KRYOLAN RE-LAUNCH EVENT

For the family owned brand that has always married science and the creative art of Make Up, the Royal Society of Chemistry in Burlington House was the perfect venue for Kryolan's re-launch last night. 

The brand was born in the 1940s, founded by chemistry student Arnold Langer, wanting to combine his two loves, science and theatre. The family tradition continues, last night was hosted by Arnold’s son Wolfram who is now the Managing Director of the company and grandson Dominik, also a director. Impressively Arnold, now in his 90s, still works four days a week at the company – now that, my friends, is passion and dedication. 

The event re-introduced us to the brand and its philosophy that ‘Make-Up is a Science’ and provides cosmetics for all aspects of the industry. Models personified these 5 key areas – Fashion, Special Effects, Cinema, Theatre, Body Art and walked among us as part of the evening. 

Did you also know that this is the brand that also creates the Illamasqua formula and products? Click here to link to the Illamasqua brand video which has so much information on the history of Kryolan.

Right, down to the nitty gritty, what were my highlights?

In a stroke of genius, bare face models were provided for the Kryolan team to demonstrate on and for us to try out products, yippee! Make-up artist Kenneth Soh got stuck in first trying out the Shimmering Event Foundation in Antique Bronze- a sheer, glowing formula that could only be described as a ‘dirty highlight’ and quite delicious. I’ve made a mental note to have a play with the rest of the range which includes 6 shades - Pearl, Silver, Gold, Antique Gold, Bronze, Antique Bronze and properly try them out on top of and combined with foundations. 

Next the Shimmering Vision Palette (I love these names!) was pawed over, a range of 18 cream eyeshadow colours that look silky, burnished and glowing on the skin. The shadows had a great colour pay-off and may need to be set with a translucent powder or a powder eyeshadow for longevity – again I’m sure more time spent with this product is in order. 

I was dragged over to see the HD Micro Foundation Cream Palette which is available in a handy 15 colour range (perfect for your kit). I also discovered this was the make-up used on the Miss Universe pageant  - total digression but you have to watch Drop Dead Georgeous - a fantastic beauty queen satire!  It is a very light and creamy formula, delivering a glossy finish so will need to be expertly powdered in some areas of the face such as the chin, sides of the nose and centre of the forehead. It may be possible to use this luminosity as an advantage – using lighter colours as highlighters and warmer colours for naturally glowing cheeks. Needless to say, added to the proverbial list.

Finally I indulged my inner drag queen and got (literally) stuck in to some glitter with the Hydro-Mastix Washable Spirit Gum which is water based – I wonder if it can be used around the eyes and lips? Add it to the list of things to find out! 

All in all the evening was a lovely way to be re-introduced to the brand, meet up with some old chums, make some great new friends and a scrummy taster of the huge range of products available from Kryolan. Most importantly it is great to see that family owned brands at this level still exist and I believe deserve the continued support of artists in the industry. A visit to Kryolan's London home - Charles Fox with a good few hours of play time is clearly in order!

For some candid shots of the event and products check out my Twitter and Instagram (KathGould_MUA)