“Live fast, die young and leave a good-looking corpse” has been the defiant credo of many a star-crossed outlaw. But even if you’re not ready to cash in your chips quite yet, there is now new hope for stylishly holding up at least the latter end of that doomy manifesto for when the bell finally tolls for thee.
A British cosmetics company named Illamasqua – working in tandem with the estimable funeral directors Leverton & Sons – is offering a strangely macabre new service for those of us who are … er … dead-set on looking our best after the Reaper has paid us a visit. In a coffin-shaped nutshell, Illamasqua takes the catch phrase of Billy Crystal’s old “SNL” character Fernando – “It’s better to look good than to feel good” – to its extreme.
It will cost you, of course. Dubbed “The Final Act of Self-Expression,” a makeup makeover for the deceased by Illamasqua will start at about $700. But they promise to send you off to your eternal reward looking fab. Or, as their website puts it: To “wear the most fabulous make-up applied by a professionally trained make-up artist for your final journey is the ultimate statement of celebration.” Well, if they say so.
There is a catch, though (besides, you know, actually dying): The service is available only in the London area. So, if you’re planning on being dead in the U.K. sometime soon, now’s your chance to knock ’em dead.
Illamasqua’s professional makeup for the living, meanwhile, can be found in the United States at Sephora.