Exclusive: Mario Dedivanovic Shares the Secrets Behind the KKW Beauty x Mario Collaboration

By now, we've all seen what the KKW Beauty x Mario Collection looks like. Via Instagram over the past two weeks, both Kim Kardashian and Mario Dedivanovic have shared images of the packaging, swatches of the shadows, names of the shades, and a few details here and there about how to wear the products. But today, the official launch day eve of the collection (which also coincides with the beauty duo's ten-year work anniversary, April 5th), we finally get to hear exactly how the collection came together — from Mario himself. "Even before Kim started her makeup line, we talked about how she wanted her first collaboration to be with me, so that's when I actually started planning it," Dedivanovic tells Allure in an exclusive interview. "The collection is really just to celebrate our decade working together in the industry."

A decade ago, the idea of launching a makeup line with Kardashian hadn't even crossed Dedivanovic's mind. "I just met this cute girl on a magazine cover shoot who was relatively unknown at the time, and we both just grew simultaneously in our careers," he says. "A lot has happened since then, in terms of how influential she's been and the trends that we've set and all these amazing things that have happened. I knew that this ten-year anniversary would be special — but I didn't know it would be this special."

The premise of the collection is fairly straightforward: "We wanted products that people could use to re-create basically any look that we've ever done," says Dedivanovic. "There have always been certain key eye shadow and lip colors that I've used on Kim, and while over the years we've used tons of different products, they've always been the same shades. So basically what we did was took all those specific shades and perfected them for exactly how we like them, how we like to use them, and what we like to pair them with." Below, Mario shares in more detail how all of that came together:

10 Pan Eye Shadow Palette ($45)

"We've created so many looks together — thousands of them, really — and for months I just kept going through the images on both my current phone and my old phone and screen-grabbing them for reference. I would pull images, cropping out and zooming into the eyes or lips, and then narrow it down from there, choosing the more iconic moments that her fans loved so much, the ones that got re-created on YouTube by so many people, and then of course the everyday glam moments that she loves and that I love."

"There are definitely some key looks that inspired the palette heavily. Like there was a look we did in Miami: I forget the year, but I had it on my inspiration board, and we actually named one of the shadows Miami because of it. Some of the shades were inspired by her wedding, for example. It's hard to pinpoint exact looks, but the point of the palette is that with it, you can re-create pretty much any look we've ever done together."

"The palette has four matte shades and six shimmers. It has three browns: One is more of a reddish tone, one is more natural, and one is deeper. There is a vanilla shade that works as a highlight, and then we have obviously our bronzes and plummy shimmers and golden shimmers. And then we have the most amazing, beautiful blue. A few of our favorite looks from over the years have been some variation of a blue eye, so I wanted to incorporate that in some way. And while it looks really amazing on its own, it also works really well with all the other colors in the palette, like with the bronze especially."

Crème Lipstick ($20)

"I used to have these lip palettes and I would mix together all these different shades to create the particular nude color that Kim loves. This lipstick is a re-creation of that exact Kim K nude shade. It's got a little bit of peach in it, and while it initially looks and feels matte, it actually has a satin finish on the lips. And what's really amazing about the lipstick is that it literally goes with any lip pencil — anything from the most natural nude to the deepest brown. It blends really beautifully with everything. We just did a shoot with, like, 13 or 16 models recently where every single model has the lipstick on. But we took out all of our lip liners, and [the lipstick] looks gorgeous on all of them — every single skin tone you can imagine."

High Shine Lip Glosses ($18 each)

"There are two lip glosses, which I love mixed together but also love worn on their own. There's one that is extremely nude, but it's sheer with a gold sparkle in it. And over the years I have always used similar colors to lighten up any other lip color that you have on her — it's what gives her that Kim K nude look. And then the second gloss is more of a peachy tone."

The collection is available starting April 5th on kkwbeauty.com. You can purchase each product individually or as a bundle of all four for $85.

Look back on more of Kardashian and Dedivanovic's beauty ventures:

• Everything We Know About the Mario Dedivanovic x Anastasia Beverly Hills Master Palette

• Kim Kardashian West Talks to Allure About Her New Three-Step KKW Beauty Concealer Kits — Exclusive

• KKW Beauty Contour & Highlight Sticks Are Now Sold Individually

Watch as Dedivanovic talks us through some of the looks he's created for Kardashian over the past ten years: