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Kim Kardashian’s Oscars make-up artist reveals her full look
From moisturisers to brow products and blush, we’ve tried and tested a number of these beauty buys
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Whether you stayed up all night to watch it or caught up on the news in the morning, you don’t need us to tell you that this year’s Oscars was one of the most spoken about Academy Awards ceremonies to date. Despite the drama, the looks the stars served up still prevailed.
Where fashion is concerned we saw Dakota Johnson in a Gucci feather, sequin gown, while Demi Singleton went for a Mui Mui embellished lilac number. In terms of make-up, Zendaya reportedly did her own, while Kim Kardashian’s MUA – Ariel Tejada – opted for a powder blush look for the star’s appearance at the Vanity Fair party.
It’s rare that Kim K’s make-up artists reveal all of the products they use to create her looks, so we couldn’t help but give you all the details. Ariel is best known for layering powders to create a super soft airbrushed finish, and that’s exactly what was achieved for Kim’s appearance at the 94th Academy Awards.
Sharing all the details on TikTok, Ariel revealed that Kim had requested “babydoll glam”, with a little bit of a Sixties flair. And it’s fair to say that she looked flawless.
If you want to recreate Kim K’s sleek make-up look, you’ve come to the right place. Detailing everything from the moisturiser to the three setting powders used, here’s the breakdown of what you need to add to your basket.
For moisturiser: Le Mer creme de la mer moisturising cream: £225, Lookfantastic.com
While Ariel notes Kim has “super hydrated skin”, to prep the face he opted for a creme de la mer moisturising cream. When we reviewed it, our tester noted that it was the “thickest, richest, and most highly scented of all the creams we tried (it has a distinctive floral aroma)”, adding that “it’s perfect for drier skins and it instantly calmed irritation”.
For eye cream: Bobbi Brown vitamin enriched eye cream: £29.75, Lookfantastic.com
Accompanying the moisturiser, Ariel used this eye cream, which is enriched with vitamin B, C and E, along with sodium hyaluronate, all of which work to smooth out the skin and add a boost of moisture. An eye version of Bobbi Brown’s bestselling face base, it’s recommended that you apply this by patting the eye area gently, making sure to avoid pulling the skin as this can cause premature sagging.
For lip prep: Laneige lip sleeping mask: £14.80, Amazon.co.uk
The final product used as prep was this lip balm from Korean skincare brand Laneige, which ensured Kim’s lips were “nice and hydrated”. This product is in fact one of author and content creator Stephanie Yeboah’s ultimate gamechangers.
She told The Independent that in her opinion it is “one of the greatest lip balms of all time”. It’s designed to be worn before bed, but, just like Ariel, she likes to use it “throughout the day as not only is it super moisturising, but it also doubles as a great primer for liquid lipsticks, ensuring that the lipstick doesn’t bleed into the lip line or creases within the lips”.
For brows: Benefit precisely my brow pencil: £19.98, Lookfantastic.com
When it came to Kim K’s brows, Ariel went for a “little more of a straighter look”, to achieve that he used the Benefit precisely my brow pencil (in the shade 3.5), carving them out with the Tarte shape tape concealer (£25, Tartecosmetics.com) in the colour tan sand, and A19 brush from Morphe x Ariel brush set (£48, Morphe.com).
This just so happens to be one of our favourite brow products, too. When reviewing the Benefit brow pencil, our writer noted that “the super-fine pencil point allows precision application which really helps to fill in sparse brows by imparting fine hair-like strokes into any gaps”. It also has really great “staying power” and “kept brows looking on fleek from morning to night”.
For eyes: Rare Beauty warm wishes effortless bronzer: £22, Spacenk.com
Kim wanted to keep her make-up look for the Oscars really simple with a clean eyeliner, so Ariel didn’t go heavy with eyeshadow for this look and instead used a cream bronzer by Rare Beauty in the shade “always sunny” for a seamless, natural blend.
