11 makeup lessons Margot Robbie's makeup artist has taught us

Pati Dubroff doesn't just boast a client list that includes regulars like Margot Robbie, Elizabeth Olsen and Phoebe Tonkin, she's also the brilliant mind behind Sofia Richie's viral wedding makeup. 

So when the makeup artist takes to Instagram to share the makeup lessons she's learnt with her 30+ years of experience in the beauty industry, we know to take notes. 

After a lifetime of painting the faces of editorial models and celebrities she's accumulated a wealth of knowledge: Here, BEAUTYcrew breaks down Dubroff's top beauty tips for a photo-ready full face, long-lasting blush, the secret to mastering heat proof makeup in the warmer months, and more. 

1/ The complexion prep is everything

"I don't want to overdo anyone. I don't want someone to [my client] and say like, 'Oh, your makeup. It looks so good'," Dubroff shared on the Lipstick On The Rim Podcast. "It's like, 'Oh, no. You're beautiful'."

"I take time before I touch any makeup. I take like a good 20 minutes of skin prep and that's with tools. I have a microcurrent. The one I have is from Korea. It really — it works well. It works fast. There are other microcurrents that you don't have to go to Asia for like the ZIIP ($792.99 from ZIIP) and the NuFace ($682 from MECCA)."

"It gives a lift, but what it really is doing is... It's oxygenating. It's working out the muscles. It's giving stimulation," she explained. "I don't want it to look paralysed. I want it to look like it's been worked out and alive."

Then the makeup artist will follow her microcurrent massage with some gua sha or face rollers, then she'll use some cryo therapy to minimise puffiness.

"Ihave cold rollers... I'll have an ice bucket, have the cold roller in... then I'll use the cold tool to like push back whatever needs pushing back that has a little extra inflamed puffiness," she shared. "That's like 15 to 20 minutes of manipulation of the face and then all of a sudden it looks alive." 

"[Then] you don't need as much foundation. You don't need as much highlighter — whatever product — to get that glow."

The foundation I have been using very, very religiously on my clients is called Suqqu. It's a Japanese brand," Dubroff continued. "It was created by a makeup artist for film, but it was also created for mature skin. And the finish is — I credit that foundation with why I'm able to get people's skin to look like hyper skin. I like the one that's called 'The Foundation' ($122.40 from Cult Beauty) — it's a cream in a glass jar."

She also recommends investing in a few shades of your foundation and concealer to get the most natural finish possible: "I always use three shades of foundation on people."

"Here's the thing. You're not just one colour... you would probably be like [a few shades]," she explained. "I use [a darker shade] to cover my like pigment spots and just for a little like under the cheekbone on the chin, because you don't want the chin to look light. You don't want the nose to look light. So, I'll use a touch darker one."

2/ Powders and heat don't really go well together

According to Dubroff, if you want your makeup to withstand the warmer months then you need to ditch powder makeup. 

"When you're doing heat proof makeup, you definitely want to be using creamier formulas," she explained via Instagram. "Powders and heat don't really go well together."

"I use so little powder," Dubroff shared on the Lipstick On The Rim Podcast. "I think that powder can be the devil when it comes to agein.g but also when it comes to like wanting that kind of glowy natural look — you know powder's not going to be your friend."

"I don't even like powder blush, I'll use a little bit of powder blush just to set a cream blush if someone has a big long night, but if it's just a few hours or just on myself it's cream blush... Rare Beauty ($43 from Sephora) I really like...Chanel [Les Beiges Healthy Glow Sheer Colour Stick] ($78 from Chanel) is a great one, too." 

3/ Use a mattifying primer instead of setting powder 

When Dubroff is trying to quickly apply her makeup and get out the door, she likes to leave messy setting powders out of the equation, and opt for a mattifying primer instead

"This is so I don't have to use powder," she said. "This is going to just mattify, and fill in the places where there's a little more texture, lines, whatever."

4/ You should be layering your blush

Dubroff is a 'less is more' makeup artist, but according to the expert, if you're not layering a powder formula over your cream blush then you're missing out. 

"With a classic powder you're going to get a kind of water colour, soft effect," she explained, saying that cream will offer a bit more of an intense colour pay off. 

"What I would do is I would layer them," she continued. "I would do a dash of the cream first, and then I would do a little whisper of the powder to seal it and help with longevity."

5/ Definition is important for photo-ready makeup

Whether she's prepping Margot Robbie for a red carpet, or trying to apply passport photo-acceptable makeup on her own face, when it comes to cameras Dubroff says definition is everything. 

"I'm going to make sure all my features are very well-defined," she shared. "That flash from the passport photo camera can really just make everything blow out."

