Lisa Eldridge Shares Her ICONIC Makeup Tips
When your roster of clients includes beauties like Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Keira Knightley, Nicole Kidman, Kate Winslet, Cindy Crawford, Victoria Beckham, Taylor Hill, and more, we’d say you’ve made it as MUA royalty. Pro makeup artist to the stars and Lancôme Global Creative Director, Lisa Eldridge spends her days contouring, blending, and painting Hollywood’s famous faces and her signature moves include natural-looking glass skin, the perfect liquid liner #kittenflick, and a bright red lip. Obviously scoring a bit of her knowledge will make us all better artists at home, so we asked her to spill her top five tips and fave products she always has in her kit. Heed her advice below, then go forth and create beauty.
Lisa Eldridge’s Top 5 Makeup Tips
1. How to make your lipstick last longer:
Start with good prep. Lipstick will always look better and last longer on well-hydrated lips, so apply a good layer of balm and let it get to work while you’re doing base, etc. If your problem is rough, flakey lips and you don’t have any scrub on hand, roll and massage a Q-tip along them after balm — applying a bit of pressure as you go — and this will gently remove any dry, loose skin. Always blot and remove any excess balm before applying lipstick as well. When it comes to the perfect application, thin layers (worked really well into the lips), are the key to making lipstick last. I usually use a lip brush as I find it’s easier to keep the layers thin, then blot and finish by dabbing some color straight from the bullet for the final layer.
2. The ultimate eyeliner hack:
After applying a graphic black liquid liner I often press and daub a black or dark grey powder eyeshadow along the line (once the shape is right and the liquid is dry) with a small brush. This smokes it beautifully, without taking away any of the punchiness — it’s a trick I use for the red carpet a lot as it photographs well.
3. Creating flawless brows:
My favorite tip for good brows is to begin by brushing them down in the wrong direction. It feels counter-intuitive, but it’s fantastic for creating the base structure. Then, starting at the high point, sketch out a basic structure using super-light, fine and feathery, hair-like strokes. Then brush them back and finish the shape. It’s like architecture: Once you’ve got the foundations right (particularly at the arch), you can build the rest of your brow around it. Suqqu makes some of my favorite brow products.
4. Blending is key for a natural complexion:
Foundation isn’t meant to completely obliterate your skin — it’s there to even out your tone, conceal minor flaws, and create a canvas on which to build the rest of your look. Once you’ve applied, use my pinpoint concealer technique to cover any blemishes, imperfections, and pigmentation. Something heavy duty with high coverage works best, so you only need to use a tiny amount. You can then go on to highlight with a brighter concealer if you wish, keeping each layer light and well-blended as this will give the illusion of minimal product. Coco Chanel said that you should always remove one thing before you go out… I say, blend everything one last time!
5. Finding the right shade of foundation:
This is like finding the ‘holy grail’ of makeup, and I know that a lot of people struggle with it. I’ve had so many questions about this challenge over the years that I decided to do a full week’s worth of tutorials dedicated to the subject. I called it my #FoundationCourse and its been hugely popular. The main points to consider are: skin changes from season to season and even week to week, so take a really good look at your bare skin in the daylight every now and again to get an overview of what’s going on with the condition, tones, and undertones on your face, neck, chest area, and even hands.
A good place to test foundation is the jawline about an inch in (towards your chin) from your ear. Swipe the color down on to your neck too. ALWAYS test foundation in daylight and wait at least 30 minutes to check the color to see if it stays true (and doesn’t oxidize darker). When shopping, ask for a sample to try at home or have it applied at the store and then wear it for the rest of the day to check how it looks after a couple of hours.
Makeup Products Lisa Eldridge Swears By
1. Mascara and eyelash curlers: A quick curl and two coats of mascara takes seconds, but it makes the biggest difference to your face. My favorite curlers are Shu Uemura or Surratt Beauty, and my favorite mascaras are by Lancôme, Sensai, and DHC.
2. A good concealer: As someone who struggled with acne for years, I know that the ability to cover a blemish is a huge confidence booster. There are so many good concealers on the market these days, that cover and stay put, so it’s never been easier. My favorites are Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage, Tarte Shape Tape Contour Concealer, Estée Lauder Double Wear Stay-In-Place Makeup, and Lancôme Teint Idole Ultra 24H.
3. Blush: There is nothing like it for instantly brightening your skin and the whites of your eyes. A light flush of color on the cheeks makes you look fresher, more youthful, and prettier instantly. My favorite powder blushes are by Chanel and Tom Ford.
4. Red lipstick: Whenever I need to up my game, boost my confidence, or lift my mood… I reach for a red lipstick. I usually combine it with a nude sculpted eye, lashes, and fresh glossy skin. I like a full-coverage pigment, so I can control how much of a statement I want to make, and I’m launching a holiday collection of three gorgeous red lipsticks on November 19th — my first-ever launch! It’s a true velvet texture with a delicate velvet fabric finish on the bullet. I wanted all three red shades to be very different, offering completely different moods, and for each shade to work on all skin tones. The richly-pigmented shades are:
Velvet Ribbon: A classic, universal neutral red with a hint of blue.
Velvet Jazz: A deep earthy, brick red inspired by the 1930’s red lipsticks in my collection.
Velvet Morning: A fiery, hot and vibrant, bright orange/red lipstick.
I also have a beautiful limited-edition gift set of three, the Lisa Eldridge Velvet Makeup Bag. It’s the ultimate red velvet wardrobe for your lips.
… We don’t know about you guys, but we’re taking notes to make sure we get these amazing tips spot on, and we cannot wait to try her red lipsticks! Lisa really is an incredible artist, check out this insane Sophia Loren look she created for us!
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