The MAGIC of CHARLOTTE TILBURY

The world's most beguiling makeup artist on beauty, stars, love, and sex.

- Kathleen Hou

In Charlotte Tilbury's world, everyone is a darling-emphasis on the "ah," mouth drawn open like you're applying lipstick, and "ling," trilled like it's three syllables. Her longtime clients, Penélope Cruz and Amal Clooney? Darlings, obviously. A bronzed cater waiter circulating with champagne that she promises we will imbibe together after our interview? A darling. A complete stranger on the street, millions of her Instagram followers, or the name of one of her sparkly eye shadow palettes? It's "Charlotte Darling."

At Tilbury headquarters in London's Covent Garden, the couches are velvet and sumptuous, and framed magazine covers and quotes from Steve Jobs, Roald Dahl, Walt Disney, and Charlotte herself decorate the walls. It might seem a little self-focused, but it's her namesake brand, and Tilbury is endlessly quotable, delivering the kinds of one-liners that would look great embroidered in needlepoint on a pillow. "We are all living in a now dehydrated world," she says, referring to the universal need for skin care. "Dare to dream it, dare to believe it, and dare to do it" is her advice to other entrepreneurs. "Beautiful before, beautiful after" is her spin on the classic "before and after" beauty trope. "You are all gorgeous and fabulous when you're older, and you are all amazing when you're younger, and everyone is amazing in between," she says of her brand's universal appeal (in 2019, the then 86-year-old Joan Collins was a face of a campaign). An inspiration for one of the perfumes found in Tilbury's new Fragrance Collection of Emotions: "I want to be one with the earth, like naked humans dancing in the rain, connected to the neural network of trees."