If you like natural-looking, easy make-up that gives the impression you’ve had a full night’s sleep, then Lisa Eldridge is undeniably the woman with the know-how. The 50-something make-up artist has many strings to her bow: her client list includes Kate Winslet , Alexa Chung and Keira Knightley; she runs her wildly popular eponymous cosmetics line , launched in 2019; and, if that wasn’t enough, she has two million Instagram followers relying on her expertise. She was also among the first pro make-up artists to launch a YouTube channel in 2010, and now has 2.1 million subscribers who hang on her every word.
As a beauty editor, I’m naturally one of her big fans. I’ve come to meet Eldridge in her north London office, which is part museum of vintage make-up products (she’s an avid collector), part studio – where she shoots images and videos for her online audience – and part makeshift library brimming with beauty books, including her own 2015 New York Times bestseller, Face Paint: The Story of Makeup . Oh, and there’s a state-of-the-art cosmetics kitchen where she formulates new products. It’s no wonder she received an MBE in the King’s New Year Honours List last year, for her contributions to the fashion and beauty industries.
It goes without saying that she’s a glamorous woman. But it’s not all smoke and mirrors, or indeed smokey eyes. Her advice stacks up. Here is Eldridge’s step-by-step guide to an ageless, effortless make-up look , demonstrated expertly on the woman herself.
Step one: The perfect everyday eyeshadow
While most women tend to start with their complexion, Eldridge perfects her eyes first. She begins by popping on some under-eye patches, which she keeps in the fridge. “This helps to calm down any puffiness and also protects under the eyes when I’m using eyeshadow,” she says. And yes, everyday eyeshadow is something she is evangelical about, particularly for any women who, like herself, have hooded eyes .
“I apply a light layer of a natural eyeshadow shade as a base all over my eyelid, and then go in with a deeper shade. My best tip for this is to look straight ahead in the mirror and keep the brows relaxed,” says Eldridge. “I think a big mistake people make is to do their eye make-up with their eyebrows lifted up and their eyes almost closed.” When you relax your brows and keep your eyes open, you can gently sculpt out the socket line with that slightly darker shade. “The idea is to bring a little soft shadow in the socket line, so don’t press hard and keep your hand relaxed.”
You can also place this deeper shade right into the roots of your lashes using a small brush, towards the outer edges, which will help the lashes appear thicker. “If you pull this shadow out slightly, without creating a full ‘wing’, you will lift the corners of the eyes beautifully,” says Eldridge. Finish with a coat of your favourite mascara for a look that will instantly make your eyes appear more “awake”.
Lisa uses:MZ Skin Hydra-Bright Gold Eye Treatment Mask (£80 for five, LookFantastic ), Lisa Eldridge Eyeshadow Palette in Fawn (£50, Liberty )
Step two: A natural-looking ‘retouched’ base
Eldridge is judicious in her use of base make-up. For this look, she uses a light application of a skin tint from the centre of her face outwards (“only a little to even out the complexion”), then a touch of concealer under her eyes.
“Then I do what I call my ‘pinpoint concealing’ technique,” she explains. “This involves going back in and using much heavier concealer but just where you need it – a little post-acne scar, or a bit of pigmentation, for instance. In this way, you get rid of it without involving heavy base make-up all over, which can be really ageing .”
Eldridge will also use this technique to lift shadows. If you have any around your nose or mouth, you can go in strategically to catch them. “It’s almost like retouching a photograph,” she says.
She uses a touch of concealer in the corners of the outer eyes, where we typically have redness which can “drag down” the eyes, too. “If you add a tiny bit of lighter concealer there, it really lifts those corners up to make you look more ‘awake’,” she adds. Finally, dust a little translucent powder on top if you feel you need it.
Lisa uses:Lisa Eldridge Pinpoint Concealer Micro Correcting Pencil (£27, lisaeldridge.com ), Chanel Poudre Universelle Libre (£52, sephora.co.uk )
Step three: Add warmth to the complexion
“Bronzer doesn’t have to be scary,” explains Eldridge, who suggests that one of the main shortcomings of traditional bronzers is that they often look too orangey. What you want is “something that adds a bit of life to the skin but isn’t too colourful”. As for where to apply it, “start just across the forehead and around the side to the cheekbones, and then under the jawline. The most important thing is to ensure there are no harsh edges.”
Eldridge suggests taking whatever brush you used for your skin tint or foundation – which may have a little residual product on it – and gently sweeping it over your bronzer. “When you do this, you can’t see where your bronzer starts and foundation ends,” she says. This, she tells me, is the secret to pro-looking make-up.
Next, add a little cream blusher tapped into the high points of the cheeks . “In terms of where you put this, if you want to create volume in the cheeks, you’re better off starting just under the edge of your eye, and then really patting it into the area where you may have once had most volume,” she says. “This will give a very youthful look. The more natural the blush is, the more believable it is, and the more enhancing it is.”
Lisa uses:Fenty Beauty Sun Stalk’r Instant Warmth Bronzer (£30, LookFantastic ), Lisa Eldridge Velatura Balm Dewy Lip and Cheek Stick in Rose Madder (£27, spacenk.com )
Step four: Use great brows to add structure to the face
Most of us are likely to do something with our brows – and if you don’t, now’s the time to nail the perfect approach. “First, brush the hairs down, which shows where you have gaps in the hair,” says Eldridge. “Then fill them in with a brow pencil using lots of light strokes wherever you see gaps.” Then step back and look, she adds, as they’ll never be the same and you might find that one brow needs a little more than the other.
“Finish with tinted brow gel, brushing back up. This is good for those front-of-brow sections because too much pencil at the front can look too harsh. A tinted brow gel helps to add a little colour and thickness and keeps your brows in place.”
Lisa uses:Kimiko Super Fine Eyebrow Pencil Automatique (£24, amazon.com ), Kosas Air Brow Tinted Volumizing Treatment Gel (£20, cultbeauty.co.uk )
Step five: Finish with fuller-looking lips
“When it comes to lips, I want to add a little volume but I like it to look completely natural – and so do my clients,” says Eldridge. The first step is to apply concealer to the outer corners (or “trim them off”), which will immediately give the impression of a more lifted look (and will, subsequently, soften a “jowly” appearance).
Next, “apply a light layer of lipstick, following your natural lip shape, and then go in with a lip pencil”. This is where the real magic happens. Rather than drawing a harsh line, Eldridge suggests holding the pencil extremely lightly – and almost at a sideways angle – gently sketching around over the top lip line. “You can go ever so slightly over the top there, but not too much,” she advises.
“Underneath the lip, however, you can overdraw quite a bit in the centre, because you have a little ridge with a shadow there. Just close your lips and smile, and then draw into that area. That will still look really natural; you are just utilising that little shelf, that little shadow, to make your lips appear fuller.” Once you’ve lined your lips, you can finish with a second layer of lipstick.
Lisa uses:Lisa Eldridge Sculpt and Shade Lip Pencil in 2C (£21, selfridges.com ), Lisa Eldridge Velatura Balm Dewy Lip and Cheek Stick in Rose Madder (as above)
