TRANSCRIPT

Clare & Sam Podcast (2024-02-06 13_02 GMT)
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[00:00:00]

Clare: So hi and welcome to hair with Clare. I’m your host, Clare Devereux. And this week I have another amazing guest. Her name is Sam Tsan, and she is a pro lead makeup artist with Charlotte Tilbury. And she paints the faces of the most Beautiful women in the world from models to actors.

Clare: She’s the Venice film festival. Then she’s a Paris fashion week. I can’t even keep up with all the travel that this woman is doing. And I’m so lucky to have her on today that she actually had a few minutes to spare. So Sam, thank you so much for joining me. No, thank you so much. I’m delighted to have you here.

Clare: So before we get into all the glitz and glamour, that is makeup and fashion week and movie premieres and getting on planes every two days and here and there. Can you tell us all how you started and your passion, how you get into makeup?

Sam: Yeah, of course. So I started back when I was, you know, so my, um, my family are kind of in the film industry.

Sam: So my uncle, you know, like when you go to, when you’re in school and transition year, you’ve got to do work experience. Oh yeah, yeah. And I was a bit like, oh my God, I was like, what the hell am I going to do? I was [00:01:00] like, I don’t, I, you know, I actually just didn’t have a clue when I was younger what I wanted to do at all.

Sam: And then my mom was like, right, Paul, take Sam on set with you. And I actually went on, do you remember that movie, um, with Jim Sheridan, it was called In America. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Anyway, I did two weeks work experience on that. And I actually, then the makeup artist and the hairdresser used to pick me up every morning and bring me on to set.

Sam: And I just went with them and I was like, this is a really cool job. I was like, can you do this like for a living, you know, doing that kind of, and I worked in a hair salon as well. Every Saturday from the age of 14, I was made to get to work every Saturday doing road rides. And yeah, I just kind of saw makeup artistry then as a new career and I really just kind of focused on that and to be honest, back then when I did it, which was like over 20 years ago, that there wasn’t a lot going on in Dublin to do makeup artistry in courses.

Sam: So there was one in Dun Laoghaire that was, you had to do. Also beauty therapy and waxing and all that kind of stuff, which I wasn’t into at all. Um, love having those treatments [00:02:00] done, but don’t have the patience to do them. Um, so we did that and I was just really lucky. I got my first job in Mac when I was 18.

Sam: I think I just turned 18. I think I started there in June and I was 18 in the April. And um, I got hired and I just. worked my way up. I was like, so lucky to be part of a Mac was such a fast pace. You know, it was like the really cool makeup artistry brand. Um, I had incredible trainers and mentors like Paula Callan and Leslie Keene.

Sam: Like they, those two were my two mentors. Um, and you know, I kind of after I think two years I started going to fashion week with them because they just saw, you know, that I was hungry for everything. I used to work on my days off. I used to stalk. the crap out of them. Like, he used to talk the crap out of me.

Sam: Like, I’ve got Sam again. She’s coming over again to help. But I just wanted to do everything that I could to get in and it paid off. And yeah, I was with Mac for 10, nearly 10 years. I was at Mac and now I’ve been with Charlotte Tilbury 10 years as well. So I’ve got like,

Clare: I know. [00:03:00] I remember you from Mac, because obviously at the time I did, I did an awful lot of breakfast shows.

Clare: I did all the makeovers and a lot of the time Mac makeovers, so all the same girls that you’re talking about, I would have, I would have came along and worked on the show with me. And, um, and that was a great time, I think, in makeup in Ireland. Mac definitely was the, it was the cool place to be. Everyone hung out there, it was fab.

Clare: But I can’t actually believe you’re with because I remember when Shardshire reopened in Dublin. It was such a big thing. And I think, I don’t know if I was still living in LA at the time, but I was, anyway, you know, that kind of timeframe, but I, I, Oh God, I was so obsessed with it. I remember you did my makeup for something, but I’m going back and it was some event.

Clare: I was like, Oh, I’m so happy. But I mean, I, I adore all the short term products. And before we even get into all that, I am, I just, for anyone listening who really wants to get into makeup, do you think that is the best way to go to start working? You know, um, You know, try to get on counters on stores that you’re like hustling.

Clare: Is that the best way? Yeah, I feel like

Sam: there’s [00:04:00] so many different avenues for makeup artistry now. Yeah. So I feel like there’s the one where it’s very much as a lot like bridal is such a huge industry, especially in Ireland. It’s massive. I feel like working with the makeup brands is amazing because not only do you get the most experienced makeup artists ever get is the more people’s face you get to do.

Sam: You know, when I see these incredible beauty influencers who I’m mesmerized by online, who do makeup on themselves all day, every day. And that’s their forte. And that’s what they’re, how they sell their product. It’s how they, you know, they’re, they’re busy every day, but you know, for them to go backstage and work on different colors, models skin, and never done that before.

Sam: That’s a challenge, even though they’re incredible technically. they don’t necessarily have the experience to work with um, like a different caliber of like, you know, all skin types, all eye shapes, all lip shapes, all skin concerns. It’s because they haven’t been exposed to us. So working on a makeup counter exposes you to everybody.

Sam: That was like the biggest, the best thing that I always say to people is like when people are like, Oh, I want your job. And I’m like, yo, my job [00:05:00] took me 10 years to get, you know, I just didn’t like roll off anywhere. I was there going, you know, one good thing about like, you know, why I get booked so much as well is because my portfolio was vast.

Sam: You know, I can work, I worked with everybody from like, you know, 16 year olds up until, you know, Twiggy, who’s like nearly hitting her 80s now. And, you know, for someone like Twiggy to trust me to do her makeup is really like, you know, it goes against your experience. Not how good I do my eyeliner on myself.

Sam: You know, so I think it’s really important for anyone that really wants to get stuck into makeup. Working on a makeup counter will be the best experience you’ll ever hold. You don’t have to do it forever, but it’s an amazing way to start. And also you get to meet people and you get to, you know, lots of brands do so much like PR work and collaborations now.

