Makeup Artist and Groomer Tasha Reiko Brown Talks Working With Michael B. Jordan, Her Two-Eye-Shadow Maximum, and Her Favorite Foundation

16:50Gabrielle Union:how some things differ working with men versus working with your female clients but what is the process like? Is it more, I would, I imagine it would be more intensive on skincare, but I don't really know. So as the expert, could you walk me through, and it doesn't have to be client specific in this sense, but like, what is the process like of working with a male client?

17:11Tasha Reiko Brown:It's a lot more difficult because when it's, it's like how the brain reads makeup, right? Like if you look at women and your brain expects to see, like, if I see mascara expected, if I see lip liner, like The brain sort of accepts makeup, right? On men, one, their skin is very different. Just there's like a thicker skin. Like I don't want to use a very satin product that sort of gives it all a glow everywhere. You just want to use something a little bit more matte. And on men's skin, it's not doing makeup. It's hiding makeup. So you have to be spot on. So even if I miss the mark with women just a little bit like, oh, we have to go a little more heavy because of a blemish or this or that.

17:53Tasha Reiko Brown:on men you really have to be spot on not just the color but the texture i wouldn't say it's more intensive and just saying you really no room for error there's no room for error you really need to know what you're doing and sometimes it's three different products that just for different zones of the face it's a lot of different and i tend to use a thicker product of makeup because if you use something a little too satiny the brain will read it as false on men so you have to use something that's a little thicker that matches their skin a little more matte and then there's the the beard and the shaving of it all and there's different tips and tricks right so you have someone that's really fair and you need to bronze them well men their hair are short so you got to take that bronze you got to keep it going back here otherwise you know you can't you want it to be more cohesive cohesive yeah and there's just different tips and tricks for men that you but I also don't use a ton of product on men which is again why you have to be spot on because it's different where I women I can melt concealer into foundation and there's just a whole on men sometimes it's just the precision of it all okay that makes sense so walk me through like with a client like I'm gonna call him Michael B.

19:03Gabrielle Union:Jordan because I am he's not Mike to me like what do you what does the process look like product wise what works for men hydration I always start with levels

19:13Tasha Reiko Brown:of hydration. I do a lot of lymphatic drainage techniques, especially if it's somebody I work with long term. I will just start incorporating. Sometimes I'm only going to see you once and you go away. So certain things I do won't be beneficial. But if I'm working with you in the long

19:27Hillary Kerr:one, like on a press tour, then let's incorporate red light.

19:30Tasha Reiko Brown:We'll incorporate different techniques because your skin needs to survive this level of manipulation for like three months at a time. And I just I think with lots of hydration, lots of massage techniques, very minor, minor, minor coverage, not really using powder, just blotting tissues. Just I have a lot of handsome clients. Most of them don't need much, being honest.

19:54Gabrielle Union:Yeah.

19:54Tasha Reiko Brown:Gelding the lily. Yeah. So it's just little things here and there. But it's the precision of it.

20:02Gabrielle Union:OK. I think that's so cool. I love the fact that it's like it's the focus on skin care. I think obviously like that's key to anyone's look in general. Like if the skin is really happy, everything else looks better. Right.

20:15Tasha Reiko Brown:Yeah. Not, not one skincare routine fits all. So you really have to, you know, it's like, I see sometimes people start makeup and they'll sit down and they'll just start. Like, I actually have to talk to you about your skin because I don't want any surprises to pop up. Like, like, oh, so maybe I should have used something oil free because now, now we're working with a little rash that's going to soothe. So I do kind of just want to talk to you about your skincare, see what you're using. Bonus points, if I can peek in your bathroom and really like look at what's going on. Let's see what you're using from start to finish.

20:48Tasha Reiko Brown:If the barber's there, what are you using post-shave? Like just lots of conversation. So I really get a grasp on what the skin is doing and how best to care for it and or manipulate it. That's where I like to start, just with knowledge. I love that. Because I just can't go in there. I don't know what's going to happen. And the stage that I'm working on is so big that no mistakes.

