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James O'Brien
Foreign.
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Charlotte Tilbury
Oh, oh.
Oh.
James O'Brien
Hello, and welcome to this Life of Mine, the show where our guests pick the places, people, possessions, music and memories that have made them who they are. Now, if you've ever seen a celebrity or a supermodel's face looking particularly incredible at, say, the Oscars or the Met Gala or on the COVID of Vogue or Vanity Fair, the chances are that my guest today has had a hand in that. Today, she's best known as a business mogul whose eponymous makeup line has become, without question, one of the most successful luxury brands in the world. And as a makeup artist, she has worked with everyone, the world's most glamorous women. Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Aniston, Salma Hayek, Penelope Cruz, to name just a few. I am so excited that she's here on the show today. Are you ready, darling?
Charlotte Tilbury
Always ready for you.
James O'Brien
Then take us away.
Charlotte Tilbury
I'm Charlotte Tilbury. Welcome to this life of mine.
James O'Brien
I've got some of your magic cream on today, darling.
Charlotte Tilbury
You are definitely Tilbury Glow. I always tell. Actually, some people you can tell. I can always tell when I see people, I really can because it plumps out the skin. And I've had people come up to me going, I'm wearing your magic cream. Like, you're not wearing magic cream, darling. You are not wearing magic cream because their skin, it just preps it for makeup, but it also plumps it out.
James O'Brien
That to me, if someone said to me, we're going to plump out your skin, I feel I've got a face that doesn't need to be plumped.
Charlotte Tilbury
No, Donnie.
James O'Brien
Do you know what I mean? I don't want to use the word plump.
Charlotte Tilbury
Listen. Smoothed, hydrated, plumped, lifted is that's all it does in 28 seconds.
James O'Brien
Well, I'm.
Charlotte Tilbury
It was born out of necessity, darling. All the supermodels backstage, darling, it was.
James O'Brien
I'm so excited to talk to you about. Your picks are brilliant and there's so many things I want to talk to you about. And we're going to talk about a person, possession, memory, a great piece of music that you've chosen. Let's start on your place. Tell Us. The place that you've chosen to talk about on the show today, the place.
Charlotte Tilbury
That we have chosen to speak about on the show today is Ibiza.
James O'Brien
Tell me about Ibiza. Why is the party island of Ibiza? What you wanted to talk about on the show today?
Charlotte Tilbury
It's where I was brought up. So not a lot of people know I was brought up in Ibiza. My parents weren't there when I was 8 months old. I went to school there until I was 13, 4. They kind of tried to send me off to boarding school to sort of maybe kind of straighten me out. Never really worked. But I have to say it all began now, I think Ibiza, the freedom. My father was an artist, my mother was a producer. This melting pot of creativity and freedom has really had a huge influence on my life and led me to where I am today. Just I think, you know, the whole thing of children should be seen and not heard, it's just not the case there. You know, we would be kind of dragged out to dinner parties and parties with my parents. We'd go to the KU Club, we'd see James Brown performing or whether Bob Marley, when he went to Ibiza. I mean, it was right that Grace.
James O'Brien
Jones used to come round your house.
Charlotte Tilbury
You know, all of those kind of performers. Yeah, they were all friends with my parents. But we lived this life that was kind of amazing and sort of going to, you know, going to the clubs that sort of like nine years old, you know, swimming around in the swimming pool with a massive paper mache dragon slide and kind of. It was the sort of Studio 54 of Europe, I would imagine. I never went to Studio 54, but I would imagine having seen images of that, that's very much kind of the world. And that had. And the way people dress and the influence of makeup and seeing that as a young child and then sort of crashing out in the kind of, you know, VW bus, you know, when they were kind of carried on party was just such a different time, you know. And I think being exposed to all of that and a lot of actors, writers, designers and also the way my parents sort of brought me up, they really believed in limitless thinking and creative visualization and manifestation and positive thinking. They were very bohemian. So I think all of that knowled I know has had a massive effect on the way that I think and definitely kind of creating this company that I've created and the people that work with me, I very much kind of, you know, brought that kind of type of mindset that dare to dream it dare to believe it dare to do it mindset of do not limit yourself in life. And that's very much due to the way that I was brought up in Ibiza and that free thinking that anything is possible and the creativity that I think, you know, my father being an artist and being surrounded by so many artists and fashion people, I think, you know, the sense of color, shade, light, the way that all of that, you know, going into his artist studio and hanging out with all of his artist mates has ended up having a huge effect on obviously on what I've kind of ended up revolutionizing in makeup.
James O'Brien
It's an interesting place, Ibiza, because there's sort of residents who live there and then there's people who come for a week to just get off the rave islands. Yeah. Put it this way, I come to join you and Ibiza. Let's say we're having a day in Ibiza. What are we doing? Where are we going? What are we drinking? What are we eating?
Charlotte Tilbury
Well, can I just preface that by starting off by saying Ibiza is actually the third most magnetic place on the earth. And there's a rock called Az Vedra. And that is actually. I mean, the legend goes where Ulysses passed and the sirens were. And actually that rock, when the boats still go around it to this day, their dials go off. They don't work. They don't work. And so it has this tiny little island in the Mediterranean, has a huge magnetism. And it has become a, you know, global dance music place in the world where kind of, you know, people go and rave and whatever. And it is amazing. This tiny little line has had that kind of effect, I have to say. My parents were part of the pioneers of Ibiza. They went there in 1960s. Wow. And then moved there in 73. So really. And it was just kind of, you know, a little fishing village with kind of like, you know, lots of the amazing women. And they're all back dresses and petticoats. I mean, I still remember it. They even helped start the first club, Amnesia. The pioneers. Really? Ibiza. That kind of went there and created.
James O'Brien
What it was such a good name for a club.
