Q+A with Celebrity Makeup Artist & Men's Groomer Emma White Turle

Emma White Turle is celebrity makeup artist and men's groomer based out of London. Not only does she work with famous faces like Sophie Turner, Rooney Mara, and Liam Hemsworth, but she's also known for her work featured in publications like Vanity Fair and her role as Beauty Editor for Schön! Magazine. Read on below to learn more about Emma, her time in the industry, her biggest inspirations, and more.

Q: How did you get into makeup?

I have loved makeup and skincare since I was a child, watching my mother make herself up, but I fell into it as a career by accident. I was a science geek at school and have a degree in Astrophysics, but worked as a model through my teens. Whilst I was an awful model, I was an avid student to the makeup artists who I would get to teach me what they were doing. I then started doing my own makeup and working with photographers who had shot me for campaigns as a model. I had a few years working at Vogue and Tatler on the editorial side before actually deciding that the beauty industry was where I was happiest.

Q: How would you describe your style as a makeup artist? What is your beauty philosophy?

I think my makeup style is “you, but perfected." I want skin to look real and my clients to feel happy and confident in what they look like. My beauty philosophy would be to do what makes you happy — you do not have to follow the latest “trend."

Q: What do you love most about your work?

I love making people happy. Sending a client down a red carpet feeling amazing is what makes me do this.

Q: Can you share with us one of your favorite looks you’ve created, and tell us a bit about why you love it?

One of my favourite looks (and she’s also one of my favourite people) was for Kaitlyn Dever at the BAFTA’s in 2020. Her dress was this beautiful pale pink, and because of her pale skin tone, we decided on using a brighter pink, matching across eyes, lips and cheeks. It gave it synchronicity and was a modern take on a fairytale princess. Her skin is so naturally luminous, she glowed on that freezing cold red carpet.

Q: On top of being a makeup artist, you’re also the Beauty Editor of Schön! Magazine. How do you balance the two, and how does your work in one role affect how you do the other?

I am very efficient. It drives my husband mental! I was a single parent to my daughter for twelve years and I think this has forced me to be able to juggle an awful lot without dropping the ball. When you have to work two jobs, be there for school runs, and be emotionally available to your child, it makes you very efficient at timekeeping and multitasking. It also helps that I have amazing agents and a wonderful editor, all of whom know that I now have a family of five, plus a dog and a cat. If I’ve got all the information, I can always make it work.

Q: From where, and from whom, do you find inspiration?

Inspiration comes from everywhere — literally anything. I love art and museums, I love fashion and other artists’ work. But you can be inspired by anything! For instance, at the Venice Film Festival last year, I was making up the wonderful Raffey Cassidy; her dress was fine white lace and we wanted to make her makeup modern and surprising. She was drinking a glass of fresh orange juice that was so vivid, we used it as a colour match for an eyeliner for that day.

Q: What are some essential products you always keep in your kit?

My essentials in my kit are Rowse rosehip oil, Cle de Peau concealers, Chanel Le Volume mascara, and a red lipstick. It’s hard to pick one of these because I own literally hundreds. Red lipstick can be used in its true form, as a blush, and mixed down to a warm pink for a cream eye shadow. It’s my favourite product.

Q: What are some beauty trends you’re particularly excited about in spring/summer 2021?

Actually, spring/summer 2021 is my ideal kind of makeup! It’s all about your skin but better, and a good lip. Perfecting your skincare routine and finding that perfect bold red for you is heaven to me. A lipstick, of any shade, that makes you feel happy and confident is a wonderful thing. It’s what I call my “armour” — I always wear red lipstick to a meeting. The power of makeup is quite real in its psychological effects.

Rapid Fire Round

Q: Hairstylist partner in crime:

That’s hard! Can I answer three? I love Ben Talbot, Carlos Ferraz, and Dayaruci. They are my hair husbands and I love them all equally.

Q: Product you can’t leave home without:

I always have a red lipstick. Currently, it’s Gucci Constance Vermillion.

Q: Favorite drugstore or budget find:

Lansinoh Nipple Balm. It’s the only thing to fix cracked lips and severely chapped skin.

Q: Worth the splurge:

Nobel Panacea Active Replenishing Moisturiser. Phenomenal.

Q: Recent discovery:

Seams Beauty Couturiers Hand Cream. Over-washing and over-sanitising is ruining my hands, but this is an amazing fixer.

Q: Brand you wish more people knew about:

I wish everyone knew about Oskia. It’s a remarkable brand that genuinely works.

Q: Favorite lipstick:

Again, this is a hard one! Chanel Rouge Allure Velvet in Rouge Charnel.

Q: Your last beauty empty:

I just finished my Oskia Vitamin C capsules.

For more of Emma's favorite products, check out her shop below: