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Michael Brown is back on The Insider Edit for round two. He's a freelance makeup artist with 25 years in the industry, he started out on retail counters for the Lauder Group, then moved in-house at L'Oréal, and he's been freelance for the last 12 years, mostly doing event and red carpet work. We kick off talking about the reality of PR gifting (15 to 20 deliveries a week is his average) before going full kit rundown, complexion through to tools. We're also trialling a new segment where we'll put some of these products on a model's face in real time.
What we covered:
Michael's system for sorting through 15 to 20 PR gifts a week: straight to kit, a gift for someone else, or "I'll see how it goes"
Why he only posts about a gift when it's genuinely new, like Tarte's primers with roller balls built in
Brands trusting him with pre-launch samples, including lab samples that aren't even in packaging yet
All products are Listed on the blog. 
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Ellen's Blog Post
From the Opera House to Viral TikTok, with Ask Ellen.
This week I sat down with Ellen Malone — makeup artist, beauty content creator, and reigning Australian and New Zealand Beauty and Fashion Creator of the Year. She's also, quietly, a trained opera singer who's performed at the Sydney Opera House and played the lead in Carmen. Yes, really.
We got into everything. Her start on a Mac counter at 20, the year she completely flopped online before anything took off, the real numbers behind influencer pay, and the makeup technique she thinks the whole industry has been teaching wrong.
We cover:
Winning Creator of the Year and why the win itself hit different to the metrics
Why "creative careers choose you," and Ellen's double life as an opera singer
The real earnings gap between male and female influencers in Australia
Why "natural" is the most useless brief a client can give you
Her first ever wedding, done via six buses and a train with a metal fold-out kit
Getting hired at Mac at 20 with no formal training and having to prove herself
Her hot take that 80% of artists can't colour match properly
The real history of underpainting, and why she thinks a whole generation of artists were taught it wrong
The wedding that got called off mid-makeup (and why it had nothing to do with the makeup)
Why she'll never tell you her best client stories
How COVID, a redundancy, and a full year of flopping led to her actual career
Her current kit favourites, from an underrated blush trio to a foundation for mature, textured skin.
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It's just me this episode. I'm giving you an update on the last couple of weeks in my world, where Project 10K is really at, and a full five-step checklist for makeup artists trying to get gifting from brands.
What I cover:
Why it's finally busy again in the Sydney makeup world after a slow, quiet stretch
My last two weeks on the tools: five days of shoots, grooming Shep Rose from a US reality show, and grooming for the Logies
My Project 10K update: I'm sitting at 5,500 followers, up around 500 in the last week alone
The one reel that's driving most of my growth, and why I keep reposting it instead of chasing new content
The five-step gifting checklist: write your wish list, optimise your page, find the contact, write your pitch, follow up
Why knowing someone's name matters before you pitch them
How to track your outreach, and why persistence is the whole game (I've had people respond after five follow-ups)
"Shoot Your Shot Wednesday" and the 100 Rejections challenge
A possible workshop on gifting, if you're interested, DM me
Grab the checklist: download my free 5-step gifting checklist here.
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Blog post 
Adam Garland is back on The Insider Diary for episode 116. He's a UK-based session hairstylist who spent five years as the face of global brand Authentic Beauty Concept. These days he's building his own path: mentoring other artists, shooting his own images, and working with heritage beauty brands he actually believes in. His first episode with us got such a good response we're turning this into a monthly chat.
This episode was sparked by a listener question from Australia about brand loyalty, so we went deep on trust, rejection, and how to stop taking it personally when a client doesn't rebook you.
What we covered:
A listener's question about brand loyalty: a client took a whole team interstate for a shoot and left the makeup artist behind
Why a first option is never a confirmed booking, especially during fashion week
The idea of "reducing uncertainty": clients don't book the best artist, they book the one they know won't cause complications
Vanessa's own story about brand loyalty, and never getting booked again
Why rejection in this industry is rarely personal, even when it feels like it
The Guido example: why a top hairstylist still gets ticked for a job before the shoot even starts
Working from your own essence instead of chasing what you think will get seen
Hairstylists and makeup artists building their own image worlds instead of waiting on brands: Mustafa Yanas, Joey George, Benjamin Mueller and Anataka Hashi
Adam's own move into photography, shooting his own models at Workroom Studios in Limehouse, London, with his mentee Zoran
Why heritage brands hit different: Isles Formula, Keune and Gisou, and what makes their stories genuine
Why asking for help is harder than it should be, for both of us

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Link to blog - all products mentioned linked. 
Alana has been doing makeup for 12 years. She started fresh out of high school, worked the floor at Sephora's Broadway store, moved to London at 21 with zero plan and a backpack full of kit, built a career doing campaigns for Jaded London, came back to Australia during COVID, assisted the incredible Gillian Campbell, and has most recently been touring the world with Kesha.
Oh, and she's now signed with a talent agency for her content. The girl moves.
In this episode we get into:
Why working retail at Sephora is the best foundation you'll ever get (and why it's also exhausting as hell)
What it's actually like to do hair and makeup in London for an Uber-style beauty app
The Jaded London campaign that changed everything
COVID killing her momentum right when things were starting to move — and coming back from that
Assisting Gillian Campbell and why feeling valued on set matters more than people admit
What a day on tour with Kesha actually looks like (spoiler: you can't poo on the bus)
The longevity routine she used to make Kesha's base last through a full concert
How a TikTok she almost didn't post got her 27,000 followers in a month
Why people don't care who you are on TikTok — they just want to learn something
Everything being an exchange and why that's not a bad thing
What's next: Europe, Canada, America and a product line in the works
Website 
Talent 
The Hair Edit Waitlist 
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