CELEBRITY make-up artist Daniel Sandler chose a North East spa to showcase his award-winning cosmetics range. LIZ LAMB meets him.

HE may be a make-up artist to the stars but Daniel Sandler’s forte is creating wearable looks for real women.

If you want to hide your ruddy cheeks, accentuate your eyes or make your nose look smaller and your lipstick complement your skin tone, then he will have the answer.

Over the past 20 years, Daniel has worked on both sides of the Atlantic and all over Europe on shoots with high-profile fashion photographers and with designers backstage at a number of major fashion shows, and he is a regular on national television.

He also works with celebrities getting them ready for red carpet events. Most recently he has worked with Nell McAndrew and actress Georgina Chapman and he will also be turning his magic on chef Marco Pierre White for a new TV show and WAG Carly Cole for a magazine shoot.

But it is real women who can really benefit from a Daniel Sandler makeover.

He says: “There is a lot of unfair pressure on women of all ages to look as good as a celebrity or cover girl and this upsets me. What I believe is that a woman can only be happy and look her most beautiful if she makes the best of herself with make-up shades and formulas that make her look her best for her age. In this way, she will look fantastic whenever she wants.

“My forte is to unlock a woman’s potential. I can show her how to look younger and really stunning without having to resort to botox or fillers.

“The right make-up can do so much. I can show her how simple it is with my range.

“Its’ about accentuating a woman’s best features.”

The make-up artist launched his own cosmetics range to make his looks accessible to all and now he spends time educating women across the world as well as customers at his Urban Retreat Make-up Studio in the most famous department store in the world, Harrods, London.

Daniel recently visited the North East to hold a special event at Rockliffe Hall Hotel in County Durham which is the only stockist in the region of his brand.

“We are really choosy where we put the brand but I fell in love with Rockliffe because of the attention to detail and I love all the other products that they have here,” he says. “The spa is amazing.”

Last week Daniel headed an event at Rockliffe to showcase his cosmetics range and show real women how they can look ‘younger and sexier’.

Hooker & Young in Darlington also did hair makeovers to complement the make-up.

He says: “We chose four women from different age groups and with different dilemmas to showcase. We had one lady who recently changed her hair colour and didn’t know what to do about her make-up. That happens a lot, for instance when women dramatically change their colour from brown to blonde or to red.

“There was another lady who is a busy mum and only has five minutes to do her make-up in the morning so she wanted tips on that, and another lady didn’t know how to do her eye make-up so her eyes looked wide and bright.

“I find a lot of women get stuck in a rut. Unfortunately this can make them look older than they are.

“What women can do is still use shades that they like but use make-up and techniques that are more complimentary so they look younger and nicer.

“They don’t have to spend a lot of money. My range is not overpriced. Often you buy a designer brand and the price tag goes up because of the name. We have a mineral foundation which is under £20. You can come back and change your make-up bag and look and it won’t break the bank”

DANIEL’S TOP FIVE PRODUCTS FROM HIS RANGE

1) Face Primer. “This always sells out and there is a huge waiting list.”

2) Make-up brushes. “These are make-up bag size and they have won awards with Cosmopolitan and Grazia magazine too.”

3) Watercolour. “This was voted best blusher at Cosmopolitan’s Beauty Awards. It comes in 10 shades.”

4) Super mineral Make-up. “This foundation was voted the best by Brides magazine. It’s an invisible powder and suits all skin tones. It also stays on all day.”

5) Waterproof eyeliner. “It comes in lots of colours and it’s long-lasting. When we had them on QVC in the States we sold 13,000 in five minutes.”

Daniel Sandler’s make-up range is available at Rockliffe Hall spa. Call 01325 729999 or visit www.rockliffehall.com/spa. It is also available at beautique.com or lookfantastic.com. You can also see his make-up tutorials on boots.com