24 Hours with Makeup Artist Sofia Schwarzkopf-Tilbury
Step inside the fabulously boho world of Charlotte Tilbury’s right-hand woman
7:00AM I am 100 per cent, definitely not a morning person! Anyone who knows me knows how much I love to sleep. My alarm totally depends on what time I start work; if I’m travelling or heading to a shoot it can be super early. Sometimes I’m doing morning radio or TV, so I’ll need to be up at dawn for hair, make-up and prep. At the moment, I’m working from home so I tend to wake up (slowly!) at around 7:00am so I can fit in a run or a Pilates workout before meetings.
7:30AM Once I’m out of bed, I start my day with a huge bottle of Fiji water, to which I add my Spatone iron and vitamin C supplements. They’re apple flavoured, so they taste really juicy and refreshing. It’s a great way to start the day with a boost.
8:00AM Make-up and skincare are definitely my favourite part of my morning routine! I always find that I use as much time as I have. If I have an hour to get ready in the morning, I put on some music, make myself a chamomile tea and use that full hour for skincare, self-care and easing into the day, but if I have 15 minutes, I somehow make that work too! Charlotte always says, “You can’t have a beautiful painting without a beautiful canvas,” so great skincare has been really important for me from a young age. I love Charlotte’s Goddess Cleansing Ritual for removing my make-up and deeply cleansing my skin. I follow that with her incredible new Magic Serum Crystal Elixir, which is packed with supercharged ingredients like Polyglutamic acid (this holds four times as much moisture as Hyaluronic acid), then, if I’m feeling a little oily or the weather is going to be particularly hot and humid, I use the lightweight, SPF20 version of Magic Cream instead – Magic Cream Light.
It really saves skin from crazy heat and AC. If I’m in a huge rush in the morning, I tend to just throw on some Magic Away concealer, brush up my brows and then carry Charlotte’s Instant Look In a Palette in Stoned Rose Beauty with me – it has everything you need for a make-up look in five minutes. Otherwise, I take the time to create an easy, everyday eye look using something like the Pillow Talk Luxury Palette and Pillow Talk Eyeliner. I set everything with Airbrush Flawless Finish Powder – this is the product I always slip into a client’s clutch before an event. I can’t live without it!
9:00AM Time to get dressed. I love fashion and bright, boho-chic pieces by brands like Olivia Rubin, De La Vali and Temperley London, but for work I definitely have more of a uniform. Charlotte and I have such similar taste when it comes to clothes. We’re both very bohemian and feminine with a touch of rock’n’roll. I have so many handbags;I definitely choose them depending on my mood. One of my favourites is my velvet Gucci Marmont clutch bag – it fits my phone, my Airbrush Bronzer, my Supersize Me lip liner and my Airbrush Flawless Finish Powder,which are my absolute essentials.
9:30AM If I’ve been for a run or done Pilates, I often start to feel peckish around this time, but I love to do intermittent fasting–I think it’s great to give your body a break –so I tide myself over with an Earl Grey tea with and oatmilk while I chec kmy emails and start my first task of the day. I’m trying to walk more so I like to go for a nice, long stroll across London in the mornings. I put on some music and my adidas trainers and just start marching. I live quite close to Charlotte so if I walk near her house I’ll always pop by for a chat and a catch-up. I love seeing her sons, my little cousins, before school. They’re so cute in their uniforms!
10:00AM If we’re in product-development meetings, things usually start around 10 in our big Magic Office meeting rooms… and they’re long, long meetings! Charlotte is obsessed with perfection when it comes to her products, so we always spend hours discussing the most innovative, ground- breaking ingredients and trialling colours and textures on models. If we’re shooting in the studio, we’ll start much earlier. 8am is a pretty normal call time. We’ll always have music playing in the studio while we’re setting up, and a healthy breakfast like avocado toast or smoothies. It helps get everyone in the mood for the day.
12:00PM Lately, I’ve been getting back into cooking due to being at home, so for lunch I’ll make a goat’s cheese and caramelised red-onion salad with whatever veggies I can find in the fridge. My grandmother, Patsy Tilbury, gave me her dressing recipe and I’ve made it for all my salads ever since. All you need is mustard, honey, lemon, olive oil and salt. I’ve been a pescatarian since I was eight and I try to be as plant-based as possible; it’s such a healthy diet.
3:00PM I always like to spend some time reading or taking an afternoon walk if I can. I love the fast pace of my career – the travel, the events, the last-minute VIP appointments – but one of the unexpected positives of lockdown is having more time to slow down. Obviously, I work with my family and I wouldn’t change it for the world. It’s the best part of my job. I’ve learned so much from being around my aunt, my Mum (Leah Tilbury, Charlotte Tilbury’s Creative Director) and my little sister Bella on shoots. In the evenings and weekends though, I do tend to spend more time with my friends. We love having dinner parties or meeting up to go dancing.
10:00PM I need so much sleep, but I’m also such a night owl – it’s hard to find the balance. My night routine definitely varies depending on my mood. Some days I’ll just have an Epsom salt bath, get into my PJs, watch a little Netflix and head straight to bed. Other days, my evening doesn’t start until super late because of shoots or VIP events like the Golden Globes and the Oscars. But sometimes, the very best way to unwind is just to go out dancing!
Sofia’s Picks
Left to Right:Charlotte’s Magic Lip Oil Crystal Elixir, Dhs95, Charlotte Tilbury. Eyeshadow Palette in Pillow Talk, Dhs235, Charlotte Tilbury. Marmont Bag, Dhs6,500, Gucci. Dress, Dhs1,230, La Vali. Batwing Pendant, Dhs6,610, Jennifer Fisher.
Lead image supplied.
From Harper’s Bazaar Arabia’s Summer 2020 issue