Brooke Turnbull is the make-up artist behind your favourite celebs.
If you've seen your favourite celebrities on stage, on the red carpet or at Fashion Week, chances are Brooke Turnbull has had something to do with their glam. Favoured by Charli xcx, Paloma Elsesser, Sabrina Carpenter, Dua Lipa and many more, Brooke is the make-up artist on call when they want their top tier glam..
We caught up with Brooke to catch up about her career, which started at age 16, and to chat about creating Charli xcx's make-up for her latest ‘Music, Film, Fashion’ gig in London.
Perfect: Please can you introduce yourself, how long have you been a make-up artist for?
Brooke Turnbull: Hey, I’m Brooke Turnbull. I’ve been a makeup artist for ten years now, since I was 16.
Perfect: What inspired you to become a makeup artist?
Brooke Turnbull: I was such a fairies, face-paint and temporary-tattoos girl growing up, always painting in my room. Then I remember watching America’s Next Top Model being completely in awe. It felt like this whole new world opening up and sparked my infatuation.
Around the same time, YouTube was taking off, and that’s how I taught myself. I would sit in my room after school for hours watching the OG beauty creators, still in my uniform haha.
Perfect: What is the process like working with a talent like Charli XCX?
Brooke Turnbull: Working with Charli is always refreshing.
Beforehand, Chris, her stylist, will share what she’s wearing from there I’ll start gathering an idea alongside the hairstylist of where we’d take it. It’s rarely about copying a literal reference, and more about building from the energy she’s presenting. Then, when Charli is in the chair, I bounce off her feeling and vision, and it becomes this natural open creative exchange.
Perfect: You recently did Charli’s make up for her Music, Fashion, Film gig. Talk to us about the process of creating that look.
Brooke Turnbull: What a night. Charli spoke about an eye focus for this look, and to reflect this epic album coming, I wanted it to feel real. Something raw.
Probably every makeup artist’s no-no, but I applied powder eyeshadow first, then layered a cream on top, letting it crease and move naturally. That technique created this cool, lived-in smudged eye rather than something perfected.
I was excited for the lip because I knew a washed-out nude would be perfect. There’s something late-2000s, early-2010s about it that I love, and it also ties into the world Charli is moving through with this album.
Photo by @boy___pillow
Perfect: Where do you get your inspiration from?
Brooke Turnbull: Right now, I’m drawing inspiration from how someone embodies a makeup look, storing elements in my head, then pulling them together in my own way, whether that’s a character in a film’s eyeliner shape or noticing the lipstick shade on a girl walking down the street. I’m like, yes. It gives me life!
Perfect: You have worked with some of the coolest IT girls. Does the process change depending on the person?
Brooke Turnbull: Absolutely. The way we arrive at the final look shifts with every client. You naturally become a bit of a chameleon, adapting to their rhythm and how they like to work.
Perfect: Do you have a favourite make up look you’ve done on one of them?
Brooke Turnbull: Impossible, that’s like choosing a favourite child. I will say my makeup journey has gone through so many transitions & what I’m creating now feels most true. So I guess this is my favourite era :)
Perfect: What process goes into the final look that we see on the stars you have done?
Brooke Turnbull: I'd say capturing the final look is an equally important part of the process. It’s become a second creative outlet where I get to document my work in my own way.
I started with my mum’s old digi cam, and now I carry about four with me everywhere. My current obsession is this Mini Camera from the London based brand @grypcase . It gives every image a blue-green, slightly ’90s tint that feels so cool and nostalgic.