Sofia Schwarzkopf- Tilbury is a celebrity makeup artist.
She is Charlotte Tilbury’s niece, and Leah Tilbury‘s—Charlotte Tilbury’s Director of Brand Creative–daughter but she still had to learn the ropes of the industry from the very bottom to make it where she is today.
Tilbury started out on the beauty counter at Selfridges and eventually worked her way up the ladder to supermodel Irina Shayk’s face and the bright, star-studded lights of LA.
Growing up, she wanted to be an artist. Her grandfather Lance Tilbury is a painter, and in Ibiza she was always surrounded by artists.
She went to Millfield School, and photography and art were her favorite subjects; she used to recreate her aunt’s makeup looks on the girls in her dorm and then they would take photos: it was the perfect way to combine creating, painting and capturing an image. Funny to think that this is exactly what she is doing with her Instagram page and her job.
She did not go to university as she was eager to start working right away. After school, she went straight into an internship for Alice Temperley and then her aunt Charlotte took her under her wing and she started interning backstage at shows, learning her techniques and assisting her on shoots.
She worked full-time at the Charlotte Tilbury counter for two years and learned so much and fast. Then, behind-the-scenes, Charlotte started asking her questions about what was selling well, which products customers were asking for and what was missing from the range. That was how she started working closely with Charlotte on product development and the brand side of things.
The advice she would give to those who want to pursue a full-time beauty career it to assist someone, to work on a shop floor because you are not just being presented with perfect model faces all day–giving you an understanding of the variety of faces and skin tones that is vital if you want to be taken seriously in the beauty industry–and be as curious as you can.
