For me, product is king — it’s all about making the best quality products. I’ve done two things over the years: I’ve either created new categories that didn’t exist in make-up or skincare, or I’ve reinvented them. I didn’t like powders, for example, because they made everyone look dusty, old and caked — so I came up with the airbrush system to set without killing glow.
I come from a VIP world, working with celebrities and models, but I wanted my brand to be for everyone. It had to be easy to choose and easy to use. Trends come round and round again but there are certain types of people — I identified the different types of character and worked to that.
Make-up and skincare are pots of confidence, pots of joy, pots of self-expression and pots of fun. What I have seen over the years is that when we look in the mirror, we judge ourselves. That’s why I’m so madly passionate about make-up — I see how it transforms how people feel about themselves, and when you feel like the most beautiful version of yourself, you can conquer your world.
I studied the faces of Hollywood film stars to work out what made them look so magnetic. My childhood bedroom walls were covered in posters of cinema icons: Marlene Dietrich, Elizabeth Taylor and Sophia Loren. I was obsessed with studying their faces — I was forensic about it, examining every lash, the architecture of their lips and brows, trying to decode their secrets.
I use artistic techniques in my make-up. Everything I learned from my father Lance, who was an artist, about artistry has stayed with me, from colour theory to the power of light and shade. I use the same techniques on faces to this day and have distilled many of these tricks into my products.
I absolutely love working with Kate Moss. We have worked together since the Nineties — she’s in all my campaigns and we are such good friends. The signature looks I created for her changed the landscape of beauty, and I love that those unmistakable cool-girl looks are so timeless. Kate has inspired so many of my products, all of which she now adores and won’t be without. She loves my Beautiful Skin Radiant Concealer (£27, charlottetilbury.com)
I am so proud that my executive team is 80 per cent female. When I started my company, the beauty industry was dominated by five conglomerates, all of them owned by men. I created a brand that disrupted this market.
Men from George Clooney to Adam Driver love Magic Cream (£79, charlottetilbury.com). It’ll often start with a woman wearing it, then a man goes, “What’s that?” And they put it on and go, “Christ that’s good.” It’s the cushion and lift mesh technology. I developed it because if I only had five minutes to turn around exhausted, drained skin, and the models’ skin barriers were wrecked, I needed to calm, repair and hydrate. That’s what Magic Cream does.
I have worked with so many inspiring people, from supermodels like Kate Moss, Claudia Schiffer, Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell and Christy Turlington to red-carpet royalty like Penelope Cruz, Amal Clooney, Jennifer Lopez, Nicole Kidman, Sofia Vergara, Salma Hayek and Phoebe Dynevor, and legends like Sir Elton John … the list is endless. Several have become my close friends.
Amal Clooney is a natural, stylish woman. I was very lucky to do her wedding make-up — she’s very beautiful, but wanted to look polished. We used Wonderglow primer (£40, charlottetilbury.com) and Magic Cream for dewy skin. On her eyes, we went for Oyster Pearl Eyes to Mesmerise (£36, charlottetilbury.com) and the Sophisticate palette (£46, charlottetilbury.com), and she wore M.i. Kiss (£28, charlottetilbury.com) on her lips. She does love a lipstick; we used Super Cindy at the Venice Film Festival, and she also loves Glowing Jen, named after her friend Jennifer Aniston.
