I’m really not sure what to make of Illamasqua’s collaboration with a funeral company to do one last make-over on the deceased before they head off to the great make up counter in the sky. I don’t really get who it is aimed at (well, the dead, clearly..but..) because thinking about it personally if I was on my death-bed I’m not sure my final request would be for an Illamasqua make over, especially not at £450.
Now, in some cultures an open casket is just the way of things, and I suppose how you look is quite important in that instance. Cosmetics are commonly used in the embalming process to present a final face to loved ones and that’s on young and old, male or female (I’m told Ben Nye is a popular choice!) but does it really need Illamasqua’s trade-mark ‘self expression’?
I’m trying to translate in my head if Bobbi Brown or Clinique, for example, started doing this… wearable neutrals for the casket?… how it would go down? Of all the brands, I guess only Illamasqua could spin this, but I still feel a bit uncomfortable at the cash-in. It’s not the act of making up the dead, it’s more the skewed perception that you might actually need to have your casket face done by an Illamasqua make up artist for £450. And, it also feels a little bit ‘typical Illamasqua’ to attention grab in this way. Make waves by all means, but you know.. nobody ‘needs’ this.
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