21:10Hillary Kerr:Tell me if I'm alone here, Who What Wear listeners, but shopping used to feel more fun before all the algorithm fed law and the endless sea of dupes. But I have a confession. I found that fun feeling again on eBay. It's not mindless scrolling. It's a fashion pursuit. And when you score that rare Adidas collab or the Dior saddlebag you've been manifesting, it's a rush. eBay has millions of pre-love finds from hundreds of brands backed by eBay authenticity guarantee. eBay. Things. People. Love.

21:49Gabrielle Union:Okay, so I also want to talk about Gabrielle Union. She is a former both Who What Wear and Marie Claire cover girl. She is possibly one of the most stunning humans known to mankind. There's something otherworldly going on there because she is outrageously beautiful and does not appear to age.

22:10Tasha Reiko Brown:It's so hard doing her makeup because she looks better without it. Oh, God, that's amazing. She opens the door and I'm just like, let's just do a little mascara and push you out there. I mean, she is, it's not just that she's beautiful. It's that she's beautiful inside and out, right? She just has like this radiance that, and she's just like helpful, happy, wise. And to watch her move into all these different spaces and inspirational. She's perfect. To watch her move into all these different spaces of businesswomen. She's several businesses, actress, producer, watching her mom, watching her wife.

22:47Tasha Reiko Brown:And she does it all. I don't know. She does this way about her. It's just like a little, you know, sometimes you can just feel people have a little magic about them. She has a little bit of magic about them while being obviously amazingly beautiful.

23:01Gabrielle Union:She's all the things.

23:02Michael B. Jordan:So how did you two start working together? I think it was through our hairstylist, Larry Sims.

23:10Tasha Reiko Brown:I think he was like, you know what? Gab needs somebody for something. And the first time we worked together, it was so easy. And it was one of those moments where I did her makeup and I was like, oh, I get your face.

23:19Michael B. Jordan:Can you talk to me about this look that just happened? Yes. Goat premiere. That look. Like a few days ago, right?

23:27Tasha Reiko Brown:A few days ago. Yes. We did that look at the Jennifer Hudson show in the green room because she was going. She did the Jennifer Hudson show. We changed the makeup. And then she left. My assistant Krishna, who's amazing, was there helping me. The dress, there's a lot going on. I mean, that's a close crop, but then it also has a cutout. There's some color. Yep. So when the dress is doing that much, I can't also, I think we talked about, I can't turn it up too much. Can't do the most as well. Can't do the most as well. So this was just, you know what? Let's do a beautiful nude lip. It kind of has a little peachy, so it pulled in the bottom color.

24:01Tasha Reiko Brown:Classic smoky eye. We'll just let the dress dress.

24:04Gabrielle Union:This is a weird question, but do you remember like with that smoky eye, like what were some of, like what were the tones? Or do you remember any of the products? Same thing with the lip, because I'm always curious. Also, how do you make it look sultry and fresh faced at the same time? Because those two things are hard. Like it's smoky, but it's still like so radiant. And I don't think those two things always like that feels like a well, it's a very narrow line to walk to get both of those at the same time. And you did it amazingly.

24:33Tasha Reiko Brown:You have to be really subtle. Right. So the reason why this works is because we didn't do a ton of blush and a ton of contouring everywhere else, because that's when the smoky eye just. it doesn't look as radiant. It doesn't look as fresh. We're going to do a smoky eye, smoke the eye and back off of everything else. Yeah. It's when you don't back off of everything else and you keep everything. You get 80s. Right. And then it just, it looks fine, but it looks hard and it looks heavy and it doesn't, it loses that freshness. So I think wherever, if I put a lot of energy on the eye, I pull everything way back.

25:04Tasha Reiko Brown:So there's not as much, there's no other tips and tricks. It's literally, there's like one color. It literally is like this brownish black color that is a single it's a chanel eyeshadow it's one of the singles and because it's just really creamy it's a really clean creamy blend um it's the stilo you eye pencil from chanel because it's waterproof once it sets it's there it's there so you decide it's no longer

25:30Gabrielle Union:there um because that's also an interesting point i think that oftentimes people think of smoky eye as like five different colors all blended together instead of like smoky being about the technique of smoking the product rather than applying like multiple shades of something i don't have i i

25:49Tasha Reiko Brown:don't know how to apply multiple shades of eyeshadow if you go back through my work i think 90 of the time you see one eyeshadow color no way if there's sorry that was very excited

25:59Michael B. Jordan:I was just not expecting that.

