I don’t usually gush about beauty launches, lately I have been like a sloth and have gone to them only if pins were strategically placed near my eyes.  But for Charlotte Tilbury, I go out.  

For any complete beauty novices reading this, Charlotte Tilbury is probably the most successful make-up artist out there, along with Pat McGrath and Kay Montano.  Trained by Mary Greenwell, her big strength is techinical expertise that’s second to none, combined with a love of colour and an ability to make it wearable, beautiful, versatile.  

Less well known is her partner, and the business brains behind the venture, Gail Federici.  Gail, who?  I hear you say.  Together with hair supremo John Frieda, Gail helped transform the hair of entire populations who previously had been unable to venture outside because of what the humidity might do to their locks, thanks to one single product: Frizz-Ease.    John and Gail made a lot of money from selling the product line, and obviously, being youthful and energetic individuals bursting with ideas they weren’t quite ready to retire yet. John is currently focussing on the salons as well as the haircare range, while Gail had a completely different idea: how about revolutionising the world of cosmetics?  After all, since the arrival of make-up artist brands in the late 90s and some technological advances, what had really happened that was truly innovative?   But something was missing… she needed a make-up artist who could develop the colours and textures, who could tell us how to use it.  The project was set aside until Gail and Charlotte met through mutual friends.  The rest as they say… 

A year or so later and here we are in Ladbroke Grove, in Charlotte’s studio which is suddenly swarming with super-efficient PR girls in addition to her usual glamorous assistants, Maria, Lotten and Zoe.  I’m not sure, but I think I see clipboards.  There are billboard-sized posters of young, beautiful females, which of course is exactly what you’d expect from a cosmetics launch, and chefs wandering around which implies food will be served, although of course none of us will eat it.  ”Us” is the select few who have been invited to check out the range.  Journalists, that kind of thing.  

I’ve known Charlotte for years, we met through my friend Kaja.  She has always inspired me with her sense of loyalty to friends and family, and her innate need and desire to work.  She loves what she does.  Beyond painting the faces of the world’s beautiful people she’s done consultancy work for make-up brands and was most recently associated with Helena Rubinstein.  

Things you might not know about Charlotte:  1) she dances like a whirling dervish.  2) In a past life she was clearly Boadicea or Helen of Troy.  3) She will never settle for “allright”, it has to be “perfect” and that’s why she’s so much in demand with Pop, W, Vogue and any celebrity you care to mention.  She has done them all. 

“Darling,” is Charlotte’s usual, effusive greeting and today is no exception.  Charlotte gushes, in fact generally she speaks so fast that five minutes with her is like a weekend in New York.  Her words fall like bullets, rapidly firing ebullient catchphrases for the rest of us to scoop up and savour.  First she introduces me to Gail Federici, who I have been dying to meet as she is something of a legend in the beauty industry.  Gail confesses she gets most of her ideas from what she wants and needs herself or in her words, through pure selfishness.  ”The idea of Frizz-Ease came about because I hated the fact that my hair was always frizzy.”  The very first thing she does now though is to pass on a personal message from someone we know and I have to confess,  I’m impressed.  How can she even remember with all this going on around her?  

MYFACE is the next of her genius ideas. You know how you pop into Boots to pick up a quick foundation and are greeted by 23 different shades of beige?  No more.   The Myface range aims to simplify radically according to three distinct groups of skin tone: fair, medium and medium to dark.  At first I thought, how awful, stereotyping, surely the point is you can choose, we’re all individuals after all.  But this takes all the hard work out of make-up.  Base, blusher and lip colour are sorted according to the three skin-tone families - there are three shades of base, three blush, and six glosses and satin textured lip colours.  Eyeshadows - we’ll come on to those later - can be used by any skin tone family, because as Charlotte explains, that’s a question of personal preference.

“They let me run wild with their money,” says Charlotte, gleefully, casting her eye over the Myface samples.  The textures and formulations apparently didn’t come cheap, because even though it’s a mass range, sold in Boots, Charlotte wanted water-based cover that leaves “incredibly glowing skin”. “I couldn’t end up with it looking patchy or blotchy, oh no, no, no, no, no.”  she says. 

When it came to the eyeshadow, she and her team spent ages looking for a shimmery, pearly finish that didn’t look like an accident with a disco-ball, that wouldn’t sit in the creases of the eyes, and that was easy to apply.   Kim, Gail’s sister, who is also a part of the team (along with the two other Federici siblings) came up with the name Bling Tone, which ties in with the modern, web-driven, instant access theme for the brand.  ”We wanted it to look like foil that has been stamped on your eyes,” said Gail.  It took a high percentage of cosmetic pearls, a new milling technique and a new oil to keep the pigment and pearl concentrations looking smooth and satin-like on the eye-lids.  ”I know it’s seriously expensive,” says Charlotte “but if we’re going to say we’re different to everyone else, then we have to be able to deliver.” 

As if by magic, three models are presented, fully made up, for us to see how the make-up looks.  What’s interesting is that although I was initially sceptical about such a concept and its limitations on most womens’ imaginations and capacity to hey - choose for ourselves - I realise how the eye is drawn automatically to the model who most resembles ourselves.  So I barely glance at the blonde or medium coloured girl - I’m completely transfixed by the dark, slightly Asian looking model’s make-up.  I realise this is a concept that is so blindingly obvious it’s a wonder no one thought of it before - it stems right from our infancy when we automatically choose the blonde or the brunette Barbie, it’s instinctive, tribal, and enforces our sense of belonging to a group.  Or maybe that’s just narcissistic old me. 

Then Charlotte does my make-up. (see above!)   She admits that she so rarely does make-up on her friends these days. I’ve seen what her schedule’s like and I know she doesn’t have time - she’s always on a plane.  I joke that it’s my Christmas present.  We chat while she’s working, Gail giving us the update on the US election.  

“I’m so furious about Palin that I’m writing to all the papers, all the websites,” says Gail, pictured on the left, below.  ”It’s insulting frankly, how could he think that all us women are so stupid we’ll vote for this woman just because we love the fact that she’s been a hockey mom!”   

 ”Why?” says Charlotte, (pictured below, centre) who has only been half-listening as she’s drawing feline eyes on me.  

“Because,” I butt in,  hoping to elaborate, “It’s as if he called ME up one day and said, “hey Kathleen, fancy being Vice President?  That’s how much experience she has for the job,” I say. 

“What you mean.. useless?” Charlotte says.

“Thanks!” I laugh, Gail laughing too.   Only Charlotte could get away with that.   Maybe she’s right.  I was never very good at hockey. 

Myface is at Boots from November, but I think it’s going to fly out of the shops, so get on the waiting list now.