While working on twindly, we’ve met a lot of fascinating people from the beauty industry. What’s better, after all, than sitting around a table and chatting about beauty? We’d love to do that with all of you reading this! But alas, because that’s quite impossible, we’ve started this interview series in which we’ll ask insiders like MUAs, small business founders and influencers how they perceive beauty and ask them to share their best tips and tricks with us all. So, grab a chair and a coffee and come and join us!
27-year old Maggie Cappelletti came to Berlin two years ago, after having lived in Istanbul, Turkey, where she had her own makeup studio. Besides the usual work at events and such she also offered makeup lessons, plus having her own beauty column at a Turkish women’s magazine. Chicago-born Maggie got her Bachelor in Fine Arts, but was snatched up by the Dior freelance pro team in Chicago soon after to do fashion and promotional events. Everything she learned – the makeup artistry, the beauty writing and the makeup coaching – now comes in handy as her new company Clubelle, a personalised beauty service platform, launched recently. We talked to bubbly Maggie about what makes you beautiful, her inspiration and how she started teaching friends doing their makeup over Skype (really!). (You also might want to scroll down to the end of the post for a special treat for our readers!)
twindly: When did you get really into beauty?
Maggie: I was always into beauty. Even as a teenager, I would do all my friends’ makeup all the time – makeup for the prom, makeovers, everything. I definitely got it from my mum, who loves makeup, but I took it a bit further. I love the artistry in it. I am also a painter, and even early on I loved mixing colours and expressing myself with different styles. That’s what fascinating to me.
twindly: What inspired you to start your own business, Clubelle?
Maggie: Istanbul was blooming with clients for me, and Berlin – well, not so much. There were still some of my clients in Istanbul who came to me for makeup advice even when I wasn’t in Turkey any longer, so I was doing online lessons with them over Skype. Then there was my best friend in Turkey who had become a new mum. She sometimes felt unhappy because her skin had changed and she didn’t have the time to do her old makeup routine anymore. She came to me for advice for a quick, new routine, and even messaged me when she wanted to buy some new makeup products. She told me that this was such a cool service, especially for new moms and working women. So I combined that idea with the makeup lessons and came up with Clubelle.
twindly: So tell us about Clubelle. What’s the deal?
Maggie: Clubelle is a service platform. We pair women with their own makeup artist so you can get your own beauty coach! I wanted to take a luxurious service and make it available to everyone. You can sign up for one of three membership packages: Silver, gold and diamond. You can also just sign up for free and book a lesson or a package like the Makeup Bag Rescue, which is how to use all this makeup that you have, if you don’t know how to use the colours in this palette, or if you always use the same things.
twindly: What do you get with each membership package?
Maggie: With silver you get access to the whole site, and get a phone call from an advisor to see what we can do for you. Maybe you want to book an online video session with a makeup artist. Each lesson is an hour long.
With your gold and diamond package you get paired with a beauty advisor and you get a full beauty analysis. We identify the key points of what you need help with and then we make suggestions for both skincare and makeup. Because we’re not affiliated with any brands our product suggestions are in your price range and exactly what you want. The cool thing is, if you go to a Douglas or Sephora or you go to a big event tonight and you don’t know what product to pick, you can just use our messaging app and message your artist. With the diamond membership you also get one free hour lesson a month.
twindly: What was the best beauty advice you ever got?
Maggie: I have really dark undereye circles. One of the Dior makeup artists showed me how I can mix a pink lipstick with my concealer to make a corrector. When I put my foundation on top, my circles were completely gone – magic!
twindly: How long does it usually take for you to do your makeup and what is your everyday look? (Share a pic? Please?)
Maggie: 15 minutes. An evening look can take anything from 30 minutes to an hour. I never really leave the house without foundation, that’s for sure! Foundation, eyebrow pencil, and then I always do a blush and a bronzer combo for some light contouring, mascara, eyeliner, maybe an eyeshadow, and then, depending on the look, bright or dark lipstick. It always sounds like a lot, but it looks really natural. I usually coordinate my everyday makeup with my outfit. So it changes from day to day depending on what I’m wearing. One of my favourite things right now is wearing high contrast black and white patterned clothing with a really bright lipstick and with a graphic liner.
twindly: Where do you get your inspiration for your makeup looks, and while we’re at it, what are your fave beauty sites on the net?
Maggie: I get a lot of inspiration from fashion. I’m always looking at runway shows, I go to a lot of the fashion shows in Berlin during Fashion Week, and I’m looking at a lot of different colours and patterns that are in this season. Travelling is also great for getting inspired. You see women with a totally different style!
I look a lot at different brand sites to see what they’re doing. Makeup Forever does some good videos. I also love to check Sephora for new products! Stylecaster is probably my favourite site. I check it every day, look at different trends and then I copy the makeup looks! I’m really picky about beauty blogs, but I love Charlotte Tilbury, and I look at her site and videos a lot.
twindly: Tell us some of your beauty holy grails – what would you never want to be without?
Maggie: Oh, I have a pretty serious skincare regimen! But I wouldn’t want to be without my eyebrow pencil and foundation for sure. Favourite foundations are Dior Airflash, which has an airbrush formula in an aerosol can and Clinique Even Better foundation. Absolutely fantastic for the price and when you can’t get the Airflash! I was using the Dior eyebrow pencil for the longest time but I’ve found this ridiculously cheap pencil by flormar in Blonde that does exactly the same. I’m also obsessed with my Urban Decay Naked palette, the original one. My favourite palette. It’s a gorgeous classic that always look great.
twindly: What does beauty mean to you?
Maggie: Beauty is a feeling of confidence, power, and being yourself. I think when women feel beautiful they act like it too. They act more confident and take more care of themselves. Express themselves more. I think makeup is an awesome tool to really express yourself. It’s a way of having fun and also it can give you instant confidence! It has tremendous impact.
I think as women we are naturally expected to know how to apply makeup, but the truth is that most women don’t know how. Makeup can be really difficult to apply correctly. It is about finding the right balance of great products, colors and looks that bring out the best in you. Makeup is completely individual and that is what I love most about it.
twindly: Thank you so much Maggie!
You can find Maggie’s beauty service platform here: http://clubelle.com/
There’re also two discount codes for Clubelle at the moment. With DIAMOND10 you get 10 dollars off of the diamond membership package, and with GOLDEN5 you get 5 dollars off the golden membership!
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