Sam: Um, and then also assisting makeup artists. It’s another way. If you don’t want to go down that way, not everybody has to do that. You can also, you know, reach out to makeup artists and be like, Hey, I’d love to come and watch you do a photo shoot. I’ll clean your brushes. I’ll, you know, you know, whatever it is.

Sam: Just to be there, to [00:06:00] be involved and just to see how like backstage or on set etiquette looks like and how you work with the team. Yeah,

Clare: you have to craft. I think that’s the problem. I think, you know, coming from a hair background like myself, I worked in the salon from 11 with my mom and my mom watched a film as well.

Clare: So, I mean, I was always on sets and loved it, but I worked with real people in the salon and I was dealing with different types of age groups, different types of hair types, and also being able to talk to people. It’s very important to know, you know, how to conduct yourself. As you said, when you’re in a setting and.

Clare: I would do a lot of live TV was always my kind of area when I was doing more media and you have to know how to be in a studio, not have phones on and like little things that are very, very, I suppose easy for us because we know, but when you don’t know and you’re coming into it, it’s really good to learn.

Clare: And I, I think a lot of people out there, a lot of girls out there that are listening and they want to do makeup on their in transition year or whatever. I feel like they think it’s like an overnight thing. I’m like, nothing is an overnight thing. You know, my daughter said to me the other day, I think she was talking about.

Clare: Uh, a particular singer, I won’t say [00:07:00] who, but I wrote in the Grammys and she’s like, where did she even come from? I’m like, my daughter’s 11. She’s like, where did she come from? She just came overnight. And I said, no one comes overnight. No one is up for a Grammy or anywhere. And they come overnight. That is years of work and yeah, out there.

Clare: And everyone is like that. You might think, Oh, someone just got to work on, on someone very famous or to travel somewhere. But that comes with, as you said, someone trusting you and also opportunity, right? So it’s, it’s, it’s been ready when that opportunity comes and grabbing it

Sam: by both hands. I know it’s so true, the prayer that you hit the nail on the head, like one of the most daunting things in the world is going on to set or going to a VIP’s hotel room and you’re with their entourage, you kind of go into their family and you’re the outsider, you don’t know how to feel comfortable and confident enough to just integrate yourself into that like scene or that like environment.

Sam: You will find work day to day work very hard. Like I’m kind of like, I learned all my, that all that stuff. Like, A kind of personal life, I’d probably be very shy, you know, I’d probably be the last person that’s talking in the group. [00:08:00] But like, in work, like, I’m the first person to put my hands up. I think some, like, lots of people call me, like, Spicy Nice sometimes when I’m in work because you have to be, sometimes you’ve got to be a bit, like, you know, direct just to get things moving along.

Sam: But it’s like, but you also have to be, like, really, you know, aware of your surroundings and the people. It’s like, you know, Like, so for example, if I’m doing someone’s makeup and they’re on their phone and I’ve got 40 minutes to do their makeup, you know, I have to be confident enough to say, you need to please put your phone down so I can get this done.

Sam: Obviously, don’t word it like that. You kind of have it in a fun, a fun way. But, you know, if you don’t do that, you, they get up and they’re not happy with the makeup, or the makeup’s not finished, or you look at the photographs at the end. So, it’s about really, like, you have to, like, and you don’t learn that by not getting yourself out there.

Sam: Like you said, you have to, you have to give, you have to put up with lots of personalities and know who you’re coming from.

Clare: Yes, and you have to be able to kind of control the environment because like that with hair, if you’re doing someone’s hair and they’re fiddling all the time with their hair, you have to, in a nice way, say to them, you need to keep your hands, I’ve said to [00:09:00] people, you need to sit on your hands because, you know, in a nice way, in other words, don’t mess up the hairstyle.

Clare: Do you know what I mean? Because my name has to to go to that when you go out and get photographed and you know, it is your work, but you also, and I think also to be professional, when you have assistance with you, it’s so important that they don’t speak. And it sounds awful to speak at a turn, but as you said, when you go into somebody else’s environment, they might be talking about things that you’re not supposed to be privy to.

Clare: And you kind of have to just, you know, you have to have that be confidential about things. But anyway, that’s all the business side of it. The fun side of it, of course. So obviously my podcast is about hair with Clare, and we talk about hair because I feel hair is so much about empowerment and confidence.

Clare: And I feel makeup is exactly the same. The two go very much hand in hand, I think you’ll agree. So when you come across, I come across so many different hair concerns as a trichologist. But as a makeup artist, you must come across an awful lot of skin concerns. I mean, everyone looks at these beautiful photos.

Clare: Everyone looks perfect. We all know there’s hair extensions in there. They’re wearing wigs as well. They’re not going for the bleach blonde. from a [00:10:00] brunette one week to a bleach blonde. It’s all wigs. So with makeup, what do you see like as a, as one of the main concerns or a few main concerns that you come across with skin?

Clare: I think

Sam: the biggest thing for me is like working with celebrities or especially when they walk the red carpet or if they’re on shows or on shoots, the big thing is, is no one wants to look old, right? No one wants to look like their skin is aging. And I know, and I should take back that word old. There’s nothing wrong with the word old, but I mean, Old makeup.

Sam: Okay. So, so that’s what I mean, not actually about the face. Cause I mean like, you know, everyone has like, you know, everyone is going to have naturally like, you know, smile lines, you know, fine lines, all those things. Not so much

Clare: anymore, Sam, not so much anymore.

Sam: I know. I won’t say, I can’t say anything. But what I mean is it’s like, that you’ve got to be really careful that makeup, your makeup doesn’t age during the day.

Sam: And what that does is because your makeup can either keep you looking fresh and healthy and glowy all day or it can make you look really tired and dull and lacklustre and you’re just like, [00:11:00] you know, and especially for the red carpet, we always say, um, I don’t know if you ever hear of get getty images.

