"There's a fine line between doll and cool, between sugar plum fairy and rock-and-roll Ophelia."

Makeup. From "mere mortals into glossy goddesses." From Jennifer Lopez into "ultra-groomed Grace Kelly doppelgänger." From Christina Ricci into "the reincarnation of Jean Harlow." From "innocent-looking girl" into "slightly disheveled wood nymph." From "gorgeous into pure candy."

At an early age, the brilliant makeup artist Charlotte Tilbury saw the light:

[A]s a redhead with pale eyelashes, she never felt attractive until she tried mascara when she was 13. Suddenly people she had known for years started remarking on how pretty she was. "It traumatized me to instantly become more popular just because of the mascara," Ms. Tilbury said. "But then I realized that to achieve the power of beauty, sometimes you need a little makeup, darling."