Sometimes, makeup artists become stars in their own right. And that is especially true of Charlotte Tilbury, MBE, the entrepreneur behind her eponymous Charlotte Tilbury Beauty brand. She has won more than 300 awards for her achievements and is, quite simply, one of the most famous British names in the modern beauty industry. Since its launch in 2013, her signature brand has become a multi-million-pound international business, and she has become a leading industry voice, as well as an inspiring advocate for women in business — she has won the CEW Best British Brand of the Year Award four times. She was awarded her MBE in 2018 and has been a fixture of the BoF 500 for over a decade.

Tilbury began her makeup career as a protégé of the similarly legendary Mary Greenwell. Already established, her career began to reach new heights in 2012 with the launch of her popular YouTube channel, and even more so the following year when her signature cosmetics brand launched at Selfridges in London. Helped by her social media success, the brand became an instant success, and within two years, Tilbury had opened a flagship store in the heart of London’s Covent Garden.

As an artist in her own right, Tilbury has worked with the likes of Kim Kardashian and Kate Moss, to name just two. Her work has been featured in the likes of Vogue (for whom she works as a contributing beauty editor), and she works as a makeup director for Fashion Week in London, Paris, New York, and Milan. Her position as a major influence and inspiration is reflected in her incredible 7-million-strong social media audience across various platforms.