This year marks Mario Dedivanovic’s 20th year as a professional makeup artist. In the span of two decades, Dedivanovic has become one of the most influential names of beauty—creating some of the most memorable makeup looks for celebrities like Kim Kardashian West, Gabrielle Union, and Ariana Grande along the way. And to commemorate his 20th anniversary, he’s celebrating in a major way with the launch of his luxury cosmetics brand Makeup by Mario.
Creating a makeup brand has been something Dedivanovic has wanted to do since the moment he began working at Sephora as a teenager. But, he started laying the groundwork for his namesake brand in March 2017. And after putting in three years of hard work, Makeup by Mario is finally launching on October 1 (which is also Dedivanovic’s 37th birthday). “It’s been very exciting and very rewarding to work on this,” Dedivanovic says. “It sort of feels unreal. I can’t believe it’s actually happening after I’ve dreamed for so many years about this. I feel almost small at this point and that it’s becoming so much larger than I am.”
Makeup by Mario is debuting with 21 high-quality products and tools for the eyes and skin—ranging from eyeshadow palettes to eyeliners—that flatter every complexion. “Every product in this brand is truly 100% authentically from my mind,” he says. “I have had experience with all different types of artistry in my career and so these products were inspired by that plus my understanding of how the non-artist does their makeup. I wanted to break down my techniques to create products that made the makeup experience a smarter and more inspiring one.”
Ahead of the brand’s release, I had the chance to hop on a Zoom call with Dedivanovic where he walked me through the entire line. Keep scrolling for everything I learned about Makeup by Mario–straight from the founder himself.
1. The first product he created was the Master Mattes palette.
When I asked Dedivanovic about the impact he wants the brand to have, the conversation kept circling back to one word: education. “I’m so passionate about education and throughout the years, I’ve had about 30,000 students in my masterclasses,” he tells me. “But, when I look at that and compare it to my followers on Instagram, there are so many people who haven’t been able to experience the master class. So, I just want to focus on this brand and create content and products for this brand that inspire women and help them enhance their makeup game. I want the brand’s legacy to be that I created products with love and I created quality products that people enjoy and I taught them and inspired them.”
MAKEUP BY MARIO products prices range from $14 to $48 and are available now exclusively at Sephora, Sephora.com and makeupbymario.com with expansion into further categories in early 2021.
Mario Dedivanovic Tells Us Exclusive Details About His KKW Beauty x Mario Collection
