International make-up artist Lisa Eldridge - who has worked with A-listers such as Sophie Dahl, Lily Allen, Demi Moore and Elle Macpherson – shares her secrets with me.

Lisa Eldridge has become one of the most highly regarded make-up artists on the international beauty and fashion circuits today. Throughout her career, her well-honed skills have appeared on the pages of virtually every fashion magazine including British, Italian and Japanese Vogue, Allure, The Face, Numero, Pop and Another .And the list of celebrities she has made up reads like a who's who of the world's most glamorous women including Cameron Diaz, Liz Hurley, Mischa Barton, Kate Moss, Heidi Klum, Cate Blanchet, Demi Moore and Selma Hayek.
 I  caught up with Lisa to find out a little more about her incredible career…


GH: Did you always want to be an artist, or did you stumble upon your talent by chance? Who or what inspired you to become a make-up artist?
LE: I always wanted to work as a make-up artist and, when I was growing up as a child in New Zealand, I spend most of my time painting or drawing faces. When I was a little girl, I used to love sneaking up to my mother’s room , where I would spend hours playing with her make-up box. That was back in the sixties and she had lots of really amazing cosmetics from brands such as Coty and Biba. When I was 13 years old, a friend of my Mum’s bought me a book on stage make-up and, after that, I was hooked. I remember spending a lot of my teenage years pouring over copies of Vogue and looking at the work of leading make-up artists of the time, such as Mary Greenwell.

GH; What was your route into the industry?
LE: Back in 1982, when I left school, there were very few courses in make-up artistry and it was almost impossible to find one that catered to the photographic side of things, as most the courses did prosthetic makeup or make-up for film. I ended up doing course that combined fashion design and stage make up because it was, really, the only one available. After that, I did an intensive six week evening course in photographic make up and I just loved it. It was on every week night and I remember how excited I’d be going to the classes – I knew that this was absolutely what I wanted to do.
I started my career as a session make-up artist in London, testing and doing work for free. It was tough at the start, but after a while, I managed to get myself an agent. One of my first professional jobs was working with Cindy Crawford and although I was nervous, she loved what I did and booked me again and again after that. It really took off from there.
　
GH: How do you define beauty?
LE: Beauty is not just one thing in particular but, for me, its faces it’s all about faces. It’s funny because I’m not so good at remembering names but I never forget a face. I’ve often gone into a shop , spotted someone and asked " Did I do your make-up?" they’ll often say " Yes, I was a model in the eighties." Faces fascinate me; it could be the shape of someone’s eyebrows, the colour of their lips or the bone structure. For me, it’s always about the small details – that unique feature that makes someone different. I can be quite weird that way.


GH: What individual products and brands are you "addicted" to at the moment and use on a daily basis?
LE: I change the brands that I work with on a continual basis but there are a few products that I always like to have in my kit. At the moment, I’m loving Chanel’s Chanel Vitalumiere foundation. I used it on Gemma Arterton, on the red carpet, two days ago and her skin looked flawless. What I really like about it is that it looks like real skin and it’s very light. My other must have products are eyelash curlers by Kevin Aucoin and Laura Merier concealer. When it comes to mascara, I like a lot of the cheaper ones as I go through so many and Max Factor are among my favourites.

GH: What do you find to be the most common mistakes women make with makeup? What's the worst thing a woman can do to her skin?
 LE: Most women use far too much foundation, particularly when they are trying to conceal a breakout but it just exaggerates the problem. A girl’s best friend is a good concealer but most women just don’t know how to use them properly, honestly, they can make a huge difference to your appearance. Many women also choose the wrong colour foundation, so your face ends up being a different colour to your neck, hands and legs. I’m doing a lot of work on the red carpet this week, and I’ll be making sure those bare legs, faces and arms are all the same colour!

GH: What are the obstacles and challenges that you have faced in your field since you began?
 LE; It’s difficult when you are starting out because you expected to do so much free work. When I started out always had a part time job on the side, so that I could really focus on my make-up work without having to worry too much about the money side of things. I worked as a receptionist in an architect’s office and did lots of other part time jobs because that gave me the freedom to pursue what I really wanted. It’s also very competitive , as so many people want to do it but it’s an amazing career. I can honestly say that I feel as if I’ve never worked a day in my life. That said, you have to be unbelievably focused, incredibly professional and you have to really put yourself ‘out there’.


GH: What is your favourite thing about your job?
LE: It’s amazing to do editorials for the likes of Vogue and I feel blessed to have worked for so many amazing clients over the past 20 years. When I look back on my career, of course, there are a few milestones that really stand out for me; my first Vogue cover was one and the first few big shoots in places like Milan and Paris really stand out. Each stage of my career has been really exciting and interesting and for different reasons. I’ve really enjoyed creating ranges for brands such as Shiseido and , more recently, working with Chanel on their site chanel-confidential.chanel.com

 GH: Is there anyone in particular that you can say was an absolute pleasure to work with?
LE: There are so many, I’m looking forward to working with Helena Christensen next week and I also love creating looks for Sophie Dahl, as I’ve also worked with her on many shoots over the years. Other people like Cameron Diaz, Emma Watson and Gemma Arterton are always a joy to work with.

GH: Many people are getting to know your work through your You Tube tutorials. When did you start posting them and what do you like most about posting online?
 LE: About a year ago I started posting make-up tutorials on YouTube and that , pretty much, happened because I used to get so many mails asking for advice sent to my website. I thought to myself "I’ll never get the chance to answer all of these?" so the Youtube films really came from that. I never really advertised but the films have had a great response (Lisa currently has 95,143 subscribers) and it’s really nice to have the interaction and feedback from the viewers. I really enjoy sharing all of the cosmetic and beauty tips that I have gained over the years and it’s great to be able to share them with ordinary women.


GH: Having worked with top cosmetics brands such as NO7 and Sishiedo - would you ever consider creating your own range?
LE: I’ve spend so much time in labs mixing up formulas and working on ranges for other cosmetic brands that creating a line of my own would be something I’d love to do. At the moment, I am really happy working on fashion editorials, doing the YouTube films and working for leading brands such as Chanel and no 7. I have a lot of interesting projects in the pipeline but I’ll only work on projects that excite me creatively. Even when I was starting out I was never in this for the money, it’s the creative work that truly fulfills me.