WHEN Mario Dedivanovic tells you he’s over heavy make-up and all about less is more, you listen.
He’s not just any make-up artist, he’s the man behind most of the Kardashians‘ looks for the last 15 years, and his self-titled brand Make-up by Mario is one of the best sellers at Sephora, so he’s no stranger to setting the agenda.
If you’re a fan of the Kardashians, you might even remember the masterclass he held with Kim during the original Keeping Up With The Kardashian’s run.
Well, I was lucky enough to attend such a masterclass myself.
All in all, it lasted about two and a half hours, which is eight times longer than the time it takes me to do my own make-up in the morning, and it was jam packed with golden nuggets of glam advice.
Here’s everything I learned from the man who invented contouring.
You might be surprised to hear that the bulk of the masterclass was taken up by blending – he applied so little product at a time, dutifully pressing and manipulating it into the skin, that you could barely see it until a few layers had been applied.
This, he said, is the key to a natural-looking base.
Make Up By Mario Dual Ended F4 Brush, £32
My main takeaway is that I’ve been applying my make-up all wrong, and I should be using a dense brush like Make Up By Mario Dual Ended F4 Brush, £32, to push foundation into the skin like you would with a sponge, rather than dragging it around my face.
After applying foundation with a brush, Mario then takes a damp BeautyBlender Original, £17.50, and pats it all over face to disturb the top layer so that the final result looks less heavy.
The key to not overdoing any area, he tells us, is to jump back and forth between your features to stop one area looking overdone, as apparently you’re much more likely to apply too much make-up to an area without any other context.
Although, there’s one steadfast rule: do any eye make-up before your complexion, to minimise any mess.
Plus, when you do eyes first, you’ll put less make-up on the rest of your face as you’ll be more drawn to your eyes than any perceived imperfections.
On eye make-up, he also instructs it’s best to do it with your eyes open, so you can see what it will look like when wearing it.
When using eyeliner, Mario advises it’s best to use a pencil on the waterline, rather than above your lashes, as it adds definition without wasting lid space.
And if you want to try a new shape use a cream pigment, like MAC Pro Longwear Paint Pot, £22, that’s darker than your skin and then you can easily fix it with a cotton bud – it’s much harder to experiment and fix things once you’ve got lots of layers on.
When sculpting the face, shading the inner corner of eye is important to make eyes look connected to rest of face – apply a cool toned contour, like Milk Makeup Sculpt Stick, £22, below the brow at the side of the nose towards the brow arch (although, don’t do this if you have small eyes or they’re close together).
Milk Makeup Sculpt Stick, £22
It’s the key to elevating make-up and preventing it looking amateur, Mario instructs.
He also warns that nose contour rarely looks natural.
For stage, TV and photo shoots it can be transformative, but for every day, it doesn’t translate.
Instead, use a warm-toned bronzer, like Refy Cream Bronzer, £18, on the bridge of your nose for a sunkissed finish.
Refy Cream Bronzer, £18
When overlining lips, do it directly above the cupid’s bow and then taper into the natural lip line as you get towards the corners.
This shortens the gap between the top lip and the nose to look more youthful, while overlining the outer corners can cause a droopy effect that pulls the face down.
For the bottom lip, do the same, overlining underneath in the centre to balance the top, then work into the natural lip line when getting to corners, or you can skip the inner corners completely.
This, he says, is his signature ‘lip lift’, and the best way to get a fuller pout without needles!
When asked if he could pick a favourite product from his brand, Mario cheated slightly and picked two: Makeup By Mario Surrealskin Awakening Concealer, £28, because it’s ‘self-setting’ so you don’t have to use powder, and Makeup By Mario Master Blade Brow Pencil, £26, because he can use it to fill in his facial hair as well as his brows!
Makeup By Mario Surrealskin Awakening Concealer, £28
Also, a hot tip – any of the shades with the word ‘perfect’ in them –such as Makeup By Mario Soft Pop Plumping Blush Veil in Perfect Pink, £30 – are his favourites too, so if you can’t pick a shade, start there!
A final word of advice from the man himself: TikTok brings a new trend every day, so you have to take them very lightly and trust your intuition.
I couldn’t agree more!
IF your purse is feeling tighter than ever before and you're looking to save cash on your make-up routine, have you ever thought of trying out beauty dupes?
Here’s five of the best recommended beauty buys that are almost identical to the posh versions, but for a fraction of the price.
FACE BASE: If you can’t afford Charlotte Tilbury‘s £52 Magic Cream, why not try a dupe that costs just £5.49 from Superdrug?
TONE IT UP: If Drunk Elephant’s £62 Protini moisturiser is out of your price range, you’ll need to check out the new dupe in Home Bargains.
TINTING IT: With Fenty’s ‘game-changer’ skin tint costing an eye-watering £29, a popular supermarket’s affordable alternative might just be the thing for you.
GET COVERED: At £29 for a Tarte concealer, the new Primark dupe is much more affordable at just £3.50.
SPRAY YAY: For those wanting to smell fresh, without the price tag, Aldi’s new Prada and Chloe perfume dupes cost a fraction of the price.
