ALEX BOX

This week, I'm looking forward to Alex Box's exhibition (23rd October-22rd November) at Rankin's new gallery in Kentish Town, Annroy. Box, the artistic director of the Illamasqua make-up brand, is a hugely inventive and successful make-up artist who has worked for designers such as Gareth Pugh and the Chanel legend Largerfeld.

The exhibition of some of her most bizarre and beautiful make-up creations promotes her brand spanking new book, photos shot by Rankin. Box in an interview with Edwina Ings-Chamber for Style magazine describes the project as 'blurring the boundaries between make-up and painting or illustration. The same materials are used for both: paint, pigment brushes, pens, pencils. Once it's on the canvas of the face, then it's make-up, but where do the lines blur?'

Box's advice to budding make-up artists or general facepaint enthusiasts is this...buy brushes for make-up in art shops, and shop for make-up in professional stage store such as Screenface (screenface.com) and Charles Fox (charlesfox.co.uk). Both these stores can be found around Covent Garden. Screenface in particular is great, the staff are helpful and the sometimes industrial-looking products are handily labelled on the shelves.

The combination of such huge icons as Box and Rankin in the fashion field means the book is rather pricey at £50, but definitely worth putting on your Christmas list.

Alex Box (Turnaround £50) and the exhibition at the Annroy, London, NW5 finishes on the 22 Nov.