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Jakarta Post

Mario Dedivanovic: The man behind beauty faces

Dylan Amirio (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Thu, September 28, 2017

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Mario Dedivanovic: The man behind beauty faces Glamorous transformation: Celebrity makeup artist Mario Dedivanovic transforms actress and model Megan Fox. (Lakme Absolute Reinvent/File)

M

ario Dedivanovic is not just any makeup artist. His artistry and meticulousness have helped A-list celebrities like Jennifer Lopez, Katy Perry and Kim Kardashian shine.

Like it or not, American reality TV star and businesswoman Kim Kardashian is one of the world’s most recognizable women, with her style and makeup constantly under scrutiny and gaining loyal followers.

Enter Mario Dedivanovic. Having worked as a makeup artist with Kim since he was 21 years old, his artistry has helped Kim and A-list celebrities shine their crafted beauty onto the world, setting a standard for how makeup artistry should be.

His path toward the highest makeup-artist echelon began humbly from his childhood fascination with beauty and, surprisingly, lack of interest in makeup or cosmetics in general.

Growing up in a relatively poor and humble childhood under immigrant parents from Albania, Mario’s interest in beauty started with his admiration for the world around him. 

“I was always very inspired by beauty when I was a child. I didn’t know what beauty felt like because of my struggling childhood and I didn’t know a lot about it growing up,” recalled Mario, now 34, when in Jakarta recently for the Lakme Absolute Reinvent launching event.

“So I would usually ask my dad to take me on drives to nice neighborhoods so that I can admire the pretty houses and the gardens, and I had chills whenever I saw them. At the time, I didn’t realize that what I was feeling was the feeling of inspiration.” 

 

A post shared by MARIO (@makeupbymario) on

It was his teenage job working retail at a Sephora that really made him realize his true calling as someone who wanted to create and bring out beauty, despite not having any prior interest in cosmetics. The thing he was most interested in at that time was fragrances.

“I’d also recognized beauty after looking at poems, clothes, models in magazines and so on. So when I discovered makeup and touched it for the first time, my realization was natural.” 

So then he embarked on his career as a makeup artist, struggling through pre-social media era by first assisting other famous makeup artists and taking jobs working on socialites in New York. 

He also managed to score a freelance gig being a makeup artist for the television anchors on FOX News. From there, his portfolio steadily bulked up and his clientele diversified. 

But it was not until 2008 that he caught his biggest break when he was introduced to a then up-and-coming Hollywood personality by the name of Kim Kardashian. 

The relationship, Mario describes, started out at a relatively boring photoshoot where both of them were present and from there, they started talking, eventually building up a friendship that lasts to this day.

It turned out the pair connected heavily whenever they were talking about makeup, and Mario finally became Kim’s go-to makeup stylist. He eventually became the trusted makeup artist for the Kardashian clan.

Aside from the Kardashians, Mario’s talent has graced the faces of various A-list celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez, Katy Perry, Chanel Iman and Chrissy Teigen, while also doing work for top-name fashion magazines such as Vogue, Glamour and Elle. 

His reputation as the beautifier of A-list stars has led him to finally begin his world-renowned Master Class makeup tutorial programs, where he himself teaches about his techniques.

Glam class: Top celebrity makeup artist Mario Dedinanovic poses with singer Syahrini when giving his masterclass in Jakarta.
Glam class: Top celebrity makeup artist Mario Dedinanovic poses with singer Syahrini when giving his masterclass in Jakarta. (Lakme Absolute Reinvent/File)

The tutorials usually draw thousands of attendees in the United States and have attracted interest from places as far as Dubai and Brazil.

Methodically, Mario’s most recognized technique is his ability to contour, which basically means to really bring out one’s cheekbones to another level. 

He admits that contouring can be “very intimidating” for those who have not tried it before, but shares that the key to doing it well is to choose a product that is two to three shades darker than one’s original skin tone and to carry out the process as normal, intensifying it as the day goes on.

“It really is not intimidating; it should be something that is part of your daily routine. It might take a longer time in the beginning to learn how to do it and blend it right, but once you learn, it becomes routine.”

Eighteen years into his career, Mario feels the most important part of being a makeup artist to the stars is that he needs to maintain a high level of professionalism and have a great deal of respect for whomever he is working with, regardless of how famous they may be. 

“It’s important for me because basically, you’re doing a service for a celebrity and they’re under a lot of pressure all the time. I have to cater to that fact,” he says.

For budding makeup artists of today, who have the strong assistance of social media, the artist stresses that when doing makeup for another person, whoever they may be, it is important to respect any kind of pressure they may be going through, without having one’s own life problems affecting the craft.

“You’re there to make them feel beautiful. No matter what may be going through in your life at a certain moment, I try never to let it seep into my work.”

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