Sam: Getty images are like. Yes. They are like, they’re your biggest critic, right? For hair and for makeup and for manicures because that lighting that they take photographs in is like outdoors. They don’t have the gorgeous big lamps that we have with our iPhone in front of their face that gives you that dreamy gorgeous effect.

Sam: They are out to get photographs and if you, if your makeup looks dry, it’s the wrong colour, it’s not blended properly, there’s an ear, you know, missing colour or whatever it is. They’re the ones that capture it and that’s what your client goes back to check to see how they look on the red carpet. So for me, the biggest skin concern is that makeup doesn’t look dry on the face and it’s dry skin.

Sam: You know, whatever about anyone that suffers from like rosacea or acne or scarring or anything like that, those things are also naturally part of someone too. So a lot of, I find actually a lot of celebrities don’t really mind. you know, [00:12:00] covering scars or birthmarks and stuff. They kind of just leave them there because they’re like, we’re sick of covering up, you know, it’s there.

Sam: If it’s an insecurity, we try as much as we can to make it look natural. But the thing about it is, is like, you know, for me is that the skin and makeup doesn’t look old. on the skin. That’s the biggest thing. So whatever the skin concern is, it doesn’t matter. It’s the result you want is that your makeup looks fresh and hydrated for the whole entire time.

Sam: Same with bright

Clare: as well. How do you get that? How do you get that to last for the duration, particularly under those kinds of lights?

Sam: Yeah, you have to do really good. I think like, I normally spend like, you know, 90 minutes is what I generally take for a full VIP appointment. That’s like steadying up.

Sam: That’s doing a really quick, like 10 minutes, you know, facial massage with really good skincare. Like I have to say magic cream is a hero. It really is. Like regardless of you like to use it long term, but what it was designed to do was to give instant glow and instant hydration and, you know, give your skin like [00:13:00] the kind of like the perfect base for makeup.

Sam: So now I’m going to wash. foundation or whatever you put on top of it, your skin’s going to look good. That was the whole point of Magic Cream was, was to prep model skin backstage. So, like, I think, um, for me, it’s the prep. It’s also the foundation that you use as well. I tend to use always hydrating foundations for red carpet.

Sam: Nothing that’s going to go too dry. Nothing that’s too mattifying. Unless someone’s severely oily and I’ve worked with them before. These are kind of things like I always say. I stalk people, you know, I stalk their Getty images, I stalk their Instagram, I kind of see how they looked in previous, you know, red carpet events or, you know, how they like to wear their makeup.

Sam: And you can really kind of start to adjust what you’re going to do with them before you meet them. So doing all of that is really, really important. The same as like, if you were going to do someone’s hair, you probably want to see, go back. If you’d be going back like a year, like. what hairstyle looks really well on her, you know, does it look better off her face or center parting or whatever it is.

Sam: And they’re all like, that’s all your job to do rather than [00:14:00] asking like a hundred million questions to the person on the day. Cause sometimes people just want you to go and do it rather than having to ask lots of stuff. But the prep for me is the big thing. Um, I have to say working with Charlotte as a brand, It never fails or it never lets me down like the product itself is really good.

Sam: So if you’re a makeup artist investing in good skincare and complexion products, like you can use any color lipstick or lip liner or eyeshadow or brow pencil at the end of the day, they’re all pigments, you know, both for the skin and the skincare, like concealers, foundations, powders, invest in them and invest in an array of colors where you can mix them to enhance.

Sam: Or to, you know, like lighten up or darken up your foundations. You don’t have to own a million foundations. You just need to have the key ones.

Clare: Yeah, that’s a really good tip actually. That’s really good that you have. And, and investing in the base, it’s like even with hair to get it healthy, you can put as many, if your hair is dried out and split ends and it’s in bits, there’s nothing, there’s very little you can do.

Clare: You need to really have the foundation right. And with the skin, [00:15:00] it is so important as well. Yeah. It’s a really good point. So,

Sam: so important. That’s why I always say to make a run, invest all your, when you begin your makeup, like kit and you’re starting, invest everything into your skincare and your foundation because that’s also the.

Sam: The base of us, you know, no one’s going to care where your eyeshadow palette’s from, you know, or your eyeliner. But we do love

Clare: all the Charlotte Tilbury ones. I’ve got like a million of them here because I’m addicted

to

Sam: everything. I know, of course

Clare: we do. And all the products are just so amazing. And she is fabulous.

Clare: And every time, you know, sometimes when I’m going to like a very big meeting, I channel my inner Charlotte Tilbury in the car. And I think, darlings, and I feel, I feel the love, you know, and I feel that power. And I love that, you know, because it is so powerful, all her looks. It’s so funny because you’re kind of buying into, um, You’re buying into the idea, aren’t you?

Clare: I mean, I go in and as one of my presents every year, I’m very lucky. My mom always gets me one of the looks in a bag, you know, so I pick it and I think, Oh, I’m going to be this one or I’m going to be, of course I look nothing like them, of course, but you’re buying into that dream, you know, and all the products work and I feel great when I use them and that’s the beauty [00:16:00] of it.

Clare: Also what it is, it’s like feeling great when you’re using something as well. I know, it is.

Sam: That’s her, that’s her whole thing. Like I do, well up until like last year, because now we have, because I don’t live in London, but when I was doing Charlotte’s makeup for like a year for like big events and stuff.

Sam: She was like my, yeah, she was like the heart, like, you know, obviously you’re like, It’s the most like, I think I was the most nervous doing anyone’s makeup because she’s got such a signature look. But um, doing her makeup, like I used to love it because she genuinely like was so invested. Like she’d be like, what do you think of this product?

Sam: And you know, I always laugh because like to this day with the brand for 10 years, she still, every time I did her makeup would try and sell me magic cream. And I’m like, Charles. Fully invested in magic cream. I use it every day and everyone else, but she’s so, you know, she really believes in her products and she really believes like how she does all her products as well.

