Georgia May Jagger Just Taught Me the 4 Best (and I Mean Best!) Model Makeup Hacks

Say hello to Unfiltered, a fresh beauty series where you’ll get an exclusive glimpse into the dressed-down beauty routines of our favorite celebrities and content creators. They’ll reveal their guilty-pleasure beauty practices, the five-minute-routine product lineup they can’t live without, the one good-skin tip they’ll be forever thankful for, and so much more. To bring every conversation full circle, we ask each celebrity to send us a selection of self-shot, filter-free photos of their choosing to capture the essence of their Unfiltered beauty philosophy.

Up next, we’re getting to know model Georgia May Jagger, whose skincare brand, May Botanicals, recently launched stateside. Below, she’s answering all of our rapid-fire questions and sharing her five-minute makeup routine, her favorite hair era, her best beauty hacks, and more. Enjoy!

I want to start with your modeling career. Of course, you’re the daughter of legendary supermodel Jerry Hall, but what made you initially want to get into modeling?

I started modeling when I was 14. I got asked to do a job with a photographer who I ended up working with a lot over the years, Matt Irwin. I did a job that was just one photo with him for i-D magazine. I honestly started out thinking it was just going to be that, and it wouldn’t really be a big thing. Now, there’s a lot of shorter models, but I’m 5’7″, so I didn’t really imagine that I would get very far in modeling.

From there, I started to do more and more small jobs, and then by the time I was 17 [I was] doing bigger jobs, like Rimmel and Hudson. So it was kind of accidental, I suppose.

A happy accident! Speaking of Rimmel, I remember those campaigns so vividly, as I’m sure a lot of people do.

Yeah, it was eight years of it!

I mean, iconic. So what was that experience like? And is that what sparked your love for beauty, or was that love already there?

I think that love was already there from my mom and my sister. My sister is eight years older than me, and she’s very into skincare, so she was a big inspiration for me in terms of making my own brand. But I think working with the most amazing people on remote jobs [also inspired me]. I feel like makeup artists and facialists are the most knowledgeable people, and they really helped to inspire me to do new things with makeup but also with skincare.

In those campaigns, I was working with Charlotte Tilbury before she even did her makeup line—I remember her telling me about doing it as well—and Val Garland. So [I was working with] some of the biggest makeup artists, and the skin prep side of it is such a big side that people don’t really see as much. Now they do with TikTok and Instagram, but it definitely inspired me, and it was always something that I was quite focused on. It’s something that’s really important, the prep that you do before a shoot like that.

Would you say prep tips are the best tips that you got while you were on set?

I would definitely say that. And I think just watching people do makeup, seeing what products they use, and their application definitely helped me be able to do my own makeup. Back then, my version of makeup was, like, green inner eyeliner and powder on my face.

My mom is from the era of models when you had to do your own makeup, and there wasn’t any makeup artist. She still does her own makeup most of the time. She’s always been someone who’s done a lot of things herself and doesn’t go for a lot of expensive treatments. [She] does her facials herself and her makeup herself. So she and my sister were huge inspirations.

What would you say your first beauty memory would be, either with your sister or your mom?

When my mom would go out to an event or something, she’d have a big chest of makeup. I would just go in there. She had a really long hair extension wig piece, and I just put it on. I wasn’t allowed to wear makeup until I was a teenager, so it felt like a big thing.

I used to go visit my sister in New York, and we eventually lived in the East Village together for a year. When I would first go there, she would take me to a shop called Live Live & Organic, which is still there in the East Village. They’re actually going to stock May [Botanicals]. I used to buy products from there, and they were the first people to stock RMS. This is so long ago, like 12, 14 years ago, and they had RMS. They had other ranges that we didn’t really have in the UK. So I would go in there with my sister, and we would try products and buy things from there. It was really one of the first stores that I knew of like that.

I would bring them back to England, and then my English friends would send me a shopping list of what they wanted me to get when I was next in America. I went recently on my trip to New York, just to bring the guy that owns it a box of stuff, just as a thank-you for introducing me to a lot of products.

So shifting to hair—you are also something of a hair icon, and you’ve had some really fun looks over the years. What has been your favorite way to experiment with your hair?

