Newsflash: over-contouring and strobing is a big no-no, according to makeup pro Will Malherbe

&nbsp;

From his native South Africa to London, Paris, and&nbsp;Los Angeles, Will Malherbe is a bonafide globe-trotting makeup pro with more than two decades&nbsp;of&nbsp;experience to his name. As Director of International Education at Smashbox &ndash; a brand&nbsp;synonymous to high-definition beauty &ndash;&nbsp;he&#39;s not just adept at creating flawless, fuss-free&nbsp;Insta-worthy&nbsp;looks &ndash; he&#39;s the authority in that very field.

In this exclusive interview, we chat with Malherbe on all things beauty-related: tips, tricks, trends, and the&nbsp;all-important question: What&#39;s the one product no woman should live without?

LOfficiel Singapore Smashbox makeup artist Will Malherbe.png

What was your earliest memory of makeup?

I remember vividly&nbsp;as child, hiding underneath my mother&#39;s desk and watching her sew. Her toenails were painted in a bright orange red &ndash; the exact shade of the <a href="http://www.smashbox.com/product/6126/39351/lips-cheek/lipstick-liner/be-legendary-lipstick/new-shades#/shade/FIREBALL" target="_blank">Smashbox&nbsp;Be Legendary Lipstick in Fireball</a>. To this day, I can&#39;t see the lipstick without thinking of my mother and getting a little emotional.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Another&nbsp;memory that stands out for me was&nbsp;watching my mother put on makeup as she was getting dressed.&nbsp;I was always mesmerised at how makeup can play&nbsp;such an important role in&nbsp;enhancing your mood and showing the world who you are &ndash; because makeup is an extension of your personality.

When did you first notice&nbsp;Smashbox?

I remember walking into a Smashbox store years ago and being amazed by&nbsp;their&nbsp;selection of primers. My reaction was&nbsp;&quot;Wow! They really are the authority in primers.&quot;&nbsp;I was very&nbsp;intrigued by the concept of a makeup brand tied to a photo studio. After Smashbox&nbsp;became part of the Est&eacute;e Lauder Group, I was given the opportunity to join the brand. It has now been four and a half years with Smashbox and such an incredible journey.

From photo shoots to primers: Smashbox is a beauty brand born out of the legendary Smashbox Studios in L.A.

Fun fact: Smashbox founders Davis and Dean Factor are the great-grandsons of makeup legend Max Factor

If you were stuck on a deserted island, what product would you want with you?

My first response is SPF. It&#39;s so hard to choose one product that I cannot live without but I really love the <a href="http://www.smashbox.com/product/17619/35631/face/bb-cc/camera-ready-bb-water-spf-30/new#/shade/FAIR" target="_blank">Smashbox&nbsp;BB Water</a>. It&#39;s a&nbsp;5-in-1&nbsp;multipurpose product: it&#39;s hydrating, oil-free, has&nbsp;SPF 30, and a&nbsp;little bit of primer built into it. &nbsp;When working on shoots with&nbsp;models who have&nbsp;dehydrated or tired-looking skin, my foolproof trick is to&nbsp;press&nbsp;the BB Water onto their skin (to&nbsp;increase hydration in the skin cells)&nbsp;and apply&nbsp;foundation for extra coverage &ndash; the skin instantly looks fresher and more radiant.&nbsp;

What&#39;s&nbsp;the&nbsp;one Smashbox&nbsp;product every woman needs?&nbsp;

Definitely a&nbsp;primer. If you&rsquo;re going&nbsp;do your makeup, you need to apply&nbsp;a primer underneath to make everything look better and&nbsp;last longer. It&rsquo;s all about editing the skin or editing the foundation &ndash; using the right primer can&nbsp;influence how you want your&nbsp;foundation to look.

"Makeup plays such an important role in enhancing your mood and showing the world who you are – it's an extension of your personality."

What&#39;s the&nbsp;most common beauty mistake women make?

Putting makeup on with no primer. What is the point of putting in all that effort to look amazing, only to have your eyeshadow&nbsp;crease&nbsp;and your skin look shiny after an hour? You need to make sure the basics are locked into place.&nbsp;

Another mistake is going&nbsp;crazy on&nbsp;strobing or contouring. It might look cool&nbsp;for an Instagram photo&nbsp;but just remember that you&rsquo;re doing your makeup for real life. I find that a little bit of strobing and contouring&nbsp;is a great way to create a three-dimensional skin but at the end of the day, the goal is to have defined and highlighted features&nbsp;that are not&nbsp;super shimmery or super sculpted.&nbsp;

Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer, $68

Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer Hydrating, $79

Smashbox Photo Finish Primer Water, $52

Smashbox Camera Ready BB Water Broad Spectrum SPF 30 in Light/Medium, $75

Smashbox Cover Shot Eye Palette in Smoky, $52

Smashbox Cover Shot Eye Palette in Ablaze, $52

Let&#39;s look into the crystal ball. Makeup-wise,&nbsp;what&#39;s going to happen&nbsp;in the year ahead?

The look for Spring/Summer is all about the modern-day hippie:&nbsp;burnt orange and terracotta tones, very diffused eye makeup &ndash;&nbsp;almost like eyeshadow meeting&nbsp;the blush on the cheek on a golden skin tone.

For next season, we&#39;re going to see&nbsp;lips become&nbsp;more feminine and playful than ever before. Lip art is&nbsp;the new nail art &ndash; whether it&#39;s ombr&eacute;,&nbsp;two-toned, liquid metallics&nbsp;or&nbsp;adorning&nbsp;the lips with diamant&eacute;s.

What is Smashbox up to for the rest of the year?

We&#39;ve just collaborated with Shay Mitchell for&nbsp;the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.smashbox.com/product/6029/45663/eyes/eye-shadow/cover-shot-eye-palettes#/shade/Smoky" target="_blank">Smashbox Cover Shot</a>&nbsp;palettes. It was an incredibly fun&nbsp;experience working with her on the shoot,&nbsp;conceptualising&nbsp;with her beauty&nbsp;team to&nbsp;show the seven different sides of Shay&nbsp;according to the seven different palettes. Smashbox has also teamed up&nbsp;with makeup artist <a href="https://www.instagram.com/vladamua/?hl=en" target="_blank">Vlada Haggerty</a>,&nbsp;who is known on Instagram for&nbsp;her lip art. As our new lipstick Editor-in-Chief, she&#39;ll work her magic on Smashbox&#39;s&nbsp;lip collections and next month, we&#39;ll both go on a&nbsp;tour,&nbsp;sharing lip art all over the globe.

Do It Like A Pro: Makeup Tips by Smashbox

Tags

Recommended posts for you

Watches & Jewellery

A Four-Tiered Celebration For Boucheron's Quatre Pieces

Fashion

Chasing Sunsets with Chanel's Spring/Summer 2024 Collection

Fashion

Chronicling Every Single Met Gala Theme In History

Culture

ZICO Gives Behind-The-Scenes Look of New Single with BLACKPINK's Jennie

Fashion

Who's On the Met Gala Guest List for 2024?

Beauty

Best Lip Looks Inspired by Kim Ji-won in Hit K-Drama 'Queen of Tears'

Watches & Jewellery

Meet the Louis Vuitton Tambour Slim Vivienne Jumping Hours Sakura and Astronaut

Living

Exploring LV The Place Bangkok