On Saturday 30th January I got up as bright and as early as the birds and made my way to my first ever IMATs visit at London's Ally Pally! I was so excited and the makeup geek that I am, I even had a little itinerary of who and what I was going to see for the day:
- Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics' David Klasfeld - Airbrush Confidential
- MAC's Terry Barber on Beauty in Video & Music
- Alex Box
- And lots of visiting - and potential buying at - makeup stands galore...
OCC David Klasfeld - Airbrush Confidential
David is a very humble makeup artist considering his resume covers Comedy Central and music videos for The Stills and Sum 41 to name only a mere few! He gave an excellent and very honest 101 on air brushing, in fact he made it sound so simple I thought I'd be able to pick one up and get going in no time, ha! Honestly though, this was a great seminar and a lot of very useful tips were given, many that all makeup artists should know!
MAC's Terry Barber - Beauty in Video & Music
Wow - the work that this man has achieved and the women he's painted, Terry too is very down to earth and incredibly talented. For his seminar he created a very Grace Jones-esque look that was inspired by the likes of Way Bandy's makeup work and 1920s glamour girls. He went through the look as he carried it out on stage in very thorough detail - how to shade and contour and how to work with the cameras and directors so you help them get the most out of the video in terms of the image created!
Alex Box
By far my favourite makeup artist of the entire event and day, I was so keen to see this lady and hear what makes her tick. I wasn't disappointed. She's so down-to-earth but very imaginative. You can almost see the cogs ticking over in her facial expressions, she's so extrovert but not in a crazy in-your-face way and the stories and advice she imparted were fantastic.
I was very much in awe of her as much as I am of her work. In case you're unsure as to she is, Alex Box is Creative Director of Illamasqua, a very new and different makeup brand. She is responsible for all their makeup imagery that you'll see on their website, branding and promotional material. For years now she's been creating astounding makeup for the likes of W, Stella McCartney and Vogue.
She's also just released a book with the famous photographer Rankin containing a year and half's worth of their beautiful collaborations. "Lost for words" doesn't even cover the emotion I get when looking at them! You can find more details on it here.
Aside from the seminars given there were also the entries for the Student Makeup Artist competition wandering around the venue along with their talented creators. This year's theme, in celebration of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland was exactly that - Alice in Wonderland! All of the nominees were phenomenal but my favourites were the Queen of Hearts and Alice with mushrooms and butterflies emerging from crazy, glittery hair and fabulous tattoos reading "Eat Me"!
The stands exhibiting and selling were offering some amazing discounts on the day. I got hold of some of Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetic's AMAZING Lip Tars at £7 a tube! These are highly pigmented, rich lip paints perfect for video and photography. I got hold of some crazy colours and also their Clear Lip Tar for avante garde and fashion work. I've already experimented with them and they are brilliant, I'm so impressed - the colours are so vibrant and you can mix them together to create new colours!
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