26:01Tasha Reiko Brown:Sometimes there's two, but there's never like a thing where there's two and then there's a little shimmer in the corner. That's just way too much for me. I'm like, you get two eyeshadow colors and that's crazy. And you're done. That's wild. We're somewhere else if you get two eyeshadows. So that literally is just one, but it's smoky because it's gradient. It's not just like all solid dark. That's where it gets heavy in clothes. it's just um you just blend it and blend it and keep blending it but on the very inside of the eye there's more intensity so it's more about smoky eyes and about um 95 colors so it looks like a like a yes it's just a really technique but everything i really actually really love this i haven't looked at it since well it's beautiful yeah and the peach lip it but you know you want to acknowledge again like working with the stylist you want to acknowledge the colors that are in the clothes so the lip is that very like peachy not pinky because then we have the peach in the dress so yeah and everything else is really backed off i don't think there's any blush really but like

27:05Gabrielle Union:look at that beautiful shine and that glow too i was like it's my favorite foundation that's what

27:09Tasha Reiko Brown:that is i use that foundation on every single person can you tell me what it is i don't know

27:18Tasha Reiko Brown:it's the chanel it's the chanel it's the healthy glow foundation it's the beige foundation okay and that foundation it's not just beautiful on the red carpet like with your naked eye oh you can't see it and you really just work it into the skin it blooms it bonds down to the skin it's only going to be that one foundation sometimes i'll take a bit a little bit of the it's the chanel foundation it's a little bit thicker just maybe in the center of the face but every single face i've done on the red carpet has less than two eyeshadows and the chanel beige foundation that That is some artistry.

27:52Michael B. Jordan:So do you use multiple shades for foundation? No, because I think that's when you get into too many. That's when it loses its radiance. Why?

28:01Tasha Reiko Brown:Why would I suggest more products? I think that's when it loses its radiance. I think when I apply makeup, they're sitting in a high chair and I kind of tend to think of myself as a spotlight. So I imagine like me looking at them in a spotlight hitting them and it kind of goes like this. Right. So all of the faces I do, there is sort of a light is hitting them and the edges seem a little darker because that's typically I'll just go in with a little bit of bronzer. Or if that's not appropriate, the concealer is half a shade lighter and I buff it out. But all of my hand motions, light goes up. Right.

28:38Tasha Reiko Brown:So the face up, up, up, out, out, out, out and up, out and up. So when I see people apply and they sort of are drawing like, yes, you're like, no, no, everything goes up and the brushstroke sort of helped me achieve that very face.

28:53Gabrielle Union:OK, I also want to talk about, OK, this is also stunning. So as we discussed when you first got here, we talked about this amazing look that Carla put together. I love the fact that there's so much color and shape and it's so interesting. And then Tessa looks unbelievable. And I love that it's like it's a more it's a stronger eye. It's that beautiful cat eye. Talk to me a little bit about what you were thinking, how you landed on this specifically.

29:22Tasha Reiko Brown:A little bit stronger of a face because I wanted the dress. You know, it's a lot of arm. Yeah. So I just wanted to read a little bit more like I was pushing the evening aspect of it. So I wanted more makeup. If it was too light, I feel like we would lose her face a little bit. And because her hair is pulled back, I was like, you know what? Let's do a strong face, but neutral. That dress has a lot of color in it also. And shape. A lot of shape. It's a lot of dress. And even though that's a really strong makeup look, the color choices make it fall away. So it just complements her face without pulling any focus from the dress.

30:03Tasha Reiko Brown:I didn't also want to, that dress has so many colors, I didn't want to match it per se. Yeah. Because that's a little. No matchy-matchy. Yeah, no matchy-matchy. I was like, let's do something. That's not you. Let's just pop your features, but neutral colors, they'll go away. All you'll see is shape, dress, face.

