Why Charlotte Tilbury loves the retro Hollywood look. Charlotte Tilbury, make-up artist and founder of her own eponymous beauty and skincare brand, Charlotte Tilbury reveals that she gets her inspiration from movies and images from the early 1920’s and 50’s and that she has a type of obsession on how skin types of characters appeared in vintage photography back then.

The British Vogue Contributing Beauty Editor is often called upon by the elite of Hollywood stars and requested to do their make-up for major events such as The Oscars and Golden Globes.

The 45-year-old London beauty has revealed in her latest post for Vogue in The UK that “I’ve always loved old Hollywood glamour, so when I’m doing red-carpet make-up, images and films from the 1920s to the 1950s and beyond are my inspiration.”

“I’m obsessed by how skin used to appear in black-and-white photography and under HMI film-studio lights: blurred, soft-focus, dreamy, luminous.”

However, Charlotte explains that although she loves classic glamour and black and white photography, she admits that the world of fashion today is more challenging and with the introduction of HD technology (High Definition) that she has had to adapt her own make-up skills accordingly.

She went on to explain: “Now that we’re in the digital age of high definition when my starlets walk the red carpet, their journey begins in daylight — and ends in HD.”

“It’s so unforgiving. It’s a megapixel, mega-pore, mega-nightmare situation, and shows things you can’t even see with the naked eye.”So, whenever I’m approaching a modern red-carpet face, there are a few things that remain constant in my approach.”

“The first port of call is always a glowy base with a flawless filter effect. Then comes contouring, which is simple Hollywood make-up 101: shading the cheeks, jaw, temples, eyes, and nose has become a thing now, and all the celebrities want it.”

“Precision highlighting and powdering will give you the amazing facial structure of a big-screen star. But this season, what I’m doing differently is bringing a certain freshness to classic Hollywood make-up by using washes of finely milled shimmer or a chiffony veil of oyster and champagne tones on the eyes, rather than going for a deep-set, dark, smoky eye.”

Why Charlotte Tilbury loves the retro Hollywood look