The London-based beauty founder Lisa Eldridge may be the preeminent celebrity makeup artist working today. She’s been developing luminous and strikingly natural looks for everyone from Nicole Kidman to Helena Bonham Carter, Cate Blanchett, and Taylor Swift, in a career that began during the early ’90s. Her work is heavily inspired by vintage beauty and the history of aesthetics. If a product leant some magic in an earlier era—be it a radioactive face powder from the 1920s or the exact shade of Cartier lipstick Audrey Hepburn favored in 1954—Eldridge has likely uncovered and experimented with it. She used a pair of eyelashes she sourced in Japan in 1998 on Dua Lipa for her Future Nostalgia album shoot. Lana del Rey recently wore a full face of her makeup on tour. Margo Robbie sported Lisa Eldridge as Barbie.
Within the artist community, she’s just as well-known for her innovative namesake makeup line as her glamorous yet true-to-life aesthetic. The newest drop is her first collaboration, a holiday capsule developed with the illustrator Blair Breitenstein, known for her expressive work for Prada, Oscar de la Renta, and others. But Eldridge has worked on it all, from editorials to movie and TV sets, even publishing her own book, Face Paint: The Story of Makeup in 2015. “I always say to people, don’t give up,” she tells W from her home in Hampstead Heath. “Just keep going, keep hammering away. If you’re a nice person and you do really good makeup, people remember you. Thirty years later, I’m still getting asked to do covers.”
When did you first realize you wanted to be a makeup artist?
I got interested in makeup when I found my mom’s old ’60s makeup from her late teen years at my granny and grandpa’s house. I wanted to be a makeup artist from my 13th birthday, when a friend of my mom’s got me a stage makeup book. I couldn’t believe the transformation. Being a makeup artist wasn’t such a known thing back then. It wasn’t such an accessible thing either.
How did you break through in the industry?
In Liverpool, there was an amazing theatre school where I did makeup design. At 17, I moved to London and got jobs on makeup counters. I found an evening course in fashion makeup. I got a job as a temp so I could take days off to do test shoots.
I went to [makeup artist] Mary Greenwell’s agent and I said, I’m interested in assisting. I did London and Paris shows with her and at the end of that season I remember hearing, her agent really wants to take you on. The agency was really small and it was only top people: Sam McKnight, Guido Palau, Diane Kendal. I was the baby. My first big job was when Mary wasn’t available for Cindy Crawford. It snowballed after that.
I saw that you worked on the new season of Wednesday with Tim Burton. What are some of your favorite creative concepts from film and television?
My first time doing film was with Tim Burton, and it was Dumbo. I did all the looks for Eva Green’s part. Colleen Atwood was like, “We need someone that can interpret 1919, when Dumbo was set, but bring in that French couture fashion. And you know history and fashion.”
Eva got me back for The Three Musketeers. Then I did Dua Lipa for Argylle; Colleen and Tim got me back with Jenna [Ortega] for the first series of Wednesday. We just had a day at Tim’s house, Jenna came over. Now, I’m working on something new. All I can say is that the person who did Barbie is doing a new film and I’m doing some makeup where I get to use all my skills. When there’s a character that’s either fantasy or history, I am being called upon quite a lot now for those looks.
The Gilded Age used all my lipsticks for the most recent series. Bridgerton did. Tilda Swinton in the latest movie with Almovódar. This new film that I’m working on now, they’re using all my makeup.
Why did you create your own line?
It was an art project that started with three red velvet lipsticks. At the time, I was still the global creative director of Lancôme. I’d created quite a lot of products for other brands under the radar, just helping out. I was a bit like, I created the number-one mascara. Now, I should do something.
I’d done this makeup story where I’d stuck real fabric on a model’s mouth. One had lace, one had velvet, one had vinyl, suede. The pictures looked amazing, and I thought I’d love to make a lipstick like that.
Do you have a favorite form of self-care?
A bath with magnesium salts. It’s the best thing in the world. It just takes you out of yourself, helps you to think. Plus, it’s the one time you’re probably not on your phone because you’re in water. Apart from that, I like walking in nature.
What was your biggest beauty splurge over the years, and was it worth it?
Yes, it was worth it. It was the Omnilux Contour red light mask. It’s the salon one I’ve got, and I swear by it.
Do you have a go-to facialist?
I’m very bad at all of that. I should do facials more often. But I always massage my face in the morning. I like the Dr. Idriss gel cleanser and I’ll use my roller with a serum.
What shade of lipstick would you wear for a night out?
It depends on the mood. Obviously, I like Lisa because that’s my color. But I love Painterly, which is more of a balm, and is my everyday product. I love Velvet Ribbon because that started everything for me. That’s such a good red for anyone, it just makes everything pop.
You’ve worked with so many creative legends. Do you have any fantasy collaborators for the future?
I’m working with one of my dream people for next June, but I can’t tell you just yet. My one regret is [not working with] Elizabeth Taylor. Her makeup artist in the ’90s recommended me. I was quite a newish makeup artist then. At the last minute she got ill. A few years later, she died. I was always like, damn, I was this close to working with her. That would’ve been such a dream for me.
Source: W Magazine
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