Sam: Like how, like she’s got every sign off and the ingredients to how it looks, how it feels testing it on people backstage. Like it’s just amazing. I love how much. She loves her products and how much [00:17:00] she has the

Clare: passion. She

Sam: has that passion for them, like nothing that comes out has not like passed her face or like, you know, Gotten her a strike of approval, which is amazing.

Clare: No, it is amazing So you are we’re in paris and you were heading off to paris again last week Um, and we saw I mean there’s a lot of obviously trends that come and go last year We saw I saw, well actually last year into this year, we saw a lot of that very clean makeup, that very old money, the short bobs, the very clean aesthetic.

Clare: How do you feel this year is, is, is looking, do you feel it’s, it’s like, is it all about skin still? Or are we heading

Sam: for more? I feel like it’s so funny because I feel like we get, it’s become the last kind of few years. I don’t know if you’ve noticed. I feel like, um, trend, makeup and hair trends now are very much of what’s depicted on social media on TikTok on like, you know, the mob wife and all those things like, but they’re not dirty, but they’re not, which I love, not going to lie.

Sam: That was one of my favorite ones, but obviously, you know, Pat McGrath doing that glass skin now [00:18:00] everybody’s on board of the class. skin. So you have to think about like, I think trends years ago, we used to always like, there was always four or five makeup trends, whether it was a color or skin or, you know, an eye or whatever.

Sam: Um, I feel like that’s gotten lost in the last few years. I feel like when we come out of fashion, like weeks now, it’s not very much about, I think trends are very much true to. designers now and it’s very much like, you know, the makeup is depicted by like the actual designer itself and whatever like feeling that they’re going for.

Sam: Like you’ll even notice with clothes and stuff like that years ago, you know, purple was purple was a big in for a collection. You’d see it on loads of designer shows, but it doesn’t really happen anymore. I feel like people are getting a little bit more. I don’t know, individual now where like runway and shows like I find like the last few years in fashion shows we do so many different things and it’s very much so what the designer and the stylist have for their, you know, for themselves.

Sam: It’s kind of their brand image kind of thing. I feel like skin will [00:19:00] always be a big trend and I feel like, you know, the, the lighter the skin, you know. I think what we’re going to probably see more and more coming up to summer time always is paired back skin, so natural enhancements, so glowy, and obviously from that like, you know, couture, glowy glass skin will be huge.

Sam: So anything that’s going to make the skin look wet this summer and not smudge on your face is going to be huge. Um, and then also all the trends that we see are online as well. It’s so hard to keep up with them. Like every week we get a new brief for TikTok that this is trending trending up, like it’s every trend.

Sam: Every trend just comes back around. It really is, but that’s the excitement about it. I think that’s actually a good thing that, you know, that makeup and hair and fashion moves so fast now that it’s, I feel like, um, What I love working with Charlotte is she’s never kind of followed trends in terms of makeup.

Sam: When you notice that, she kind of always goes, it’s like no necessity. She always says like, necessity is the mother of invention. It’s just like, you know, when you need something, we’re going to, I want to make this [00:20:00] product. And, um, for me, it’s more about what’s going to make my skin look and feel the best it’s ever looked.

Sam: You know, what’s going to bring out the color of my eyes, you know, so using those things. And when you look at all Charlotte’s like archive of makeup, she actually never follows a trend ever. She always works with. the model’s face, the celebrity’s face, and she always just makes them look like the best version of themselves, which I really love as well.

Sam: So I feel like as well, like that’s a huge part of our brands, but I also think it’s a huge part of a lot of their fashion brands as well, that they’re just like, you know, they really want to keep the DNA true to themselves. Yeah.

Clare: Yeah. Yeah. That’s a good point. So when you’re traveling a lot, what do you, what?

Clare: Like, do you have a go to for yourself? Like, what is your self care? What is your, like, what, because when you’re traveling, your skin gets so dry, doesn’t it? And so dehydrated. And also I find when you’re working crazy hours, like on shows and things like that, your days are very long. So you eat, like, you’re not even eating properly.

Clare: I never do anyway. It wouldn’t be the healthiest. It’s what’s ever there. A lot of tea. I don’t drink coffee, a [00:21:00] lot of tea, not even a lot of water, which I should be drinking. So for you, is there anything that you try to kind of. Now that you’ve got, you’re traveling so much and you’re so used to it now, is there anything that you kind of feel that you do is if someone’s listening there and they really are doing a lot of traveling for work and their skin’s getting so dried out, what are the go to things that you think you

Sam: should do?

Sam: Well, the one thing, water, because like I said I always forget to drink water, but having a good water week is always really good for your skin. Um, it’s so funny, I have to say in the last like five years, I don’t wear makeup anymore when I go to do, when I’m working. I just do, this is like the fair, this is me, that’s why I was like, you know, even though.

Sam: My eye isn’t the best today, but like, no, this is me on a normal day going to work or like every day. It’s just my skincare. I love having like brushed up brows and my brows filled in. Um, and I always have to have my little bit of liner, no matter what. A little bit of liner goes on me no matter what. But for skincare wise, I mean, I always use, The serum.

Sam: I always use the serum in the morning first thing. My moisturiser.

Clare: The magic serum, is it? The magic

Sam: [00:22:00] serum? Yes, the magic serum, the magic cream, the magic eye rescue. I love the new hydrator mist as well at the moment. Like the hydrator mist is just like that in my handbag and that I get, I drown myself in that.

Sam: Do you

Clare: just spritz that? Do you just spritz that if you’re on a flight? Do you just spritz it on your face every now and then? Okay, so you can put it on over your makeup during the day and it freshens it up. Is that the idea? Do you put it onto your makeup as well, Sam? Or just

Sam: over? Yeah. Yeah, under my makeup as well.

