Exclusive: Charlotte Tilbury talks lipstick, Kim Kardashian and the one beauty mistake we’re all guilty of

(Photo by Imeh Akpanudosen/Getty Images)

Not sure who Charlotte Tilbury is? Take one look at the faces of celebrities like Gwen Stefani, Emily Ratajkowski, Gigi Hadid and Penelope Cruz, and you’ll get just a taste of what this woman is capable of.

The Brit grew up in Ibiza, surrounded by writers, painters and musicians. After training at the Glauca Rossi School of Makeup, she started her career as a makeup artist and never looked back. In 2013, she launched her personal line of beauty products – followed by skincare – and the brand has quickly become one of the most sought after on the market – the packaging alone is to die for!

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We caught up with Tilbury in New York recently to talk to her about her latest launches, including the much anticipated Kim Kardashian lipstick.

Hot Lips is easily the brand’s biggest launch to date.

Collaborating with 12 different celebrities – including Nicole Kidman, Cindy Crawford, Salma Hayak and, of course, Kim Kardashian – Tilbury has created custom shades that “take a little DNA” from each of these fashionable women. The collection is a rich palette of nudes, berries, reds, pinks – and one deep plum.

“I really admire each of the women that inspired Hot Lips and with them, I want to spread the powerful feel good factor a gorgeous new lipstick shade gives,” says Tilbury.

“I have extracted their DNA, mixing colours that really embody their style and personality.”

Hot Lips in “Kim K.W” (photo: Simone Olivero)

So let’s start with Kim.

Tilbury met Kim at an event where they basically geeked out about how they were each others biggest fans. “When I think of Kim, she a real beauty icon of today.” It didn’t take long for them to begin working together and Tilbury knew exactly what she wanted to do when creating a custom shade for her.

“Kim is the queen of the nude lip, and this vintage inspired pale pink nude makes lips look instantly fuller, and irresistible,” Tilbury explains. “Kim is a modern day icon, and when she wears this colour, she evokes the 1960′s tartlets like Racquel Welsh and Sophia Loren.”

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While nude may not be for everyone, Tilbury swear this colour works no matter what your skin tone is.

“I’m as fair as anything and I wear it,” she says. “It’s really neutral and just looks great on everybody.”

The Hot Lips collection – including “Kim K.W” – will launch in Holt Renfrew and Nordstrom stores across Canada in July of this year.

(Instagram/ctilburymakeup)

In addition to the 12 celebrities, Hot Lips has also partnered with Women for Women, a charity Tilbury feels very passionate about.

“When Women for Women International first started helping women – in Bosnia – 20 years ago, where it is estimated that 50,000 women were raped during the conflict, we asked women what else they wanted, in addition to the financial support and training,” say Brita Fernandez Schmidt, the executive director of the organization.

“They told us they wanted lipstick!”

“Women told us they wanted the snipers to know that they were killed a beautiful woman – for them it was an act of defiance and an expression of their strength and beauty.”

Hearing this story, Tilbury had to get involved. For every Hot Lips lipstick sold, £1 will be donated to Women for Women.

Table of my dreams. (photo: Simone Olivero)

One of the other big launches from the brand is Legendary Brows, a mascara-like wand that’s micro-fine to coat those tiny hairs you can’t even see to make brows look naturally more full, which hits stores in August.

“I don’t like the very thin ‘pencil’ brow. I think it looks a bit fake and really tacky, if I’m going to be honest,” she explains. “I like looking at someones brows and thinking how gorgeous they look. I don’t want to see the makeup.”

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“I don’t think makeup should ever wear a person, but rather you should be able to just look at someone and say, ‘wow, you’re gorgeous.’”

So how do we do this?

One thing Tilbury has really tried to do with her brand is take out the guess work. Last year, she launched kits for ten different looks that let you choose who you wanted to be and then gave you the tools to achieve that look.

Instant Look in a Palette (photo: Charlotte Tilbury)

Her next launch, the Instant Look in a Palette, comes out on May 5th and is basically a colour- by-numbers palette that clearly explain which products to use on each part of your face. “You don’t have to be an expert to get a really beautiful look.”

But Tilbury warns that our biggest mistake is falling victim to fear.

“I think on the whole, women generally go for something that is safe and half the time more than making a mistake, they’re not doing enough, they’re not making the most of what they could be making the most of – just because they’re afraid.”

“Women are too scared to look clowny and stupid so I’ve tried to make things easy by picking colours that aren’t dodgy and aren’t going to make you look foolish but work well together, even when you don’t have an expert there to help guide you.”

What do you think of Tilbury’s new collections? Let us know your thoughts by tweeting to @YahooStyleCA.