Illamasqua Theatre Of The Nameless Launch Event in Brisbane

Last night I had the pleasure of attending the launch of Illamasqua's new THEATRE OF THE NAMELESS collection in Myer Brisbane City. A huge thank you to Mandi Lavanah for inviting me to this exciting new launch from Illamasqua. It was great to meet and mingle with the wonderful Illamasqua make-up artists and lovely Brisbane Beauty Bloggers (BBB).

If you have been reading my blog posts,  you may know that I recently fell in love with Illamasqua when I made the plunge to get a hold on a few Illamasqua products here and here. The pigmentation, unique shades and quality of Illamasqua products as well as the purpose of their existence...'make up for your alto ego'... are some of the reasons why I love Illamasqua.

L-R: Tiarah Ormsbry (Brisbane City Illamasqua Counter Manager and MUA), Daniel Jamieson (Illamasqua MUA) and Deanna Spataro (Illamasqua MUA).

Illamasqua-

''Descend into the riotous scene of erotic adventure that is the Theatre of the Nameless collection. In this nocturnal den of the dissident leaders of underworld subcultures, exotic dancers rub shoulders with actors and anarchists. Infused with the essence of self-expression that transformed 1920s Berlin, this rich and indulgent collection envelops the senses. Darkly sophisticated tones are accompanied by shocks of dazzling iridescence and kinky rubber-look finishes, creating a breathtakingly modern interpretation of the most illicit nightlife in history. It's time to cross the threshold and embrace a world of unadulterated decadence.''

Illamasqua's Theatre of the Nameless Autumn/Winter 2011 collection has arrived with an inspiring and intriguing collection which surely does bring out Illamasqua's uniqueness to this World! The new collection brings upon bold, dark, seductive and daring shades with some gorgeous soft shades to represent the makeup worn during the nightlife of Berlin about a decade ago. The Theatre of the Nameless collection brings Illamasqua back to its roots and relates back to the ''dark drama of 1920s Berlin''...

Sound strikingly familiar? Have you ever noticed why the little description on the side of every Illamasqua box mentions a time back in the 1920s of Berlin? Well, here comes the Theatre of the Nameless which reveals the origin and inspiration of Illamasqua.

During the 1920s in Berlin, there was a woman who came to light in the darkness of the night. This woman is Anita Berber, she was in the field of film and theatre where she was known for her different and daring personality as a nude dancer and performer. She is Illamasqua's inspiration. 

Despite her androgynous personality and being the first woman to make the tuxedo fashionable for women, she was often seen dancing nude which made her a name in her era. She would often be seen wearing bold makeup; her lips would be seen as jet black from black and white images on screen and in paper. During most of her entire life, she had an attraction towards drugs and alcohol and dealt with a stark dark atmosphere of depravity and corruption which lead to her death just before she turned 30.

Due to her lifestyle and personality, she was neglected throughout history for more than half a decade. It wasn't until the year 1984 where a German writer wrote the first ever book devoted to Anita Berber; the book was titled 'Goddess of the Night'. To this day, her life continues to live in memory and her image... comes to life in Illamasqua's Theatre of the Nameless collection...

Alex Box (Illamasqua Creative Director)-  
''Theatre Of The Nameless is a heady mixture of opulent hues, decadent pigments and fearless application. A braised and burnished pallet that gives a sensual slip that bleeds colour into colour, worn through and kissed off.''

Deanna's work of art on Annabelle (model)

Daniel describes the products he applied on Thomas (model)

Tiarah demonstrates the versatility of the new products  on Abby (model)

The final look- bold and dramatic!

Illamasqua Theatre of the Nameless collection

L-R: Tiarah, Thomas, Mandi (Celebrity Makeup Artist and Manicurist) and Annabelle. The names of the nail varnishes Mandi is wearing are: Vice (deep cerise),  Taint (stone brown), Faux Pas (blue violet) and Kink (bottle green).

Illamasqua's new set of nail varnishes are THE most talked about products from the collection! These nail varnishes provide an incredibly smooth rubber-look finish and they are absolutely amazing! What's also interesting about the nail varnishes are that the lids are not the usual black plastic like the permanent Illamasqua range of nail varnishes...they are actually made of rubber! 

Grandeur Flase Eye Lashes

These false eye lashes in Grandeur are huge! The box in which these falsies come packaged is twice as large as the permanent styles on counter. There are two styles of flase eye lashes in The Theatre of the Nameless collection and the other one is called Weimar, which was designed in collaboration with Amelia Tan (founder of fashion label 'A is for Arsenic'. In Australia, Weimar is available online and in Sydney and Melbourne).

The Precision Ink in Havoc (aubergene) is also part of the collection and the formula is waterproof, so it will last all night without smudging/fading! To create a dramatic look, Deanna explained that you could use Havoc  to shade the brows and define the eye socket. 

L-R: Intense Lipgloss in Facade (grey pink/beige clay) and Lipstick in Kontrol (blue violet)

Intense Lipgloss in Belladonna (deep pink)

In the collection, there are two Intense Lipglosses in Facade and Belladonna and one Sheer Lipgloss in Violate (dark green with shimmer). The latter was MIA at the time of the event (alongside Illamasqua's New Masquara).

L-R: Depravity (magenta) and Androgen (soft coral)

 Illamasqua cream pigments are still fairly new to Illamasqua (first launched as part of the Toxic Nature Collection), so it's great to see this type of formulation for the shades Depravity and Androgen in this new collection.  These cream pigments are soo versatile! Tiarah demonstrated that these shades can be used on the eye lids, cheeks and even lips! 

Pure Pigment in Zeitgeist- dark shimmer

Pure Pigment in Berber- auburn shimmer

Pure Pigment in Beguile- light shimmer

Pure Pigments are 'triple' milled which is why the shimmers appear incredibly minute! Pure Pigments give an absolutely precious shimmery look to the eyes, cheeks and lips! Deanna explained to me that Buguile could be mix into liquid foundation and just apply to the cheeks, forehead, between the brows and on your chin to highlight the face. Mandi also suggested to dab a few specs of Berber to Facade coated lips to give that extra bit of shimmer and colour. 

Powder Blusher in Ambition- soft coral

Ambition provide a soft coral shimmery finish which adds a hint of glow to the cheeks. Like all Illamasqua blushers,  Ambition does have the same level of high pigmentation and quality. There are two powder blushes in this collection, the other is Morale (magenta) which is unfortunately not stocked in Australia.  However, you can purchase Morale from the  Illamasqua website.

 Here are a few swatches of some of the products on show at the event last night. Note that the swatch of the Pure Pigments in the photo below are only light swatches!

Illamasqua's Theatre of the Nameless is an inspiring collection with a deep sense and feel of the darkness in the nightlife of history. The names of these Illamasqua products truly depict the life of Anita Berber back in 1920s Berlin...

At the conclusion of the party, Mandi gifted us BBB's with a couple of amazing products from the collection. I've been admiring Mandi's stunning nails and the Pure Pigments, so I was uber excited to have one of each to play with!

Nail varnish in Faux Pas and Pure Pigment in Beguile.

Stay tuned for reviews on these two Illamasqua beauties!

Illamasqua's Theatre of the Nameless collection launches today at all Illamasqua counters in Myer across Australia.

Promotional images courtesy of Illamasqua.

What are your thoughts of the Theatre of the Nameless collection?

Which product/s would you dare to use?

Rose