Having become well known for her work as Real Housewives of Durban star Jojo Robinson’s personal makeup artist, Salt Rock’s Kylie Pretorius also recently founded her own skincare and makeup brand. We gave it a try!
heer determination, hard work and lots of learning. This is how Kylie went from being an uninspired sales rep to becoming a skilled makeup artist and the founder of her own skincare and makeup range.
Born in Johannesburg, Kylie and her family moved to the North Coast when she was a teenager. She moved back to Gauteng at age 17 to attend beauty school, where she learned the basics of doing facials, manis, pedis and waxing. “I’m not actually a qualified makeup artist,” she laughs. “I learned everything I know from online tutorials and working with professional makeup artists.”
Having always been very artistic, Kylie loved the creative side of makeup artistry. “I spent hours watching makeup tutorials on YouTube and became obsessed with perfecting makeup.”
While working in sales for a well-known makeup brand in Johannesburg, Kylie became more interested in watching the makeup artists work than sales. She soon started helping out with makeup application.
“I absolutely love doing it. There is a technical side to it, of course, but it is essentially just art. You are quite literally painting someone’s face with the intention of enhancing their features.”
Kylie decided to start her own business despite many people telling her she should rather do makeup as a hobby.
Her first solo job was doing makeup for 22 people at a huge Budweiser fashion show. “I pulled it off and I absolutely loved it. I realised I was born for this. I adore the entertainment industry, being behind-the-scenes and seeing all the glitz, glam and beauty.”
Kylie was soon doing makeup for weddings, photo shoots and fashion shows and even ended up working on television shows, films and commercials. “I finally proved to myself and everyone else that I could do it. And then Covid hit … and everything came to a grinding halt.”
Wanting to live closer to family, Kylie took a leap of faith and moved back to the North Coast.
“I didn’t know anybody and didn’t have a single client, but I spotted this open space at Sage and signed the lease without telling anyone. I knew that if I was going to make it here, I had to put down some roots. Within the first month I was making a profit, and business has been amazing ever since. I’ve been more successful here than I was in Johannesburg, and I really believe that it’s because I was just so adamant to make it work.”
Soon after opening, Kylie met and did the makeup for Jojo Robinson who, shortly afterwards, was cast on the reality television series, Real Housewives of Durban (RHOD).
“Jojo asked me to do her makeup because she wanted to work with someone she trusted. It was the confidence boost I needed. We worked together six days a week for five months, over two seasons of the show, and I absolutely loved it. We have become good friends.”
It was through this experience that Kylie decided to level things up in her business.
“I always struggled with dry and sensitive skin myself and, after seeing how flawless Jojo’s skin was (because she used wonderful skincare products), I changed my own regime. I immediately saw a huge difference, but was spending about R2000 a month on skincare.”
She began extensively researching skincare products, routines and ingredients. Her hope was to create a product that would incorporate a few different products into one. And that’s exactly what she did. “I did loads of research and found a lab that could help me create a product that would heal, soothe and hydrate your skin, while leaving that ‘dewy glow’ that everyone is looking for.”
After a year-and-a-half of trial and error, Kylie finally came up with a recipe and a product she was proud to put her name onto. The K Beauty SA Dewy Glow Cream replaces five different products, she says. “It’s a luxurious moisturiser with three medical-grade serums and acts as a primer because it readies your skin for makeup application. It’s great for dry skin and is alcohol and fragrance free.”
The second product in Kylie’s range is a foundation.
“People want natural-looking makeup and a foundation that doesn’t ‘cake’ on your skin. There wasn’t a product like this in South Africa that was easily accessible to the public, so I created this product so that makeup artists can use it on their clients and then sell it to them, too.”
The Cakeless Coverage Foundation (in nine different shades) is self-setting and great for our humid climate.
Details: @kyliep_makeup, @k_beauty.sa, www.kbeautysa.co.za
Text: Leah Shone
