To celebrate the occasion, we spoke to the makeup maestro herself about her can't-live-without makeup product, the secret to all-year-round hydration, and beauty hacks to take you from the desk to dinner, fast!
If you could use one product for the rest of your life, what would it be?
"There’s too many to just pick one," Charlotte Tilbury admitted.
"You can’t have a beautiful painting without a beautiful canvas. I never go anywhere without my miracle-working moisturiser, Magic Cream. It’s packed with active ingredients like my patented Bio Nymph Peptide Complex, hyaluronic acid, Camellia & Rosehip Oil, Damask Rose water which floods the skin with moisture for a dewy, plump finish. I was mixing this backstage for 20 years and it became a favourite of models, celebrities, editors, photographers and designers. It actually named itself – everyone was asking for my little pot of magic cream!"
"I always follow this with my illuminating primer Wonderglow. It contains a breakthrough Fluorescent Core Technology—it re-emits natural light through the skin for a soft-focus, lit-from-within effect. I call it Gisele-in-a-Jar!"
"I’m a mascara addict—I spent years searching for The One and used to cocktail up to five mascaras to create the effect I desired: curl, length, volume, separation and drama. Full Fat Lashes ticks all boxes and has a five-star brush to deposit mascara right at the root of the lashes."
What major makeup trends are your celeb clientele asking for now?
"The red carpet is essentially a time for full-on glamour; everyone wants to be their most beautiful, mesmerising, flawless, groomed and immaculate," said Charlotte Tilbury. "Skin prep is key and I always start with Goddess Skin Clay Mask. It’s a Red Carpet Facial in just 10 minutes! It’s an ancient Mediterranean beauty recipe that was passed down to me in Ibiza which creates a flawless skin surface and makes imperfections disappear—the perfect canvas for makeup."
What is the most versatile beauty product in your professional kit?
"My Brow Lift is a three-way shape, lift and shade tool to give you Cara-worthy brows. One end is a brush to lift the hairs up and reveal the natural shape of your brows. You can then lightly fill in the hairs using the brow sword end. Finally, pop out the centre for a universal highlighter that you apply underneath the arch of the brow for a youth-boosting lift."
Given we're currently in the depths of winter, can you share any secrets for keeping skin hydrated and fresh?
"My Magic Cream is all you need for dewy, plumped up and youth-boosted skin," answered Charlotte Tilbury. "It’s like a comfort blanket for the skin. When my skin is in need of super-hydration, I like to apply it using my Tilbury Tap, encouraging micro-circulation. Work the fingers out over the cheeks like angel wings, and then tap in a pitter-patter motion over the forehead, nose and chin to promote lymphatic drainage. The active ingredients and hyaluronic acid drench the skin with moisture leaving it looking plump, dewy, and glowing."
You've got two minutes before you have to dash out the door, what is your fastest desk-to-date makeup tip?
"All of my Luxury Palettes are designed to take you from desk-dusk-disco! You can dial them up or down like an old-fashioned telephone. For a day, use the Prime shade all over the lid up to the brow bone, then apply the Enhance shade on the lid and into the socket. To dial it up to dusk, simply focus the Smoke shade on the outer V corner of the eye, making sure to blend, blend, blend! For night-time drama, add a touch of the Pop shade into the centre of the lid with your finger for mesmerising and enchanting eyes."
You did Poppy Delevingne's makeup for her wedding. Please share how to recreate that gorgeous bronze eye at home!
"For Poppy’s big day, it was all about the eyes and skin," Charlotte Tilbury reflected. "I wanted to create a mesmerizing, molten-metallic eye makeup that would instantly turn her big, beautiful eyes into pools of electric blue. I started by using my gorgeous, burnished Dolce Vita Palette on the lids, and then gilded them using a layer of my hypnotising Colour Chameleon in Amber Haze over the top. My Colour Chameleons last for 14 hours, and so withstand dancing well into the night!"
