What's in my kit - from make-up artist Emma Rankin

0:00Emma Rankin:This show is sponsored by Primadine, a clean, natural and science-based spermidine supplement that's been a long-time staple in my own longevity stack. Because studies suggest that through autophagy, spermidine increases healthspan and upregulates a range of health markers, from memory and cognitive function to heart health, hormone balance, fertility and even hair growth. Plus, you can be assured that all ingredients undergo rigorous third-party testing. Buy Primadine now at OxfordHealthSpam.com and use the discount code DrSophie, that's D-R-Sophie for 20 % off. This show is sponsored by Microbes, an award-winning liquid probiotic that's now a staple for me, because Microbes, with a Z on the end, is different.

0:47Emma Rankin:For one thing, they source directly from the soil on their Wiltshire farm, meaning more diversity, with at least 15 strains of good bacteria in every single shot. it's brewed so it can survive in the stomach and a remarkable 92 percent of customers say it makes a difference plus they offer micro-friendly cleaning gardening and even microbes for dogs buy now at microbes.co.uk and use the discount code sophie20 for 20 off hi i'm sophie and this is age well with dr sophie shotter a space devoted to all things health wellness and longevity because for me aging well is about looking and feeling like the best possible version of ourselves inside as well as out.

1:31Emma Rankin:So together with my producer Fee I'll be deep diving into the latest research sifting fact from fiction. I'll also be talking to all kinds of trusted experts tapping into their knowledge along with bringing you conversations from a range of interesting women and men finding out how they age well. So this is my show, welcome along and as always thank you so much for listening.

2:00Emma Rankin:Emma you're one of the UK's most experienced makeup artists. You've been in the business for nearly 25 years now starting out on pretty much all the big West End shows and then moving into some of our most acclaimed films and TV shows from the recent Saltburn to the equally incredible The Crown, moving on into some beautiful fashion and editorial work. And besides being in demand for numerous red carpet events, I know you're in the secret address book of lots of high profile names. And you also continue to be in demand for some of our most loved light entertainment shows, whether that's Last One Laughing, which I loved, Eight Out of Ten Cats does Countdown.

2:39Emma Rankin:And we're particularly impressed that you're currently working on Traitors Uncloaked, the celebrity edition. So I'm really interested in how you started out and how you built out not only a kit, but a network of contacts. What's it like for makeup artists starting out and any tips for anyone looking to train and break into the industry?

2:58Dr Sophie Shotter:Well, I mean, I started out like nearly 25 years ago now, and I went to a place called the Delamar. I think it's still there, the Delamar Academy. And I did an intensive makeup course there. but I feel like I learned most things on the job so as soon as you start a job you usually start as a trainer you're a junior and you work your way up when I did that in the West End I did lots of different shows and you work your way up you make lots of contacts along the way and then after doing the West End for about eight years I then went on to TV and film and like I said you're always making your contacts along the way but it does take time and it is a slow build-up you can't rush it really either because you've also got to learn so yeah it does take a bit of time so you've got to have a bit of patience you've also got to keep a smile on your face because sometimes they're in long days they still are 14 hours sometimes so yeah it's just about patience and time and taking the time to build up that those contacts really and it's the same with your kit it takes ages to build up a good kit ages and you can't rush it and you also can't go out and buy everything straight away that would cost too much so you just have to yeah slowly collect bits it's really good nowadays there's lots of really affordable brands that you can intermingle with the high-end ones.