To counteract the unflattering flash, Dubroff buffs a bronze cream contour into the hollows of her cheekbones, up into her temples, and along her jawline. Then she blends a bright pop of glowy, cream blush onto the apples of her cheeks with her fingers.

Brows are an unmissable step for a passport photo, as far as Dubroff's concerned: "It's going to give structure to the face."

"Keep it neutral with the eyes to enhance your features," she explained. "You want your lips to be an amped up version of your natural lips, and don’t forget lip liner — 'edges' are good for passport photos."

6/ Get creative with your mascara

"You want brown on the bottom lashes and you want black on the top lashes, because the black on the bottom lashes is a little too intense and spidery unless you're doing like a really dark smokey eye," Dubroff told the hosts of the Lipstick On The Rim Podcast. "The brown is softer... That's kind of a thing on like on Margot. I use brown mascara most the time when it's a very soft face so there's not that harsh black.

If Dubroff has left home for foreign shores without her winged eyeliner, she doesn't stress if she has mascara in her kit.

Instead she uses her mascara wand to coat her top lashes, then she presses the wand tip onto the outer corner of her eyelid to stamp on a tiny wing, and she soaks a cotton bud in micellar water to clean up the edges and sharpen it up. 

7/ Don't throw out your favourite winter lipstick in spring

Rather than ditching your deep, dark winter lipsticks in spring, Dubroff recommends tapping the lip colour onto the centre of your lips instead.

"I'm gonna put it on my finger and stain the lip, not getting too close to the edge," she explained. Then, using a lip brush that she's dipped into the same shade, she lines her lips, and layers a healthy amount of a hydrating tinted lip balm in a spring shade over the top to subtly brighten the colour.

8/ Use setting powder to enhance your highlight

After the makeup artist has applied highlighter over the high points of her face, or where she wants to catch the light, she enhances it with a sheer setting powder. 

"The [Chanel] Baume Essentialle ($83 from Chanel)... it's quote unquote "highlighter" — but it's a balm. And this for the women over 40 — this is the ticket," Dubroff shared on the Lipstick On The Rim Podcast. "You don't want to put highlighter that has any kind of powdery, sparkly things. You want something that's balmy.. It's the best... multiple well shades... they're very transparent... your beautiful matte eyeshadows —you put a little dash of it on the lid and it... kind of brings more light in."

However, don't over do it.

"To make shine pop, I strategically place mattifying powder in certain areas," Dubroff explained via Instagram, sweeping pressed powder across her nose, forehead and chin, and through the centre of her face.

9/ You don't need fancy products to clean your brushes

When Dubroff needs to clean her brushes on the road she uses whatever she has on hand to get the job done. 

"I'm making do with what I have," she explained, filling a glass measuring cup with hot water from the tap, and adding a bit of dish soap to it. 

"Now I'm going to start dipping my brushes in and swirling them around," she said. "The foundation ones first, because those are the ones that have the most dense amount of product built into them, from the way that they're being used."

"If I had a bar of soap I would rub [them] on a bar of soap, but I don't have a bar of soap here, so I'm going to rub it on my hand to get as much stuff out as possible," she continued.

Once they're clean, she rinses them under the tap with cold water, and leaves them out in the sun on a tea towel to dry. 

10/ Invest in multiple foundation brushes for a flawless finish

Rather than sticking with one foundation brush to perfect her makeup, Dubroff uses many different foundation brushes to continuously blend — "that's how you get a flawless finish".

She usually starts with Westman Atelier's Baby Blender Blush ($112 from MECCA), which was created by fellow celebrity makeup artist, Gucci Westman.

"I love this brush. I'm obsessed with it," she gushed. "It fits exactly right in the pockets in the eye area, around the side of the nose area, it just fits. It's like a makeup artist understood this."

Chanel's Touch-Up Face Brush ($80 from David Jones) is a very well-loved brush in her collection — "I use this all the time".

"I would go in with the [Westman Atelier Baby Blender Blush] for the first step of foundation — the lighter shade — and then I would go in with this one and start blending," she explained.

"[The 2-In-1 Foundation Brush from Chanel] ($80 from David Jones) is the one that I'm going to use for the contour, and for the perimeter of the face," she went on to say. "This brush sometimes could also be used for bronzer."

11/ Mix lip products with different undertones to create the perfect pink shade

Pink lipstick can be hard to wear without it washing you out, or even looking a little immature. To counteract this Dubroff recommends mixing two lip products with different undertones to create your own custom pink lip colour.

"Mixing a cool coral and a blue tone pink helps makes them both more wearable," she shared. 

To prep her own lips, Dubroff applies a clear lip balm, and then layers a bright apricot tinted balm over the top. Then, in the centre of the lips only, she dabs a small amount of a cool-toned tinted lip balm. 

Main image credit: Getty Images

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