Charlotte Tilbury's Bridal Beauty Secrets Revealed

Charlotte Tilbury–who by now you know as the makeup artist extraordinaire with a long roster of celeb clients and founder of an eponymous luxury makeup brand–is a total expert at creating incredible bridal beauty looks. She's the magician Kate Moss and Amal Clooney's wedding makeup, and as Amal's go-to makeup artist, she also did her glam for the Royal Wedding in May. Tilbury's signature glowing skin is perfect for brides, so we reached out to the pro to get her tips on how to look just as gorgeous as any celeb.

Weddingbells: What are your bridal beauty musts? Charlotte Tilbury: "I always prep my skin with my award-winning Charlotte’s Magic Cream. It will give every bride the perfect base and wedding glow for her big day. My Instant Magic Facial Dry Sheet Mask is perfect to use on the morning of the wedding to prep your complexion before applying makeup; it is like having an expert facial on the go. The glow-giving, lifting effects last for up to eight hours! To help conceal any tired eyes from a sleepless night the night before the big day, every bride needs my Mini Miracle Eye Wand. A multi-tasking eye wand, it’s like a restful night’s sleep in a wand. It has a peptide-packed serum that helps to smooth the appearance of any fine lines, and then an illuminator with magic light reflecting pigments that bounce out any darkness that gathers in the under-eye domes for more wide-awake, bigger, brighter looking eyes."

"For fuller coverage with a hydrating, flawless finish try my Magic Foundation. It feels as light as air on the skin and the supercharged vitamin C ingredient helps to even out the skin tone and give brighter-looking skin. To get that perfect for the wedding day glow, add my Hollywood Flawless Filter on top of my Magic Foundation for long-lasting, perfected, lit-from-within, glowing Hollywood skin. Remember, on your wedding, you’ll spend a lot of your time outside, so you must find the perfect foundation to match your skin-tone; check the colour in natural daylight."

"Keep a well-sharpened Lip Cheat lip-liner close by, this will be your best friend. Not only does its application resize and reshape your lips, but you can also use it as a stencil to make your lipstick last longer."

WB: What's a great makeup gift to give to your bridesmaids? CT: “As a gift idea for your bridal party, my best-selling and celebrity favourite Instant Look in a Palette is the perfect all-in-one, beauty palette that every woman needs in her beauty kit for day to evening makeup. It includes seven of my best makeup secrets for a natural, glowing look that enhances what nature naturally blessed you with. Each palette paints the glow into your complexion, puts the light back into your eyes, and perfects and transforms your skin. It's everyday makeup magic in a flash! You can use it anywhere, anytime!”

WB: What is the best feature for brides to accentuate?
CT: “Totally transform your eyes into their biggest brightest, most-sparkling looking eyes ever for your wedding day–which you can do with my Bigger Brighter Eyes eye shadow palettes. These palettes enhance the appearance of eye size and sparkle. Inspired by those sparkling, eye-widening filters of social media, I have colour curated and coded the palettes using those gorgeous universal reddy tones, which naturally colour contrast and brighten the iris to make the eyes look instantly bigger and brighter. It’s what I call putting the 'lights-into-the-eyes.’”

WB: How can a bride ensure her makeup lasts throughout her wedding day?
CT: "Once your makeup look is complete, it’s important to finish it off with a finely milled powder to lock in your makeup effortlessly and keep everything from slipping; from the walk down the aisle to the party. It also removes any unwanted shine for all of your gorgeous wedding photos. My Airbrush Flawless Finish Powder will blur away any lines or imperfections to softly mattify and keep everything in place -- it's like the highest-thread count cashmere for your skin. It is also enriched with rose wax and almond oil so it won’t sit heavy on the skin. I only like to use powders on the T-zone, down the nose, on the chin and across the forehead. I always keep the cheekbones free of powder so that they remain dewy and catch the light.”

WB: What is your favourite bridal beauty look?
CT: “I have so many, darling. I have had the privilege of doing so many amazing weddings and creating some of the most mesmerising bridal beauty looks over the years. From the glowing, golden goddess look for Claudia Schiffer to the dreamy, fairy-tale sophisticate look for my wonderful friend Kate Moss and the fresh, chic and polished makeup look with dreamy hazy eyes and a vintage tea rose lip for the timelessly beautiful Amal Clooney. Celebrities have also been using my makeup for their own special wedding makeup looks too. The goddess Miranda Kerr created her sumptuous wedding lip look with my iconic Matte Revolution lipsticks in Walk of Shame and Amazing Grace.”

WB: What are your top three don'ts when it comes to bridal makeup?
CT: “First: Your wedding day is the time to enhance your natural beauty; you want to feel like the most beautiful, confident version of yourself. You don’t want to look completely different. On my wedding day, I chose to wear The Dolce Vita look, my signature look from my 10 looks wardrobe, I wear it every day, I love the decadent molten bronze-y golds and rich chocolate shades in the luxury palette, they really make my green eyes pop and give me that gorgeous come-hither gaze!

Second: Be careful of experimenting with new, bold colours on your wedding day. For example specific colours such as purple can suit some brown or green eyes more than others whereas neutral shades like chocolate and copper span all complexion and eye colour combinations. Neutral tones are always in style, they never date and they suit all complexions.

Third: To avoid any surprises, I would recommend always meeting your makeup artist and having a consultation, discuss what you like and the look you want to achieve, how you want to feel so you feel confident it will be right on the big day!"

WB: Where should a bride look for bridal inspo?
CT: “It’s important to remain true to your usual style and look when planning your wedding. My YouTube has a bridal makeup section where you can learn how to re-create the looks I did for Kate Moss, Amal Clooney, Poppy Delevigne and more. Alice Temperley’s bridal collection is also gorgeous for inspiration.”

WB: What is your secret beauty tip?
CT: “If you want to draw attention to your lips for the perfect first kiss as husband and wife, you can easily modernise your bridal look by opting for a matte texture lipstick. My Matte Revolution lipstick does not dry the lips and stays put, even on your wedding day! My Very Victoria and Pillow Talk shades are gorgeous dreamy nudes for your wedding day lip or Amazing Grace, named after the divinely elegant Grace Kelly, a beautiful matte, vintage tea rose shade and it is the colour that Amal Clooney wore on her wedding day."