Charlotte Tilbury
Yeah. Amnesia.
James O'Brien
Amnesia, isn't it? It's such a good name for a club.
Charlotte Tilbury
It is. And so if you came to Ibiza and hung out with me, I mean, for me, it's like, I very much. You know, I love going to Formentera. I love going to Ibiza. I love sort of having lots of long lunches, reading our by the pool, partying, dancing. But it's, you know, sitting around the lunch table, there'll always be lots of interesting people, lots of conversations. And I love to mix people from different cultures, different backgrounds, different ages together. I think the melting pot. That's how I was brought up, and that's what I love.
James O'Brien
This is interesting, right, because I was thinking about you on my way in today. Look, your talents and your skills are clear and they're there for everybody to see, and it's an immense gift. The thing I'm continually impressed by you is the thing I see in you. You have this ability to mix in every single social environment.
Charlotte Tilbury
Yeah, fine.
James O'Brien
And remain completely yourself. So I think you would be the same person. Sat in a pub with my mates when I grew up to sitting in a boardroom. Buckingham Palace.
Charlotte Tilbury
Yeah.
James O'Brien
With the royal family. You are authentic to yourself at all times. And do you think it was this upbringing of being around this mix of people that you seem to gravitate towards at all points?
Charlotte Tilbury
Thank you. That's so kind of you. That is exactly. I think, for me, it is really important to be authentic in yourself. And I think that is, I think, why I've kind of achieved what I've achieved by being just genuinely who you are. We now know. Do you know, about authenticity? That we know that now with social media, authenticity is something that really cuts through when someone gives a great speech, you know, a politician, a great love song or whatever, hit song. They're always speaking from the heart, but we now can measure that. It's the thing called the toroidal field. So when you speak from the heart, it has. Literally, it's 40,000 times. It has electromagnetic pulse, which is much more powerful than the brain's, and you can measure up to 4, 4 miles away from you. So I think authenticity and that way of being brought up in Ibiza, where that total sense of freedom, that be who you want to be, mix with everyone. I mean, we have friends who lived in a cave, you know, I mean, like, you know, we had rock stars, royalty, whatever. All a big mish, sort of melting pot with everyone kind of hanging out together. I think has. Has made it so that that's where I'm most comfortable. I don't want to be segregated to one group. I love all people, everyone. And that's where the fun and the magic happens.
James O'Brien
Let's move on to your next selection, which really does relate to your place. And I'm so interested to hear you talk about this. Tell us the possession that you've chosen to talk about on the show today.
Charlotte Tilbury
So the possession I've chosen to talk about is my logbook. My parents, cause we had this kind of, you know, I went to a Spanish school and then they were like I go go to the local Mona Valley school. And they were like, darling. I mean they're quite extension my parents, they were like, you know, we think it'd be really great if you went off to. There's this man called Ra, named after the Sun God and he's an ex Oxford don. And he started this incredible school called the History of the Universe. And we think it's be fantastic for Charlotte. And there's three boys, Tim, Tom and Torno. And Charlotte. We're all gonna go to this amazing school. And anything about your life makes me.
James O'Brien
Feel like you must have watched. Absolutely fabulous. Like it was a documentary. This is a fly on the wall documentary about a regular family.
Guess what? My mother's name is not Patsy.
Charlotte Tilbury
It is.
James O'Brien
No, stop. Oh my God. Sorry. Go on, carry on. You're all being shipped off to.
Charlotte Tilbury
So we go to the school and we arrive day one and Ra is sitting there cross legged with a headdress and a ruby in the center of it. And he's fasting and he goes right, we have to take out your books. And he goes right, okay, it's called the History of the universe and day one is 1 billion BC anyway, and he teaches us about astrophysics and part of our homework is telepathy, which is just, you know, we think is fantastic, but he's amazing. What was incredible about Ra is that he ended up at 11 years old, he stretched my mind in dimensions. I just couldn't at the time, could never have conceived of and still look back and think. The stuff that I wrote and the kind of quantum physics that he taught us and all the rest of it, I was just, you know, was amazing. And that has ended up having a huge effect on me. And anyway, one day it was hilarious because we were only there for four months actually and we were playing an intergalactic game which we had made out of one piece. So we had like. One was a white dwarf, one was a red star, one was a black hole. And then it was Tim, Tom and Torna and I. And then one day we know. So we were there and we were playing this game and. And one of them was like, you've eaten my red dwarf with my black hole is eaten your red dwarf. And we started shouting and the intergalactic game went everywhere and he went, okay, this has got to stop. This is not beautiful anymore. You'll have to leave. And we were like, what? And he chucked us all out and expelled us.
James O'Brien
Are you serious?
Charlotte Tilbury
Yeah, just for that one. I think he. Do you know what I think?
James O'Brien
Or was that the straw that broke the camel?
Charlotte Tilbury
I think actually he had bigger things in mind. He ended up going on to run this kind of movement, which actually is massive.
James O'Brien
Basically, there's this notion, and I think this is what's in the book. From what I can work out of which much I can't, is this idea that people are split into four distinct energy and strategy types.
Charlotte Tilbury
Yes.
James O'Brien
Right. So it's generators, projectors, manifesters and reflectors.
Charlotte Tilbury
Yeah.
James O'Brien
And seven authority types, which is emotional, sacral, splenic, environmental, self, projected lunar cycle and ego.
Charlotte Tilbury
Ego? Yeah.
James O'Brien
So which are you? I think you're a manifesto.
Charlotte Tilbury
I'm a manifesto? Yeah. I am a manifesto. To be honest, I did get massively into it. I met his son and he did a whole thing on me, but I didn't really see why I would see him now and again after that. But I think I am a manifesto or a generator. I don't know. Generate something. You can be a generator. Manifesto, definitely. Park your ego at the door. I never believe the hype. I just think ego is something that in life, whatever you do, stay grateful and humble for whatever you've been given. And I have to say, that feeling of gratitude is the most wonderful, euphoric feeling in the world. That's partly to do with success.
