An expert’s guide to getting your make-up right

Celerity make-up artist Kate Goodwin on contouring, smokey eyes, red lips and more.

Kate Goodwin is the chief executive and founder of Illumin8 Media Make-Up Studio. Courtesy: Kate Goodwin

What three beauty products should every woman own?

A concealer to hide imperfections, blusher to add colour to the face and mascara to open the eyes. Every woman needs a little help to enhance her beauty.

What products do you swear by?

In my kit and in my personal make-up bag, I couldn’t live without Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage. It’s like an eraser for imperfections, scars, dark shadows and pigmentation.

Does everyone look better with a bit of make-up on?

I believe in enhancing not changing. You can enhance your beauty to suit your style and personality.

What’s a common make-up mistake that people make?

Wearing far too much. I often see beautiful women who mask their lovely clear skin and naturally beautiful faces with too much make-up. I think this actually strips them of their own unique beauty by changing their features and the natural form of their face a lot of the time. When make-up is incorrectly applied, it can make result in making someone look a little bit strange.

What are your top tips?

Blending is probably the best tip. Everything should be soft and blended seamlessly into the skin, whether it’s eyeshadow or foundation. Eyebrows are also extremely important to frame the face well-shaped, natural-looking brows make a huge difference to the face. Something I teach my clients is not to do something if you struggle with it. For example, not everyone can wear feline flicks as we all have different shaped eyes. It’s better to stick to something simpler that suits you Less is better than mess.

Kim K-style contouring: cool or crass?

I’m not a fan of heavy contouring, to be honest. For a shoot it’s fine when applied properly as it should not be seen and just add subtle definition to the face. Kim is constantly seen through the camera, so it makes sense. However, I think she is naturally beautiful and doesn’t need so much make-up. I don’t like to see make-up thickly applied on the skin and feel the trend of contouring has gone a little over the top.

The smokey eye: is it for everyone?

Smokey eyes do suit most people, but the application needs to be adapted for the individual depending on eye shape, eye colour and age. Some women look amazing with vamped-up dark eyes, whilst others look better with a softer bronzed smokey eye.

And is there a red lipstick out there for everyone?

Red comes in cool blue tones and warmer orangey tones, so most women can find a red lipstick to suit skin their skin tones. There are many different ways to wear red lipstick; you may be confident enough to wear a solid matt retro lip, or you may prefer to wear a red lipgloss or liptint, which gives colour but not as much impact as a lipstick. I love red lipstick and know personally when I wear it I feel confident, but I also have to be in the mood. Over the years I have seen how it can either make a woman feel empowered or uncomfortable, so I’d say it’s definitely a personal preference.

If you could get any woman in your chair, who would it be? Why?

As much as I enjoy working with celebrities and supermodels, I would really love to do the make-up for Katie Piper, an acid-burn victim in the UK. She is a remarkable woman who turned her life around in a positive way after her face was disfigured. I would be interested to talk about what the power of make-up can do for women who have been through something as life-changing as this. Make-up is not just about fashion and recreating trends; it also has a very powerful impact to change people’s lives when used in certain ways.

What’s your favourite make up trend for this season?

I’m always happy to see glowing dewy skin on the runway. It’s soft and feminine.