About Us
What is Illusion Effects?
Illusion Effects Sdn. Bhd. is a one-stop shop designed to cater to the needs of individual private customers, professional make-up artists and the professional market such as the media industry, the hobby market, the medical industry (cosmetic correction), educational institutions and etc.
Established in 2004, Illusion Effects Sdn. Bhd. holds the distribution rights in Malaysia for exclusive brands such as Grimas Professional Make-up and MGSE International. We also carry Harlequin Dance floors.
With strong back ups from our principles, we are able to provide efficient and reliable service support to our retailers and customers. All our products are European made and therefore we guarantee on its high quality grade.
The rapid growth in the company has let the company to diversify its business to offer other services such as retailership program, beauty & special effects make-up services and also customized workshop programs.
Illusion Effects Sdn. Bhd.’s have established itself in the cosmetic industry and is well known for its expertise, reliability and creativity. With our good services and stock availability, customers are always happy to come back to us for more.
The headquarters is in the busy city of Petaling Jaya is the centre for distributing activities and serving as warehouse and support hub to all its retailers nationwide.
Who is Melissa Tai?
Melissa Tai is currently the sales director and make-up consultant for Illusion Effects Sdn. Bhd. As the sole distributor for Grimas Professional Make-Up, Melissa is well informed in the latest styles and products used in the make-up industry. Being trained in beauty and special effects make-up, she is very enthusiastic to share her knowledge with people who are interested in stage, studio and TV make-up.
Melissa also conducts workshops and short personal make-up training for individuals. She and her team of make-up artists also participated in face paintings and creative make-up such as ‘Celcom Rave Party 2008’ in Genting Highlands and as well as the A1 Grand Prix motor show in 2008.
With the support of Grimas & MGSE, Melissa hopes to bring the make-up industry to a higher level by sharing her knowledge with them in terms of variety, quality, strength and safety.
Who is Paw Sorensen?
PAW SORENSEN 1960 hails from Copenhagen, Denmark. He is a professional and has over 26 years of experience in the fields of Theatre/TV-lighting, Special Make-up effects, TV/Film make-up, and Pyro-technique. He has worked as a consultant and developer of Special-effects as well as Make-up Designer, lighting designer and Lighting director on big productions such as: Miss Saigon, Atlantis, Romeo & Juliet, End-game etc. Paw has worked on more than 150 productions, where of 65 in Asia.
He has worked his magic on Dance, Ballet, Fashion shows, Rock Concerts and TV-productions as lighting designer, make-up designer and Pyro-effects consultant. He was involved in the productions of Spirits Play, Flying Circus 2000 and did the lighting design for the exclusive Meredith Monk Concert, 2003 by Theatreworks.
Paw has designed make-up & lighting and provided technical consultant on more than 65 productions in Singapore and Malaysia drama, events, and dance-productions like Flush, Mines, NA, O$P$, ASH, 1915 and Romusha by Agni Kootthu,
Ménage a Trois, Passages, Migrating Souls and Sensory Perceptions by LASALLE-SIA The Nut Cracker by Singapore Dance Theatre for which he was the “House Make-up Consultant” and is also delivering products and services to Media Corp and Rain Tree productions. He was the director of Special Cosmetic Effects Pte Ltd, which was later transformed into “Illusion Effects” Involved in sale, development, consultancy and providing professional make-up design and special effects for stage, studio, television and film in Singapore and Southeast Asia.
Paw was teaching the art of Lighting Design and technology as well as Stage and SFX make-up with LASALLE-SIA in Singapore and later with, School of Make-up and “NAFA” (Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts) Drama and technical theatre department. Paw has spent 8 year in Asia and has been a huge inspiration and pioneering force – his European style and background hugely appreciated.
Paw is currently Creative Director & consultant for Illusion Effects Sdn. Bhd.
