Last week, I was lucky enough to be provided with a little insider insight by a representative for Glossier, one of my favorite "Instagram beauty" brands. On Tuesday, it dropped two new shades of its iconic Lip Gloss ($14) and revealed that Michelle Obama actually wore the red-tinted version for her headline slot at Essence Festival earlier in the month. Yes, turns out Michelle O. is as much of a fan of affordable beauty products as the rest of us. It got me thinking—what other beauty products does a former first lady use before taking to the stage to discuss her best-selling book or charity projects?
Thankfully, with a bit of digging, I was able to uncover a few beauty products that Carl Ray, Michelle's official makeup artist, swears by when doing Obama's event makeup. Keep scrolling to shop first lady–approved beauty products.
Starting with one of her more recent beauty looks, it was for this talk at Essence Festival that Michelle Obama was spotted in the new Glossier Lip Gloss. The lip product delivers a pretty sheen to lips with the most subtle wash of colour—perfect for wearing solo or over the top of a lipstick.
At the Grammy Awards this year, Michelle stepped out on stage with the most gorgeous shimmery, smokey eye. That touch of luminosity at the inner corners of her eye comes courtesy of America's best-selling highlighter—Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector. Michelle's chosen shade is Prosecco Pop, a beautiful glistening gold.
Besides how fabulous Obama's pink blazer is, her makeup look for this Becoming book tour date is seriously glam. Ray tagged Bobbi Brown as providing the contour, and I'd place good money on him having used the brand's iconic skin foundation sticks to add definition to Obama's cheekbones here.
Ray revealed to Refinery 29 that Obama "loves skincare products from her facialist, Jennifer Brodeur (whose other equally famous client is Oprah)." Thankfully, Ray relies on more affordable skincare products when prepping his clients' skin: namely, Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream and Cetaphil. We can bet that the former FLOTUS will have had her skin prepped with this duo at the hands of Ray.
Let's be honest: Michelle Obama's skin always looks incredible. The secret to that even skin tone and subtle glow? Ray's concealer of choice—Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer.
This post originally appeared on Who What Wear UK.