4:04Dr Sophie Shotter:So you wouldn't have to go out and buy everything straight away. So that wasn't like that in my day. Yeah, I just remember having six lip glosses and always counting them going, yep, still got my six lip glosses. We do want to ask you about specific product recommendations, but can we, and this is kind of linking into what you're saying about mixing the budget brands with the higher-end brands, how do you navigate the aisles of, let's say, boots or any of the big department stores or any of the big or indeed small onlines the volume of choice for makeup is just overwhelming so like where do you tend to buy your makeup from like are there any trusted sites or shops I was thinking actually the other day how if I feel intimidated how do other people because I met a friend and we went to Sephora because we're obsessed as well and we spent about an hour and a half in Sephora just the two of us so we've got to get out of here but I think a good piece of advice is to sort of know roughly what you're going in there for maybe just focus on one thing like one day you're going for skincare you might be going for mascara and also don't be afraid to ask for help people are really lovely in the stores if you go up and ask them they will help you do some research before you go in I'm a bit of a geek so I'm always looking up stuff checking the ingredients comparing them I don't know whether that's just because it's my job and I love it I live and breathe it so yeah that's what I always do but yeah don't be afraid to ask for help I think is the big one.

5:22Dr Sophie Shotter:I love Sephora, Space NK is another favourite but then I love the big boots or Superjug and I also love Kind of Savers to get bits in there and if I'm shopping online I'd go Cult Beauty or Look Fantastic. They're both really good online shops for makeup. It used to be that there was a lot of things from America that we couldn't get but we can get everything pretty much now. We're very lucky.

5:44Emma Rankin:Shall we start by talking primers and any prep And I'll warn you that these next few questions are basically us trying to find out exactly what's in your kit. But do you tend to use a primer? And if so, what are your favourite brands and products?

5:57Dr Sophie Shotter:Firstly, I'm happy to share any tips and tricks because I'm always telling people buy this, buy that. You know, I love it. I don't keep secrets. So I'm happy to share. Primers. OK, so firstly, prep. Clean skin always. I want a nice canvas to work on. So I'll always cleanse someone's face before I start. unless they're in a rush and we might have to go over but ideally clean skin to start with so a good cleanser micellar water to get all the makeup off i don't tend to use anything with actives in like hyaluronic acid or anything like that for my clients just in case they have a reaction i would personally myself but yeah for just doing makeup with someone i'd go with a really lovely hydrating moisturizer first of all primers i'm using at the moment borean's a lovely brand i don't know whether you've heard of that so i think it's like a korean skincare brand and they've got this lovely primer called Bare Skin Perfection and that just blurs everything and gives you a nice space to work on.

6:47Dr Sophie Shotter:But if you want something a bit glowier that adds radiance, Veve, which is a lovely new brand by the makeup artist Jamie Genevieve, is it? Scottish makeup artist. Her brand Veve has a primer called, I think it's called Super Skin Nova and you pop that on first and it gives your makeup a lovely base that's really glowy and radiant. So that's quite nice. Those are my two favourite primers at the minute. it and staying on prep what tricks and tips do you have for puffy eyes or dark circles under the eyes and again what products tend to be pretty fail safe on these two issues i love it if i'm doing someone's makeup in a hotel we could be quite bougie and ask for room service to send up a bowl of ice water and i love doing that and obviously that's not very easy to get a hold of if you're out and about whatever but if you can do that that's great not only does it help with the puffiness it closes all the pores up so it just tightens everything up I always like to have a jade roller because they stay really cold it doesn't have to do with the jade so I'll use that to de-puff under the eyes and you can use a gua sha for the gels and just really give that face some lymphatic drainage by like applying as much pressure as you can yeah and just smoothing out the skin and de-puffing eye drops I will say I don't use all the time because I think you know you could get used to them but I would use an undry mask which is ideally left in the fridge so it's nice and cold or you could put some cooling gel on it and pop those under the eyes so that's going to de-puff but it's also very cleverly and helpfully going to catch some of the makeup if you're doing a big smoky eye so I tend to put those on everyone and then if I'm doing the makeup it's also catching any droppage cold compress if in doubt just anything cold to compress on the eyes that will de-puff and then a bit of massaging to drain out any fluids and that's going to help you de-puff.