GRIMAS Manufacturer/Producer of Make-up for Professional and Hobby
Grimas B.V. is a Dutch company that develops and produces make-up for the professional and hobby segment using traditional methods. This can be for a variety of different applications, for example theatre make-up, make-up, beauty, camouflage and face paint. Grimas supplies its products to many different countries and the distributors include party shops, hobby shops, ballet shops, wig makers and make-up schools.
Having gained a deep understanding of all aspects of cosmetics through literature studies and research, Grimas also employs a toxicologist/ecotoxicologist, who contributes to permanent monitoring of optimum safety of all product compositions.
Grimas stands out in the enormous market of make-up suppliers by providing honest information and having a great sense of responsibility with regard to the ingredients used. All colorants used are in the highest quality category*, which means the productscan also be used around the eyes and the mucous membranes. Grimas deliberately chose this approach, as we feel that people in the cosmetics, make-up and face paint world should be able to work freely with different colours and techniques without having to wonder whether or not specific products may be used around the eyes and/or lips.
Models also use Grimas make-up, e.g. during photo shoots and on catwalks, as it is colourfast, does not run under the hot lights and because the high-quality ingredients mean it is completely safe for the skin: a major asset for a model. Grimas make-up is also often used for painting children’s faces and it is therefore obviously of the utmost importance that delicate children’s skin does not come into contact with substances that could be harmful.
* The Dutch Commodities Act defines four different categories for cosmetic products. Grimas only uses colorants from the first category.
As we only work with the highest quality colorants, every end user can be assured of a safe product with no harmful (toxic) effects. Grimas takes great care when purchasing its raw materials and preservatives, does not use perfumes and produces a different label for every single product, stating exactly what the product contains.
Safety and Ethics
Terms like ‘no preservatives’ and ‘not tested on animals’ are very popular where the ethics of cosmetic products are concerned. Grimas has a very positive attitude towards these developments. Various Grimas Pure product lines have been developed without chemical preservatives, for instance, and Grimas is emphasising the fact that it has never carried out or given instructions for animal tests and will never do so. But it is also of the utmost importance to take a realistic position where preservatives and animal testing is concerned:
The law states that, from a safety perspective, unused products should be bacteriologically acceptable for 30 months. ’However, it is precisely when you start using a product that it can come into contact with a variety of harmful bacteria. Water make-up (face painting) may for example be used at summer camps or children’s farms. When specific hygiene regulations are not observed (use of spatulas, clean hands, storage in a cool place, etc.), this is seen as ‘improper use’. Grimas sees it as its duty to offer a product which can still guarantee optimum safety in those kinds of circumstances and this in turn does require the use of preservatives. Not doing so would seriously endanger the user’s health. As a result of the rapid growth of harmful bacteria, the product could easily lead to infections in the eyes, skin and mucous membranes.
Grimas therefore does use chemical preservatives where safety considerations demand it, but is focusing more and more on the use of natural preservatives where these provide equivalent or better protection than the chemical preservatives. Certain vitamins (e.g. vitamin E) are natural anti-oxidants and can acts as preservatives. Citric acid, coconut oil and camomile also have natural preservative properties. The Grimas product packaging clearly states which preservatives have been used.
Grimas does not test its products on animals. But we do purchase our raw materials – as does every cosmetics manufacturer – from suppliers who may have done so. Unfortunately there was sometimes no other way of testing raw materials in order to guarantee their safety for people. Fortunately this is now forbidden within the EU.
Transparant information
Grimas believes in providing information transparently, so that the consumer knows exactly what he or she is applying to his or her skin. This is not only useful for the end user who may for example want to avoid allergic reactions, but it is also important to people who are professionally involved with make-up (teachers, make-up artists, cosmeticians), as they can legally be held liable if the person they are working on suffers from skin problems as a result of the make-up they have applied. Grimas therefore does not use collective labels, but states exactly what is in each and every product. In addition to giving the exact contents on the packaging, Grimas also communicates product information via its website (www.grimas.nl). This includes the formulation, a safety information page and the colorant for each product. You will also find safety and dermatological declarations.
