You've likely already come across celebrity makeup artist, Mary Phillips. Her name has over 52 million hits on TikTok alone. She paints the faces of Kendall Jenner, Hailey Bieber, JLo, Kim Kardashian and more. And, she popularised the underpainting contouring technique. Although she's uncomfortable taking credit. “It's an old-school technique, I thought every knew it,” she tells GLAMOUR. “I'm really grateful to the girl on TikTok who posted it,” she admits humbly.
Whatever the case, Mary flexes the techniques she's picked up to perfection, which is why celebs and brands are queuing up to work with her. Just lately? L'Oreal Paris tapped-up Mary up to create the makeup look for their new global ambassador, Kendall, where she served up a whole extra edit of dreamy inspo.
We caught up with Mary to mine her for insider beauty tips, autumn trends and makeup intel, so of course, we've taken notes…
GLAMOUR: What is your secret to that glowy no makeup-makeup look?
MARY Phillips: “My secret to the glowy no-makeup makeup look is skin prep. You always want to make sure your skin is really hydrated, and that you're hydrated on the inside as well as the outside. It's really important to drink lots of water, that and lots of moisturiser. You can also take your moisturiser and tap it in on top of your makeup. Sometimes over foundation, I'll take a little bit of moisturiser on a fluffy brush and go in, instead of actually using product, it kind of thins the foundation out and makes the skin look like skin again, and it rehydrates it. So it really is just adding a little bit of hydration on top of the foundation. Then, with makeup, I love using a combination of cream highlighter and powder highlighter. So I first apply a cream after I'm done with the makeup. It's probably the last step I do, and I will tap a little bit of a cream highlighter on the tops of the cheekbone, down the bridge of the nose, sometimes on the tip of the nose or tip of the chin, then right on top of the brow bone. And then I'll go in with a light bit of a loose or pressed powder highlighter on top of that just to ensure that it will last."
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Your lip combos are famous. What is your current favourite lip hack?
“My current favourite lip hack is the Infallible Matte Resistance by L'Oreal. It stays on all day. The colour range is amazing. The colours look great on everybody. I have just had such a great time and the feedback from my clients is ‘my lip lasted all night’, so I can't live without this lip product.”
How do you create the perfect liner on Kendall?
“She has such an incredible eye shape, I don't really have to do much. She has these beautiful, big Bambi eyes and they almost just tell you where the liner goes. But, I always like to follow the under curve of the lower lid and where that goes up, that's where you want to extend the eye up. So that's a little bit of a trick or a tip to help you out.”
You share so many amazing beauty tips, but have you picked up any from your clients in return?
“Oh my gosh. I feel like I've learned probably some of my best tricks from my clients. I mean, I've been lucky to work with so many amazing, beautiful women who are all usually very talented at doing their own makeup, and they've all worked with the best of the best makeup artists, so they've picked up tricks that they luckily share with me. One of my clients taught me, if you're in a bind, you don't have powder to take a tissue and open it up and use the inside of it as powder if you need to matte out. It's like the little inside. There's little, tiny bristles, and it mattes better than anything. It is the best trick on the go.”
What is the one makeup technique you use on every single celebrity?
"The one makeup technique I use on every celebrity is under painting.”
'I'm blown away because it looks so seamless, so sculpted, so glowy and there's no lines.'
What’s your favourite makeup look you’ve ever created?
“My favourite makeup look I've ever created was probably this year, the 2023 Vanity Fair Party for Kendall Jenner. It was just very simple and classic, but sexy. I feel like it'll forever stand the test of time.”
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You have 5 minutes to get ready for a party, what are you putting on?
“Concealer for sure. Like a cream blush, or a lipstick that I can use for both, I'd curl my lashes and mascara.”
What do you think it is about your aesthetic that makes it so desirable?
“I've been told by people that I make them look like the best versions of themselves. I feel like I'm never trying to change anybody's face or make them look different. I really just try to enhance everybody's beauty and make them the best version of themselves.”
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What autumn makeup trends are you most excited about?
"I love autumn makeup trends so much. I love deep colours, warm colours. It's my favourite time of year. I love a deeper lip – whether if it's matte or a gloss. Warm blushes and bronzers and plum tones and burgundy tones, and even on the eyes, foxy, warm browns. I love a deep brown liner, deep brown mascara, purple mascara, auburn ones really are beautiful. And yeah, plums, deep greens or deep blues on the eyes are so pretty. I love fall, it's such a fun way to play with colour. I feel like you can wear a little bit more makeup in the autumn. Then the holidays come when you get glitter, and it's just so fun. I love this time of year, especially for makeup.
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What would be your autumn spin on latte makeup?
An autumn spin of the latte makeup trend would be like a pumpkin spice latte makeup. I would just use warmer tones. I feel like the latte makeup was very caramel-y golden. I would maybe change it to more like rusty terracotta – or using deep mustardy tones on the eyes is also really pretty. So maybe like a honey mustard pumpkin spice situation. That sounds disgusting. But yeah.
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For more from GLAMOUR's Beauty Editor, Elle Turner, follow her on Instagram @elleturneruk