James O'Brien
I think the place I probably struggle most with ego is in comparison, in that notion that it's the thief of joy and all that stuff. When I'm looking at other people rather than just looking at all of the blessings that I've had.
Charlotte Tilbury
Exactly. All the blessings you have. Exactly.
James O'Brien
Yeah. It's a hard one that, isn't it?
Charlotte Tilbury
I don't know whether I'm very much like, look forward and think about what you can create in your life and what you have. I genuinely, genuinely am really joyful for other people and their successes. You know, be grateful for what you have and don't believe the hype.
James O'Brien
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Charlotte Tilbury
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James O'Brien
Regular listeners of this life of mine will know that really on the show. Often we talk about great moments in people's lives. Whether that's great memories or people that love or songs or films. But you know and I know that life isn't always full of just great moments. And we all have times when everything just kind of piles up, whether that's work or family.
Friendships, relationships, whatever it might be. And you think? I think I might need to speak to somebody. I've had one of those stretches fairly recently actually.
And I'm away from home at the moment. I'm working in New York. And I tried to find a therapist online and honestly, it was hopeless. Every therapist I found, they were either fully booked or they were out of network or they were charging prices, which made me think, sorry, does this come with a yacht? And I remember thinking, it really shouldn't be this hard. Affordable, accessible mental health care shouldn't be something that's out of reach. But too often it is. And look, if we use insurance for physical health, why shouldn't our mental health get the same treatment? And that's exactly why I love what Ruler is doing. Here's the deal with Ruler, most online therapy platforms don't work with insurance at all, which means you'll be stuck paying out of pocket or signing up for some incredibly expensive monthly subscription. But Ruler does it differently. They partner with over 100 insurance plans, which means the average copay is just $15 a session. Umbrula doesn't just match you with the first available therapists, they actually take the time to understand your goals. And then they will give you a curated list of therapists who are in network and genuinely aligned with what it is that you need. So if you go to ruler.com lifeofmind you can get started today. That's R U L A.com lifeofmind for quality therapy that is covered insurance. There are no wait lists, no endless emails. Ruler helps you find someone who is available as soon as tomorrow. Because finding the right therapist, well, that could be life changing. Thousands of people are already using Ruler to get affordable, high quality therapy that is actually covered by insurance. So if you visit ruler.comlifeofmine you can get started straight away. And after you sign up, they're gonna ask you how you heard about them. And it would be great if you could support our show and let them know that we sent you. That's r u l a.com lifeofmine. You deserve mental health care that works with you, not against your budget. So talk to me about starting this, yes, extraordinary brand that you started. There has to be an element of ego on some level to be working as a makeup artist, using other people's products and going, nah, I can do.
Charlotte Tilbury
This for me, I think every human being can achieve whatever they want in life. And why do they have to limit themselves. And I was brought up to think that way. And I'm naturally curious and I'm naturally like, well, why is it done a certain way? So I think that is how my brain's hardwired. I don't think any human being should limit themselves, so why can't you go on to achieve? I just have very big dreams.
James O'Brien
Isn't it society that limits children, though?
Charlotte Tilbury
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, there's just been a study that NASA's come out with to say that everyone is born a genius. And then by the time it got to a certain age, it was like 2% were left as geniuses because the creative thinking was. And the imagination was kind of stamped out of them by conformity and education. And so everyone is a genius, and anyone can achieve whatever they want in life. But most of the time we're told, you can't achieve this. You won't do that. You won't get this. And I'm constantly being told, oh, you're crazy, or you won't get this or you won't do that. And actually just sort of remaining in that manifestation mindset and that positive mindset that you can achieve whatever you want to achieve in life and actually don't be limited by just by what people tell you you can't do. And actually just writing everything down. At the beginning of my career, I wrote down. I manifested pretty much my whole life what I wanted to do.
James O'Brien
Come on. How old were you when you did so?
Charlotte Tilbury
When I was 13, I remember walking to school and just saying, I want to make my mark in the world. And then I remember kind of being at boarding school, being a red hair with GRE eyes going, I wish someone would tell me what color suited me, what type of face shape I have, how to make my eyes look bigger, how to maximize my potential. And I remember kind of really visualizing at the age of 13 what my brand would be. That was really kind of the kind of when it started.
James O'Brien
That's nuts to me to even be thinking in the sense of a brand.
Charlotte Tilbury
I know. Well, now I think it wasn't that normal, but I look back now and I can connect the dots to how many. So many things. And also, instead of, you know, tuck boxes we'd have at school, I had this amazing beauty editor who actually ended up writing a note to me. This beauty editor gave me this box of makeup, and it was so I'd go back to school instead of a tuck with loads of makeup. And then I ended up trading it at school. And then doing these kind of girls makeup and saying, well, you know, with your blue eyes, with your green eyes. And I kind of, you know, my father being an artist, I started to kind of work it all out, really, at kind of boarding school. And then that same beauty editor later on when I was 19 and in London, there was a recession going on, it was really hard for me to get a job and break through. And I had this little note from the beauty editor and it said, knock it to them, Charlotte, I know you'll be a star. And I would cling to that note and I'd be like, okay, we're gonna get through this, we're gonna do this. We're gonna, you know, and because most people were saying, well, listen, you know, we'd love to give you a job, but actually the big people in the industry are kind of dropping their rates and there's not even enough jobs for them. So we can't even give you a start.
James O'Brien
Which I'm sure many people listening today would associate with hearing that response.
Charlotte Tilbury
Yeah.
