Cheryl's X Factor Secrets And Beauty Hacks: 30 Things We Learned From Her Make-Up Artist - EXCLUSIVE

When we were invited to an exclusive masterclass with make-up maestro Karin Darnell, the first thing we thought was HELL YEAH.

Who wouldn’t want to spend an evening with the woman who creates Cheryl Fernandez-Versini’s stunning X Factor beauty looks every week?

Here’s what we learnt from two hours spent with one of the UK’s most successful and sought after make-up artists.

1.    Go one shade darker with your foundation to give yourself a healthy J-Lo glow and avoid the dreaded ‘death mask’ (when your face is too light for your neck).

2.    Apply your foundation with a flat foundation brush and stroke it on, starting from the forehead and working down.

3.    Opt for yellow and pink-toned products as these are more reflective of our natural skintones.

4.    Who needs bronzer? Karin uses a concealer two or three shades darker than a client’s skintone as a makeshift contour, applying under and on the cheekbones. She used MAC PRO Conceal and Correct Palette for this.

5.    In fact, cream textures can be used pretty much anywhere on the face. She uses nude lipsticks as concealers, gold eyeshadow pencils as bronzers and white eyeliners as highlighters, such as MAC Eye Kohl in Fascinating on the brow bone and cupid’s bow.

6.    Blend, blend and blend some more! This is the key to creating a natural yet airbrushed look.

7.    Use bronzer on your chin to create a shadow, making lips look fuller.

8.    Apply concealer in a triangle shape under the eye, blending up to the cheekbone. She used VICHY Dermablend Ultra Corrective Cream Stick to correct dark circles.

9.    Brushes don’t have to be used for what they’re made for. Karin used the HD Brows Stipple Brush to powder the face, a MAC 219 Brush (can be used for brows) to apply eyeshadow and also a lip brush on the eyes.

10.    Did we mention that she breaks all the make-up rules?!

11.    Always apply cream formulations to the face first to really embed them into the skin, before applying powders.

12.    Mix, mix, mix! Karin mixes pink and peach blushers to create a healthy flush of colour, sweeping up the face with a big fluffy brush.

13.    Highlight the face where the light naturally hits as that’s where our eyes are most drawn to. Karin added MAC Iridescent Powder In Silver Dusk to the top of the nostrils to achieve this, as well as the cupid's bow and brow bone.

14.    Apply lipstick with a fat lip brush BEFORE lining the lips – this makes for a more precise finish.

15.    Draw around the natural line of the lips with liner to create bigger, fuller lips. Karin used MAC Lip Liner in Spice.

16.    Karin’s trick to creating natural-looking brows is to start by drawing on from the bottom inner corner of the brow up to the top point, before filling in with eyeshadow.

17.    She uses waterproof mascara on her clients as there’s less residue. GIVENCHY Phenomen'Eyes Effet Extension Lengthening Mascara is one of her faves.

18.    Invest in Shadow Shields to prevent fall out from eyeshadow under the eye.

19.    Purple and green eyeshadows don’t blend well so you must mix with other colours to create a smokey eye effect.

20.    Karin refers to her signature bold smokey eyes as a ‘symphony of colours’ as she’s layering so many different shades.

21.    Apply Benefit’s Bathina Body Balm on the face to create a lived-in moisture effect.

22.    If you have oily skin, blot then use a mineral-based powder. Avoid caking on too much of a base as it can make skin look oilier.

23.    Apply a dab of glitter eyeliner to the centre of sockets to draw eyes to it. Karin used Urban Decay Glitter Liner on the model.

24.    If making matte lipstick look glossier, apply lip gloss to the centre of the lips only so it doesn’t bleed out.

25.    To avoid making small eyes look smaller, don’t apply liner close to the lash line. Focus on making the eyes bigger and wider, using a big fluffy eyeshadow brush to apply eyeshadow to the socket, and a kohl eyeliner to create softness.

26.    Stumpy lashes? Eylure 116 Lashes are perfect for adding length.

27.    Karin doesn’t have a favourite X Factor make-up look of Cheryl’s but said that her ‘bronze goddess’ smokey eyes typically go down best with viewers. She also uses Scott Barnes Body Bling in Original to give Cheryl that bronzed glow.

28.    Jennifer Lopez is her favourite celebrity make-up look (other than Chezza, of course).

29.    Barry M Dazzle Dust is her best X Factor drugstore beauty buy – she says the grains are really sparkly and there’s ‘nothing better!’

30.    She allows three hours to do Cheryl’s make-up but it’s normally broken up with rehearsals, so she pops back every fifteen minutes to check everything’s still in place.

[Cheryl's make-up artist defends pink eye - EXCLUSIVE]

[Get Cheryl's X Factor beauty look]

[Cheryl's make-up artist defends pink eye - EXCLUSIVE]

[Get Cheryl's X Factor beauty look]