From Zendaya's to VB's, Celebrity Makeup Artists Share Their Best Tips

As soon as award ceremonies and events such as the Oscars and Cannes roll around, we love swooning over the beauty looks that inevitably fill up our feeds. Then we quickly make a beeline for celebrity makeup artists' Instagrams to find out just how celebrities like Hailey Bieber actually get their makeup looking so good or their skin so glowing. Whether it's a perfectly applied French-girl lip or a precision eyeliner wing, we need to know all of the details.

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(Image credit: @zendaya)

So we decided to slide into the DMs of some of the top celebrity makeup artists, who shared their top celebrity makeup tips and tricks with us below.

1. Celebrity Concealer Tricks

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(Image credit: @neelamkg )

Jamie Coombes, Dior International Pro Team makeup artist, has worked with models such as Neelam Kaur Gill to create flawless complexions. We quizzed him on his tips for disguising dark circles as well as the perfect concealer application to avoid concealer creasing.

"To conceal dark circles, apply a deeper peachy-biscuit shade first to knock out the blue undertone. Let it set before layering your foundation over the top. Then, add a layer of concealer a shade lighter than your foundation to lift and brighten," says Coombes.

And to stop creasing? "Use a fluffy eye shadow brush to blend out concealer around the eyes. This lifts any access product to help minimise creasing," he says. "Add a lighter shade in the inner corner and outer corner of the eye for a lifting effect."

And just when you thought there wasn't anything else concealer could do, Coombes shared even more celebrity makeup tips. "Use a deeper shade of concealer like a contour stick to create definition. You can also mix concealer with your favourite lipstick colour to create a customised blusher," he says. Genius.

Get the look:

2. Celebrity Bronzer Tips

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(Image credit: @jenna_coleman_)

Bronzer application can be daunting, but Chanel makeup artist Ninni Nummela, who has worked with the likes of Jenna Coleman, Jodie Comer and Priyanka Chopra Jonas, has a fail-safe formula for natural-looking bronzer. 

"My kit essential for cheating a healthy-looking summer glow is a cream bronzer, as it gives you a natural finish and blends seamlessly into the skin," says Nummela. "Chanel's Les Beiges Bronzing Cream is my favourite when I work with Jenna Coleman. To enhance her beautiful complexion, I use a big brush to blend the bronzer where the sun would naturally tan her face; on top of the cheekbones, the bridge of the nose, middle of the forehead and the chin," she adds. 

Get the look:

3. Celebrity Eyeliner Tips

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(Image credit: Getty Images)

Zendaya has been known to do her own makeup from time to time (including her incredible Oscars makeup look). In an Instagram video with Zendaya’s go-to makeup artist, Sheika Daley, she shares her tips.

"I like to do my own eyeliner. I like to go from the outer corners. I don’t carry it all the way in [to the inner corners],” Zendaya says in the Instagram video.

She also shares a quick tip for enhancing her eye makeup look with contour. "I sometimes like to apply [cream contour] in my eye shadow a little bit,” Zendaya says, swooping the contour upwards and outwards from the outer corners of her eyes to the temples and blending gently with her fingertips.

Get the look:

4. Celebrity Brow Tips

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(Image credit: @kendalljenner)

Brows can really frame the face but can be easy to get wrong if you're too heavy-handed. Celebrity makeup artist and founder of Westman Atelier Gucci Westman (you name a celebrity, and she's most likely done their makeup) shares her tips for perfect brows.

"For filling in eyebrows, it’s good to have a gentle hand with featherlike strokes. Emulate your hairs, and don’t draw lines," says Westman. "Wherever you have a gap, it is important to just apply, blend and erase with your brow spoolie brush. Go back and forth until you have the perfect result.”

And in terms of colour-matching your brow product to your brow, Westman recommends going a tad darker than your hair colour. "It’s a bit of personal preference, but usually I like to say that you should choose a darker shade than the hair on your head. If you have lighter hair, it’s nice to have something that grounds your face and brings it all together,” says Gucci.

Get the look:

5. Celebrity Highlighter Tips

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(Image credit: @victoriabeckham)

"Highlighter should always be applied to look like a natural shine," explains Chanel makeup artist Zoë Taylor.

"When working with Victoria Beckham, I would always pat a cream highlighter very high onto the cheekbones in a curve rather than a straight line. Tap onto the bridge of the nose, as this adds brightness to the skin, but always avoid the tip of the nose," she adds.

Get the look:

Up Next: Take Note—These Are the 6 Makeup Rules French Women Swear By

Eleanor Vousden
Beauty Editor, Who What Wear UK

Eleanor Vousden is the beauty editor for Who What Wear UK. She was previously deputy editor at Hairdressers Journal, health writer at Woman & Home and junior beauty editor at beauty website Powder. She has also contributed to Wallpaper and Elle Collections with written and styling work.

Working as a beauty journalist since 2015 after graduating in fashion journalism at the London College of Fashion, she has been highly commended at the BSME Talent Awards for her work on Powder and also contributed to the title winning Website of the Year at the PPA Awards.

Eleanor’s journalistic focus is to provide readers with honest and helpful beauty content. Through words, video and live broadcast, she has interviewed several celebrity makeup artists, hairstylists and top dermatologists throughout her career, as well as celebrities such as Sarah Jessica Parker and Scarlett Johansson. She has a particular interest in finding solutions for acne and eczema, which she has experienced firsthand. She has also amassed a large collection of fragrances and can never say no to a new candle.

When she’s not writing or testing the latest beauty product or treatments, she’s on the seafront in her hometown of Brighton and Hove, where she lives with her partner and her miniature dachshund.