James O'Brien
Particularly in the way that the world is now. So, like, what advice would you give to the young, 14, 15, 16 year old person who is looking at you, looking at your brand and looking at what you've built, looking at your career as a makeup designer, as a unbelievably successful business mogul now, today, what advice would you give to that person who is thinking, God, I just don't know how to break through.
Charlotte Tilbury
I would always say my motto in life is dare to dream it, dare to believe it and dare to do it. But belief is the biggest thing. I think most people have dreams and where they stumble is the belief system. And, you know, we're challenged. I'm challenged every day. We're challenged all the time in life, but challenge is opportunity. And that's how I see it. I turn everything around into an opportunity. If you've got to grow up, if you've got to. You know, I was a makeup artist, you know, who didn't know the first thing about how to read a P and L. I had to teach myself, but it's not complicated. You know, for me, actually, most people, it sort of looks scary, but actually it's pretty easy. And so I think fear is the biggest blocker in life. And I think that thing of feel the fear and do it anyway and just put your best foot forward in life, and that's as good as you can do. And what people don't realize is one step, then another step, then another step. And before you Know it, you've got to a great place. And it's persistence and it's never giving up. I've had so many challenges along the way of not thinking I would make it or not thinking I would do it, but it's that thing of just never stop believing. And, you know, obviously you can't lie on your sofa, so you don't even have a fag. You know, you've got to.
James O'Brien
But I think what you did was you worked out what you wanted it to be.
Charlotte Tilbury
Yeah.
James O'Brien
And walked backwards. And I think what lots of people do write your future is you're just. You're looking at the next step as opposed to going, well, no, no, no. If the goal is this, well, what do I have to do? Okay, well, then to do that, I'd have to be here. Then I'd have to try that. I'd have to do this, do this. And then you go, okay, well, all I need to do is get to that step, but know that it's walking on the path to this.
Charlotte Tilbury
Exactly right, James. Because what I've done, I did this at the beginning of my brand, when I talk about manifestation visualization, I wrote down what I would achieve over the next 10 years. And actually, if I look back at my life, I've always written down and manifested where I want to be. And I think, write your future. And then when you write your future exactly as you're saying, you can then work backwards to see, okay, I need to achieve this step on that step or whatever, but you know where the end goal is, and sometimes you don't know the steps. For me, I always knew I wanted a brand. So then I thought, okay, I'm going to be a makeup artist and I'm gonna hone my craft. So I then became a creative director working for different brands. You know, I worked for the Gorgeous, our amazing friends on Ford, and I worked for Helena Rubenstein, who's again, one of my great idols. So I had a little bit of a history, but it was their brands, it wasn't my brand. I was just there as a creative director. And then I went on as I'd honed my craft and worked with the laboratory and come up with these ideas. I kept this book of concepts and ideas, and I designed my shops and I designed the consumer journey and I saw the white space and I wanted to demystify and I wanted to empower him because it was a very much at the time, if you think about the beauty industry at the time, it was very black counters.
James O'Brien
Is that Chanel. Is that the success of Chanel that you think?
Charlotte Tilbury
Do you know what? Actually it's quite interesting you say that probably. Actually it had a huge effect on everything. Everything sort of ended up that's black and white, you know, very simple. Yeah, straight counters, like don't come in. Don't empower the consumer to choose. And so it wasn't easy to choose, it wasn't easy to use. In a way, it wasn't easy to gift either. And so it was sort of actually being a makeup artist, being an expert and realizing that a lot of the products that I was using, I was frustrated myself. And then people would then say to me, I want to look like whoever I was working on at the time, whether it was Giselle Bunch and Kate Moss, whoever it was. And I'd be like, they'd be like, oh, I can never look like that. And I'd be like, actually you can. And I realized trying to put kits together for them, it was too complicated because actually I would mix things with mixing mediums because they weren't quite efficient enough. They sat in the lines and pours, etc, and so I really kind of saw this white space and be able to kind of, you know, come up with incredible products. Revolution products that actually that type of disruptive thinking is always kind of. I'm like, well, just because it's done a certain way for 100 years, why does it have to be done that way? So working with my labs and, you know, it might take sort of 10 or 20 years. As I said, sometimes I'm lucky, it takes a couple of years. But I am a perfectionist. I'm really proud of, like to get Charlotte Tilbury signature on something. For me, it is like giving birth to these products that I know are going to really empower women and men to feel their most beautiful, wonderful selves. Because life is about confidence. And I know every single day when I wake up in the morning because I'm a bit of a 24 hour girl, kind of maybe don't sleep enough or I'm working too much. We're living in generation exhaustion.
James O'Brien
Corn. How much do you sleep a night?
Charlotte Tilbury
Do you know what? I sleep more than you think. I probably sleep six or seven hours, but obviously sometimes not at all. I mean, you know, I like to party. You are.
James O'Brien
I've seen you at parties. You are always in what appears to be the funnest group.
Charlotte Tilbury
Oh, thank you. I like to have fun, laugh. We love to laugh, don't we? Laughter is the tonic of life.
James O'Brien
If we're gonna talk about parties for us. Let's move on to your music selection because I love this song that you've chosen. Tell us the track you wanted to talk about today.
Charlotte Tilbury
It's the Source. Caddy Stanton. You've got the Love. Sometimes Sometimes I feel like throwing my hands up in the air I know I can count on you. Kate Moss and I always argue about. It's our favourite song. When I had this fragrance called Scent of the Dream, we did that. That was the song. We just danced and danced and danced. When we did that commercial, we were dancing till three in the morning. We just couldn't get enough. It's just this utter sense of euphoria. But I love it because I think life is about love. Sometimes I feel like throwing my hands up in the air but you've got the love I need to see me.
James O'Brien
Through I can't imagine you having a down day.
