Brigitte Bardot perfected the Most Universally Flattering Look of All Time during her beach bunny days of the '60s. The combination of windswept big hair and sultry black eyes with elongated eyeliner wings simply cannot be outdone when it comes to seductiveness.
Other makeup looks can achieve lovely natural glows, artistic expressiveness, color statements, etc., but the recipe for looking utterly gorgeous is still the Bardot combo.
Which is why she remains the ultimate muse for today's leading makeup artists, almost all of whom have shown the world their riffs on Brigitte's look.
Thankfully we now live in an era where those artists are willing and able to share step-by-step guides and include the exact products used so that we too can transform ourselves into a French supermodel/actress in our own bathrooms.
Since the Bardot look is so revered and endlessly copied, there are countless videos to choose from. After extensive and pleasureable research, we've edited down the videos to the absolute Top 5 best tutorials.
The most important criterion was that the final look had to be stunningly gorgeous- the makeup needed to transform the model into a Brigitte goddess, not just ape the general eyeliner. Secondly, each of the videos below showcases a renowned hair/makeup artist, so the techniques displayed and products used are professional grade.
1. Mary Greenwell:
The Brit is the top momma of the foremost makeup artists today. Both Charlotte Tilbury and Lisa Eldridge assisted early in their careers for her. She's most famous for doing Princess Diana's makeup, and also painted the faces of the '90s supermodels throughout their careers.
2. Sam McKnight:
A fellow Briton and colleague of Greenwell's, McKnight has been responsible for some of the most iconic hairstyles over the span of his 30+ year career. He famously styled Princess Diana's short hair, and continues to manipulate the tresses of the world's top celebrities.
3. Charlotte Tilbury:
Tilbury was only 11 years old when she was first introduced to Mary Greenwell. She's world famous for her ability to create the most sexy makeup looks on celebrities, and won the well-deserved honor of doing Kate Moss's makeup on her wedding day. Of all the artists mentioned here, Tilbury is the biggest disciple of Bardot's makeup. She personally wears the teased, big hair and winged smokey eyes look everyday. She's so devoted to Brigitte's eyeliner that she doesn't let anyone see her without it (including her husband at night), as recently confirmed in a WSJ article. Tilbury just launched an incredibly successful eponymous makeup brand, so you'll be able to follow the below tutorial with her high quality products if you're so inclined.
4. Monika Blunder:
The Austrian artist began her career by assisting for the makeup legend Kevyn Aucoin, and nothing beats those credentials. Her current client list includes Jennifer Lawrence, Rosie Huntington Whiteley, Jessica Alba, and more.
5. Billy B:
Like many others of the artists mentioned on this list, Billy B is a role model whose creative success serves as an inspiration well beyond the makeup world. He's a self-taught artist from Mississippi who went from the sales floor at Macy's to painting the faces on magazine covers. His current clients include Beyoncé, Dolly Parton, and Lady Gaga. Within the past few years he designed a set of makeup brushes for his own personal use, and only after many celebrity clients pressured him to sell them, he released them to the public, where they've acquired a cult status among brush fanatics.
