Veteran celebrity makeup artist Mary Phillips—whose artistry has been seen on the faces of Kendall Jenner, Jennifer Lopez and Hailey Bieber—announced this week that she is debuting her own makeup line, m.ph, which the company called “a tightly edited collection of artist-grade, performance-driven essentials.”
Known for her sculpted looks on a number of famous faces and her viral underpainting technique—more on that in a moment—Phillips brings more than 20 years of hands-on experience to the table. We might not all have a celebrity MUA at our disposal on a daily basis (but #goals), but according to the company, these first six products can help bring “pro-level artistry into everyday routines.”
The brand’s first six products are available on its website and on Sephora.com on August 15; by August 25, they’ll be in store at Sephora. Products include The Underpainting Palette, which retails for $64; The Underpainting Dual-Ended Sculpting Brush, priced at $38; the $36 Cheeky Cream Blush; The Cream Blush Brush at the same price; the Lip Ciggy Hydrating Lipstick, which costs $26; and, finally, The Overliner Lip Pencil at a $25 price point.
The first collection of m.ph products, out August 15.
Courtesy of m.ph
“I’ve seen the power of makeup when there is an artist behind it, and this collection was created to put that power in your hands,” Phillips told Forbes in a release. “I love sharing my signature techniques, so when underpainting started to go viral, it was a clear sign to me that people are ready to really embrace these artistry-driven methods.”
“That’s why I’m so excited to share this line, so everyone can experience the confidence and creativity that comes with having the right products and tools,” she added.
Phillips’s underpainting technique layers contour and highlight beneath foundation for a natural finish. The Underpainting Palette comes with one color corrector, two highlighters and two contours in three shades—light, medium and deep.
Phillips’s Cheeky Cream Blush comes in eight shades (including It’s a Sin and Too Much Pinot), and the company’s Lip Ciggy Hydrating Lipstick also comes in eight varieties, including Lose My Breath, First Base and Cherry Pie. The Overliner Lip Pencil, too, comes in eight shades, like Skinny Dip, French Exit and Double Shot.
Her signature underpainting technique has garnered over 5.5 million views; she suggests using the color corrector first, then contour, then highlight—all before foundation is applied.
“For me, underpainting is like creating the bones under the skin,” Phillips told Refinery29. “I like doing all the creams first as the ‘bones’ of the makeup. Then, applying a light layer of foundation over the top is like laying the skin over the bones. I’ve never been a ‘start with the eyes’ person. When people start with eye makeup, I can’t see their vision. So I have to start with the skin. If the skin doesn’t look perfect, we have to start over.”
Mary Phillips’s underpainting technique placement.
Courtesy of m.ph
Phillips told Allure that m.ph’s branding is meant to be “very sexy” and is “very inspired by all those years when I was coming up, looking at magazines in the 1990s.”
As many of her peers launched product lines, Phillips held back—but she told the outlet she was “always taking notes”: “I’d been doing that forever in hopes that I’d launch something someday,” she said.
On August 15, that day will finally come.