Charlotte Tilbury
No. Do you know what? I don't really have down days.
James O'Brien
How have you managed to do that? Tell me how.
Charlotte Tilbury
Okay. So can I get frustrated? Yes. Am I human? Yes. We're human. That's what we go through. But on the whole, I wake up up really positive, and I've trained my mind to think positive thoughts. If they're a negative thought that comes in, bash them out and just be like, you know, look in the mirror. You're gorgeous. You're amazing. Even when the stuff comes in, the frustration of whatever comes in, you still gotta just go back to that thing and just keep on believing. And that's when I said to you, dare to dream it, dare to believe it, dare to do it. Conceive.
James O'Brien
Believe.
Charlotte Tilbury
The biggest thing is believe, receive. And it really conceived. Believe, receive.
James O'Brien
You're such a master marketer.
Charlotte Tilbury
Thank you.
James O'Brien
It's an extraordinary skill. You touched on it before. You're talking about disrupting. Yeah, Just even the colors, the look, the feel. How do you come up with. Am I right? Is it a fragrance? Is it called Wild Sex? Wild Sex. More sex.
Charlotte Tilbury
More sex. Now. Now.
James O'Brien
Is this that you put it on now. I'm gonna have to put this on and then go home to my wife.
Charlotte Tilbury
You will be irresistible.
James O'Brien
Will I be irresistible? Or is she gonna think I've had more sex without her being there?
Charlotte Tilbury
I think.
James O'Brien
Or she's just. Well, I'm not talking about actual sex. A menage, as I like to call it.
So hang on. Okay, so I'm spraying on more sex right now.
Charlotte Tilbury
More sex. So you can smell the leather, the musk, sandalwood, all of that. So it's got emotional boosting molecules. Do you know that? 75 of how we feel on too.
James O'Brien
Early in the show.
Oh, I like that. That's great.
Charlotte Tilbury
So our emotions are dictated to by our brain, basically. And so 75% of what we smell affects our emotions. And so I've created this fragrance collection of emotions. And we've got kind of joy foria here, which is a bit of joy and euphoria in one bottle. Euphoria and love frequency. Because, you know, life is all about love and magic energy, a bit of cosmic power, bit of calm bliss. We need it all. And so what these do, basically, is that they act like pheromones. So when you smell something, it goes straight to that limbic part of the brain, which then tells you a sense of seduction irresistibility. When you're spraying on more sex or joy and happiness. When you're smelling the jasmine that's been captured and the ylang ylang, the vanilla that's in Joyforia, the molecules have been put in a bit like bfg have been put into the fragrance.
James O'Brien
I think what's incredible about you, which I'm realizing now, is that you are only thinking about the customer. You are only thinking about how can I service their life and make it better?
Charlotte Tilbury
I love you, James. Yes, I'm incredibly passionate about what I do because I know part of the reason I wanted to create this brand was all these women saying to me, I can never look like that. I can never look like Penelope Cruz. I never looked like Kate Moore. I never looked like Jennifer, Asda, whatever. And I'm like, yes, you can. Everyone is gorgeous. Everyone is a genius. Everyone is beautiful. And actually, if they just have the tips and the tricks. Celebrities don't come from a different planet. We all wake up with bags and different things and, you know, want glowing skin and bigger, brighter eyes and kind of gorgeous, luscious lips. And, you know, they have makeup artists, they have access to things.
James O'Brien
And I feel like a lot of people don't know that. Yes, I feel like there's a lot of people don't really understand or see the volume of work that goes into the way that some people are portrayed publicly. And I don't think I realized until I was doing my show in America. And some actresses, models, whatever would arrive, you know, we'd tape at 5 and they'd arrive at 1:30 to start this process. It's an intimate job you've had.
Charlotte Tilbury
It's a very intimate job. And I think, you know, that's why I think it's very empowering. You become very close with people very quickly because you're right in their personal, intimate space. You know, almost as if you were, you know, probably wouldn't get that close to someone unless you were kissing them. But, you know, because you are that close, up close and personal, and you're in their energy field and you're in their space, and so you really get to know each other very intimately, very quickly, and it's a wonderful experience. I have to say. It's been a real privilege for me and a real honor to get to know people in that way and be there at certain times in their life where it's their wedding day or they're kind of getting an Oscar or, you know, they're walking, you know, all these different kind of moments, I feel like. And very privileged. And I have to say, so many of the people I've worked with, they are truly wonderful people and very inspiring.
James O'Brien
Can you think of one person where you've been involved in making them up on a particularly significant day in their life that you remember very vividly?
Charlotte Tilbury
Kate Moss at her wedding day. Kate Moss at so many different kind of moments. Kate moss at her 30th. Kate Moss her 34th. I mean, you know, just different kind of moments with her. So many fun nights and magical moments with her. And Amal Clooney, I think, again, wedding day, you know, just that it was amazing to be there with them at those moments where, you know, they kind of feel probably the love, the magic, the feeling. It says they're very important days.
James O'Brien
They are. There's an interesting energy, isn't there? It's that sort of moment of silence before a cacophony of noise.
Charlotte Tilbury
Yes.
James O'Brien
What sort of environment does Kate Moss want? Is it music? Is it quiet?
Charlotte Tilbury
It's always music. Always music.
James O'Brien
Really?
Charlotte Tilbury
We love music. That's why we both love the Candy Statin song. You've got the Love, and that's our favorite. It's always music, just music. Because, again, frequencies. Life is about energy. As Einstein said, match the frequency of the reality you want and you will get that reality. There can be no other way. What I love about makeup and what I love about skincare is that both of those things really affect the way people feel, feel. I'm so passionate because we are a visual race. We judge ourselves. And so if you look in the mirror in the morning and you're just judging yourself, going, you go, yeah, I'm knackered. Yeah, I've got bags. Yeah, I'm bit. My skin's a bit dehydrated. Whatever. All my lines are showing. Whatever it is, whatever anyone's kind of complaint is. Well, I've got my sun damaged, whatever it is. I don't. You know, I hear all sorts of things from women all the time. And actually, you just put that, you know, magic cream on. You put your magic away on, you put your Hollywood flawless filter, you put your glow on, and you're like, I am.