The information provided by Grimas is to the point and hides nothing. Meaningless terms like ‘dermatologically tested’ and ‘hypoallergenic’ have been replaced by a dermatological declaration and a summary of the ingredients. After all, the term hypoallergenic only means that the manufacturer has avoided as many substances as possible that can cause allergic reactions. However, avoiding such substances is obviously in any manufacturer’s economic interest, so a specific statement is redundant. Grimas uses the best possible ingredients and describes these on a safety information sheet for each product. End users can therefore assess for themselves whether the product includes substances they have a reaction to.
Product development and innovations
Grimas maintains close working relationships with professionals such as make-up artists, who are always at the forefront of cosmetic developments. Grimas responds to these developments with innovative products, without compromising the level of safety that characterizes Grimas products. Grimas is currently busy introducing fluorescent make-up products to the market, making a distinction between colours that light up under ‘black light’ and products with bright daylight colours.
Creating these bright colours with high quality, category one cosmetic colorants is a real challenge. It is worth noting that legislation for European products is very strict. Because face paint is often used on children, the use of anything but the very safest colorants that have been developed for cosmetic products is not open to discussion. Safety for the skin, transparency of information and products that do exactly what they promise are – and will continue to be – the foundations that Grimas is built on.
Grimas make-up versus regular cosmetics
Even though Grimas make-up has been developed for the professional market and the hobby market, the products are also perfectly suitable for use as normal make-up. However, a certain level of expertise is required when applying them. The ordinary cosmetics market makes it easier for the consumer by processing less colorant in its products. The less colorant, the more transparent the result and the smaller the chance of things going wrong.
It is certainly also possible to obtain a transparent result with Grimas, but only if a very small amount of the product is used. The results are very long-lasting and this is exactly why make-up artists enjoy working with the brand. One other added bonus for the consumer is that all colours in the assortment are here to stay, so no one will have to miss out on their favourite colour eye shadow or lipstick.
The Grimas product range includes water-based make-up for face painting, cream make-up for cosmetics and theatre, waxy make-up (lipsticks, cream make-up and cover cream) poured into the containers, pressed products (face powders, eye shadow, blusher and eyeliner), emulsions (foundations) and accessories including eyelashes, synthetic and latex products (nose, chin, eye), means of application (puffs, sponges, brushes), film blood for all imaginable applications, tooth enamel, skin glue, plastic, malleable materials for making skin disfiguration effects and cleansing products.
All make-up is produced under our own management in accordance with strict standards, in order to achieve the best possible resulting product, one which is safe for the skin and does exactly what it has been developed for. Having our own product line makes it possible to produce small product runs, which allows us to respond quickly to demand for specific products. In addition to the compulsory shelf-life icon on the packaging (valid from the date the package is opened), an expiry date is also stated, so that the skin never has to experience the damaging side effects of an out-of-date product.
MGSE International Ltd. from Germany developes and manufactures special effects cosmetic of high quality and performance. These specialized make-up products are normally used by trained professional make-up artists. Its effects and quality produced from the products are of Hollywood standard.
The products from MGSE are used specifically for commercial theatrical, educational, motion picture, television, video, opera, clowning, Halloween, and face painting markets.
With MGSE’s large range of products and still currently growing larger, our products are suitable for professional make-up artists because we know their needs. Today MGSE is known and sold world wide, from the Europe to Asia. With MGSE, you can do anything from creative bridal make-up to an elaborate body paint make-up or extreme character and special effects make-up.
Harlequin develops, manufactures and supplies a wide range of performance flooring surfaces, systems and accessories. These floors are used for dance, performing arts, entertainment & display.
Our range of vinyl floors provides portable and permanent dance floor solutions and those indicated are also suitable as a dance surface when used in conjunction with Harlequin’s sprung floors.