Michael Brown's Kit Favourites: Everything We Talked About On Ep 118
Michael Brown x The Inside Edit
Michael Brown is back on the podcast, and this time we went full kit rundown.
Michael's a freelance makeup artist with 25 years in the industry. He started out on retail counters for the Lauder Group, moved in-house at L'Oréal, and has been freelance for the last 12 years, mostly doing event and red carpet work. Which also means he gets gifted a lot. We're talking 15 to 20 PR deliveries a week, sometimes products that haven't even launched in Australia yet.
How he actually manages the gifting
Every gift gets sorted one of three ways: straight to kit, a gift for someone else, or "I'll see how it goes." He only posts about something when it's genuinely new, a texture, a shade, or an applicator he hasn't seen before. Case in point: Tarte's new primers with roller balls built into the packaging.
Brands trust him with early access too. One sunscreen brand sent him a lab sample, not even in packaging yet, three months out from launch, just for honest feedback.
Complexion: Charlotte Tilbury, start to finish
Michael's whole base is pretty much Charlotte Tilbury: the Hollywood Flawless Filter, the reformulated Airbrush Foundation and the Airbrush Powders.
But the product he says people don't know about is the Magic Vanish, a brightening concealer that comes in four shades. It's not a proper concealer step, he still does that separately. This is his finishing touch, applied after the rest of the makeup is set, popped under the eye to brighten and blend everything together. Shade 1 and shade 2 are his most used. He says he notices the difference most on camera and on set, when a client's under-eye area is looking tired by three o'clock.
Blush: the House Labs combo he can't quit
Michael is a self-described "massive blush fan," every client gets blush in some form. His most-used shade from the House Labs Glassy Blush Balms is Ginger, a peachy pink he describes as "a peach and a pink had a baby." He also uses the shade Cinnamon on himself, dulled down, just to get a bronzy glow rather than a full blush look.
His technique: apply the glassy balm first, in the highlighter step, then go back over the top with the House Labs blush powders once he's happy with the placement. His favourite shade there is Pomelo Peach.
He compares this to Patrick Ta's powder-cream duo blushes, which he rates for having both textures in one packaging, but says House Labs wins on colour range, running from orange through pink, peach, red and burgundy. [ADD LINK]
Eyes: a new stick that's replaced his palettes
The Charlotte Tilbury Exaggereyes eyeshadow sticks were the standout new product in this episode. Michael trialled them at MECCAversity in Melbourne with one of Charlotte Tilbury's global artists, and they've become a genuine kit staple since. There are six matte shades and six metallic shades, and unlike other cream sticks he's tried, they layer and build without creasing. He took only these, no powder eyeshadows, on a full week of work in London.
On mascara, Michael's currently all in on brown. He uses Fenty Hella Thicc in black for most event work because of the thickness, but reaches for the chocolate brown shade depending on the client's own colouring, hair, eyes and skin tone. He also rates YSL Lash Clash for its more orangey brown tone, especially on clients with green eyes. His rule of thumb: colour match the mascara to the person, don't default to black just because it's easiest.
Brows: a shortcut that saves real time
Michael likes a fuller, fluffier brow, but when he's short on time or a client doesn't have much brow hair to work with, he reaches for Benefit's Mighty Fine Brow Pen. Shade 3.5 is his most used. He compares it to Anastasia Beverly Hills' Brow Wiz for precision, but says the Benefit pen is faster when he needs to build brows from close to nothing.
Lips: two liners he'll never drop, plus a travel hack
Two products Michael says he'll always have in his kit: the Make Up Forever Artist Colour Pencil in Caffeine, the nude he calls the industry standard, and Limitless Brown, which he uses both as a lip liner (buffed out with a brush for the current full-brown-lip trend) and as an eyeliner.
For travel, he swears by Charlotte Tilbury's lip contour duos. One end is close to Limitless Brown, the other close to Caffeine, so he can leave the individual liners at home. He took only these instead of a full eyeshadow palette on a work trip to London.
The last lip product is House Labs' new lip lacquers. Michael's favourite shade is Sheer Petal, a dusty rose pink. He tested it on a client filming TV at 7am and says the shine held for hours. The application rule matters here: apply, then let your lips sit untouched for around ten seconds before they touch again, or the finish doesn't set properly.
Tools worth knowing about
The Gasp Beauty makeup eraser pen was Michael's favourite tool in his kit. It's a micellar-infused pen with different shaped tips, angled and pinpoint, designed to spot-clean smudged mascara, a dropped eyeshadow fallout, or a lip line gone slightly wrong, without smudging the rest of the makeup.
He also rates the Make Up Forever pencil sharpener for durability, no cracked lid after months of daily kit use, and a cheap medical tape from Amazon (around $4) that he uses as a guide for a precise eyeliner wing, following the bottom lash line rather than working with the eye closed.
Listen to the full episode
Full kit rundown, complexion through to tools, on The Insider Edit, episode 118, wherever you get your podcasts.
Follow Michael on Instagram @mbrown_beauty