Sam: I kind of feel like because I’m, the days are really long. So say I’m going to Dubai on Thursday and we’re doing like back to back appointments because it’ll be warm. I won’t wear any makeup purely for the fact that I know when I’m running back and forth, it’s going to be warm. My skin, I probably will start be sweating or clammy, but at least I know I always have like, I’ve got like a little front pocket in my suitcase and it’s got face wipes.

Sam: Moisturizer and lip balm. Okay. And those three things. So what I can do is clear, like, you know, just get freshen up my skin, put more moisturizer on and then put on some lip balm. And I feel like I’ve refreshed again [00:23:00] rather than going and you’re looking like tired. So it’s kind of like my little routine.

Sam: That’s like, you know, wash hands, wash face. Because if you’ve got lots of makeup on and you’re running, you’ve got mascara all over you and your foundation is looking patchy. Your client immediately sitting in front of you is going to be like, I don’t want my makeup to look like hers. Unfortunately, that’s what they judge you on, you know, so I feel like the more minimal I am.

Sam: The better, the more easier it is for my client to feel relaxed as well because if I wear no makeup they kind of, they’re not judging me on like my personal style or how I look, you know, that kind of way which is really good but skin care, minimal skin care, I feel like night time, I’m obsessed, I don’t think I have it here, I was seeing if I have it, oh well.

Sam: show you actually. So yeah, these two things are my favourites, right? So one is the goddess, the goddess clay mask. Oh yeah, I have that. Okay, so this is my knife, like this is what saves my skin after a flight. So I put that, lots of that on. It’s just the best because it’s like, it literally floods your skin with hydration, but also takes out [00:24:00] all the toxins and impurities.

Sam: And hydrator mist as well. That’s just like, gets used all the time. It’s in the beds beside me when I wake up in the morning, I’m like, you just go through it like nothing else. But it is, it’s just like, I feel like if you, when you’re going to, when you’re working, it depends on if I’m working at a big event with Charlotte, of course I’m going to do the full glam and I’m going to have that on.

Sam: I feel like day to day, like if I’m working on set or backstage, I just, I want to feel comfortable. My skin wants to feel hydrated and clean. I don’t want to be worrying about mascara running on my face or my foundation getting because at the end of the day, you know, you’re there to get the models and everyone on set looking good, you know, so as long as you feel comfortable and confident, that’s all that matters.

Sam: And for me, it’s. My skin being hydrated, my brows being brushed and a little bit of eyeliner. Okay. I love

Clare: that. I really love that. So what, would you have like a preference of working like on backstage shows, doing red carpet events? Have you any particular preference? I know you did the Venice Film Festival, I think as well.

Clare: You’ve done so [00:25:00] many festivals. Um, is there like a preference, like it’s probably more glamorous doing red carpet and depending on what designer you’re working with, because it can be so pared back sometimes. So what do you, what’s your like ideal event? Or do you

Sam: have them? I love them, I actually love the variety of everything I do in my job because I do everything from like training the Charlotte Tilbury team, um, to supporting like the education team in like big events, store openings.

Sam: I love doing VIPs for Red Carpet, like getting that one on one and creating a look with the hair and the stylist and you just say, you know, you get to look back at your images and they’re always amazing. I love the hustle and bustle of a fashion show, even though it’s stressful. It’s amazing to be part of.

Sam: Um, so that’s what I love about my job. And I feel like that’s why I feel like so motivated. Um, I love my, everyone always says like, you love your job, don’t you? And I was like, I do, because I don’t do the same thing every day. I honestly, I have, I have such a different, I have different faces, different people, different [00:26:00] scenario, different city, you know, different team.

Sam: It’s so nice to be constantly like, it’s kind of like, you’re constantly always showing up to do something new and to be the, to be the best at it. Like I’ve never gotten complacent in my job. I’ve never gone like, gosh, you’re like, I’ll just do this all day, every day, be grand. Like, you know, I’m excited. I

Clare: think everyone should be like that.

Clare: I think you can take anything away from talking to you. It is that passion you could try to have. What’s, what’s the saying, you know, once you love what you do, you never work a day in your life. And it is so true. It really makes such a difference to people like me. If I won

Sam: the lotto, I’d quit.

Clare: Oh, you probably wouldn’t, funny enough.

Clare: You’d still want to make it because you’re very artistic, you know, so don’t say

Sam: that. No,

Clare: I mean, I understand that, but I think after a year that will be boring as well. I think, I think it’s nice when you’re a creative person, you’d want to do something. You might, you know, there’s something, but I do want to ask you about a few people you’ve worked with.

Clare: I know you probably can’t say much, but I’m a big Natasha Oakley fan and I’ve been to Capri [00:27:00] and I absolutely adore it. And then she got married over there and knew all the places and I was like, Oh my God. So what was that like to work on? Was that, she’s gorgeous. Was that amazing?

Sam: Oh, it was so nice. She’s just so beautiful.

Sam: Like, we did her trial in London and I was like, because she’s such a, like, I’ve never seen someone so naturally beautiful in my entire life. Like, it’s like, because I was, you know, when you’re looking at someone and you’re like, I don’t know if, you know, I Sometimes, I have one of my friends, like for an example, I’ve got one of my good friends who doesn’t wear make up.

Sam: When you put make up on her, I think she looks really weird. I’m like, you don’t look like yourself, you know, that kind of way. And I was kind of thinking the same about her when I looked at all her, you know, stalking all her pictures. I was like, she doesn’t wear any make up. I was like, she’s not going to want a feline flick, she’s not going to want any of that.

Sam: But we did her trial and we did a gorgeous golden glowy kind of look, which was just perfect on her. Um, and then it was so nice. So I just actually did Tasha’s make up for her the day before and then for the party the night before. And then The day of her wedding, all her bridesmaids did their own hair and makeup because they’re all like, [00:28:00] I know, like, I mean, her bridesmaids were all like supermodels.

