City of the dead: Illamasqua makeup services for the deceased

They call it the final act of self expression.

Last year Illamasqua launched a unique service to apply makeup to dead women, to ensure that they looked as glamourous in an open casket as they did when they were alive.

Look there's no way to say this tactfully so I'm just going to blurt it out - sometimes funeral directors do a terrible job on makeup.  The dead person can look absolutely unlike themselves and that can be really upsetting.

But is this the ultimate in bad taste?  To call an Illamaqua make up artist in (at a cost of €450 and only available in the London area) to make up the dead woman?  Or would it cheer up a woman in the throes of an incurable illness immeasurably to know that she will look her best the last time she is ever seen?

Illamasqua say:

Offering professional funeral make-up transformations applied by a specially trained Illamasqua make-up artist, the Final Act of Self-Expression encourages people for whom making-up is an intimate part of their identity to plan their final transformation - one that pays tribute to who they were in life and how they want to enter the afterlife.

Illamasqua encourages people to self-express and embrace their alter ego in every way. Why should this be any different when you pass away? It is a celebration of life, and one that should be indulged for your last glamorous look.

I have to be honest and say I'm torn on this one.  My initial reaction was one of disbelief but what do you think? The ultimate in terrible taste or a good idea?