To create the cut crease, Ariel went in with a Makeup Forever concealer (£22, Tiltmakeup.com) in the shade 34 with his A18 brush. To lock the creamy eyeshadow look in place, he used Laura Mercier’s translucent powder (£32, Johnlewis.com) with his A14 brush from the Morphe x Ariel face and eye brush set (£95, Morphe.com).
For eyeliner: Inglot AMC eyeliner gel: £11.20, Boots.com
When it came to the clean eyeliner look, the Inglot AMC gel liner in number 77 was used, with Ariel claiming it’s the blackest black gel liner he’s ever used. In terms of technique for the cat eye flick, instead of going straight out from under the eye, they went out at an angle to lift the eye.
For foundation: Kevyn Aucoin the sensual skin enhancer: £27, Beautybay.com and Nars light reflecting foundation: £37.50, Narscosmetics.co.uk
“For the stars of the show,” says Ariel, he mixed two sensual skin enhancers from Kevyn Aucoin in the shades 12 and 13, with the Nars light reflecting foundation in the shade Valencia. And our team of expert beauty testers has reviewed both.
When testing the Kevyn Aucoin skin enhancers, our writer noted that it provides an “intense-coverage” that leaves you with a “flawless complexion”.
As for the Nars light reflecting foundation, this too impressed us, with our writer noting that it “blurs imperfections and instantly smooths skin without it looking like you’re wearing foundation”. We’re sold on this stellar complexion combo.
For highlighter: Nars radiant creamy concealer: £20.40, Lookfantastic.com
Relying on his “good old faithful”, for concealer and highlight, Ariel selected this Nars concealer in the shade tiramisu. Incidentally, this took the top spot in our guide to the best no make-up make-up products, with our writer noting that it “perfects your skin without looking or feeling heavy”.
For contour: Makeup by Mario softscult shaping stick: £28, Makeupbymario.com and Rare Beauty warm wishes effortless bronzer: £22, Spacenk.com
Once again, for Kim’s contour, Ariel did what he knows best and mixed shades. In an attempt to create a warm, but not too warm glow, he mixed cooler tones with warmer ones, opting for the Makeup by Mario stick in the shade medium and the Rare Beauty bronzer in always sunny, which he noted as being “a lot warmer”.
For blush and cheeks: Rare Beauty soft pinch dewy liquid blush: £19, Spacenk.com
When it came to her blush and cheeks, Selena Gomez’s beauty brand made yet another appearance, this time in blush form using the shade happy. When we reviewed the liquid blush, our writer noted that it is “incredibly pigmented” and gives off a “slightly radiant finish”.
For setting her make-up: Mac studio fix pressed powder: £29, Maccosmetics.co.uk and Huda Beauty easy bake loose baking and setting powder: £29, Hudabeauty.com
For lightly setting Kim’s under-eye area, Ariel opted for the Mac studio fix pressed powder in the shade NW25, and baked highlighted areas with Huda Beauty’s loose powder in the shade cupcake.
And for the product that “really took it there” was One Size beauty turn up the base foundation powder in shades 4g and 5g, which is unfortunately not currently available in the UK.
For powder contour: KKW beauty bronzer
Unfortunately, the product used to contour Kim’s face has now been discontinued. But, Ariel recommended that any bronzer will do. If you’re looking for a recommendation, Vieve’s (£31, Cultbeauty.co.uk) took the top spot in our review of the best bronzers with our writer noting that it’s “dream to blend and the duo of shades makes for the perfect contoured, glowy look”.
For lashes: Kiss lash couture: £5.49, Superdrug.com
To give Kim that natural but dramatic lash, Ariel cut up some Kiss lashes and applied mascara. If you’re looking for a new one, Lancôme’s lash idôle mascara (£24, Lookfantastic.com) took the top spot in our review of the best, which creates “natural-looking volume that’s ideal for daytime wear and is easily buildable for a bolder look”.
For lips: Makeup by Mario master mattes pro lip palette: £59, Makeupbymario.com
Naturally, Ariel used the KKW classic Kim lip liner, which is sadly now discontinued, along with two shades (LP1 and LP2) from the By Mario master mattes pro lip palette.
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