Sam: Oh, I know. I

Clare: know they are. Her business cardinals are all beautiful. They didn’t need anything

Sam: but um, yeah, so I was just with them, worked with them, super chill. She’s super chill. Um, you know, sheer makeup, like, I mean, her skin, like, it’s a dream. Flawless. Like, she’s very, yeah. Flawless! I, I had the, it was one of the easiest weddings I’ve ever done.

Sam: Like, I, you know.

Clare: Yeah, and did you love Capri? Did you get to,

Sam: like, have Clare, no one told me, no one told me that when you get to Capri, there’s no cars. Oh yeah! All those things. There’s me with my 40 kilo case and I’m like, how am I going to get to my hotel? And they’re like, so we got like, you know, like the little buggies.

Sam: Yeah. Got the buggy there. No, don’t take cards. I’ll have to find a cash machine. I was just, I was like, obviously I was not prepared for the Capri life. But I was staying in the most, I know I was staying in the most amazing, amazing hotel that my, my had like a little, it was like a little house and I had like a little hot tub [00:29:00] outside.

Sam: I was like, I was like at the night after the first wedding, I was like, this is, this is, this is the life now. It’s like. pizza box, glass of champagne in the hot tub.

Clare: Oh, I just love it. It’s gorgeous. And I love that beach club where she had a reception. I’ve been to that beach club and I absolutely, I mean, the view is unreal, right?

Clare: It’s fabulous. And I just, I was watching it and I know the hotel though. I was like, Oh my God, I just, I loved it. And I love her anyway. So I was just, Oh my God, sounds amazing. Yeah,

Sam: it’s so beautiful. Yeah. We just use everything cream based for her. Like, so cream eyes to mesmerize eyeshadow. Hollywood Flawless Filter, the Beauty Light one, so everything that went on her face was a cream, you know, and because it was hot, like that weather, we were there, I think it was like August, so it was like the middle, I think it was like 35, 36 degrees, you know, so everyone’s skin was clammy, so if we put powder on, the powder just would have looked.

Sam: Dry and you know, it was just looked old, so we just went with glow. So if you were sweaty, if we, if you, if she [00:30:00] was sweaty, she just looked sweaty, glowy

Clare: rather than . Yeah. She looks fabulous sweating. So it doesn’t matter. I, I know she does. So in warm weather like that, you advise, don’t use powder, then just go with that sweaty glow.

Clare: Make it look like you’re, you know, really glowing and, and having a good time. There’s no point

Sam: of fighting against it. I always think that when you’re, if you’re a bride or someone that’s going somewhere super hot, like if you start putting on lots of, um. you know, products that are going to like, it’s going to take like mattify your skin.

Sam: You’re going to have to keep that up. It’s just going to make your makeup look worse. It’s kind of like, go with the, you know, go with the glow and just be careful of like, you know, get like blotting paper or even like, yeah, like easier things. Like sometimes I just have like, you know, like a nice kind of, um, you know, like a Muslim cloth that’s kind of like soft.

Sam: Even having something like that in your purse for your wedding day is just using that rather than, because tissue can break off and stick to your face. It can, it can. It can, because it’s not a good look. That’s not a good look. Yeah, it’s not a good look for your photos. And your wedding

Clare: photo with a big piece of tissue over here now.

Clare: I

Sam: know, yeah, and having something [00:31:00] like that that you can just like press and you’re around your nose or on your chin or somewhere there, it does so much more rather than popping on lots of products. Like I just, I know from experience, if you’re sweating or you’re hot and you put powder on, In 10 minutes, you’re going to be sweating and hot again.

Clare: Okay. You know? So when you’re there all day doing a VIP like that, are you, were you there the whole day of the wedding? Are you making sure like every shot is? No. No. I stayed up until

Sam: after. I would normally stay with all, like anything like that, you’d stay up until after the ceremony. So it’s like, you’d be there, photographs before ceremony, and then all the photographs that happen after the ceremony.

Sam: I feel like that’s what a lot of brides miss out on with their makeup artists is the makeup artist leaves. you know, when they walk down the aisle, but then all the photographs get taken after the reception and the bride has no lipstick or is shiny or might have cried. So my tip is, is always keep your makeup artist until after your photographs and then tell them to go home because it’s worth it.

Sam: If you spent all this money on makeup artists [00:32:00] to do the makeup up the aisle and then your makeup artist has gone for your photographs, it’s just, it’s just a waste. I totally

Clare: agree. And I feel the same with hair as well, because any, any, anything, any event, even I work on like yourself, I would be there till after all the photos are, you know, because, you know, you obviously want everything to look right.

Clare: It’s worth your while to be there. And the same with brides. And I think it’s a good point. Anyone getting married, listening, I think, keep your, your, you know, your makeup artist with you and your, and your hairstylist with you. There’s nothing worse. I’ve often seen even with veils where someone gives the bride a hug and they knock at the top of the veil and then nothing sits right.

Clare: And then they have the rest of the photos to go. And that was just in the church, maybe, you know, just that little hug or someone got emotional. And I feel like it’s a very good point. A lot of people send their makeup arts and their hairstyles on their merry way after getting them ready. And they feel that their job is over just when they get into the dress.

Clare: But actually the most important part of it really starts right when everyone’s looking at you. Yeah, exactly.

Sam: It’s photographs after as well. It really is. That’s why I’m always like, you know, and then after for Tash’s day, for example, [00:33:00] you know, after that was done, I think I stayed up until the photos and then there was a little more reception and before she went for a dinner and then it was finished, you know?

Sam: Yeah. I just think like when you’re investing in people like your glam squad, it’s like have them there until the moment they’re not needed anymore. You know, if they’re there already. Most people, most makeup artists won’t go out, go off or won’t go off to do another wedding because it’s only the morning time anyway.

Sam: So it’s like, if you can get them for the day, have them for the day so you can look back at your photographs and feel and look as good as you did the minute they, you know, did your lip gloss. That

Clare: is a top tip. I do like that. And then what about, did you watch the Grammys this week? Did you have any favourite look?

