6 genius makeup hacks from Beyoncé's beauty guru

One of the most sought-after makeup artists in the world, Sir John has an impressive list of clientele. He's worked with Kim and Khloe Kardashian, Chrissy Teigen, Viola Davis and is Beyoncé's go-to guy when on tour. 

He recently collaborated with Woolworths' W Beauty brand on the official looks for SA Fashion Week AW19.

We asked him to share some A-list beauty hacks every women who wants a more youthful, fresh-faced look should know.

1. FOLLOW THE 3/4 RULE TO GET A MATTE LOOK THAT'S STILL LUMINOUS

"Your skin is naturally light-reflective if you have a healthy lifestyle and care about what you eat. If you do this, you will add lustre to your skin. It's nice to have matte skin because it's polished. So I think there's a dichotomy that happens when you want to be matte in the T-zone and glowing everywhere else," says Sir John.

"For example, Beyoncé and I often do concerts and I have to make sure she is severely matte in the T-zone so that it doesn't look oily or unkempt there but glowing everywhere else.

"I have a rule called the three-quarter rule. When you look in the mirror, you want to be matte underneath your eyes, on the forehead, on the chin and maybe on the nose. As you turn three-quarters to give yourself a side-eye, you can be glowing from that point on.

"So as soon as you give yourself that side-eye, let it rip. But when you look dead in the mirror, the skin should look a bit more polished and mattified."

2. LIFT A SMOKEY EYE WITH A LITTLE SHIMMER

"For a younger, more vibrant smokey eye, always apply a bit of glitter or shimmer on the ball of the eye," Sir John advises.

"Your eyes can sometimes look a bit flat, so you want to add dimension and give your eyes some light with a little bit of gold or shimmer. This makes everyone look young, fresh and a bit more vibrant."

3. USE LIP LINER TO CREATE A SOFTER SMOKY EYE

"The best way to do a smoky eye is to use a lip liner pencil and scribble all over the lid before blending with a brush," says Sir John.

"This is also great for hooded eyes," he adds.

"If you wear glasses, tinted eyeliner or tinted mascara is a dream for anyone who cannot wear a smoky eye but wants to look like they are wearing eye makeup."

4. USE HEIGHT TO GIVE HOODED EYES MORE DEPTH

"If you have hooded eyes [with small lids] bring your shadow up a bit higher," suggest Sir John. "I'm not saying your blue shadow should be underneath your eyebrow, but you want to warm up the whole lid so that when you blink, you see a bit more colour. Or when someone is looking straight at you, they see a bit more colour."

5. MIX YOUR FOUNDATION WITH MOISTURISER 

"A perfect complexion means minimal foundation application. You don't need a full-coverage foundation on the whole face, that's a really bad myth," says Sir John.

"Take a full-coverage concealer and cover only the areas that you need to cover and use sheer coverage everywhere else.

"You want to give yourself massive coverage where you need it, but make sure you go very sheer with foundation everywhere else, even if it means mixing your foundation with a bit of moisturiser."

6. USE LOOSE POWDER TO SET CONCEALER

“Pressed powder is so heavy and so dry; if you use it to set the concealer underneath your eyes it's going to weigh them down and age you," says Sir John. 

"Press powdered also oxidises, which is not a recipe for beautiful skin," he adds. 

"A sheer, loose powder is the only thing you should use to lock in and set concealer.”