Julia Roberts’s Makeup Artist on Their Get-Ready Routine: ‘She Sits There and Is 100 Percent All Ours’

We’re willing to bet our vintage VHS copy of Pretty Woman that Julia Roberts has had her hair and makeup done about 1,000 times. But red carpet after red carpet, one thing remains constant: She puts the direction of her beauty look in the trusting hands of her longtime pros: makeup artist Genevieve Herr and hairstylist Serge Normant. “Julia never gives directions,” Herr, who’s worked with the star for over a dozen years, tells PEOPLE. “She says, ‘You’re the experts,’ and she sits there and is 100 percent all ours.”

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Given Herr and Roberts’s long relationship, we had to ask the pro what the best thing is about creating a look for the actress. Of course staring at that mega-watt smile ranks pretty high, but Herr says the level of trust between them is huge. “As an artist, that’s important for me.”

So how does Herr decide on a makeup look for Roberts? “Julia is always laughing, so I try to keep her makeup fun because that fits her personality,” she says. With that in mind, the pro gave the Lancôme ambassadress glowy skin, soft, smoky eyes and a “pumped up” pink lip for a celebration of the brand’s 80th birthday in Paris.

Herr first applied Lancôme’s Miracle Cushion Liquid Cushion Compact, a weightless foundation, (“It’s important to use lighter textures as you get older,” she advises) before putting a slightly shimmery pink blush on the apples of her cheeks. “I usually use peach but I said, ‘It’s a party, it’s festive, let’s give you a little more blush.’”

Related Video: Julia Roberts’ Changing Looks!

Up next, a gray-black smoky eye. Then Herr curled Roberts’s lashes twice before swiping two coats of Lancôme’s Grandiôse mascara on top and bottom lashes for an eye-opening look. Lastly, Herr layered the brand’s Rouge in Love in Sweet Embrace lipstick over a more natural color “for a little dimension.”

And how did the star react to the look? “She was excited! She said, ‘Oh my God, I look great, thank you.’ She was really happy, and she looked amazing from head to toe.”

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— Jackie Fields