Sir John can talk about eyeliner, Joan Crawford, manifestation, strip clubs, Naomi Campbell and his mother in the same masterclass and somehow make all of it feel connected.

That was probably my favorite thing about his Beauty Art Direction 101 session at Beautycon. He was answering questions from the audience while doing a full face, casually moving between technique, career advice and stories from a 25-year career in makeup.

One story stuck with me right away. His earliest makeup memory was watching his mother put on blue mascara and a pink lip in the 1980s. He remembered seeing her mood change as she got ready. Before the celebrity clients, fashion weeks and global beauty campaigns, that was his introduction to what makeup could do.

It also explains a lot about the way he talks about beauty. Sir John cares about how makeup feels just as much as how it photographs. His references come from everywhere: old movie stars from the 1940s and 1950s, Joan Crawford, his garden, Grace Jones, drag, the women he grew up around and places he has traveled. He made the point that a lot of what we think of as modern beauty has been cycling through culture for generations. “100 years later we are still doing what they did then,” he said.

The practical advice came fast. Start with the eyes because it saves time. Bring shadow higher on hooded eyes. Think about light and shadow when sculpting the face. Line the inner rim of the eye when you want lashes to look richer without piling on more product. And if he could leave one trend behind? The double cut crease with glitter.

The room laughed, but the bigger conversation was about longevity.

Someone asked what separates a good makeup artist from a great one, and his answer had very little to do with knowing another technique. Consistency mattered. Having a point of view mattered. Understanding that this is a business mattered. Personality mattered too. Be nice. Be someone people want around.

Sir John also made the Q&A worth jumping into. Attendees who asked or answered questions were rewarded with Medicube products, the K-beauty brand where he now serves as Creative Director. It was a smart way to keep the room involved while introducing another side of his work beyond makeup.

That part felt especially relevant because beauty is such a people business. Sir John talked about continuing the dialogue, asking anyway and remembering that the worst someone can say is no. Relationships helped him get into rooms, and relationships helped him stay there.

You could see a version of that all over Beautycon. I spent part of the day with Amayah Lanette, a hairstylist and content creator, and met Kendra, a makeup artist visiting from Toronto. Some of my favorite moments were simply talking with people who experience beauty from different sides of the industry. The person doing hair may also be building an audience. The makeup artist you meet may also be teaching, creating content or running a business. Someone trying a product for the first time can be posting about it before they even leave the convention. Beautycon made all of those roles feel close to one another.

The brands that stood out seemed to understand that people want something to step into, not just something to look at.

Grow Good was my favorite example. The activation felt like Cardi’s world had been turned into a physical space. There were childhood photos, green striped walls, black-and-white floors, an old-school phone and branded grocery bags.

I loved the grocery bags. It’s such a small detail, but those are usually the details that make an activation feel finished. I spent time in the space, took photos, looked through the products and eventually bought some. So, yes, the activation did its job.

That was one of my bigger takeaways from Beautycon. The beauty industry is getting better at thinking beyond the shelf. The product still matters, but so does the room you discovered it in, the person who introduced you to it, the creator you saw using it, the bag you carried home and whether the whole thing felt worth remembering.

Sir John’s masterclass brought that idea back to its simplest form. He has worked with some of the biggest names in beauty and entertainment, but the story that stayed with me most was still the one about his mother getting ready.

Mascara. A pink lip. A change in mood.

Beauty is a feeling.