Believable Glam Is Here To Stay, Says Celebrity MUA Lisa Eldridge

Forbes

11-04-2025

Celebrity makeup artist Lisa Eldridge MBE
Mateusz Sitek
Last summer, celebrity makeup artist, author and brand founder Lisa Eldridge MBE dropped a summer makeup must-have with her skin tints. The swift, one-step solution for achieving effortless skin became an undeniable hit. Yet her complexion work is just one facet of the artistry that has made her signature, natural aesthetic, seen on celebrities like Keira Knightley, Kate Winslet and Dua Lipa, so coveted.
Since the inaugural launch of her lipsticks in 2018, her eponymous beauty brand has expanded to create staples in the kits of fellow celebrity makeup artists. Her success is partly due to being on the pulse of the industry's latest beauty trends—as proven by her recent launch of Summer 2025's current must-have: brown mascara.
Yet she undeniably influences the 'trend-scape' altogether with her formidable YouTube following. Her influence on the arts actually earned her the recognition of the British Royal Family in March 2025. But Eldridge's notoriety is mostly due to the fact that her soft, believable glam aesthetic transcends trends altogether.
She writes to me in an e-mail that most beauty trends come around 'too thick and fast,' making it difficult for consumers to navigate the saturated market to find what actually suits them. At the end of the day, her believable beauty philosophy is why beauty trends may come and go—but this British makeup maven is forever.
Below, celebrity makeup artist Lisa Eldridge reveals her top makeup tips and beauty trend insights for Summer 2025.
'My biggest piece of advice would be that trends are meant to be fun—use them as entertainment,' Eldridge writes in an e-mail to Forbes.com. In the name of creativity over conformity, you can feel free to 'cherry-pick what you want from them to make them work from you.'
The takeaway is that beauty is not one size fits all and it is important to practice discernment. Cosmetic artistry takes unique eye shape, bone structure, coloring and taste into consideration rather than simply recreating a trending look.
She asserts that most trending looks that pop up are far from being 'anything revolutionary.' Rather, they 'have a way of coming round and round again, repackaged under different names.' Take Mocha Makeup, for instance, which is a renewed homage to shades of brown but hardly anything new.
The new Kitten Lash mascara in Burnt Umber.
Lisa Eldridge Beauty
The perfect example of this is one of Summer 2025's most popular launch categories—brown mascara. But Eldridge is clear that brown mascara is a perennial 'staple' in her kit rather than a passing beauty trend. She also admits that it 'lends itself well to the softer looks in eye makeup' that are trending.
Her own iteration of the brown mascara trend—the Kitten Lash Mascara in Burnt Umber—launched in March after years in development. She recalls vigorously testing different formulas to find the 'holy grail for lash defining and separating,' including during 'workout classes, long days and nights out' to ensure that the final mascara would not smudge or flake.
The mascara is, of course, also available in black. Yet Eldridge has held a long-term affinity for the rich brown Burnt Umber colorway. She notes the earthy pigment's use throughout history—from cave paintings to Renaissance artists like Leonardo DaVinco, Caravaggio and Rembrandt—and offers the corresponding shade in eyeliner.
Lisa Eldridge applies brown mascara.
Lisa Eldridge
'Right now, I love that trends are moving [back] towards my style of makeup: really beautiful, naturally enhancing, fresh looks,' Eldridge says of the era's emerging aesthetic which favors natural beauty and 'soft glam.'
She is also a firm believer in allowing the greater industry to influence, but not dictate, your personal taste. It is normal to experience relative attraction and aversion to trending aesthetics. She, for one, welcomed the industry's departure from the heavy glam of 2016's 'Instagram' makeup style.
'As much as I can appreciate the technical 'Instagram' look of 2016, it was never a look close to my heart.'
The industry's recent embrace of soft glam is especially evident when it comes the subtle eye makeup looks that abound. Her signature Kitten Eye look, which she describes as a 'baby cat-eye—or a subtler, more delicate version of a full-on cat-eye,' is a must-try.
She designed the style with beginners in mind, using an ultra-fine tipped liquid liner, like the Kitten Flick Liquid Eyeliner, to paint a delicately tapered wing onto the outer ends of the upper lash line. (If this is still too intimidating, you always try using the Kaja Wink Stamp Original Waterproof Wing Eyeliner & Pen to create a small wing.)
'Start by looking straight ahead into the mirror, starting three-quarters of the way along the lid and flicking outwards,' she explains. 'Don't [begin] all the way to your inner eye; it's much quicker and easier to start from three quarters of the way out than [lining] the whole length of the lid.'
Celebrity makeup artist Lisa Eldridge rocks her signature Kitten Eye makeup while posing with her cat, Betty.
Lisa Eldridge
Come evening, you can consider a smudged-smokey eye featuring a 'slightly worn-in, gently smoked out' eyeliner look. The style is best created from the long-wearing buttery textures of eyeliner pencils like her Seamless Glide Eye Pencil, which is available in six shades including her beloved Burnt Umber. For additional color options, check out the cult-favorite Victoria Beckham Beauty Satin Kajal Liners.
'My personal makeup philosophy is very much about embellishing what you already have,' Eldridge explains. As such, her top color inspiration comes from the client's eye color, hair color, complexion and taste. The overall aim is to create a 'naturally enhanced' effect. While pops of color add sparkle and drama, the overall effect is believable to the client.
In case you were wondering, the brown mascara trend in general is often reached for for blondes, beach-y glam looks and natural makeup. But her line's particular shade of Burnt Umber will also 'really make contrasting blue or green eye colors pop.' Additionally, it pairs exceptionally well with 'pared back skin, a sheer lip and a believable blush.'
There are some trending pigments—like gentle copper tones and peachy hues for the eyelids—that she has been enjoying of late. She calls the 'painterly shades' of her Muse Palette 'so romantic,' and recommends Seamless Blend No. 8 and No. 9 brushes for creating a 'soft cloud of color' on the lids.