Amber Butchart: When I was first invited to present a series of historic make-up tutorials for English Heritage, it sounded like a great project. I loved the idea of helping people to create different looks from the past at home. A big part of the work that I do is about using clothing and how we adorn the body to try to understand the past, so I just thought this sounded like a fantastic route into history, and a lot of fun as well.

Rebecca Butterworth: In the series we go all the way back to Roman times, where we’re focusing on Julia Donma, who was the wife of Emperor Septimius Severus in the 3rd century AD. We also recreate the iconic looks of Queen Elizabeth I and Queen Victoria, along with typical looks from the Georgian era and the 1930s. Our most recent video concentrated on the Second World War and we styled the model as a Wren serving at Dover Castle. 

RB: The hardest tutorial to produce was the Roman episode. I really wanted to recreate some Roman make-up recipes but it’s hard to get hold of the ingredients these days. It was also very difficult to apply the make-up because I was using a replica of a Roman make-up applicating tool, which was this little grinder with a small mixing bowl to make an eyeliner. The shape of the grinder is meant to fit your eye so you can draw your eyeliner straight on, but it was definitely not that straightforward!

AB: You can definitely see how make-up and fashion have evolved together through the ages as they didn’t operate in a vacuum. For example, madder root was used to create blush during the Elizabethan era but was also used to dye clothes. Their evolution can also be related to changes in politics and culture and so it’s a great magnifying glass for these wider issues in society. Because many of us still wear make-up and all of us still wear clothes, it forms a tangible link with the past.