8:34Emma Rankin:So the big one is foundation and of course again we're awash with choice and there are so many different skin tones and skin types but if we really hone in on what everyone's talking about at the moment the glass skin look which foundations do you think really add that beautiful glow and sheen and of course we all know underlying skin plays a huge part to this as well and in fact feel free to recommend your top five foundations across all budgets coverage whatever whatever you love okay yeah so obviously you're going to have prepped the skin

9:07Dr Sophie Shotter:first and put in lots of moisture so always want to put on a really hydrating moisturizer because whatever you give the skin it's going to take in and if someone's got dry skin and you're putting on a lovely glow foundation but nothing else you're just going to take it in and it's just going to disappear so you've done your moisturizer you've done your primer and they're going to go with your if you want the glass skin look the foundations that I love that are all very glowy because like you said there are so many I've used for years in my kit luminous silk which is an Armani one I love that that's my favorite it's gorgeous isn't it and everyone knows it so it's always a crowd pleaser so that I've put that first I think in my brain because it's just a really easy go-to I don't know whether you've heard of the Lady Gaga brand house labs that's a really good one.

9:48Dr Sophie Shotter:I think it's called Skin Touch or something. That's a nice glowy one. High end, Westman Atelier. They do a lovely one that's called Complexion Drops. Even more high end, I can't believe the price of this one. Victoria Beckham, I think it's like 100 quid. She's got a new one out called Foundation Drops. I've been lucky enough to have some to use in my kit. Would I recommend people to buy it? I'm not sure because the price point is very high. I'd probably go Armani. That's always my recommendation. And for a budget one, L 'Oreal True Match. There's like 50 different shades and it's a tenner. I think that's a really good one.

10:24Dr Sophie Shotter:And as we all know, a lot of these brands are made in very similar factories with just a few different ingredients. So if you're buying L 'Oreal True Match, it's not too dissimilar. Sometimes some of the Chanel ones, for example, just a few different ingredients. Sophie, you've spoken about the Armani Foundation for as long as I've known you. So I think that's a ringing seal of endorsement. And Emma, do you tend to apply concealer before foundation or afterwards? And again, do tell us about your favourite or most trusted products. And I guess also any advice for someone like me that basically uses concealer as a foundation, which I know I shouldn't, but I just do.

11:00Dr Sophie Shotter:Do you know, there aren't any rules, are there? Every makeup artist will do it slightly differently as well. I'm going to be annoying and say I do both because this is just the way I work. I'll do a little bit. I always do eyes first so that's a given I do my eyes first again not everyone likes that that's how I do it then I'll do concealer especially under the eyes anywhere problematic then I do the base then I go back in with the concealer to touch up anywhere like I said everyone does it differently but that's how I do it but there is a product that you might like that is actually it's hilarious because it says on it it's neither a concealer or a foundation it's kind of like a both thing and have you heard of a brand called Merit I don't think I don't think I have no I I have.

11:38Dr Sophie Shotter:I have. Merit is, you're probably going to hear me talk about them a lot because they are my most favorite at the moment. It's a really clean, gorgeous brand. It's lots of glowy, lovely products that are really user-friendly. Anyway, they've got this thing. I think it's called a complexion stick and it's both. So I keep a couple in the car, a lighter one for under my eyes and a darker one. And throughout the day, if I need to touch up, I just use that and it's in a little stick. And I think there's like 30 different shades in that. So that's Merit, the minimalist complexion stick. Rodile, that's another good brand.

12:09Dr Sophie Shotter:And I really like the Fenty concealers because again, massive shade range. And obviously I have every different skin tone that I'm working with. So I need to go from the lightest to the darkest and there's like 40 different shades, I think. And it's a really lovely, long wearing, hydrating concealer. So I think it works pretty much on anyone. So those are my top ones there.

