Every makeup artist has something unique to offer the world. As a beauty editor, I love to admire their artistry, technique, and use of different makeup products across the board. Sometimes, I’ll find that I own a particular product that a celebrity makeup artist uses too but will learn an entirely new way of using it that ends up looking even better. To sum up, they’re masters at their craft, and I’m constantly admiring them.
As a celebration of their work and Hispanic Heritage Month, I decided to tap four incredibly gifted Latin American makeup artists to share their must-have beauty products and favorite celebrity looks they’ve created. Valeria Ferreira, Jezz Hill, Raul Otero, and Alexa Hernandez were kind enough to spill the tea. Keep reading below. They’re sharing details on the looks of your favorite celebs such as Simone Ashley, Lily James, and Gabrielle Union.
When asked about her recent favorite makeup looks she has created, Ferreira said this smoky emerald eye for Simone Ashley immediately came to mind. It has a beautiful shade of deep green both on the lids and smoked out around the lower lash line. The golden-brown base also works perfectly with Ashley’s nude lip.
The obsession with this gorgeous mermaid shimmer look is way too real. Ferreira created it for Lily James at the Met Gala recently, and it couldn’t have turned out better. “I really enjoyed [creating] the look. Lily wore Versace, and it was a magical moment,” she shared.
Ferreira never leaves the house without sunscreen. She especially loves Ultra Violette’s range. The Daydream formula, in particular is silky, lightweight, and packed with Australian antioxidants to nourish the skin.
Ferreira loves this gloss because it isn’t sticky, nourishes the lips, hydrates them, and provides a juicy, glossy finish.
Both Armani’s Luminous Silk foundation and concealer are a favorite among makeup artists. Ferreira particularly loves the concealer (which she calls amazing) for its creamy formula. It’s totally lightweight, easy to blend and build, and provides the radiant finish the Luminous Silk series is legendary for.
As far as a red lip goes, Ferreira leans into using Fenty Beauty’s Longwear Fluid Lip Color. She loves that it’s completely non-transferrable, and the soft matte finish doesn’t hurt either.
She also loves a good sweat- and water-resistant eyebrow pencil like Anastasia Beverly Hills’ Brow Wiz. I also use and love this pencil for its ability to create really natural-looking brows that don’t look too sharp or overdone.
“One of my favorite looks I’ve created recently was with Auli’i Cravalho for the Hollywood Critics Association Awards. We created this yummy, velvety chocolate-brown elongated look that was just blended to the gods with different dimensions of brown hues.”
“I also really love the look we created for the Christian Cowan S/S 23 resort show. We sculpted and lifted the face with light and shadow. I instructed my assistants to create a face-tape-looking face with concealer and contour. We created a rich graphic eye that, thanks to Charlotte Tilbury’s Rock ‘n’ Kohl Eyeliner ($29), stayed put for over 12 hours.”
“This eye gel paired with Beautyblender brushes will drain an eye bag in an instant. The caffeine in the gel really helps get the blood moving from under the eye to reduce the appearance of darkness and puffiness.”
“I love these because there’s no silicon in the formula, which is a non-negotiable for me when doing makeup. There’s nothing worse than rolling product when applying makeup.”
“Both the Hourglass Caution Extreme Mascara and the Hourglass Unlocked Instant Extensions Mascara ($29) are super black and reliable. They are truly the only mascaras that I know won’t do me dirty down a red carpet. I love the Caution Extreme formula for a thick mascara look and Unlocked for a lengthily defined look. They also come off as easily as they were applied but are still high-performance.”
“First, this smells fantastic. Second, I love this spray to reset and balance the skin. I sometimes spray it directly onto the skin and use a Beautyblender to reblend or spray the Beautyblender and bounce it in the skin. It instantly plumps when using to prep bare skin—even if you have oily skin, it doesn’t add unwanted moisture. It’s amazing for those midday refreshers too. I love keeping one in my bag in the summer or if I’m out in the sun to cool me down and replenish my skin. Shout out to my facialist Catherine Yashar for putting me on it.”
“This product is my secret weapon. My clients go through a lot travel, multiple days of makeup applications, and different climates. This powder cleanser is powerful. It instantly resets the skin by gently exfoliating with fruit enzymes and deeply cleaning the pores. It creates a truly prepped canvas, shrinks pores, and removes flakey skin. I work the powder and water onto a cotton round to remove the skin flakes. It also balances combination or oily skin. I love this for travel as well since the powder makes it spill-proof. Pro tip: I keep mine in the shower, and I advise my clients to do the same so they can effortlessly and routinely keep their skin exfoliated.”
Hill loved creating this painted-rainbow look. The lips are a real highlight here for me. I love how the black outline gradually fades into the model’s natural lip hue.
Hill’s next favorite recent look is this jeweled eye moment. Paired with the colorful hair streaks and a bold lip, this is giving me major Euphoria vibes.
This multi-use glow stick moisturizes and highlights while giving the skin a beautiful, natural radiance. It’s sheer but offers a dewy finish to top off any glamorous look.
To prep the skin, Hill always relies on this rich, hydrating cream from Tatcha. It’s packed with antioxidants and plumps the skin with its star ingredient, Japanese purple rice.
This is a favorite of Hill’s because it’s a waterproof and smudge-resistant formula made of a unique blend of hard and soft waxes to lock in color and ensure a natural-looking finish.
This illuminating and hydrating foundation keeps skin supple for up to 24 hours and adapts to your particular skin once applied. It also contains light-adjusting technology that visibly lifts, refines, and smooths the skin.
This Byredo formula offers sophisticated shine and highly pigmented color to the lips. It’s a staple of Hill’s and offers a creamy blend of oils and shea butter to deliver lasting comfort and hydration, too.
“I loved creating a sultry, smoky eye glam look for Gabrielle Union for TIFF!”
“I also loved the no-makeup-makeup look I created for Sheila Atim for TIFF using the It Cosmetics CC+ Nude Glow Foundation and the Pat McGrath loose powders.”
It’s no wonder this is a staple for Otero—this foundation truly does it all. It’s a brightening glow serum and hydrating skin tint and contains skin-loving ingredients like niacinamide, hyaluronic acid, and green tea extract.
I’m not usually a big powder person, but Otero made a convincing case for this one in particular. It creates a soft, airbrushed effect on the skin while the proprietary Flex Form Matrix powder blend gives a comfortable, barely there feel.
“This is the perfect bronzer for all skin complexions!”
This matte liquid formula swipes on easily for a smooth, no-budge, no-smudge finish. It also comes in a variety of bold and buildable colors.
Otero claims this concealer from Laura Mercier is a complete obsession. It provides custom, buildable coverage with a unique two-shade system and requires just a dab here and there to achieve the perfect look. It also works best if applied after your foundation.
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