I also invested in Bleach London like 10 years ago, so Alex Brownsell is my best friend and partner in that. Alex was actually also the hair assistant on that first job I told you about when I was 14 and she was 17. We’ve known each other all this time. She gives the most amazing haircuts. A lot of hairdressers are like, “Okay, we either style or we do color.” She does full transformations, and she’s amazing with that stuff. She did that magenta look on me for the Fashion Awards and made as bright pink as possible. I think that’s the one that I always go back to.

I try to plan my year out so that I can try different Bleach hair looks. They wash out, but in a certain amount of time, so we get a bit strategic about it. When I have a break from modeling for a few weeks, like over Christmas or something, I’ll do a bold color. I’ve done a lot of them, but I think magenta is the one I [love most] because it’s a cool color that looks like it’s got blue tones in it. I feel like it suits me more. But we’ve done a lot of good ones. Actually, I had an orange one, and then it washed out and became this light-orange color. We called it “blorange.” Then she made a color like that so that you could just have that color.

Zooming out, what would you say has been your favorite beauty look of all time?

I think the haircut that Alex gave me because I’ve never had a fringe. They call it a “wolf cut” now, but she gave me that in 2016, and that haircut suited my hair. Before that point, I was incredibly precious about my hair, like only having an inch [cut]. So I think that was a really good one.

And when I first went to the Met Gala, I [wore] not very much makeup. I really liked that look for a red carpet, interestingly. I feel like people always do tons of stuff, and [Mugler] really wanted to do pared-down [makeup]. I actually think that looked really good. Sometimes with a red carpet look, I quite like being a bit underdone in terms of makeup.

Okay, on the flip side, is there one you look back on and you’re like, “I don’t know if I would do that again”?

When I won the British Fashion Award for Model of the Year I was 17, and I literally look like I’m 45 because I’m wearing so much makeup. I have lashes on, I’m very blonde, my hair’s all tonged and not brushed out properly, and [I have] really white face makeup with a really shiny red lipstick. When I look back at that, I’m just like, it’s a bit too much of everything.

Recently, I’ve been trying to do a dark burgundy lip, and I did it for the Burberry [show], and I actually didn’t like that look either. I’ve done it a couple times recently, and I feel like I can’t actually pull off that oxblood lip. I try because I see other people looking amazing in it. I saw Stella Maxwell—she’s friend of mine—doing it the other day, and I was like, “Oh, she looks so good.” But for some reason, I just don’t think it quite works for me.

So May Botanicals is now available in the U.S.—congratulations! I’d love to hear about the ethos behind the brand and your inspiration for starting it.

It was kind of something I’d always wanted to do from very early on and dreaming up products with my sister from when I was a teenager. Then I started the design of the products five years ago, so it’s been a long time that we’ve been developing these products. I’ve always had eczema-prone skin, sensitive skin, but always wanted to be able to use products. That was always a bit of a struggle for me because when I would go to a Sephora and buy tons of things, it would always make the situation worse.

So I wanted to make something that was for people with sensitive skin that still felt luxurious, [so people felt] they were able to experiment and have fun with skincare products at the same time. That was the main inspiration behind it while also making it 100% natural and made out of glass and recycled packaging.

I wanted to do all these things without looking like an organic, sensitive-skin, eco brand. [I wanted it to] still look elevated and like it could fit in. I’ve always been obsessed with makeup packaging as well. I really wanted the packaging to feel like it was something different from a clean beauty product, not just a white tube. The look of an old-school perfume or makeup brand is what I wanted. I like it to look good with everything on my shelf.

Any specific brands you took inspiration from in terms of packaging?

I was more inspired by those apothecary glass bottles. That’s why I wanted to do the really dark blue bottles.

I had my friend Matty Bovan, who’s a fashion designer, do the illustrations for me. I was quite inspired by the idea of his illustrations, but I [was also inspired by] old-school perfume bottles, like a Chanel No. 5 or something like that. I just wanted it to feel like it fit into that world of how I saw my mom’s dressing table.

I noticed you have a sheet mask in the lineup, which I feel like isn’t super common for brands to have among their core essentials. Have you always been a fan of sheet masks?

[From] traveling loads and having more sensitive, dry skin, I was always looking for the best ones that would just make me feel rejuvenated if I was doing a shoot. It’s all that prep stuff that we were talking about—that’s often what [makeup artists] put on you before a big photo shoot, like Rimmel. A lot of them that I was buying just didn’t really feel like they were doing anything, and I wanted something that was more of an experience.