12:29Emma Rankin:I think to finish the theme of base what are your most used products for blush and bronzer and I guess any finish you like to give to the skin I think blush is actually one of my most

12:40Dr Sophie Shotter:favorite things if someone said you're going to have one thing even over bronzer I'd go blusher because I think when you've got that little bit of color in your cheeks you just look okay don't

12:49Emma Rankin:you look better it's it's my go-to as well you can wake up so tired you look dead and a drop of

12:55Dr Sophie Shotter:blusher and you look so much better so what would they do in the on day to like pinch your cheeks so a little pop of blusher and there's something on my lips and I feel okay so anything creamy I love cream blushes again the Merit one it's called a flush balm they're gorgeous I think Charlotte Tilby does some really good ones unreal blush sticks but they're really vibrant colors and really strong pigments so you don't need much they've got pinks they've got lovely corally colors more bronzy colors yeah so those two are gorgeous and Patrick Tarr does a duo one and it's half cream half powder because what he likes to do and I think it is a good idea is he does the cream blush first then he sets the makeup then he goes back in the last thing he does is highlighter and powder blush and it just brings out the cream blush underneath so the duos are a really good shout actually because you've got half cream half powder love this list and rather than singling out mascara eyeshadow eyeliner and lips do you fancy sort of talking us through any of your trusted favorites in these categories so just scattergun it if you want to i think mascara is always the top question people ask especially makeup artists what's your favorite mascara what's the best one the cheapest and i think over the years i've spent money on expensive mascaras and i've never really thought they were that wow so my rule of thumb is you don't really spend more than 10 pounds to get good mascara so I quite like the budget ones I mean I've used 2000 calorie for years max factor I love the Kiko ones because they've got teeny tiny ones so you can get right into the corner they do brilliant colored ones I'm using a maroon one at the minute and I've got blue green eyes so if I don't know what color you guys what color your eyes are but using the colored ones just makes the eye color pop got a dark green a navy maroon obviously black so that's kiko and then if you want a fancy one the merit one's lovely it's called clean lash and if you want a tubing one uk lash do a lovely one if you're prone to like flaking or droppage i'd go with that so that's mascara lips lisa eldridge her stuff is gorgeous and it doesn't make your lips dry really hydrating we love those oh bronzers the Chanel ones are great they do lots of different shades now for ages they just have one shade which was ridiculous because you couldn't use it on everyone so they finally got some different shades there and West Minotilio do some lovely bronzing drops as well so you can make your skin look sun-kissed like you've been out in the sun for the day which is quite nice yeah oh and eyeshadows Zeev favorite brand of mine they do these lovely eye ones which is like a creamy eyeshadow stick you just whack on and blend with your fingers so if you're in a hurry and you want a bit of definition those eye wands are really quick and easy i love the tip by the way about matching your eye color to your mascara or having a contrasting mascara i hadn't i'd forgotten that little tip so thank you do you know they're really subtle as well someone won't notice you've got this vibrant color and they'll just say oh your eyes look really bright i've got maroon mascara on it's really subtle but it's lovely as i said

16:00Emma Rankin:at the start of our chat, you've worked with so many different people and on so many different jobs. Any favourite jobs or standout memories? I mean, obviously, it's been a long time.

16:10Dr Sophie Shotter:So I've got loads and I won't want to bore you with them all. I'm trying to think of anything that stands out. Most recently, I did do a lovely job in the south of France, which was a wine commercial. And even though the job itself was lovely, what was even nicer was that we had a chef, a really handsome guy called Alex that came and cooked our dinner every night. But that is literally one of my favorite jobs to date and it was lovely and warm we had a swimming pool we don't always get jobs like that but sometimes we do and we're winning and I met Nick Cave once you know the singer Nick Cave yeah did a lovely job with him and it was great because two weeks before I'd gone to see him at the Apollo and who would know that just a week later someone would call me to say can you go and look after Nick Cave and that's what's so wild about this job you never know what phone call you're going to make it's so random sometimes it's a bit stressful because you're like what's coming next.

16:58Dr Sophie Shotter:But equally, it's exciting. I feel like every time I've won a little lottery prize or something, oh, I've won another prize. That's how it feels sometimes. But I guess Nick Haver must have been in your energy field and you were like manifesting him or something. I mean, that's the woo explanation as to how you got to do a job for Nick Haver a week later. And is it fair to ask you about favourite clients? And just to stay topical, especially on traders, because I mean, we know you're under NDA. And obviously, we'd never ask you for spoilers, and we know you'd never give them. But it's huge at the moment, isn't it?

