I Watched Kim Kardashian Get Her Makeup Done for 5 Hours: Here's What I Learned

Over the past decade, Kim Kardashian West and her longtime makeup artist, Mario Dedivanovic have transformed the world of makeup, giving us the contouring trend, KKW Beauty and endless glam inspiration.

After meeting on a photo shoot during the first season of Keeping Up with the Kardashians, the two have never parted ways — and on Saturday, 1200 people from around the world (Brazil, Israel, India, Kazakhstan and more) traveled to New York City to be a fly on the wall as Dedivanovic did the star’s makeup during his Masterclass. For five hours, Kardashian sat still — only checking her phone once (OK, maybe twice) — as Dedivanovic taught his fans exactly how he creates her iconic glamorous look. Here, everything you need to know.

Foundation doesn’t have to go on first…
Sorry, but you’ve probably been applying your foundation wrong all along. “I used to do skin first. Now that I do a more natural skin finish, the overall look comes out more clean if I start with the eyes. I do brows first to frame the eye area,” he says, adding that he then moves on to eye shadow, followed by concealer, then foundation, contour, highlight, lashes and lips.

…and it doesn’t belong under your eyes.
“I don’t put foundation under the eyes,” he says, as the crowd gasps in confusion. “I just put concealer under the eyes and foundation everywhere else,” Dedivanovic says.

Apply foundation on your neck in an upwards motion.
“When I apply foundation, she likes me to brush up, not down, because she likes me to lift her skin, not pull her neck down,” says the pro.

Mixing multiple concealer shades is key.
“I rarely ever use one shade, its always multiple shades,” he says.

Kim’s lashes are natural.
“I’ve never tied lash extensions,” Kim said of her lashes, adding that she’s tried Latisse in the past. But she does curl her natural lashes — and swears by the Surratt Beauty lash curler, which she says is the best.

There’s a foolproof way to prevent your eyeliner from running.
To conceal underneath the eyes, Dedivanovic first applies a cream formula (Laura Mercier Secret Camoflauge), followed bya liquid (Nars Creamy Radiant concealer), and then translucent powder (Laura Mercier Translucent Loose Setting Powder). “Eyeliner will never run down the eyes with this technique,” he says. “When you apply powder over liquid concealers, the powder acts as a sandbag and prevents it from falling.”

Cream eye shadow is the key to all-day staying power.
“I like to apply a very light sheer layer of cream shadow on the eye lids first to build intensity. Once I apply the powder shadow after it, it really is gonna be bulletproof and last all day.”

Layering eyeliner is a thing.
First, Dedivanovic applies thin line of matte brown eyeliner along Kardashian’s top lash line, and then layers a black shade on top, starting thin at the inner corners and getting thicker towards the outer edge. He then smudges the line out and later finishes it with liquid liner.

“That’s his thing, he layers eyeliners. I don’t have the patience to do that,” Kim says of his technique.

You don’t need to finish your eyes all at once.
“Sometimes it’s good to stop working on the eyes before you do the lashes and do the skin. Once you have the skin done, you can gauge how intense or dramatic you want the eyes.”

The perfect nude lip doesn’t exist.
“He mixes like 10 different colors to get to it,” Kim says of her signature nude lip. “It’s really up to skin tone. If you have darker skin, you want it to be a touch more rosy pink, I like mine a little more peachy nude. Its so hard to find a good nude. I have a drawer of nude lipsticks.”

Kim’s five-minute makeup look is actually pretty low maintenance.
For a five minute Kim face, “contour, warm up the skin with bronzer and highlight. She loves lashes too, so apply mascara and a nude lip or lip balm.”

Blend with product already on your tool.
When Dedivanovic blends Kardashian’s contour into her skin, he doesn’t use a clean sponge or brush. “Whenever I put a sponge to the face, I like to put a little coating of the product on the sponge first, that way the sponge wont absorb the product. “

Preparation H is a weird — but good — way to smooth your undereyes.
“It Tightens the skin. That’s a really old, old trick. It smells really bad but it works,” he says of a quick fix for undereye wrinkles before you apply your concealer.

The best highlighter isn’t what you’d expect.
For an “expensive” glow, Dedivanovic finishes Kardashian’s look with a few taps of Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream at the high points of her cheek bones.

Mastering Kardashian-quality contouring skills takes a lot of practice.
“The first time I ever contoured it came out so muddy, ill never forget it,” Dedivanovic says. “The model walked in and the photographer was like whats all that dirt on her nose? Make sure you’re setting the skin — use loose powder.”

Mario will launch a product line – one day.
“In the future, there will be a makeup line for sure,” he says. “I work with lots of different companies and have lots of different brand contracts, so that’s what I’m doing right now.”

What’s your favorite look Mario has created on Kim? Sound off in the comments below.