James O'Brien
But what do men do? Tell me that. So what do men do? And do you think we will ever get to a place where it will be completely acceptable for men to be makeup shadow all those things?
Charlotte Tilbury
Like, absolutely. And my God, I have, like, I now meet more people when I'm out who are alpha male men. That kind of don't come from Hollywood. Obviously. Everyone in Hollywood has had that experience of having their makeup done, realizing the power of great skincare, great makeup, what it does and how fantastic it is. And now everyone's like, well, I want a bit of that. You have a big male consumer with magic cream. It always starts with the women kind of wearing magic cream and then the men going, christ, that looks good. And then just putting their big paws in the pot and stealing the magic cream from the women. Kind of George Clooney wears it just as much as Amal Clooney wears it, you know, I mean, whatever. It kind of, you know, men deserve for their skin. I think people really are conscious of their skin. I suppose we're living in a world where climate change. We're aging 10 years faster than we used to.
James O'Brien
Are we?
Charlotte Tilbury
Yeah, we are. Really? Yeah. Even water's more. Yeah, because water's more polluted as well. So when you put the water on your face, it dehydrates it much more than it used to. The sun damage, it's much stronger, the sun than it used to be.
James O'Brien
So that's why I look 46 when I'm actually 29, Donnie.
Charlotte Tilbury
Is that why you look 29, Donnie? Cause you've got Charlotte Tilbury magic? When you get that glow, Donna, you look 29. There's a lot. It's a gorgeousness.
James O'Brien
The holidays are upon us, and this season is crazy with holiday parties. When I get back to London, our home will be stuffed with friends and family. Add in some holiday travel, it's gonna be chaos. And all of that chaos has taught me one thing. You've got to make the easy things easier. And that's where cachava has quietly become my holiday miracle. This year, what I do before I dash into A party or a work event or something like that. A quick shake stops me from inhaling the entire buffet even when I'm traveling. I take a couple of servings right into the carry. And here's the exciting bit. For this holiday season, Cachava has done something absolutely glorious. Their new limited edition chocolate mint flavor. It's basically the holiday season in a glass, but without the sugar crash. It's decadent, it's refreshing and it still delivers all of the whole body nutrition that I've come to rely on so I can enjoy all of the festivities without feeling like I consistently need a lie down. Using Cajava has really made a huge difference in my life. My energy lasts all day thanks to all of the vitamins and minerals. My digestion is doing God's work with the fiber probiotics. My metabolism stays steady with the B vitamins and minerals. The essential minerals help keep my mind sharp even when all of the holiday chaos ramps up. So if you would like to savor the season and survive it, chocolate mint Cachava might just be your new best friend. In every cachava you get 25 grams of 100% plant based protein. It's an all in one nutrition shake with no nonsense. No artificial flavors, no colors, no sweeteners. It's non gmo, no soy, no gluten, no animal products, no preservatives. And you can try it all risk free with their love it guarantee. Thousands of reviews say that you are going to love it and honestly, you probably will. So you can calm the holiday chaos. Go to cachava.com use the code lifeofmine for 15% off. Your next order. That's Kachava. K A C H A V A dot com code lifeofmine for 15% Off. Let's move on to your person and I'm very interested to talk about this. Tell us the person you've chosen to talk about on the show.
Charlotte Tilbury
Steve Jobs. Why? Because what I love about Steve Jobs is he wanted to put a ding in the universe. That's a pretty amazing thing to come to this planet with and say I want to put a ding in the universe. And he was dyslexic, which so am I. He thought differently. He broke the mold in so many different ways. He was consumer obsessed. I never knew him. So I say all these things as if I kind of, you know, reading a bit about him and seeing what he did with apple in so many different ways and Pixar and everything, I think that thinking differently and not conforming, he did that whole thing about the, you know, the crazy ones, that whole advertising campaign about the crazy ones. And if you're crazy enough to think differently, you'll leave your mark in the world. You'll kind of, you know, you will make a difference. And so I think that for me, that nonconformity, that creative thinking understood also. He was a brilliant market. He understood. He was customer obsessed. He understood simplicity in a great way. And he understood emotional marketing. He understood emotional connectivity of the human race and how we connect is the best form of marketing. So really understanding that customer and the simplicity and that think differently. I think for me, it was the daring he dared. You know, that whole motto I have of daring to dream it, daring to. To believe it, and then daring to do it, he did it. Which then goes back to my whole thing of manifestation and positive thinking and always training your mind. I'm constantly training my mind. I mean, probably to the day that I die. But keep the positivity going. Never give up all that kind of belief and writing down your manifestation goals, which I did as a child, which I did with my brand. Actually, we wrote a fake article. It was hilarious, my CEO and I, Demetra, that we kind of put in the ft of a certain valuation of our company of kind of five paragraphs of everything we would achieve and disrupt in the beauty industry. Because when we first started, it was really owned by five big conglomerates, baseless conglomerates, in a way. And I remember launching a Selfridges and them saying to me, you know, you're really brave to be doing this. Five people own this world. And I was like, well, why? There's a massive white space. There's a massive gap in the market for products that are easy to choose, easy to use, effective.
James O'Brien
So hang on, you wrote a favor fake article that you would read about yourself one day in the Financial Times?
Charlotte Tilbury
Yeah.
James O'Brien
Well, I don't know if people know this. You are the founder, chairman, president and chief creative officer of your company.