17:28Dr Sophie Shotter:Just everyone's talking about it. So just feel free to give us any scoop on either favourite clients and particularly traitors. Traitors, so I'm doing the after show on Cloat with my friend Mel, who also does the show. So we get to see who's died and who's been banished and all of that. So all of the spoilers. So unfair for us because we get to know what's going on, but can't really watch it. So that's a bit of a shame. But we get to see everyone. They're all really lovely. You know they don't actually stay in the castle, right? They stay in a really crappy hotel down the road. Really? Oh, is that...

17:58Dr Sophie Shotter:I wondered how do the people who are not traitors not see the people who are traitors leave the crappy hotel to go to the turret? That's the magic of television. That's what I kind of love about TV. It's all smoke and mirrors, isn't it? Yeah, yeah. But any favourite clients that you can think of or is that not a fair question? I do have so many wonderful clients and I adore them all exactly the same but I am going to say Elizabeth Day. I've only known her for about five years but the minute I met her you know when you just meet somebody you think I think we're just going to get on just fine. She's just a really wonderful generous woman who supports other women and I'm all for that.

18:37Emma Rankin:Oh I love that. And what about skincare? What do you like to use on clients pre-makeup and what products are you pulling out of your kit and what's your own skincare routine like?

18:50Dr Sophie Shotter:so firstly let's do the kit one you have to be quite careful especially if you haven't met someone before you can't really just go in and put a load of you know different things on their face they might react even though one of my first questions to anyone is are you allergic to anything or is there anything that would react to your skin you've got to have those questions first even then you've got to be careful because you don't want to put something on someone they're going to react like a hyaluronic acid or any kind of retinol or whatever it is it's too much I think so when I'm doing makeup on a client I always use Walida Skin Food which you've probably heard of because it's amazing I use Walida Skin Food on pretty much everyone my own skincare regime is very different I use anything and everything first thing I do is take my makeup off with some face halos now this is really important because I can't believe that people are still using makeup wipes and makeup pads that get thrown in the bin I can't believe it in this day and age I haven't bought makeup upplads for about eight years so imagine how many i've saved from landfill so the ones i buy a little black or you can get white round disc micro microfiber cloths i think they are you put hot water on them and they take off all your makeup without any product it's amazing and then you just pop them in the wash with your towels on a hot wash and that's it that takes off all your makeup and then i go in with a cleanser i like the willija cleanser it's all sort of it's like a gel and it goes into like an oily balm.

20:12Dr Sophie Shotter:I probably do a double cleanse just to get everything off. And then lately I've been using Dr. Dennis Gross, these like double pads. It's like a two-step sort of exfoliate on your skin. One exfoliates, the other one adds something and then I go in with my serums, my oils, my moisturizers, my eyelash serum. The works, basically. I really love this. And what about, back to the makeup chair, what about your ultimate makeup chair playlist? I mean, is there one? Do you have music on or is it generally just chit-chat? Are you led by the client? And I guess linked to that, is it tricky dealing with a stressed or a nervous client?

20:51Dr Sophie Shotter:I'm imagining it must be. Again, our job is part doing makeup, part reading the room. And if you sense that someone doesn't want music on, it might be silence or it might be that someone wants to talk or they might not want to talk. You're never going to necessarily have the same taste in music as someone. And we sometimes laugh because I'm a bit of a music snob. so I'll just go with whatever they like. I think it's just easier. Someone could choose their own music but I prefer a chat if I'm honest. I feel like it's a therapy session for both you and them and it's quite nice. You get like an hour, maybe an hour and a half with someone and that's why so many people become really good friends with their makeup artists because you really do put the world to rights in that hour and a half sometimes.

21:29Dr Sophie Shotter:It's a really lovely thing actually.

