Ever wondered just how Made In Chelsea's Millie Mackintosh gets the perfect dewy look? Or how Binky Felstead's nails the smokey-eyes every time? Us too. But fear not - Annie Levy, who runs make up blog makeartnotwar.me, is on hand to take us through the girls' favourite looks for the live New Year's Eve* Made In Chelsea* special.
'All the MIC girls are a dream to work with,' says Annie. 'Not only are they lovely but they all have such wonderful faces to makeup. They're very pretty girls with great skin, plus it's always fun to have a catch up and gossip at the same time. By now I know what the regular cast like makeup wise and they don't usually tend to vary far from it too much.'
And their favourite looks? Read on, friends...
Binky Felstead's Make Up
Binky likes a good foundation with lots of coverage (even though she doesn't need it.. something we never agree on!) I use Estee lauder Invisible fluid makeup and then use my Estee lauder Dissapearing smoothing concealer to cover where ever she needs it. She loves her bronzer (I don't think they make one dark enough to satisfy her), so I use Chanel sol de tan to contour and then layer over with Tom Ford bronzer from the Shade and illuminate palette.
We love shine on her cheekbones and my favourite is MAC mineralise skinfinish in soft and gentle , it looks incredible on everyone on tv, camera and in person, this would definitely be one of my top 5 kit items. Binky loves her brown smokey eyes and my favourite for this look is mac paint pot in Constructivist. It's so simple to use you cant fail, the paint pots are so easy to blend and don't crease which is really difficult to find in eyeshadows, especially cream ones, and these last for ages - which is imperative with the MIC girls, who can party with the best of them.
I used a little MAC vanilla pigment in the inner corners of Binky’s eyes, which looks stunning and makes them really stand out, then Laura Mercier Cake eyeliner in black on the top and bottom line for added sexy smoke. A great tip for eyeliner is line with a pencil first (Topshop liner is my favourite) and then go over with gel or cake liner, that way it will not budge and last all night. Loads of Rituals Mascara and Sisley lip balm to soften the lips and add shine finishes Binky’s look before we tong all that fabulous long hair.
Millie Mackintosh
Millie has incredible skin, it's pretty much perfect. I use a small amount of Liz Earle Skin Tint which gives a gorgeous sheer dewy look that both myself and Millie love, with a little Liz Earle concealer under the eyes. Millie is wearing her fabulous Millie’s Lashes in Portobello with thick black eyeliner (MAC Fluidline) that makes her eyes really stand out. The rest of the face is very neutral which, is very much Millie's look.
CK One eyeshadow base creams are ideal for a neutral eye - I use 100/Simple, Estee Lauder bronzer, a little Tom Ford illuminating highlighter pen down the centre of the nose and a soft lip using Sisley Lip balm finishes the look. I use a small amount of Jurlique Rose Silk Finishing Powder just on the middle of her forehead, down the centre of the nose and at the bottom of the chin just so she doesn't look shiny under the studio lights. There is a huge difference between dewy and shiny, so I use a small brush to avoid over-powdering.
Rosie Fortescue
Rosie also has incredible skin; she's so pretty and always looks immaculate. In 3 series I don't think I ever did her makeup from scratch, she always arrives looking head to toe perfect. I love using Laura Mercier Cake liner to line her eyes, they really stand out. For the studio show she is wearing Millie’s Lashes in Shoreditch which look amazing. Rosie's a bit pale for the 'Binky bronzer', and has excellent cheek bones so I just use a little Nars Douceur blusher to give her a bit of warmth.
Again I use a small amount of Jurlique Rose Silk finishing powder just down the nose, middle of forehead and bottom of chin with a very small powder brush so not to over powder.
Louise Thompson
Lovely Louise is so much fun and always looks great. Louise likes to mix her makeup the most out of the main cast. For the studio show she has flawless matte skin, using Sisley Phyto Teint Eclat oil free foundation which is ideal for this look. She has quite a pale contrast eye with Urban Decay Basics palette which looks amazing against the thick liner, bold brows and Millie’s Lashes in Soho (my favourite ones), they make her eyes really stand out. She has sculpted cheeks with Tom Ford bronzer and MAC Tenderling blusher, finished with Nars lipgloss in Belize.
Sophia Sassoon
Sophia makes me laugh, she's playing Gangnam style on her iPhone while we're doing makeup and we're all laughing she's only just discovered it after everyone’s been sick of it for weeks! Sophia has a matte base which we get with Estee lauder Double Wear Maximum coverand set with Chanel powder. She's not into the heavy bronzed look so we just sculpt a little with MAC Taupe blusher.
We do lots of black eyeliner and lashes for Sophia’s look, with a fantastic red lipstick that suits her hair colouring perfectly. We use RMK Ingenious Pencil Eyeliner, RMK Ingenious Gel Eyeliner, Clinique High Impact Mascara and Mac Lipstick in 'Red'. I think I was the only person in the studio to groan when she kissed Francis on camera (except maybe Proudlock?) - everyone else ahhhed while I wanted to jump in and wipe the red lipstick marks off him quickly before the next take!
Lucy Watson
Like most of the girls, Lucy has great skin. We used Clinique stay matte oil free foundation which gives a gorgeous sheer cover and a little Liz Earle concealer under the eyes. Bardot-esque eyes with a thick liner using Top Shop black eye pencil look amazing with Mac Fluid line gel liner over the top and lots of black lashes using Clinique High Impact Mascara. Peachy cheeks using RMK Mix Colors For Cheeks & Mac Cremesheen Glass in Deelight for a gorgeous pinky lip. I finished her look with my favourite Jurlique Rose Silk powderto set the makeup.
Cheska Hull
Cheska came with some makeup already on. We did a thin flick eyeliner using Revlon Gel eyeliner and brown and gold on the eyes using Rituals winter glamour Baked Eyeshadow Palette.
Also...
On all the girls I used my Shu Uemura eyelash curlers and my Laura Mercier, Suqqu and Kevyn Aucoin brushes, which make makeup look 100 times better. Good brushes are worth investing in, they'll last you a lifetime if you look after them. I also have a Bobbi Brown palette that has 6 different brown eyeshadows which I use on eyebrows. The girls all have great eyebrows so I don't need to use a pencil to create any extra brows, so I just use my Bobbi Brown palette for extra definition. I prefer this look to a pencil if you have good eyebrows to start with. I also mix Sisley Radiant Immediate Lift and Laura Mercier hydrating primer on everyone (male cast included) as a makeup base, which stops makeup settling in the lines or slipping off - not a good look. It really helps the makeup stay a lot longer which is good for filming a show in front of a large audience when there isn't a lot of opportunity to go in for touch ups.
I style most of the girls’ hair with my amazing Babyliss waver that I could not work without; it's the master of hairtools. I also used Denman brushes, Sebastian Hairspray and Sebastian wax for the boys - Spencer, Ollie and Rick's quiffs don't stay up by magic!