Was there any hesitation in putting yourself so front and center of your brand? Did it ever cross your mind to go, we're gonna call it Mystique? You know what I mean?
Charlotte Tilbury
For me, it genuinely, genuinely, genuinely, believe it or not, I am very altruistic. I want people to feel great. Did it start with me finding a way to. Most entrepreneurs start with themselves and go, I had a problem and then I found a solution to it. And actually it's a customer needs state. And then actually I found this great thing that I then want to give to everyone and Then I made a career out of it, and I gave it to all these amazing celebrities. But why should it just exist in this very VIP world for just a certain cohort of people? I want to give this to everyone because I want everyone to shine like a star. And being an expert and then being able to put yourself forward and go to the YouTube channel and give your secrets away. And also, we didn't have much money at the beginning of the brand, so the way that I had to communicate with my consumers is it had to be me. I had to use social media, Instagram, YouTube. There was no other way. We didn't have the budgets. And also, I was an expert makeup artist. That's what I had trained for. You know, now, 33 years back then, it was whatever, 20 years it was. It wasn't about making myself, you know, more famous, whatever. That wasn't my mission. It wasn't my purpose. It just wasn't my purpose, and it never has been. It's about. I found something that empowered me. I found something that empowered a lot of people. I saw the magic when they were sitting in my makeup chair. I saw how they change. I have my own study of 33 years of seeing people and seeing them come in, just exhausted, tired, and you can feel that heaviness. And. And then you put the makeup on, you put the glow. You open up the, you know, eyes, lips, da, da, da. You give them that beautiful kind of. They are beautiful. It's them, but it's just. And they look in the mirror and you just see. They get more energy, they smile more, they're confident. That empowerment, that is wonderful to see. And to give that to everyone, that was. Honestly, it's the reason I am still so passionate about what I do every single day. It's why I'm never gonna give myself. I know how amazing it's been for me and how much it changes my life every single day. And I also know from the people who write to me, women and men sometimes in not great situations, who've clung to that lipstick because we're all about beautiful before and beautiful after. You are beautiful regardless. But actually, they're probably training their brain as well as putting on that lipstick at the same time. And as they're doing that, they're feeling really great about themselves. And we talked about frequency and vibration and energy. And I think there's a massive connection between when people look in the mirror, that makeup is making them feel great, and by feeling great, the positive chat starts in the mind, and then all that positivity starts going, I am gorgeous. I look amazing, I look fabulous. And they walk into a room more confident, they're feeling great. People pick up on it because that is so powerful. And if we all just felt better in the world, let's get rid of this negativity. That's good. So much stuff that's going on out there and we're all amazing. We can achieve whatever we want to achieve. And that's really honestly what I feel. And that's honestly why I do what I do.
James O'Brien
I love that. Let's move on to your final selection. Is we're gonna end on your memory.
I really love that you've chosen this. Tell us the memory you wanted to talk about.
Charlotte Tilbury
Receiving my MBE from the late Queen. Fabulous Elizabeth ii.
James O'Brien
Amazing that you received.
Charlotte Tilbury
Oh, what a treat. I was so lucky on my lucky day. The third. That was amazing. I have to say, to be recognized by her, talking about empowering women, amazing women have left their mark in the world, her Queen and country. For what you've achieved is really a humbling, euphoric, amazing gratitude coming out of everywhere kind of moment.
James O'Brien
Who did you take with you?
Charlotte Tilbury
I took my parents.
James O'Brien
Was it Windsor or Buckingham Palace?
Charlotte Tilbury
I was Buckingham palace, actually. It was hilarious. I took my parents and my husband.
James O'Brien
Amazing day for your parents.
Charlotte Tilbury
Amazing, amazing day for your parents. Of course I chat, chat, chat in the queue and then when I got there, couldn't remember was I meant to curtsy this way, that way, suddenly forgot everything, had a brain blank and then met the Queen and then just talked to her about how I created a lipstick called the Queen and I'd written to her office and I got permission and we had the call keys and it gone viral. And you know, and the color and I kind of studied this color that kind of, you know, I'd done for her and talked to her about that and how amazing that was and how much she inspired me. And my aunt's like, darling, did you let her talk?
But she was amazing. And when I mentioned the corgis and the lipstick, these gorge, just little piercing blue eyes just lit up and that was amazing. She gave me this beaming smile. She was just charming and amazing and she was just, you know, obviously congratulating me for everything I achieved. But I have to say, when you work as hard as we do, when you have big dreams, it's not working away because you're passionate about it and you love it, which is probably why you'll do an 18 hour day or sometimes kind of, you know, just go and go and go. Because it's so exciting and it's so fun and it's really not work. And I have to say, all of that culminating in that amazing moment to be honored was euphoria. It was amazing. I mean, I still could get teary and emotional about it now. It was just. It was incredible. It was incredible.
James O'Brien
Let's just. An MBE for anyone listening who doesn't know is a member of the Order of the British Empire. And that's you. Are you become a member, then an officer, then a commander, and then a dame. And I'm saying we go straight to the day, darling.
Charlotte Tilbury
Aren't you a commander, darling?
James O'Brien
I'm an officer, babe. I'm not a commander. I'm an officer. I'm an officer. But what was quite.
Charlotte Tilbury
You are an officer.
James O'Brien
What was quite good is when I got my ob. It was when I was hosting my show in America and I just came back and people went, so, are you a sir now? And I just go, yes, I am.
Charlotte Tilbury
Brilliant. Well, thank you.
James O'Brien
Should we start that?
Charlotte Tilbury
We would love that.
James O'Brien
Yes, we start that movement. Dame Charlotte Tilbury. And you should receive it from King Charles.
Charlotte Tilbury
Oh, we love him, actually. King Charles is amazing. I work with.