21:30Emma Rankin:In terms of your own health and wellness, do you follow any specific routines or protocols? do you take any supplements what works for you you're obviously busy and I imagine you travel a lot so how do you stay healthy so it's probably only since I turned well I'm in my late 40s now

21:47Dr Sophie Shotter:but once I turned 40 I started taking some supplements and looking after yourself the signs are there you start going to perimenopause and your skin gets drier your joints start aching you just start to feel like you're getting really old basically so I've really started to up my game with my supplements my non-negotiable is happy mammoth hormone harmony which is a hormone balancing supplement i've been taking for about probably nearly three years now it's definitely got magnesium in it it's got the mushroom in it that i can never pronounce ashwagandha is it ashwagandha ashwagandha yes it's got that and it's the main ingredient so it helps with brain fog it helps with anxiety stress it balances your hormones i used to get hormonal acne on my jawline completely gone it's bonkers so I take that religiously every day and have done for a long time and that really helps I also take magnesium before bed I take omega-3 and I drink so much bone broth I can't tell you I have a friend who's a nutritionist and she's like just drink bone broth every day make your own if you can and if not I use the frazier one which is really tasty and I just either make it in a cup and have it as a drink or I cook with it but it's got loads of collagen in it.

23:01Dr Sophie Shotter:So I do that every day. When we spoke to you ahead of the recording, I love that we bonded over loving the Elizabeth Day podcast and of course loving Elizabeth Day. So besides Elizabeth, because I think she's now kind of fast moving into national treasure territory, can you tell us about a woman that you admire besides family and friends as well, if that's okay? Can I have two? Of course. Yeah. I'm a big advocate for feminism, women's rights, all of those things so I remember when I discovered Gloria Steinman probably was probably in my late teens and I think a book that everyone should read is The Truth Will Set You Free by Gloria Steinman she's an American writer activist and feminist and she's just incredible and she's changed so many things for women obviously we've got a long way to go but I just think she's incredible and everyone should read her books yeah amazing woman and the other one I'm loving at the minute because I follow her how to fast I think she's written a book called fast like a girl is Dr Mindy Peltz she's a nutritionist and a health expert and she really focuses on women's hormones I think even recently a man approached her and said can you start doing some research on men's hormones please she said no absolutely not because there is so much research on men and women get forgotten about and now it's time to focus on us and things that we don't know that we were never taught at school I mean Polly Vernon's just written a book called How the Female Body Works which is amazing and every girl should read it every woman should read it you know things like that so yeah Dr.

24:31Dr Sophie Shotter:Lindy Pelt amazing woman she's got a podcast she's got Instagram just everything she says is amazing and really helpful so I definitely follow her if you can

24:42Emma Rankin:finally Emma what's the best advice you've received and given I guess so often we share

24:48Dr Sophie Shotter:the ones we love sometimes pieces of advice go like expressions that people say can be a bit cheesy can't they but there's one that I've always loved which someone said to me once and it does make sense because we all do it I remember someone older than me saying I think I was moaning about something or other comparison is the thief of joy I thought that's so good isn't it that's awesome we compare ourselves to other people all the time and we can never stand up match up to it and we're depressed because nothing's as good as that it's like you have to focus sometimes on what you're doing is stay in your own lane and not worry about what everyone else is doing I thought that was really good I actually had it written on a bottle my friend was starting a new job and I had the initials of that put onto her one of those little chilly bottles so that she could read it every day in her new job I was like don't forget comparisons of joy so we always say that to each other as a friendship group because it makes us laugh as well thank you so much Emma for sharing so much

25:43Emma Rankin:and giving us some good giggles there. You can follow Emma on socials at Emma Rankin and I thoroughly recommend you do because there are some gorgeous photos on there of Emma's work and you can also find her contact details on there. Thank you, Emma. Have a lovely rest of your day. Thanks, guys. It was great to talk to you both. And that ends this week's podcast. If you want to find out more about me and my work or maybe book a consultation, head to drsophyshotter.com and you can find me on socials at dr sophie shotter and again thank you so much for listening