30:20Gabrielle Union:What is your trick for an excellent cat eye? I struggle with the cat eye because I drink so, so, so, so, so much coffee.

30:31Tasha Reiko Brown:I appreciate the honesty. and I get frustrated if I don't get it the first time and then the second if we have to go a third time it doesn't work for me so what I like to do is look right at me and that way I'll put a dot where I want the liner to end and keep looking at you and I know it's even and then I'll just back my way in so it works better to go outside in than to just sort of some artists are great they can freehand it and end up at the same place I can't do that so I have to make sure it's even and then I'll just go to the dot and back it in super quick super easy I don't have to guess it I know I won't get right now I've got micellar water I'm cleaning it up and I'm taking up the product underneath and it the frustration sort of kills the moment and um makeup works in layers and once you have to start removing things like building is easy but removing it, it's like, it doesn't sit the same way all the time.

31:33Tasha Reiko Brown:So outside in.

31:34Gabrielle Union:Okay. So I've questions about longevity when it comes to makeup, obviously like red carpet is not the same. It's not film. So it's not like you have the same look for a long time, but you still, it's like, you're getting ready. You have to get there. You're on camera. The lights are one thing. The lights inside are different. How do you make sure that something is going to stay the way that you want it to over the course of an evening? Like what are some of anything that us folks at home could use from that longevity factor?

32:02Tasha Reiko Brown:You have to choose the right products. I think it's the right products. It's the way you put it on. When I talk to most women and my friend Rosie the other day, she told me, she's like, oh, I don't like this product because I'm shiny in like an hour or two. And I just, you know, something I can't. It doesn't make me matte. And it's literally pressed powder. And I was like, well, walk me through this. She's like, well, you know, I started my moisturizer with rosehip oil. And I was like, immediately, no. Immediate no. You have to think about it from start to finish, not just makeup, but we have to back it up into skincare.

32:34Tasha Reiko Brown:If you want a look that's going to last a long time, it has to bond to the skin. It's never going to do that with the oil. It's never going to do that with the moisturizer that's to emollient. If you're really oily, I know I'm not supposed to, but sometimes I'll say just barely put moisturizer on. Yeah. Or get a gel moisturizer and just put it around your eyes. thinking about things from skincare on right start with the way you want to end you want to end matte start matte if you want something that's going to stay a long time pick formulas that are going to help you along the way i typically only set lightly with powder go go use a little more because we need this to really really last and i think for red carpet i will give it just a little bit over powder because I know she's going to be in traffic for an hour and the oils will sort of break break through and there is no worst case scenario worst case it's not as glowy as I'd like it best case it hits it perfect and I do send um it's a cute little book if it's in any bag it's just Chanel blotting sheets oh yeah I'll send that just quick tip when people blot I always see them go like this yes no it's almost like when you spill water you can't just go like this it doesn't you have to sit it there and let it soak it up.

33:46Tasha Reiko Brown:Right? Like you sit the towel and you'll watch it draw the water. So put the blotting sheet, hold it. Give it a beat. Give it a minute. Hold it. Give it a minute. Hold it. Give it a minute. And just in the center of the face.

33:59Gabrielle Union:For our folks at home who are maybe not in a red carpet situation, but they know they're going to be photographed. Everyone's being photographed all the time these days. What are any tips or tricks aside from like, yes, you want to make sure that your products play nicely together. for skincare on. Like, are there certain things where like these formulas always work together or these things always photograph well? What are some of those like for us civilians? Like, what should we know when doing our makeup at home?

34:26Tasha Reiko Brown:I think you should look at what you don't like. I think you and you. Oh, I went to this party and they took photos and I did. I just look washed out. It's sometimes it takes a minute to really get someone's face. Right. Because I did her makeup and then I'm like looking back the photos, I'm like, oh, her face eats blush. I need to do a little too much. I need to keep going with that. Right. Like you sort of learn not how you do it, but how it photographs. And I think you just apply that to your own face. Look at what, what didn't you like about the last time you were photographed? You looked a little washed out.

