If there’s one make-up artist whose advice we’d trust blindly, it’s Mary Phillips. The pro is known for painting the faces of some of the biggest names in Hollywood, including Hailey Bieber, Kendall Jenner and Jennifer Lopez, as well as her viral ‘underpainting’ method of contouring and highlighting before applying foundation for that ‘lit-from-within’ glow.
Mary Phillips is known for her ‘underpainting’ method
She’s also known for sharing her tips and tricks on social media. In a recent video on TikTok, the make-up expert was asked to reveal her go-to eyeshadow product, and much to our surprise, she doesn’t pull an eyeshadow palette out of her make-up bag, but an eyeliner. Philips then dots the brown pencil along the crease of her eye to create an ‘everyday soft eye contour’ effect, which is a technique, she explains, she learned from her mother.
In the video, Phillips starts by drawing a small flick at the outer corner of her eye. ‘[My mother] would always do a little bit of liner,’ she continues as she moves the pencil into the fold of her eyelid. ‘She’d start at the crease and put these little dashes, take a brush and blend it all out, and it just made this really soft, natural-looking shadow.’
The celebrity make-up artist has shared her soft eye contour technique on TikTok
As she repeats the process for some more definition, Phillips says her mother used a brown eye pencil from Lancôme, but a quick scroll through the comment section on TikTok reveals the celebrity make-up artist is using the Satin Kajal Liner from Victoria Beckham Beauty in the matte shade Cocoa.
‘She would do the under-eye, too,’ says Phillips as she drags the pencil underneath her lower lash line. Once again, the trick to creating that ‘very soft and lived-in’ look is to not draw a fully-connected line and ‘just kind of blend it out’ so the liner leaves a more natural-looking wash of colour than actual eyeshadow would.
‘It’s super subtle, but soft and pretty,’ the make-up pro concludes. ‘She would wear a little bit of mascara and that was it.’
