Fashion Wire Daily NY - For 30 years, Il-Makiage has been used to transform the faces of everyone from Kim Basinger to Boy George. Now the company, known as the "professional makeup artists' makeup line," has gotten a makeover of its own.
Shedding its slightly-'70s, red-and-white high-gloss packaging for something a bit more retail-savvy, Il-Makiage debuted its new industrial-chic, camera-lens-inspired look on Tuesday at the Box Tree restaurant in midtown Manhattan.
"It was the hardest thing in the world," admits company founder and acclaimed makeup artist Ilana Harkavi of the re-packaging ordeal. "Everything I wanted to do - matte silver, frosted clear - had been done. Then I decided I like Prada, so let's do black on black!"
It's contrastingly stark packaging for a makeup line that boasts a palette of over 500 colors - more than any other cosmetic company out there. "I keep adding; I never eliminate," explains Harkavi with a warm smile. Such a wide range of hues, along with a 30% pigment formula that ensures the makeup stays on all day, is what has made Il-Makiage the choice product for beauty gurus like Bobbi Brown and Francois Nars (before they created their own lines) as well as Mary Greenwell, who trained under Harkavi for 15 years, and the late Kevyn Aucoin.
In addition to the new look, Harkavi has also introduced a new must-have product: Studio Cream Color, a transparent all-in-one blush, lipstick, and eyeshadow that comes in three different shades, and a new boutique in Rome - nestled just beside Armani's outpost - to sell it.
"People say all makeup is the same; it's not true," she says, blending onto her hand some TV Touch, a dual-tone concealer she claims would be the one thing she takes on a desert island. "These products...they just feel like satin."
Il-Makiage studio/showroom, 107 E. 60th St, New York, 212.371.3992