34:56Tasha Reiko Brown:We need to go, we need to do a little bronzer. We need to do a little blush and more than we think. Right. And another, I looked at a photo of myself, I was like, why can't I see my eyes? I'm wearing so much mascara. It's like, ah, I I actually need like a top liner to really, really make things pop. So look at what you don't like and then just correct those things. I don't think you need to go out and purchase a whole new beauty wardrobe. Most likely the things that you need are the things that you have. It's just applying them correctly or applying them to maximum effect. So look at what you don't like and then just do little tweaks and you'll get there.

35:30Tasha Reiko Brown:It's the same logic I use for red carpet. I have a face that eats makeup, so that makes a lot of sense. But there's also this thing where I'll do makeup sometimes and someone will look at it and go, wow, it's a lot. Like it's a lot because you're in your robe in the kitchen at home. But if you picture it with like gigantic Lorraine Schwartz earrings on a carpet, lots of flash. In an hour and a half. Do you know what I mean? So even when I'm doing makeup, sometimes I have to visually picture the end results. Right. Of where you will be, the environment and make sure that much. So I think also think about it that way.

36:03Like this looks like a lot at home in my mirror, but will this look like a lot in the setting at the bridal shower?

36:10Tasha Reiko Brown:Yes. I think think about it that way, too.

36:13Gabrielle Union:Do you have any predictions for 2026, whether that's products or techniques or styles or anything that you think is going to be big in 2026?

36:22Michael B. Jordan:I think multiples are going to be big in 2026. What are multiples? Multiples are like a lip and eye, like a lip and cheek.

36:28Tasha Reiko Brown:Yeah, like a lip and cheek, something that's very, all the things I'm seeing are very, the packaging is moving towards like lip and cheek stick, lip and cheek stain, lip and cheek. I see a lot of oil stains that I think are beautiful that I feel like brands are expanding and doing a lot of lip, because stains typically were more of that drier matte texture. Now it's like a stain that has a glossiness to it. I love multiples because I love like a coordination happening. You don't have to sort of try to mix and match too much. You can get a lot done with a little bit of product. I always, I mean, every year where skin is going cleaner, cleaner, cleaner, the best version of you with not a lot of product.

37:09Tasha Reiko Brown:And obviously that makes me really, really happy. And I think.

37:12Gabrielle Union:Considering you came from those Kevin Aucoin books, which is the opposite of that. It's like.

37:18Tasha Reiko Brown:I love it. I loved those books. And I. They're art. Sam Fiennes book just literally taught me the basics. I didn't even know what the basics were. the Kevin and Quan books are of the moment but you can interpret that the building blocks so many different ways and I see those building blocks still but we just have our product is so it's expansive I go into Sephora and I see them there were different textures and colors and I and I really enjoy it I see some things that I can tell are trends like some mooses I'm like that's not gonna last because it's not you know what I mean I'm like it's it's not practical it's fun to play with yeah but I really think that all the products that I'm seeing coming in 2026 six are not really trends like that.

37:58Tasha Reiko Brown:I think they're really just mainstay products that are just beautiful. I see a lot of cushion things happening, which are fun because cushion things before were very thin. Like, ah, you got to be 12 because it's not really going to go over any type of coverage. But now there's like cushion things and they have a lot of pigment, which is amazing. And I like, I see color, but I see color happening in a way from the five, six colors. I see colors more in washes.

38:26Gabrielle Union:Yeah.

38:27Tasha Reiko Brown:I can see interesting colors that are beautiful and like one shade over the lid.

38:30Gabrielle Union:Which is more your style anyway. So that works out nicely. I'm questions about I know that you're not supposed to have favorites, but you have favorites and they are in your kit and they're the things that you always pull. We know the foundation. You and I were talking earlier, the lip that you're wearing right now has got to be one of those mainstays. What are some of your like absolutely can't miss products that your Desert Island products, your you can only have one products like the things that you will turn to over and over and over again.

