Lottie Tomlinson is blonde, gorgeous, and killing it in her career. The glam girl boss, whose older brother is 27-year-old Louis Tomlinson, has 3.4 million Instagram followers, her own beauty brand, a clothing collection with InTheStyle, and she has now been cherry-picked by Huda Kattan (aka Huda Beauty) to create a gorgeous lash collection. Having just turned 21, and loved-up with her Influencer boyfriend Sam Prince, life looks rosy for the Northern lass. But as we all know, life is a rollercoaster, and with the ups, there have been downs. The influencer has had to deal with heartache - in December 2016, her mum Johannah Deakin passed away after a battle with leukaemia, and in March 2019 her sister Félicité died, aged just 18. For some, dealing with these life events would make you want to get in your bed and just stay there, but for Lottie, she focused on her career and smashed her goals.
We sat down to talk to Lottie about her dream collaboration with Huda, what it's like to have 3.4 million followers and how she celebrated turning 21. Sweetly, she revealed what her mum left for her to open on her 21st, and what Louis gifted her to mark the milestone…
Lottie on… getting a DM from Huda
It was about two years ago now, she messaged me on Instagram and asked if I'd be interested in collaborating with her and I couldn't actually believe it. I thought she might have actually messaged the wrong person because I'd followed her for years - she was actually one of the first people I followed on Instagram, so it's been quite a long time in the making.
Lottie on… being compared to Kylie Jenner
I definitely wouldn't put myself anywhere near her [Kylie] but it is really flattering to hear. I think in the respect that she has her brand and I have my brand, I can see the similarities there but obviously, I'd never brand myself close to her but it's obviously flattering.
Lottie on… beauty being a form of self-care
Definitely. I think if I'm having a down day it will be worse if I sit there with no-makeup and haven't got ready, or I haven't pampered myself. I can completely turn my mood around it I get up, do my hair, put my makeup on - I just feel like a completely different person, so I think it is really important. It's quite symbolic for me anyway, in how I'm feeling about myself because if I'm not putting much makeup on or not bothering to get ready I can get quite down, whereas if I'm getting up and making myself feel good it puts me in a much better mood.
Lottie on… what life is like having millions of followers
I think it's all I've ever known. Because I've had it for so long, it kind of just fell into my lap, it's not something where I've tried to build my followers up so I think it's quite hard to say what life is like. It happened so quickly. It's nice because I feel like I have a big set of friends who I can share stuff with; share my photos with and they're all really positive and nice so I love it - it's really nice.
Lottie on… showing her followers when she's having a down day
I think with me, I feel so lucky to have the platform that I've got, and to have all these followers, so I almost don't want to bring negativity on there. But at the same time, it is nice to be able to show a different side to things, but it is easy to just show all the good stuff so I am trying to be a bit more vulnerable with it, but at the same time, you don't always want people to know when you're having a bad day or when you're struggling, but I do think Instagram is getting a lot better with that. There are more people letting people know when they're down, and letting people know life's not all perfect, and I do think that's important.
Lottie on… not letting the trolls win
I've been in this situation for so many years now, but at first, it did get to me a bit, but I've managed to develop a really thick skin. I am lucky that I don't get that many negative comments, but if I do I just delete them. I'll never retaliate because I think that just asks for more - if you give them a reaction they'll just come back with more, so I just get rid of it and ignore, that's the best thing to do.
Lottie on… the apps she recommends
Lightroom is probably my most used one. And Afterlight is also really good for getting different light leaks on the pictures - and that's really good.
Lottie on… dating a fellow Instagram star
It is a lot easier because they kind of just get it. It is a lot harder if they don't really understand. They'd think: 'Oh why do you want so many pictures?' And it's not just one picture, and then we're done. [Sam] will stand with me for all my angles, take a hundred photos until we've got the right one. So it does make things a lot easier and it does make your job more enjoyable because you're not constantly trying to beg for someone to take a picture and constantly having to explain why you're having to do it and why you need so many.
Lottie on… her 21st birthday
I was really lucky and I got some really nice gifts. Probably my most treasured one was I got left a ring from my mum, one of her wedding rings that she wanted my nan to give me when I was 21 so that's probably one of my most treasured gifts.
Louis came up North and we had a nice family BBQ and he also got me a trip to Vegas so he's got full brother marks. I've been so many times but I've never been 21 when I went there so I've had this need to go out, I just want to go out there.
Lottie on… who she calls up if she's having a down-day
If I'm going to call someone up for a heart to heart it would probably be someone out of my family, my little sisters, my nan or my boyfriend - me and my family are all so close.
Lottie on… her favourite moment from the One Direction days
I think one time when we were in Dublin, it was one of their first stadium tours and my mum was there and my sisters, and my little Doris and Ernie, who were really tiny at that point. That was a really surreal moment because I think it was about 80,000 in the stadium so it was so nice to have all the family there and to see all the people, so that always really stands out as a memory.
Lottie on… why the Huda Beauty Luxe Silk Lash Lottie lashes are so special
These ones are made with Korean silk so it gives them an extra fluffy look, and they're really soft and they have a cotton band which makes them a lot easier to adhere to the natural lashes.
Lottie on… her top tips if you have hooded eyes
Trim your false lashes down - make a shorter lash just to put on the outer corner and that will give you a lifted look - that would look quite nice on hooded eyes.
Lottie on… the best beauty tip from Huda
I think one of the best tips I've seen on her account is to contour your lips. Obviously, you typically contour your face, so when I saw that you can contour your lips I thought it was a really good idea and I've been doing that for a while now. It really creates a more fuller sized lip - I think that's a really good trick.
She does it with a lip pencil, so you use a darker lip pencil and then you draw lines in the lip to create a really full look and then you can use a lighter lipstick in the gaps to create the illusion of bigger lips.
Lottie on… the makeup she struggles to master
What I can't get right is winged eyeliner - I see these girls and they have perfect winged liners and I try it on myself and just can't seem to get the shape right for my eyes and I find it closes my eyes up too much. I get really jealous because I think it looks amazing on other people but I've never been able to master it myself.
Lottie on… Molly-Mae from Love Island
I don't know her but I recently started following her because I think she's really nice and she has really nice pics. I think her hair is amazing as well - she always had really nice hair. I've been getting a bit of hair-inpso from her recently.
Lottie on… letting freckles show (ala the Duchess of Sussex)
If I had freckles I would definitely let them show, I think they're really nice and I wish I did have them - I think they look really pretty. When my skin is a bit better - because I do struggle with breakouts - I like to use a tinted moisturiser, which would be good for people with freckles if they still want their freckles to show but still want a bit of coverage. I really like the Laura Mercier one.
Lottie on… the royal she'd most like to do a makeup look on
Probably Kate. I just have always thought she was really beautiful and has that classic look. I think I'd just do a really natural glowy look on her, but I suppose it would be nice to get her a bit more glam if I could, just because the royals are always so natural.
Shop the Lottie Tomlinson x Huda Beauty silk lashes now, priced at £23.