Michael Brown's Full Face, Live: Every Product From Ep 119

Kate Bell

Michael Brown was back on the podcast, and this time we didn't just talk through his kit. We watched him use it.

Full face, live, on our model Kate, no cuts. Here's everything he reached for.

Skin prep: the Magic Cream, still undefeated

Michael's go-to is the Charlotte Tilbury Magic Cream, reformulated back in June this year, now with peptides and niacinamides in the mix. Charlotte Tilbury built it specifically to sit under foundation without pilling, which fixes Michael's biggest complaint with proper skincare creams doing double duty as makeup prep. If you want something lighter, he also uses Naturium under makeup: no actives, no vitamin C, no retinol, just peptides.

Then came Tarte's new mattifying ballin primer (it genuinely has little balls in the formula), which Michael's only had in his kit for a month. He applies it just in the centre of the face where he wants to mattify, and says it doubles as a bit of a face massage on the way on. [ADD LINK]

The Hollywood Flawless Filter, but not the tube

Michael's used the Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Flawless Filter for so long the packaging's rubbed off his bottle. His one rule: skip the tube version. He finds it doesn't last as long and can go patchy later in the day. He uses the pump version instead, applying it under the eye over any dark circle, above the lip, down the centre of the nose and forehead, and on the highlight bone, for glow and a blurring effect at the same time.

Trying a brand new foundation, live

This was a first for Michael on camera: the brand new Make Up For Ever HD Foundation, which arrived in the mail the day before filming. He applied it in shade 222N Neutral with an Hourglass foundation brush, small amounts, building coverage with a flick-and-sweep technique.

Concealer, in dots

For concealer, it's Charlotte Tilbury's Airbrush Flawless Concealer, full coverage, applied in just a few dots with a tiny Kitology sponge. Michael's tip: less is best. A full tube of this concealer lasts a long time because so little is needed per face.

Contour has moved. Here's where.

This is the one to screenshot. Michael's placing contour higher than the old rule of right-under-the-cheekbone. His reasoning: everyone's chasing lift, not sculpt, at the moment, and contour placed too low just cuts the cheek. He used the Westman Atelier cream stick in Truffle (a warmer bronze tone, Biscuit is the cooler option for very fair skin), blended up and back toward the hairline.

Bronzer with zero shimmer

Michael's current favourite is the Haus Labs bronzer. His one rule: no shimmer, ever, in a bronzer. And don't forget the neck. It's the one spot that never sees the sun, so it needs bronzer even when everywhere else is warmed up.

The blush that's also a highlighter

The Haus Labs Glassy Blush Balm in Ginger was the standout here. Michael applies it high, right on the orbital bone, and calls it a blush and highlighter in one. For more pigment payoff, he pointed to the Charlotte Tilbury blush sticks or Rare Beauty as more intense options, but says that's exactly why he prefers the Haus Labs formula: it's harder to overdo.

Eyes: three sticks, no powder needed

Michael used three of the Charlotte Tilbury Exagger-eyes sticks: Cashmere Sculpt as the all-over taupe base, Mink Sculpt for a bit of depth in the socket, and Ballet Quartz as a pearlescent highlight on the lid. He's taken nothing but these sticks, no powder shadows at all, on entire work trips.

Tight lining over top lining

Michael's doing a lot more tight lining lately (lining the upper waterline) and a lot less lining on top of the lid. His reasoning: once you've got a soft, nude eye like this, a hard line on the lid just draws attention to the liner instead of the eyeshadow. He used a Fenty eyeliner for the tight line, a softer, rounder pencil tip that sits more comfortably underneath the eye than a sharply pointed one.

Turning it into a night look

To take the look from day to date night, Michael reached for the Make Up For Ever Limitless Brown liner along the lash line and buffed it into the tight line for a smoky effect without a hard edge. He credits Hailey Bieber for kicking off the whole brown-liner trend.

Brows in two ways

Michael showed two brow tools: the Anastasia Beverly Hills ArchiBrow pencil, an extremely fine 0.5mm tip used in small, angled strokes to mimic individual hairs, and a separate three-pronged pencil by Benefit for filling sparser areas with more texture. To finish, he used the Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Freeze Wax, which presses brow hair flat instead of drying hard like a gel, so there's no flaking.

The brightening step most people skip

Right at the end, Michael went back in with the Charlotte Tilbury Magic Vanish (shade 2 on Kate) under the eyes and around the blush zone. It's a blurring, brightening corrector he uses purely as a finishing touch once everything else is already set.

Lips, buffed not lined

For lips, it was the Make Up For Ever Artist Pencil in Anywhere Caffeine, Michael's go-to nude. He doesn't connect the liner top and bottom anymore, since it can distort a natural smile, and buffs the liner out with a small eyeshadow brush instead of leaving a hard edge. Over the top went the new Haus Labs Lip Lacquer, which the brand says lasts up to eight hours. The trick: don't let your lips touch for 10 to 15 seconds after applying, or it won't set properly.

Setting it all down

To finish, a small amount of Fenty powder went in the centre of the face for blur and brightness, plus a Haus Labs blurring loose powder for anyone needing extra staying power. And the big reveal: MCo Beauty's brand new All Day-a setting spray, which Michael confirmed is an official collaboration with Skindinavia, using their original All-Nighter formula. Not a dupe. Temperature-controlled, fine mist, the same formula that used to sit inside Urban Decay's All Nighter.