stopping and taking time for yourself.  If you don’t, you’ll get to the school gates with stressed out children who could well be crying because you’ve screeched at them for not doing up their coats properly, or it could be that you arrive at work frazzled because you were trying to put lipstick on in the car and the person behind you beeped you because you didn’t see the lights turn green…

Oh, I’m stressed just reading it all.

But is it really possible to put your makeup on in only a few minutes?  And are there products that can be doubled up?

As I was thinking of this article and beginning to investigate which products could be multipurpose, I began to jot down some ideas.

Unfortunately, someone else pipped me to the post! 

Celebrity Makeup Artist, and This Morning Makeup Expert, Sarah Burrows demonstrated a 5 minute makeup look for a busy Mum on Tuesday’s This Morning show.

And you know what?  Rather than saying the same thing as Sarah, she’s allowed me to use her example directly.

“Five minute make-up

• Dot a little concealer where needed – under eyes, around nose and to cover blemishes. Then blend into skin.
• Dab a little cream blush onto the apples of your cheeks and pat onto lips. A nice pink or coral work well.
• Using a firm rounded brush work your all-in -one foundation powder into skin using circular movements. Powders bases should blend into skin not just sit on the surface.
• Sweep a little bronzer over eye lid for soft shadow effect.
• Now push a deep brown eye shadow along the upper and lower lash line, then add lashings of mascara. This gives the illusion of smokey eyes without any fuss.
• Finish your look with a dusting of bronzer. Go for matte or semi matte during the day. brush over cheek bones, forehead and chest. “

And because I’d already done my research, I have added in my own personal recommendations of quick use products and multipurpose products plus how to use them!

Buildable Foundation- Jo Malone Finishing Fluid, similar to a tinted moisturiser, this is a colour adapting product and is actually good for your skin.  Very much a smear-on-and-run product that gives a great finish.

Cheek and Lip Colour - choose your favourite lip shade and smear a little onto your cheeks, high on the apples to give a healthy I’ve-just-been-for-a-run-aren’t-I-fit look.  Definitely look for Clinique almost lipstick in Black Honey, its a sheer smear colour that doesn’t need lining, and makes your cheeks look gorgeous.

Eyeshadow – we all know that bronzer makes a great eyeshadow, but what about eyeshadow used elsewhere? Got a duo eyeshadow that’s got a soft vanilla cream shade in it?  Whisk some across the top of your cheek bones to elevate them, or perhaps you’ve got a duo with a soft caramel colour in it?   You’ve already got some on your eyeshadow brush from where you’ve buffed it onto your eyelids, so why not use the excess somewhere else!  Pop a little into the sockets of your cheeks to deepen them, and a tiny dab down the sides of your nose to slim it down.  I find Estee Lauder and Clinique shadows are particularly good for this, though do watch for the shimmer if you’re slimming down a nose, you don’t want to over shine.

Lipstick - but not as you know it.  No time to line and fill, and you’re a bit of a splodger if you don’t have a line to fill in?  Put some on your finger tip and rub it into your lips, you’ll have a soft wash of colour that’s really just ‘your lips, but better’.

Jackie Tyson, makeup artist for X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent recommends Avon products for multipurpose quick makeup – ”

There are some great products available at the moment to create a full look from and it’s a really nifty ways of making your beauty budget go further. Avon Ultra Colour Rich Mega Impact Lipstick is a great product for pulling off this look with rich, creamy, impactful pigments. Use a neutral tone such as a Never So Nude and the secret’s all in the application. Use a lip brush to apply to the lips for stronger coverage and line with a slightly darker shade. Use the fingertips to blend a small amount on the cheekbones and the tip of the nose to give a healthy colour to the face. With a sponge-tipped eyeshadow applicator, load-up the colour and get blending across the lid and socket before applying a fine liquid eye line to complete the look. It’s a nice natural, daytime look anyone can pull-off!“

So there you go, 3 different experts in 3 different fields.  The makeup artist who works on celebrities, but is a celebrity herself.  The makeup artist who is a beauty writer, who works on regular women and is a busy working mum, and the makeup artist who works on some of the biggest TV shows in the UK.

Different makeup disciplines and experiences, but the same thought process for multipurpose quick makeup.

Sam Donald

www.SamDonald.com

The March and April issues of Cosmopolitan magazine are set to be full the brim with fashion and beauty editorials. There are going to be 50 extra editorial pages, on top of the usual, and that’s in BOTH months!

Cosmopolitan’s mantra is – ‘Being the best you can be’  and the Publishing Director, Justine Southall has said that the mantra is, for most women, about looking and feeling good.  She also says “Our fashion and beauty pages feed directly into this”  and with a readership of over 440,000, I guess they’re doing something right!

I’m more than a little bit excited and not least because of the major beauty stories that are going to be in the issues.  Cosmopolitan is so on trend and very much in the moment, and not just with their fashion stories, but with the beauty pages too.  I’m looking forward to the magazine, I don’t often buy hard copy magazines, though Cosmo is one of my treats, and it sits on my desktop and gets read over and over again.  And these 2 issues are set to be their biggest fashion and beauty editions to date, so my desk will be the place I sneak off to, and no doubt it will take me more than a month to get through it all!

But what makes Cosmo so special for me?  I’m not a fashionista, much as I wish I was, in real life, I have 3 children to get out of bed and ready for school, as well as myself, and in a short space of time, my capsule wardrobe (yes, I really have one of those) is a place I can blindly rummage for clothes and know that whatever combination I grab, it will work!  But that doesn’t stop me dreaming. 

I do though, love nice clothes and I appreciate fine detailing, but for me, the fashion pages call from the neck upwards – the makeup.  I get inspiration from all sorts of places.  From celebrities on TV, to wannabe reality TV stars, to the movies and even just another mother at the school gates.  But as a magazine that’s so very ‘now’ the makeup on the fashion pages are an inspiration also.  They show what’s coming, they show what makeup look suits the outfit.   So next time you buy a new dress for a special occasion and wonder what makeup would suit it, get out your Cosmopolitan magazine and have a look at how the model is wearing her makeup.  She might just be wearing it right…

I can’t let you see any sneak peeks just yet, but do watch this space as I hope to have some soon, and definitely reserve your copy (Feb 8th for the March issue)

Sam Donald

www.SamDonald.com

With just weeks to go until the IMATS land in London, there are still plans and changes happening in the exhibitor line up.

With Alex Box signing up as a Keynote Speaker, just today, and with Illamasqua agreeing to exhibit, plus Terry Barber of MAC fame, and a whole host of Oscar and Emmy award winning keynote speakers, it’s set to be an amazing weekend.

With workshops, classes, presentations and demonstrations, along with dozens of trade specialists exhibiting and offering show-discounts, there will be something for everyone.

Not just for the professional makeup artist, this event is open to anyone, though it will probably appeal to a professional more than to the average woman, however, access is available to all!