Last Saturday night, I attended the biggest makeup masterclass in the world (no, literally). The woman leading it shouldn’t surprise you: beloved British makeup artist, Charlotte Tilbury, whose work has graced more Vogue covers than you’ve had hot dinners. She was there in the flesh at Melbourne’s Town Hall, dressed like Stevie Nicks, ready to entertain a crowd of 1,100 people with her Magic Cream sorcery.
As an editor and makeup artist, I’ve been to my fair share of beauty masterclasses but nothing compared to this. I was ushered in by the team at Mecca to a red-carpet-lined, star-studded staircase surrounded by flawless, poreless, glowing women while a marching band and feathered Vegas showgirls welcomed us in. Every lip was lined with Pillow Talk, every cheekbone hugged and highlighted with a Beauty Light Wand.
Want to read more beauty tips from the pros? Head here.
I eventually took my seat in the grand hall and got ready to take notes, as Charlotte was welcomed to the stage like the rockstar she is. Alongside two makeup artists on her team, she demonstrated her iconic Hollywood red carpet makeup look, AKA ‘The Greatest Glow On Earth’.
Every product she picked up came with a juicy backstage anecdote, every technique came with an even juicier namedrop (‘the ‘Lindsay Lohan blush trick’, the ‘Kate Moss contour’). For those of you that missed it – I mean, it was a Saturday night, I don’t blame you – here’s five key takeaways I jotted down on my Notes app.
Lesson one: The Tilbury Tap
Everything Charlotte preaches begins with good skin prep. From memory, she started with a generous amount of her Magic Serum Crystal Elixir and really massaged it into the model’s face using her finger knuckles, encouraging lymphatic drainage under the cheekbones, eyes, and along the jawline, then tapping her Magic Cream over the face to “energise” the skin.
Lesson two: Magic Cream… for men
Something Charlotte kept referring back to was how much her male customer base was growing. “Darling, if it’s good enough for George Clooney,” she’d say, with a wink. The next time I’m doing a male makeup, I will 100 per cent be Tilbury-tapping Magic Cream into their T-Zone.
Lesson three: The concealer face-lift
This was probably the most furiously scribbled-down note taken by every single person in the Town Hall. When Charlotte demonstrated her genius concealer placement, the phones were up and they were snapping this reference:
She applied concealer in three upwards lines: at the corner of the eye, the side of the nose, and corner of the mouth. She then stippled (not rubbed!) the concealer in with a brush. The before-and-after on this was eye-opening, and I’ve been applying my concealer this way ever since.
This was the contour placement, FYI.
Lesson four: Charlotte Tilbury linguistics
I thought I’d heard all of the industry short-hand for beauty products, having spent years working behind makeup counters, but Charlotte had two absolute bangers I’m going to start incorporating into my vocab: “mazzy” for mascara and “poudrè” for powder (think: Nigella Lawson saying ‘microwave‘). Made-up words makes everything in life more fun!
Lesson five: There’s more than one way to glow, darling
Of course the Queen of Glow views highlighting as an art form. She spoke of herself as an “obsessed light thief” who went around bottling different lighting techniques – the diva light, the ring light, the Hollywood spotlight – it all depends what type of glow you’re after. The one trick I found helpful that applies to all types of glow, was when she demonstrated why you should always apply poudrè (powder) to your T-Zone, especially between the eyebrows, and also around the mouth. This will ensure your makeup looks glowy, rather than sweaty.
Learn more from Charlotte Tilbury’s masterclass in Australia here.
This article What I learnt from Charlotte Tilbury’s Melbourne masterclass as a makeup artist appeared first on Fashion Journal.
2025-06-17 12:48:00
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