38:56Tasha Reiko Brown:Solution 10 by Chanel. Anybody can, it doesn't matter if you just did a peel, a laser, it only has 10 ingredients. I can use it on someone I don't really know their skin. I know it's not going to react at all. It's just going to give me hydration. And that is one product every artist should have, right? Because other moisturizers, sometimes I don't know how it's going to react if you've done, if you use a lot of retinol like so that is that it i have to have it if i don't have it i don't know what i'm going to do because there's a nervousness of using a new product another chanel the balm essential it's the glowy it's like painting with light and even if i heavy isn't my aesthetic but sometimes the skin demands it but it's a cheat code you just kind of put it over the face and because powder isn't the last thing you see it's that glow it's that light hitting it the eye is just tricked and it's like oh there's nothing there so it kind of makes everything heavy look light and it makes everything light look angelic i love these morph pencils i think that's how you say it morph probably eight dollars or nine dollars they're lip liners but they have like five different shades of brown and a good brown lip liner is really really hard to find because some of them will pull red even brown shadow sometimes they Like just a true dirt, earthy brown.

40:21Tasha Reiko Brown:And I like to do a nude lip and you always have to anchor it with a brown. So I have these four brown pencils that I would. Save and fire. I don't know who I'd be without them. They anchor all my light lips. So those are three that I absolutely have to have. I need my Tweezerman tweezers. The pointy ones. Yes. For men because sometimes the beard hair gets a little. I have to have those. And also for like really tiny, those little, little ones, I have to pull those. In my personal stash, I need my retin-A. Every day, 15 minutes after you wash so you don't peel. Everyone that says it makes them peel because the dermatologist didn't tell you, you have to wait 15 minutes after you wash your face so your face is fully dry.

41:00Tasha Reiko Brown:If you do that.

41:01Gabrielle Union:No peel.

41:02Tasha Reiko Brown:No peel.

41:03Gabrielle Union:Do you moisturize after or no?

41:05Tasha Reiko Brown:No, because I put it on at night. I'll just do an eye cream. And I only use it at night because of the sun and it's a little risky. Fair. No, I do that at night. But I do love this goop sunscreen. Glow screen. Glow screen. Super goop. Yes.

41:24Michael B. Jordan:Yes. Super goop. That's what's called. Super goop glow screen. I use sun. It's like vampiric in the best possible way. You're just like, I glistened in a wonderful way.

41:33Tasha Reiko Brown:In a wonderful way. It's so, because for me, it's an easy way for me to wear sunscreen. It works as a primer. It gives you a little bit of glow.

41:39Michael B. Jordan:A little grip, too. A little bit of grip, too.

41:41Tasha Reiko Brown:And it has, it's, you know, not, it's like one of those things. Not one sunscreen fits all. It comes in so many different shades. I think I'm sunset and I wear it every single day.

41:52Gabrielle Union:Can you give us any hints about what we can look forward to for the rest of awards season?

41:57Tasha Reiko Brown:Rest of awards, lots of hydrated skin. All right. Lots of hydrated skin for the rest of awards season. I have so many friends that are stylists and they're like giving me sneak peeks. The fashion is going to be so, so good for the rest of this awards season.

42:11Michael B. Jordan:Well, it's got all those new creative directors. It's got all those new creative directors and they're so exciting. just ready to turn it out and a lot of typical brands that are typically only just women are

42:20Tasha Reiko Brown:dressing men and it's just yeah i'm really excited for the fashion i don't know what that means yet how i'm going to paint to it because i do so on the day of but i'm really excited i am so excited

42:33Gabrielle Union:to see thank you so much for taking the time out of your incredibly busy schedule to sit down with me this was such a delight on so many levels and i'm just like my my face hurts from smiling this

42:43Michael B. Jordan:was so great. Thank you so much for having me.

42:52Hillary Kerr:A huge thank you to celebrity makeup artist and groomer Tasha Laco Brown. She's also one of our editors in residence. You can now watch all episodes of The Pod on our new Who What Wear podcast YouTube channel. So please subscribe and check us out there. If you have any guest suggestions or any other feedback, find us on social at WhoWhatWear. See you next Wednesday on the WhoWhatWear podcast. This episode was produced by Hilary Kerr, Summer Hamaris, and Natalie Thurman. Our production assistant is Raven Yamamoto. Our audio engineers are at Glen Canyon Audio, and our music is by Jonathan Leahy.

43:38Thank you.