Clare: I know I’m going to catch

Sam: up. Oh yeah, I had some, I mean, they’re just, the Grammys are always so good. I like, obviously Miley Cyrus with her like six different outfits. My favourite. I just

Clare: love her. I, I am obsessed. I absolutely, she’s my fave. I just love her. I love the Bob Mackie dress. I love. I love EI just love her energy.

Clare: I love her. I love

Sam: she goes, she’s always like, always like she’s the kind of girl that you’re like, I wanna be your friend, don’t

Clare: you? , I love her. I love her. [00:34:00] I’m obsessed with, with, with her for sure. Yeah. But, and I loved the whole glam, I loved the back home of the hair. It was felt a very Tina Turner I was kind of coming through, through, you know?

Clare: Yeah. Um,

Sam: doll, because she loves Dolly Parton. It was like, kind of like of Dolly Parton. I love, I love Dolly Parton. Those one have you Parton. No, I, I haven’t. She would be amazing though. She’d be definitely someone I’d have on the list to do makeup on. Like, yeah.

Clare: Yeah, definitely. We should definitely manifest that, Sam.

Clare: I’d love to meet Kelly. Yeah, I’d love that. All the wigs and everything. I’d be in my element, you know. It’d be just so amazing. All the different looks and all the high heels. I know. Massive bottle

Sam: of Elnett hairspray.

Clare: We’d need a truck of it. Definitely a truck of, of Elnett. A super strong. And a lot of teasing with that comb.

Clare: It’d be fantastic. Oh, I know. Um, and you love Olivia Palermo. I think you’ve worked with her quite a lot, haven’t you? Her makeup is always amazing. I know.

Sam: Myself and Olivia have worked together now. I think we’re going on nearly like nine years working together. I know. And I’ll be with her now soon. I’ll be with her in Milan and in Paris.

Sam: Like she always like, I’m, I’m her, I’m her CT gal. [00:35:00] Um, and yeah. You know, she’s, she’s the best. I love working with her because she has her full trust in me now where it’s like we do two or three looks a day sometimes and he just sends me her outfits and then, you know, she just left me and her hairdresser, Stefan, and the two of us have come up with a look.

Sam: So we’re giving her variety and because she’s got her Bob now, we always laugh because I’m like, Stefan, I’m like, you can do a book on a hundred and one ways. of Bob. I was like, he always thinks of something really cool and new to do. And I’m just like running out. Like it is hard because when you work with someone a lot, especially fashion week for Paris is 10 days.

Sam: Yeah. So I probably do Olivia’s makeup maybe around like eight or nine times in that whole week with her show. So it’s really hard to make sure that I’m giving her different looks and I’m making her, you know, cause even when she’s changed, when she goes to the show, like that’s her, that’s her, her, her. I suppose her, like, her whole style is her job, you know, her coming to the shows for designers.

Sam: So really hoping that she, like, kind of, you know, embodies the brand that she’s going like, like being sponsored by, [00:36:00] but um, she’s my favorite.

Clare: I love her. I knew you loved her. I could see that from your Instagram. And I’m obviously, I’ve seen lots of pictures up through the years, but do you, so you will just work with her then for that time in Paris, you just requested to be with her for that time.

Clare: Are you able to do any of the shows? No. No.

Sam: I wish it was just her. No, they work together. Yeah, they know they do. I, I probably do around three VIPs a day in fashion week. That’s kind of sometimes four depending on the day and what time they make me wake up. But yeah, no, you do. I think it’s just, she’d probably be the big, like the big one that I work with.

Sam: And then I get to work with, I’ve been working with Kelly PK, um, a lot as well lately. Um, but she’s so beautiful. Like she’s just another gorgeous face. Um, but then like all the rest of like for them, for Fashion Week, it’s a lot of big influencers now that are like getting part of the shows, which is really great because there’s a lot of like new faces and new talents.

Sam: And so it’s been exciting. So I’m very excited. Milan, apparently I’ve heard from the grapevine, Milan’s going to be crazy. So I’m really [00:37:00] looking forward to see, I’ll be working with the Milan. So I’m off to Dubai and then I’m doing Berlin a la film festival. Then I’m going to London Fashion Week, Milan. And then.

Sam: Paris Fashion Week. So I’m heading off, I think, on Thursday now until like the 6th of March. So I have like, I’m already freaking out about my clothes wardrobe and like how I’m gonna get out my kit and my clothes in 40kg. That’s all

Clare: I’m asking. You will come home in between that time, will you, for a day or two?

Clare: Or you won’t, you’ll just stay, you’ll just hop from one place to another? Yeah, I’ll

Sam: hop. Yeah, hop from one place to the other. That is a

Clare: nightmare for packing, so are you like me when you work, do you wear just a lot

Sam: of black? Oh, here look, this is my life, like, if I wear colour I feel uncomfortable.

Clare: It’s easier though, isn’t it?

Clare: I think you always feel professional when you wear black when you’re working, especially on sets and stuff. I think you just, and you can’t go wrong when you wear black, no matter, like, if you’re not sure, when in doubt, wear black. It’s always the best trick. I know. You’ll pack a lot of black when you’re going away now, and the weather will kind of be Berlin and Osgoode be cold.

Clare: So you’re not hitting that [00:38:00] summer time, which is a nightmare.

Sam: Exactly. I know. Yeah. I love, I love this season because you’re not too warm getting from place to place. Yeah. Like when we go into like, so Pan Film Festival and Venice Film Festival, like they’re my live and nightmare because of the heat and with my suitcase.

Sam: I’m like, I love

Clare: Pan Film Festival. I love working with that. It’s such

Sam: a good one. I love it. I just think it’s so, when you’re running back and forward, Like, like I remember I was doing Kylie Minogue’s makeup and I had to run from another, I had to run from the, the Martinez Hotel, there’s the other hotel.

