Lucy Bridge’s photobook is a modern guide for beauty lovers

The practice and processes of being a make-up artist are central to Lucy Bridge’s Colour Mode. The new book, the first to be dedicated to the make-up artist’s bold, expressive body of work, brings together over 380 images. This includes favourites from her 17-year deep archive, alongside 10 commissioned original shoots by longtime collaborators like Tim Walker and Carlijn Jacobs. The imagery is beautiful, striking and full of the features that have become Bridge’s signature: bold colours, strong graphic lines, a theatrical sense of drama and freedom of expression. But woven throughout, you can find quieter details that will draw interest of a different sort – especially for all those aspiring make-up artists and lovers. 

These details shed light on Bridge’s routines and practices, like the behind-the-scenes images shot by photographer Jean Marques at each commissioned shoot, which show the stages of her creative process. Or the lists of make-up shades that precede the photographic stories they were used in. Bridge’s tools even make their way onto the book’s cover, after Jack Davidson took a picture of her eyeshadow palettes and projected it onto a model. “This is my [way] of letting people into my world a little bit and showing them how I do things,” she tells me over Zoom whilst in the midst of Paris Fashion Week prep. “I really hope that people can learn from these images and pick up some tips and techniques that I have created.”

Colour Mode was first conceived in 2023, after Bridge crossed paths with Veronica Ditting at a fashion show and the creative director loved how she cropped and displayed her make-up looks. Together, the pair began approaching photographers from their respective networks, while also going through the archives of Bridge’s vast portfolio. The result is a book full of richness and depth, which exhibits her experimental style and instinctive challenging of beauty norms. “I wanted to showcase my underlying thread of make-up, from the very beginning to where I am now. It’s been 17 years, but all of my make-up, even from back when I did the very first i-D shoot, you can still tell it’s mine.”

The book includes original commissioned shoots, images from your archive and also behind-the-scenes photography from the commissioned shoots. I thought it was an interesting and cool choice to have that behind-the-scenes creative process rather than just seeing the final images. Was that an idea from the beginning or did it come in later?

Lucy Bridge: Yeah, it was actually an idea that I had from the very, very first meeting with Veronica. I thought it was a really important process to show in the book because I noticed on social media people got very excited about this BTS aspect. I think they like to see the build-up of the make-up, half done, half not done. It’s showing my process, my tools, the mixing of the colours, how I build the make-up layer by layer. I thought it’d be a really beautiful way to inspire other artists about the way that I work.

Usually with make-up or beauty imagery, you only get to see the final result. 

Lucy Bridge: That’s the thing. I’m not one of those make-up artists who goes on social media and will do a full look on myself and explain what I’m doing. So this is my [way] of letting people into my world a little bit and showing them how I do things. I really hope that people can learn from these images and pick up some tips and techniques that I have created.

Another thing we did is that at the beginning of every story, Veronica had this really amazing idea. She’s obsessed with what brands call certain products and shades – you know ‘shivering white’ or ‘phantom’ or ‘move your body’. So at the start of every [commissioned] story, the shade names have been listed in order of sequence. I thought that was a really nice female approach and added another layer to the book, especially for people who are make-up artists and want to know what I’m using. I’m giving them a little look into my kit, but without being too direct. If they did want to figure out where ‘tangy tease’ is from then they can [laughs].

When you were going to the photographers [for the commissioned shoots], was there a brief or did you let them guide it?

Lucy Bridge: When we first started with the conversation, Veronica and I would have an idea in our head, and we’d present it to the photographer. Obviously, it’s a collaboration, so then we built on the storytelling from there; there was a lot of back and forth. I am a Virgo, and I’m very methodical, and I plan looks out one-by-one. I love to create visual make-up decks. Having that structure really works for me; I can’t really go into a beauty shoot, especially when it’s for my book, very loose and ‘let’s go with the flow’. But each photographer works differently. 

For example, with Carlijn, I know how fast she shoots. I’ve worked with her a lot. She’s incredible. We only had one day of shooting, and I wanted to get the most out of her as physically possible. So we did two shoots simultaneously. We did a still life shoot, and then we also had models. With Sam Rock, we were shooting in daylight, so you have a really strict window. So we did less looks. Whereas with Carlijn, who can shoot in a studio from morning to night, we can get as many done as we need to. With some photographers, I’ll be on WhatsApp for three days before, going back and forth preparing. Whereas someone like Tim [Walker] likes to get in the moment in the morning. So before the shoot, we had a little cup of tea and a conversation about what he wanted to do. That was the least prepared we were going in.

Interestingly, your process before the shoot is so methodical and organised because then the work itself is very free and expressive. Do you think by doing all that initial planning, it then creates an environment for you where you can be so free?

Lucy Bridge: Yeah, definitely. Obviously things do change on the day. Certain colours or certain ideas might not be working on a particular model or in a particular lighting. Working backstage at Fashion Week and editorials, this is something that I have to deal with on a daily basis – pivoting from one idea to another and being quite fast-paced and having quick ideas. But I always like to go in with a plan. If that plan diverts, that’s fine. It is about being free in the moment, and I do think that that is where I get my best work. 

I never plan out a make-up look 100 per cent. I’ll have a loose idea or a reference, but the make-up itself is very instinctive on the day. You have to custom tweak and add things on set. But I love that. That’s what I find so incredible about my job. It’s adrenaline-inducing to be working that fast-paced. I am quite fast at doing make-up as well, which I pride myself on.

When it comes to your work, what are you trying to say about beauty?

Lucy Bridge: My beauty is definitely unapologetic, and I have a very unafraid vision. I love vibrant and colour-defining looks. I love taking visual risks. I feel like my make-up has intense precision. It’s very uncompromised and obviously hugely influenced by artists. I just really wanted to push it. When I was younger, I used to push it a lot, and now, especially working with Tom Ford and Dries Van Noten, I’ve gone into a more sophisticated world. But I still want that Lucy Bridge touch, where it feels very heightened, very elevated, very modern. I think the modernity comes from the colours and the tone. I mean, I just love bold make-up, bold, colourful make-up.

Dries Van Noten, in the book, describes your work as always having a surprise factor. Do you go in thinking, ‘I want to do something unexpected’?

Lucy Bridge: I always do feel like I want to push it and when I’m working with the designers, for example, at Fashion Week, I’ll stand back from my work that I’ve created and think, ‘Have you seen this before? Has somebody done this already? How can I change it? How can I make it more modern, more in keeping with my world?’ Sometimes that can just be like a raising of the eyebrow, for example, so you’ve got a super clean, alien-esque face. Or changing the texture of a lip. At Tom Ford last season, I did a purple lip but created this super high-matte velvet finish. That’s what gave it the modern look. It was something very easy and simple, but it had a really huge dynamic effect.

Your work is always very colourful, very bold, very unapologetic. And now we’re seeing some of that come back into fashion and celebrity beauty in a more mainstream way, which I’m thrilled about.

Lucy Bridge: For real, if I see one more natural make-up look on the runway… I’m like, ‘Come on, guys!’ I get that they need to sell the clothes at the end of the day, but you have to create a world and a vision and a character. You need to be excited about it. Like what Haider Ackermann is doing at Tom Ford; it’s a modern woman that you can relate to, but then you’re creating this character on the runway that’s elevated and heightened, and I think that’s really where hair and make-up come into play. I’m sick of seeing natural looks on the runway. Honestly, it’s so boring.