My big break took a bit of time to materialise. The first job I worked on was a poster for the royal ballet with Darcey Bussell. The whole experience was amazing, and I loved the creativity of it. I then had my first major job working on a Prada campaign. I thought that would be the job that would change everything for me, but it didn’t. I had to wait a little longer for my real big break, which was my career at Burberry Beauty. Christopher Bailey took a chance on me following a recommendation from his creative consultant Elliott Smedley. Elliott and I worked together on a Dutch magazine, and he knew Christopher was looking to build a new team.
Being at Burberry was my ‘peak’ moment. I worked with the team there for 16 years, so it was a huge chapter for me. I went from working backstage at the shows to becoming the artistic director for the make-up. They put their trust in me to create the product ranges and I learnt so much. I was given a lot of freedom to come up with new things that didn’t exist.
There have been a few pitfalls in my career, too. This industry can be unkind – less so now, but it was a hard one at the start. I’ve learnt you have to find a way out of difficult and unhappy situations and really forge your own path. In life, you will go through uncomfortable moments and possibly be humiliated, so you must learn to push forward and zone out the noise as much as you can.
Dick Page is someone I learnt a lot from. I realised that he didn’t follow any rules; his make-up kit was small, he mixed colours up and he taught me to experiment and let loose. Kevyn Aucoin didn’t necessarily teach me anything new, but he did help me understand the benefits of layering products underneath foundation to softly sculpt the skin. They call it underpainting now, but I call it sculpting – and never contouring.
My own artistry is what I call ‘dishevelled luxury’. Even when I do a bolder look, I always like to keep one area looking a bit undone. I never do everything at once. A strong graphic eye with natural, bare lids is the perfect example – a bit of juxtaposition is cool.
