It was a tube of mascara, wielded for the first time at age 13, that changed Charlotte Tilbury’s life.

“Using it, I felt instantly more confident and empowered,” says the 48-year-old beauty magnate, whose eponymous line was sold to Spanish conglomerate Puig last year at a valuation of £1 billion ($1.8 billion). “From that moment, I knew I needed to share the power of beauty with the world and that one day, I would create my own beauty company.”