Peter Philips is a make-up auteur. He specialises in crepuscular fairy tales of whey-faced nymphs with black, black hearts. For eight years, he has done make-up at Veronique Branquinho, Raf Simons and Oliver Theyskens; more recently, he has worked for Dries van Noten, Giorgio Armani and Alexander McQueen. “I liked the way we evolved with Branquinho,” he says. “We created a specific type of girl with a young face — fragile.” For two shows, he painted faces porcelain-white, then blackened the models’ teeth. They walked with mouths slightly open, with unsettling resonance. “It created an alien effect without being too overpowering,” says Philips, who trained in fashion at the Antwerp Academy and “rolled into make-up” from there. He learnt on his own, rather than assisting. “You make a lot of mistakes, but it’s a nice way to learn,” he says. His greatest inspiration is the psychedelic It girl Veruschka: “She’s an artist on her own — she created her own make-up looks and her own hair.” His favourite products include Armani foundation (he is contracted to the company), Mac kohl pencils and Kevyn Aucoin concealer. His latest triumph, a stained, bluish-carmine mouth on a pale face, for van Noten’s spring/summer show, was a nod to geishas and the early feminists. “I was inspired by women of the early 20th century,” he says, “when they took off their corsets and began to travel.” He’s the Tim Burton of make-up.