They’re also [made of] plastic, so the one I’ve made is actually biodegradable, and it’s made of 100% kelp. It’s from Korea, and it’s infused with this amazing serum. … Because I was using a lot of [sheet masks], I was like, “Okay, this is actually quite bad for the environment. This is pretty wasteful, so what is another way that I can make one of these?”

It might not be everyone’s cup of tea to use seaweed, but it just makes your skin feel so hydrated afterward, and it just completely changes the texture of your skin. It’s amazing.

Also with traveling and everything, I love the fact that you can just put one in your handbag and if you’re going somewhere overnight, it’s not like a whole situation. I can bring this extra luxury, even if I’m packing minimally for a weekend.

So what’s next for the brand? Is there a dream product you would love to create next?

Well, we have an oil that’s coming out for Christmas that’s really exciting. It’s the Golden Hour Oil, and it’s got carrot root in it, and it’s actually a really good oil for sensitive skin. So that’s our next product coming out, but in terms of things that I want to make, I mean, I’m not really supposed to say, but I really want to do a lip product.

Oh, that’s exciting! Especially with the Rimmel of it all, that would be just such a good fit.

Yeah, I’m very excited about that part of it. The product-development bit is where I have to hold back a bit because the whole point is to not have tons of steps and tons of products. Obviously there are missing steps in the May routine, but I still wanted it to be three core products—which are the balm, the moisturizer, and the cleanser—and then ones that are more treatments, like the sheet mask and the spot treatment. But there are definitely steps that I’m fantasizing about filling in.

Of course. So I want to wrap up with some rapid-fire questions. You’ve obviously worked with some of the best beauty pros in the industry. What have been the best tricks you’ve ever learned?

Trick-wise, it’s a lot of that prep stuff. So lymphatic massage, that’s definitely something I never knew about before working with makeup artists. Obviously now it’s a huge thing and everyone does it, but from the beginning of my career, [I learned the benefits of] facial massage, doing a sheet mask before you do your makeup to prep your skin, also keeping my sheet mask and my roller in the fridge. Anything cold is definitely a big prep thing for me.

In terms of makeup tricks, Val Garland always does this one: When lining your lips, she puts the mirror underneath your bottom lip because you often miss that bit. That one’s a really good one. In terms of eyeliner, I always do my bad eye first. Red lips—just lining them. I like to go slowly, blot, and almost layer it when I do it. That’s definitely something that I’ve learned how to do.

And if you had to leave the house in five minutes, what are just a few staple beauty products you would bring with you?

My five-minute routine—I just actually did it for Instagram—is what I have on now. I do my May Daily Dose Moisturiser; then I use the Super Balm with one [lip] product, whether it’s a lip liner or a lip balm. I do blush and lips with a multipurpose product and mix that in with the Super Balm, and then just mascara and concealer. I tend to do a four-item routine most of the time.

What mascara and concealer do you use?

Today, because I’m a bit tired, I’m wearing Clé de Peau under my eyes, but I use another one called Chantecaille. For mascara, I’m wearing Lancôme Hypnose right now, but I like the YSL one in the gold tube for evening. That’s my mom’s favorite as well. It just makes you look like you have fake lashes on.

I just put the Super Balm on my cheeks and lips, and then I mix in a little bit of the Nars Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Do Me Baby. [Editor’s note: That color is currently sold out, but you can still snag it in this mini set of two!] And then I do the Super Balm on top and maybe a bit on my eyes. I’ve literally just been doing that—I’m pregnant, and I’m not really doing much. If I was doing a more evening [out] routine, I’d have more steps.

Did your mom ever give you great skincare advice? What was the best tip?

My mom definitely has a “less is more” approach. She showed me how to give myself a facial with a muslin cloth, where you steam your face and stuff like that before. When I was a teenager, she’d help teach me how to do spot treatments. But she’s also inspired the range a lot because she loved to use olive oil on her body and things that you would just have in the house anyway—like avocado oil as a body moisturizer. So I think that’s a good tip from her. She’s on her hair as well, and she has the best hair.

What would you say is your signature beauty look?

A matte, orange-red lip and a cat-eye, liquid liner. It’s definitely perfect.

And finally, what is your Unfiltered beauty philosophy in seven words or fewer?

Don’t take it too seriously and have fun with it.

Shop Georgia May Jagger’s Unfiltered Beauty Edit