Dita Von Teese' Be Cointreauversial Show

With rising performer Timomatic

This performer scared the heck out of Mel as she was leaving the rest room before the event started so she owed us a photo!

Where: Australian Technology Park in Eveleigh, Sydney

When: Thursday 16th September 2010

Time: 7.00pm

If you are a fan of Dita Von Teese (and if you are reading this, then I assume you are), you may have heard of Dita's fantastic collaboration with famous liqueur brand Cointreau. Both both house hold names that exude mystery, desire and bedazzle crowds in large numbers so their collaboration is a match made in heaven.

Thanks to Hussy Australia and Cointreau I was invited to attend Dita's one-of-a-kind event and who better to bring along than friend and photographer Melissa Stone. Mel and I have been friends since I started makeup artistry and have worked together on many assignments. This year Mel launched Burlesque Beauty Workshops, a fun and unique workshop designed for women of all shapes and sizes to embrace their bodies and enjoy a photoshoot in a safe and fun environment. So who better to invite than Mel!

We were both so excited and could not stop chatting about what was ahead of us on the ride there. I was hoping Dita would perform her world famous martini glass performance because I love the concept and have wondered how it actually works. When we arrived there, we could see a cool orange haze through the entrance and funky music but we had no idea what was waiting beyond the entrance. We entered in to a warehouse lit up in orange lights complete with a tall stair case - a bizarre entry considering every girl was wear heels higher than their handbags! The warehouse was completely transformed into a swinging 40's club bars loaded full of Cointreau cocktails. We found a cool egg chair hanging from the ceiling and chilled there for a while to take it all in. Guest's dresses, heels, suits and bow ties were super impressive. I love how everyone had made such an effort to dress for the occasion, there were fishnets, red lipstick, red sparkly heels and lots of black dresses on show. Mel and I both wore red lipstick (and to be honest, I HATE red lippie on me - but I wore it for Dita). In case you're wondering, I wore Illamasqua Lipstick in 'Man Eater' and toned it down with Estee Lauder Pure Colour Gloss in 'Passion Fruit'. I wore my silver Hussy dress and lovely high black pumps from Zu.

There were photographers everywhere so Mel took the night off and we let posed for a few happy snaps ...we even made it to the Sunday Herald & Saturday Telegraph which made my week! Be Cointreauversial was full of amazing performers - there were dancers with dramatic makeup and crazy nets that stood feet above their heads, models in black body suits embellished in diamantes, girls strapped to the ceiling taking Polaroids and throwing them on the crowd, ballerinas, and Timomatic a handsome hottie who I believe is a dancer/instructor for television shows like Dancing With the Stars. Although I could not chase them all up for a photo I managed to snap a few who were only too happy to pose. Celebrities spotted included Wayne Cooper, ModelCo's Shelley Barrett, Terry Biviano and model Tiah Eckhardt.

After a few hours of being treated with good food, good beverage and good company the lights dimmed and the mood changed as everyone gasped and cheered for Dita. When the curtains opened on stage, we all started to scramble for the stage to get a glimpse of the most famous burlesque dancer on earth and she was stunning. At 37 years old, Dita's appearance puts many 25 year olds to shame...including moi.

 All eyes were on her stunning red dress which she dropped to our excitement, revealing a sparkly red corset.

Her tease was slow, sensual, cheeky and delightful all rolled in to one. She smiled at the audience and teased  the crowd while her assistants helped her remove clothing and keep the audience interested. Once Dita had stripped down to her  swarovski  embellished g-string and nipple pasties, she climbed in to her martini glass and dazzled the crowd with her splashing, frolicking in the water and naughty tactics such as squeezing her 'olive' (a large sponge filled with water) over her chest, letting the water roll down her body in one sensual move. The finale: a big bang to the final chords of the music andthousands of streamers dropped from the ceiling all of Dita and her adoring crowd while we screamed and cheered for more. Although Dita Von Teese performed for around 10 minutes at most, the anticipation was crazy and we were all so excited we would have exploded so it was the perfect way to end a night of glamour, excitement and sex appeal which was oozing every where I looked.

The highlight of the whole event: Mel & I made the social pages - yahoo!