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Motsi Mabuse's Strictly makeup artist spills huge secrets about working on the show

The Strictly judge's makeup always looks incredible… 

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Leanne Bayley
Director of Lifestyle & Commerce
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International celebrity makeup artist and hair stylist Marcos Gurgel (aka @marcosgmakeup on Instagram) has revealed to HELLO! which foundation he uses on Motsi Mabuse for the Strictly Come Dancing live shows. Plus, he reveals when he reapplies here makeup during the show, and how his heart raced during one particular episode. 

We think you'll agree, Motsi's makeup is always the talk of Twitter while Strictly's on - it always looks phenomenal - but it's her flawless skin we swoon over. Marcos tells us: "I am currently using Pat McGrath Skin Fetish: Sublime Perfection, £60. It’s a great foundation with the right amount of coverage still leaving the skin looking like skin."

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He's thankful beauty brands are becoming more inclusive with makeup shades, saying: "Thankfully, most brands these days will have a larger shade range from very pale to very dark skin tones."

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He loves his glamorous client who he works with each week for the BBC hit TV show. "Motsi has allowed me to really play with colour, shapes and of course a lot of glitter when doing her makeup," he said. "She loves her eyes to pop. We have done everything from an all matte look to a Swarovski eyeliner to a green and gold glitter eye makeup look." 

oti yellow

When probed about budget beauty buys, Marcos told us he doesn't concentrate on how much a beauty product costs: "I am a great believer in the actual product and not how much it costs. I have learnt the hard way that it’s not all about the price tag. One of my favourite products in my kit is Revolution’s Iconic Lights & Contour Pro Palette." Costing just £8, this palette is a firm favourite with makeup fans. The palette, which can be purchased at Superdrug, has eight buildable shades designed to contour, sculpt and highlight. 

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If you wonder how the 38-year-old's makeup can look so perfect all through the show - even though there are no advertisement breaks - you'll be eager to know when the touch-ups take place. 

MORE: Motsi Mabuse reveals most surprising thing about Strictly that viewers don't realise

Marcos said: "The show is incredibly busy, as you can imagine, and adding the fact it’s a live show it becomes even more stressful at times but luckily for all the makeup artists behind the scenes, we have the VTs which are played just before the couples dance and that’s when I go up to the ‘judges desk’ and do any touch-ups on Motsi, whether is a quick powder to take the shine off to reapplying her lipstick/gloss or at times just that extra pop of colour on her cheeks."

RELATED: Inside the Strictly Come Dancing judges' fabulous homes

Has he had a beauty malfunction take place? Well, nearly. "Thankfully this year nothing too dramatic has happened. The only thing that really had my heart racing was when of Motsi's false nails popped off midway through the judges comments. Luckily for me I carry spare nails and nail glue in my set bag so I quickly popped over to her and replaced the nail. It was a tough 45 seconds watching her wave her hands with a missing nail."

It's never a dull job on the Strictly set, is it?

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