As soon as award ceremonies and events like the Oscars and Cannes roll around, we love swooning over the beauty looks that inevitably fill up our feeds. Soon after, we make a beeline for celebrity makeup artists’ Instagrams to find out just how they make their skin glow and how celebrities like Hailey Bieberactually get their makeup looking so good. Whether it’s a perfectly applied French-girl lip or a precise eyeliner wing, we need to know all of the details.
So we decided to slide into the DMs of top celebrity makeup artists, who shared their top makeup tips and tricks with us below.
Jamie Coombes, Dior International Pro Team makeup artist, has worked with models like Neelam Kaur Gill to create flawless complexions. We quizzed him on his tips for disguising dark circles as well as the perfect concealer application to avoid that dreaded concealer creasing. “To conceal dark circles, apply a deeper peachy-biscuit shade first to knock out the blue undertone. Let it set before layering your foundation over the top. Then add a layer of concealer a shade lighter than you foundation to lift and brighten,” says Jamie. And to stop creasing? “Use a fluffy eye shadow brush to blend out concealer around the eyes. This lifts any access product to help minimize creasing,” he says. “Add a lighter shade in the inner corner and outer corner of the eye for a lifting effect.” And just when you thought there wasn’t anything else concealer could do, Jamie shared even more celebrity makeup tips. “Use a deeper shade of concealer like a contour stick to create definition. You can also mix concealer with your favorite lipstick color to create a customized blusher,” he says. Genius.
This new high-coverage Dior concealer gives a crease-free finish under the eyes.
Bronzer application can be daunting, but Chanel makeup artist Ninni Nummela, who has worked with the likes of Jenna Coleman, Jodie Comer, and Priyanka Chopra, has a failsafe formula for natural-looking bronzer. “My kit essential for cheating a healthy-looking summer glow is a cream bronzer, as it gives you a natural finish and blends seamlessly into the skin,” says Ninni. “Chanel’s Les Beiges Bronzing Cream is my favorite when I work with Jenna Coleman. To enhance her beautiful complexion, I use a big brush to blend the bronzer where the sun would naturally tan her face: on top of the cheekbones, the bridge of the nose, middle of the forehead, and the chin.”
This is a cult classic, and for good reason. The cream bronzer blends effortlessly into the skin.
Zendaya always looks incredible and has been known to do her own makeup from time to time (including her incredible Oscars makeup look). In an Instagram video with her go-to makeup artist, Sheika Daley, she shares her tips. “I like to do my own eyeliner. I like to go from the outer corners. I don’t carry it all the way in [to the inner corners],” Zendaya says in the Instagram video. She also shares a quick tip for enhancing her eye makeup look with contour. “I sometimes like to apply [cream contour] in my eye shadow a little bit,” Zendaya says, swooping the contour upwards and outwards from the outer corners of her eyes to the temples and blending gently with her fingertips.
This is the exact eyeliner Zendaya uses to add definition to her eye makeup. The creamy formula means you can create a softly diffused wing, too.
Brows can really frame the face but can be easy to get wrong if you’re too heavy-handed, according to Gucci Westman, celebrity makeup artist and founder of Westman Atelier. (If you name a celebrity, she’s most likely done their makeup). “For filling in eyebrows, it’s good to have a gentle hand with feather-like strokes. Emulate your hairs, and don’t draw lines,” says Gucci. “Wherever you have a gap, it is important to just apply, blend, and erase with your brow spoolie brush. Go back and forth until you have the perfect result,” she adds. And in terms of color-matching your brow product to your brow, Gucci recommends going a tad darker than your hair color. “It’s a bit of personal preference, but usually, I like to say that you should choose a darker shade than the hair on your head. If you have lighter hair, it’s nice to have something that grounds your face and brings it all together,” says Gucci.
Achieve feathery strokes with this angled eyebrow pencil, and soften any hairs lines with the spoolie brush on the other end.
“Highlighter should always be applied to look like a natural shine,” explains Chanel makeup artist Zoë Taylor. “When working with Victoria Beckham, I would always pat a cream highlighter very high onto the cheekbones in a curve rather than a straight line. Tap onto the bridge of the nose, as this adds brightness to the skin, but always avoid the tip of the nose,” she adds.
This highlighting stick imparts skin with an expensive-looking sheen.