Sam: And I arrived. The majestic, yeah. I was wetting so much, Clare, that like when she hugged me, like I could feel her going like. You’re like,

Clare: no! I don’t want Kylie to feel all that perspiration. I love Kylie. So, you have no favourites, obviously, because everyone’s amazing. But do you feel sometimes like, you know, do you have a lot of pinch me moments when you’re

Sam: working?

Sam: Ah, yeah, you do. You definitely do. Like, um, I got to do, um, Oh, Rebel Wilson’s makeup in Cannes [00:39:00] last year and I was absolutely, I was like freaking out going to do that. Like the nerves like take over, like I feel like sometimes the bigger, like celebrity or bigger one, like more well known, they are like, they’re used to like having makeup artists that have their own entourages as well, do you know the kind of way they have like the famous makeup artists that have the entourage and then they get me like, you know, Pulling my own suitcase right now.

Sam: Like, Oh, why do you carry your suitcase yourself?

Clare: You’re the real deal, Sam.

Sam: That’s why I know the real, the life it is, but it is. It’s like, I feel like, um, I get excited to work with everybody. I really do. I love, I love working with new people. It’s very, I love getting to work with them a second time. I feel like that’s always my biggest thing is like, if I do their makeup ones, I want them to do, ask me to do it again, because I feel like I always do it.

Sam: better the second time because I know their face. I feel a little bit more comfortable. I’m not as nervous. You

Clare: know that they trust you, you like what they’ve done. So it’s like any kind of repeat clientele, isn’t it? It gives that confidence.

Sam: Yeah. The first [00:40:00] time you’re with anyone, like, you know, I can do, like, that’s why I think with Olivia now, I can do her makeup so fast, and I can be, you know, really like, I know what her skin, like, how her skin looks well, like, you know, what to use, her eye shape.

Sam: But for the first time I did her makeup, I always, like, look back at the photographs. I’m like, Jesus Christ, what did I do to her? You know, because it just takes time. So I always, my goal in life is that if I do a VIP’s makeup that I get to do, I stay with them either for the week, or I get to do them again, because I feel like it’s the second time.

Sam: you nail it. And the second time they want you, they want you back even more. I feel like when you just meet someone once and never see them again, it’s just like, you never, you never form a relationship with them and you never get to perfect the look that you could do with them.

Clare: Yeah, that’s true. It’s like a lot of things in life, right?

Clare: You know, you build that, right? Somebody, you know, it’s not like a one thing. thing. So it is nice to know that. But I think, I mean, I know how busy you are and I, I’m so happy that everything’s going so great for you. But I, yeah, but I want to ask you as well, because [00:41:00] I always like to finish up with my hair personality question because everyone, sometimes people dread that question, but I’m like, as I said, I feel like everyone has like, like Olivia Palermo has a hair personality.

Clare: She’s got her Bob going on and then you’ve got like Rebel Wilson has a whole, Kylie has a different hair personality than she had. 20 years ago and she had all the curls like a Charlene kind of thing. So I always feel it’s a different vibe. So I mean, you’re very pared back I think at the moment because you’re in your work mode.

Clare: So what would, do you have a hair personality? What is, right now, what is your hair personality for all these shows you’re going to be going to Sam? Well,

Sam: my hair personality is like, I think it’s, it’s comfort. It’s because the comfort, if that could be like a hair personality, there is nothing worse than seeing your.

Sam: Your hair or your fuzzy hair or your, you know, something, you know, like it looks like kind of when I tie my hair up, it looks like I’m missing a huge chunk of my hair because it’s split the wrong way. So comfort, I always make sure my hair is like sleek, clean and comfortable, that [00:42:00] if I’m sweating or the wind is blowing on me or I’ve got rain on my hair, it’s okay.

Sam: Because I always end up in, like, in someone’s content on my back of my head is always in someone’s photograph, you know? So I feel like for a hair personality, definitely has to be like, yeah, you’d have to be, I don’t know how you’d sum that up and things. Comfortable and reliable.

Clare: You want reliable.

Clare: Reliable. Yes. There’s not going to let you down. That’s the type of hair you want. You want reliable hair that from the back, it has your back. Right. Yeah. See, we summed it up.

Sam: It doesn’t look like my hair is split in the back and I’ve got like, you know, my crown is at the bottom of my head. Yeah. I think

Clare: that’s good.

Clare: I think that’s a good note to go on. Reliable has your back kind of hair. I think that’s fantastic. That’s exactly what it is. So Sam, thank you so much for coming on. And I wish you like the best of all your travels. I’ll be looking at your Instagram. Anyone wants to follow you, where can they find you?

Clare: What’s your hands on Insta? So it’s

Sam: Sam underscore Sam for my things. Yeah. And are you on TikTok [00:43:00] as well? I have, yeah. It’s the same on TikTok as Sam Sam as well. Yeah. Are you going to do

Clare: some dances on TikTok for us? Absolutely

Sam: not. No, I can’t lip sync either. I can’t do any of those things. Yeah. I feel like TikTok is definitely for I love Instagram because you can really show off like creative and you can just off the back of it You can show the kind of behind the scenes and more on tiktok, which is nice as well But I do know that I need to get better at tiktok.

Sam: I just I just still can’t work it I don’t know how

Clare: to do it It feels exhausting where instagram is like a magazine you kind of feel like you’re looking and you’re it’s it’s It’s a bit more for a relaxed kind of thing with, but TikTok, everyone just loves TikTok. So we have to get ourselves. I’m as bad.

Clare: So that is our new thing. By the next time I talk to you, I’ll be, I’ll be trying to organize my TikTok as well. So I will keep that as the thing. I will manifest Dolly Parton and it’ll all work out really well. Okay. Um, thank you so much. Have a great week. Enjoy Dubai and enjoy everywhere that you’re traveling to.

Clare: Thanks so much. [00:44:00] Okay.