Makeup Legend - Alex Box

She is no ordinary artist- she is one that has opened up new possibilities of what beauty means to us. She has harboured a fusion between art, craft, science and fashion and released it to the world with such intense imagery that she can go un-noticed. She is – Alex Box.

“I was the only

goth in the village,” she says of her upbringing in a small village on the outskirts of Grimsby. Even now with her statement blond stripe through her jet black hair, teamed with red lips and pale skin she keeps an essence of goth updated with a vintage twist.

The young Alex Box soon spread her gothic wings to study Fine Art at Chelsea College of Art and went on to become a successful installation artist exploring the relationship between the body and the environment.

Hand Painted Makeup by Alex

She went on to refine this exploration and started making an impact in her unique style of “experimental beauty”, which secured her regular editorials in Vogue, I-D magazine, 10, Harpers Bazaar and Show Studio online.

When Alex teamed up with world famous photographer Rankin– who is himself a legend for a book to showcase her work it was set to be an explosive visual statement.

Rankin Image 1

Rankin Image 2

Rankin Image 3

Rankin has photographed everyone from Madonna to Spice Girls and David Bowie to The Rolling Stones. He not only started Dazed and Confused magazine but also publishes his own magazine Rank as well as Another Magazine and Another Man.

For Alex the collaboration was perfect “Rankin is very anthropological in his approach to photography” “I make a character and he takes a picture. I didn’t want to have to sift through layers to get through to the image, and that’s exactly what Rankin did.”

The coffee table treat will let you delight in Alex Box’s unusual makeup techniques sampling ingredients like post it notes and icing sugar and to finish each face. The book is a feast of intriguing and captivating imagery that pulls you into a story inspiring you to finish.

Illamasqua - The newest makeup brand on the counter - is Alex Box’s next expression of art. She is currently the creative director behind the cosmetic brand and describes her mission here “I want to inspire people through the power of image," "My message is; 'dare to be different'.

The Illamasqua range gives you cosmetics to experiment and explore the bolder, darker side of you.  It is a makeup brand that plays with mystical figures and ethereal fantasies to let us makeup our alter ego.  A perfect match for the artist who describes her own style as an "An acid goth"!

 Click to purchase Alex Box - the book

Click for more info on Illamasqua

Makeup Legend: Pat McGrath

“The most influential makeup artist in the world” Vogue 2007

What an amazing title to be given by such a fashion power-house as Vogue, but even bigger to have to up-hold it.  British born Makeup Artist Pat Mcgrath has done just that.   Her career for more than 2 decades has meant for anyone in the fashion world, Pat McGrath is a household name.  She made a name for herself as quite a cosmetic craftswomen with her inspiring use of colour and handmade makeup which she preferred to apply by hand and the creative use of accessories to finish her designs.

She is best known for her show-stopping makeup designs adorning models faces with paint, glitter, flowers and fabrics transforming even the most famous of faces – unrecognisable!

Her biggest influence is her mother from whom she learnt to get creative and mix products and colours together as there was little out there for darker skin back then. 

                                                                             
Gisele Bundchen                                                          Linda Evangelista

With no formal makeup training she started her career after graduating from Northampton Art College and got her “big break” working with Edward Enninful, the then Fashion Editor for I-D Magazine.  He describes her work as ranging from "the highest couture to club kids” and names her as integral for putting I-D Magazine on the               international map.                                                               

Pat spent the 90s dominating the backstage of the the ready-to-wear and couture shows heading around 10 shows per season for Dior, Galliano, Prada, Lanvin, Mui Mui, Victor and Rolf and Valentino and more.

She is considered one of THE most influential makeup artists in the world and so in 1999 Giorgio Armani employed her expertise in the field to design his own makeup range – Every makeup artists dream!!!  

Proctor and Gamble went on announce her as Global Design Director in 2004, to take care of brands like Max Factor, Covergirl and Dolce and Gabbana. She is rumoured to head advertising campaigns for up to £40k a time on brands such as Louis Vuitton, Calvin Klein and Balenciaga and her work has been photographed in Vogue Italia, American Vogue and W Magazine.

 

Despite her elevated status as a Makeup Legend and supermodels describing her as their “Backstage Mum’ with her gentle caring nature.  What intrigues me the most about Pat McGrath is the allure she has created by not capitalizing on her brand with a McGrath-Following.   Makeup books, branded schools and training and her own cosmetics line even are all viable possibilities for a woman in her position to increase her influence and earnings.  
She does not even have her own website!  
Some may argue she does not need to as her agency Streeters are there for that.  However, I feel she remains true to her intrigue to find new inspiration and simply apply that to her passionate art and remain inspired to keep creating her masterpieces.  
In a Vogue interview she quoted "I'm influenced a lot by the fabrics I see, the colours that are in the collections and the girl's faces. It's always a challenge but that's the key - to make it different every time."
Her humility within her talent make her a rare breed in the world of fashion and a true example of her art.


John Galliano SS03 RTW - Makeup by Pat McGrath (one of my favourites), the inspiration was taken from Indian Festival of Colour - Holi!

Some back-stage pictures