I want fresh skin”: Charli xcx’s makeup artist reveals her secrets
A smudged liner, untamed brows and a smoky eye that transcends every season: Charli xcx’s makeup has become one of the most copied looks of recent years. Behind this visual signature is a self-taught British makeup artist, Brooke Turnbull, whose work goes far beyond technical skill alone.
A look that evolves with Charli xcx’s career
At the time of the album Brat, released in 2024, Charli xcx’s makeup leaned into the morning-after aesthetic: a black smoky eye whose blurred edges looked like they’d survived a night out rather than a makeup brush. That detail was integral to the image the singer was building at the time, an artist finally getting her due after years of relentless work.
Things have shifted since then. With her new album Music, Fashion, Film, Charli xcx is staking out a more intellectual position and distancing herself from the Brat universe. Her makeup follows that trajectory: the dark, dramatic eye is still there, but it has grown more sophisticated, particularly when she takes her seat in the front row at fashion shows. Her naturally full brows, left untouched by threading or waxing, continue to nearly meet in the middle and define her face in an instantly recognisable way.
This stylistic shift is no accident. It is Brooke Turnbull who orchestrates this reinterpretation of the smoky eye, bringing her own editorial sensibility to it.
Brooke Turnbull, the makeup artist who enhances without erasing
Brooke Turnbull took her first steps in makeup as a teenager, in her mother’s living room. Self-taught, she let her style develop without trying to lock herself into a fixed aesthetic. Today she works with celebrities and magazines alike, and sees each world as feeding her creativity in its own way.
Her philosophy is clear: a successful makeup look should feel like an intrinsic part of the person wearing it. For Charli xcx, that translates into skin that looks fresh and eye makeup that is dark yet retains a natural quality. The makeup artist is emphatic on this point: even when the eye look is dramatic, the overall result must stay consistent with the singer’s identity.
Because Charli xcx is actively involved in the creative process. She knows precisely how she wants to feel, and the role of the makeup artist is then to bring an outside perspective to that vision, not to impose one.
The references that fuel her work
To build her looks, Brooke Turnbull relies on moodboards she assembles the moment a detail sparks her imagination. She gathers images around a single trigger and lets the whole picture guide her.
Her current reference is specific: the makeup worn by Ornella Muti in the film Mort d’un pourri, released in 1977. She describes the look as dreamy, velvety skin, softly blurred edges and a gaze that is at once gentle and mysterious. That almost otherworldly beauty of the Italian actress continues to fascinate the makeup artist and to inform her approach to glamour makeup.
- Skin that looks fresh, even beneath a dramatic makeup look
- Blended black smoky eye, the signature of Charli xcx’s gaze
- Natural brows, left unreshaped by waxing or threading
- Moodboards as a tool for creative research
- Stepping back to assess the result from multiple angles and in different lighting before finishing
The practical move: stepping back to see clearly
In her creative process, the makeup artist never skips one specific step: at the end of a glamour look, she steps back or asks her client to stand up. That distance allows her to analyse how the different elements work together and to assess the result from multiple angles and in different lighting.
On the question of eyes versus lips, Brooke Turnbull refuses to rank one above the other. For her, the two zones complement each other. What matters is deciding which one will be the focal point of the look, then treating the other accordingly.
The key product for recreating the look at home
For anyone wanting to get close to Charli xcx’s eye look, the makeup artist points to a single essential product: the Yves Saint Laurent Liberated eye pencil. Its appeal lies in how it behaves: you can smudge it immediately after application to achieve that characteristic blurred effect, but once it sets, it does not budge. It is precisely that combination of workability at application and long-lasting hold that makes it the cornerstone of the look.
The makeup artist reminds us that creating a signature look also means taking part in building a persona. For Charli xcx, that persona is built by two people together, the artist’s vision and Brooke Turnbull’s sharp, trained eye.