James O'Brien
He uses your magic cream, right?
Charlotte Tilbury
Who doesn't use the magic cream? But yeah, King Charles is amazing. Actually, I work with his. With the. With now the King's Trust. He's called the Prince's Trust. He's just amazing. I think what he's done for this country, how he's helped so many young entrepreneurs achieve their dreams in so many ways. I have to say, it's an honor and a privilege to work with his charity and him. He's amazing.
James O'Brien
Dame Charlotte Tilbury.
Charlotte Tilbury
Oh, I love you.
James O'Brien
Your place is Ibiza. Your possession is your logbook from the School of Ra. Your music is. You Got the Love by the Source, featuring Candy Stanton. Your person is Steve Jobs and your memory is receiving your MBE from Her Majesty the Queen. Thank you so much for sharing this life of yours.
Charlotte Tilbury
It was fabulous. It was intimate. It was real. James, you're fabulous.
James O'Brien
Next week is this.
I'm Michael Buble. Welcome to this life of mine.
Sex had a lot to do with it for me as a kid. You know, the want to kiss a girl and da, da. And it was like. I remember at my high school, Caribou Hill, a girl opened up a locker and she had a photo of Harry Connie Jr. And the lipstick marks all over it. And I remember, I was like, this is so very good for me.
The guy in the suit was a creation of a record company. The guy that thing that your grandma loves, that isn't me. It never was me. I'm from Burnaby. I'm the son of a fisherman who works on a fishing boat. Snoop Dogg and I, we like each other because we're way more similar.
Charlotte Tilbury
And we're. We are different.
James O'Brien
We'll do it together. Little bit of me and a whole lot of you Add a dash of Stella and a dozen roses too Then let it rise for a hundred years or two and that's the recipe for making.
It doesn't need sugar cause it's already sweet it doesn't need an oven cause it's got a lot of heat oh just add a dash of kisses and you can make it all complete and that's the recipe for making love.
If you haven't subscribed to Lemonada Premium yet, now is the perfect time. You can listen to this Life of Mine completely ad free. Plus you'll unlock exclusive quickfire rounds of questions with all of my guests. They're all in two minutes or less. Just tap that subscribe button on Apple Podcasts or head to lemonade premium.com to subscribe on any other app. Or you can listen ad free on Amazon Music with your prime membership. That's lemonadapremium.com don't miss out.
Host: James Corden
Podcast Network: Lemonada Media
In this vibrant episode, James Corden sits down with Charlotte Tilbury — iconic makeup artist, beauty entrepreneur, and founder of one of the most successful luxury beauty brands. True to the podcast’s theme, “This Life of Mine,” Corden invites Tilbury to reflect on the people, places, possessions, music, and memories that shaped her dazzling journey from a bohemian upbringing in Ibiza to influence at the top of her industry. The conversation sparkles with insights about creativity, confidence, and the power of positive thinking and manifestation, all delivered with the duo’s trademark warmth and wit.
[02:40 – 08:52]
[09:03 – 13:07]
A Surreal Education in ‘The History of the Universe’
Ego and Gratitude
[16:02 – 26:54]
Dreaming Big and Visualizing Success
Disrupting the Beauty Aesthetic
[27:06 – 28:32]
[28:32 – 31:10]
[31:10 – 34:11]
Makeup artistry is intimate and transformative, bringing Tilbury close to her celebrity clients at major emotional milestones (weddings, awards, reinventions).
Quote:
“You become very close with people very quickly because you’re right in their personal, intimate space… it’s been a real privilege.” [31:40, Charlotte]
Music (especially “You Got the Love”) and energy are always part of that creative environment.
Makeup and Men
[38:10 – 43:57]
[44:04 – 47:14]
A Defining Moment of Recognition
Warm banter with Corden about honors, titles, and King Charles (also a user of magic cream and champion of young entrepreneurs).
On Growing Up Among Icons:
“We lived this life that was kind of amazing… going to the clubs at nine years old… it was the sort of Studio 54 of Europe.” [03:30, Charlotte]
On Authenticity:
“I think for me, it is really important to be authentic in yourself… authenticity is something that really cuts through.” [07:43, Charlotte]
On Manifesting Success:
“At the beginning of my career, I wrote down… I manifested pretty much my whole life what I wanted to do.” [20:27, Charlotte]
Advising Young Creatives:
“Dare to dream it, dare to believe it, dare to do it. But belief is the biggest thing… If a negative thought comes in, bash them out.” [22:19, 27:52, Charlotte]
On Disruption:
“That type of disruptive thinking is always kind of—I'm like, well, just because it’s done a certain way for 100 years, why does it have to be done that way?” [25:10, Charlotte]
On Steve Jobs:
“He was customer obsessed… understood emotional marketing… that think differently. I think for me it was the daring.” [38:10, Charlotte]
On Being the Brand:
“It wasn’t about making myself more famous… I saw the magic when they were sitting in my makeup chair… They get more energy, they smile more, they’re confident.” [40:58, Charlotte]
Receiving Recognition:
“To be recognized by her… is really a humbling, euphoric, amazing gratitude coming out of everywhere kind of moment.” [44:15, Charlotte]
James Corden wraps up with a summary of Charlotte’s selections: “Your place is Ibiza. Your possession is your logbook from the School of Ra. Your music is ‘You Got the Love’ by The Source featuring Candi Staton. Your person is Steve Jobs and your memory is receiving your MBE from Her Majesty the Queen. Thank you so much for sharing this life of yours.” [47:16]
Charlotte responds:
“It was fabulous. It was intimate. It was real. James, you’re fabulous.” [47:36]
An episode filled with warmth, wisdom, and a contagious belief in the magic that happens when you dare to be yourself — and dream without limits.