I Tried Mary Phillips’ New Underpainting Palettes

Even if you don’t know the name Mary Phillips, you’ve seen her work on countless red carpets. The makeup artist regularly touches the faces of Hailey Bieber, Kendall Jenner, Kaia Gerber, and J. Lo—and that’s just to name a few. And even if you haven’t seen her work, you probably know about her famous underpainting technique, which went viral for being the secret to seamless contouring.

On August 15, it will be easier than ever to get Phillips’ signature glam—sculpted yet effortless—at home, as she’s finally launching a curated collection of makeup essentials. Ahead, everything you need to know about m.ph Beauty, plus my honest thoughts.

The Inspiration

The brand is inspired both by Phillips’ 20 years of experience, and the look that has become her calling card. m.ph is launching with a curated collection of four products and two brushes to get her signature techniques into customer’s hands. “I feel like makeup can be so overwhelming,” she tells Byrdie. “There’s so many things. So I want it to be just very easy for people.”Phillips has officially been working on the brand for just under three years, but says that she’s really been working on it her “entire career,” mixing custom pigments and making her own contour palettes for clients.

“My whole approach to makeup is very skin first,” she adds, which explains why half of the brand’s products are all about complexion. “When the skin and the structure of the face are good, that’s what makes me happy.” As a licensed esthetician, it was also so important to her that the products featured skincare ingredients to benefit the skin over time.

The Palette

The brand’s hero product is the Underpainting Palette, which packages Phillips’ viral take on the classic makeup technique. The palette comes in three shades—Light, Medium, and Deep—with each containing one color correcting shade, two highlighters, and two contour shades. While I was able to find my perfect shade, the brand does have plans to add three more shades—Fair, Medium Tan, and Deep Rich—next year.

The creams feature a sheer, bendable formula that can be used for subtle definition or built up for medium coverage. The skin-loving formula includes hyaluronic acid and vitamin E for hydration and an ultra-bendable texture, and skin-perfecting powders for a blurred finish.

Phillips also created the Underpainting Dual-Ended Sculpting Brush to go with the palette. The vegan brush has a fluffy end for sculpting, buffing, and blending, and a smaller end for detail work and concealing.

While the creams can be applied on top of foundation if you so please (or with no foundation), Phillips explains that the formula “sticks” better to skincare. She suggests using the color corrector under your eyes, just where they get really blue or purple. Then, you can use the contour shade to add structure—when it comes to sculpting out your cheeks, she says not to bring the line any further down than the outer corner of your eye for a more natural look. Use the highlighter shades anywhere you want to add light, like the tops of your cheekbones and bridge of your nose. Then, Phillips says to apply your foundation with a fluffy brush, and your underpainting is complete.

My Review

I usually avoid contouring, as my face is so round it either does nothing or just looks like a stripe of dirt on my cheek, but if it’s anyone who can convince me to try the technique, it’s Mary Phillips. The makeup artist actually demonstrated her signature technique on me and I loved the results, so I was eager to try it myself. The creams are very sheer and creamy, and my fears disappeared as I brushed and blended the contours onto my bare skin. I didn’t really know where to put the highlighter, but glided it over the bridge of my nose and the top of my cheekbones, and placed the contour shades on my forehead, under my cheekbones, and along my jaw, lightly blending any harsh lines.

After buffing foundation over the creams, I was amazed how natural the results looked. I got a subtle but noticeable sculpt that looked especially great in photos. For me the sleeper hit might be the highlighter shade, which I added to my under-eyes and next to my nose after applying foundation. It really made my features pop, and I’ll be doing this even when I don’t feel like applying a full sculpt.

More From the Collection

Completing the complexion category is the Cheeky Cream Blush. The sticks come in a range of eight easy-to-wear shades: Pony, a nude pink; Perky, a bright baby pink; Cherry on Top, a bright red; It’s a Sin, a cool rose mauve; Hot Rod, a bright coral; Steamy, a rose nude; Overheated, a warm bronze; and Too Much Pinot, an aptly-named rich berry. The glide-y formula is enriched with squalane and jojoba seed oil, as well as a biotech ferment complex to hydrate and smooth. Phillips recommends applying the sticks with a brush, not directly on the skin, which is why she also created the Cream Blush Brush.

Phillips is also known for her impeccable overlining technique, which is where the Overliner Lip Pencil comes in. The artist wanted a traditional wooden pencil, but updated it with an ultra-creamy, longwear, peptide-powered formula. The liner comes in a range of eight nudes for a naturally enhanced look: Skinny Dip, a cool beige nude, French Exit, a pink nude; Sizzle, a warm rose nude; Cowgirl, a beige brown nude—and Phillips’ most-used shade—; Cherry Cola, a deep rose brown; Bittersweet, a burnt caramel brown; Double Shot, a rich golden brown; and Tease, a cool taupe brown.

The ultra-slim Lip Ciggy rounds out the collection. Consider it a balm-lipstick hybrid; peptides, squalane, and vitamin E hydrate and plump your lips with a side of sheer color. The sleek stick comes in eight wearable shades: Tickled Pink, a soft pink; Cherry Pie, a warm red; Slow Burn, a warm rose; Crush, a cool berry rose; First Base, a cool mauve; Love Bites, a black currant; Overdrive, a cool taupe brown; and Lose My Breath, a deep red.

You can shop the entire collection at mphbeauty.com and sephora.com on August 15. The line will be available in Sephora stores starting August 25.