A-Lister's Tips and Tricks

In an age when beauty comes at a price, with botox having become a lunch-time necessity, one would think the search for glowing skin and shiny eyes would end at a cosmetic surgeons table. While short cuts could be temporarily gratifying, some of the most beautiful women in the country still swear by age-old methods to preserve that beautiful face.

Like fashion buyer Rita Dhody who says yoga and meditation has helped her slow the aging process. “Nothing has helped me more than that. It is not a quick-fix method, but the results of yoga are tremendous on your skin and general well-being. You realise that your ageing process gets slowed down too. Do not sacrifice your workouts for anything. Keep your fitness level high and your skin will remain glowing,” she says.

Sultry siren Bipasha Basu agrees. She says nothing works better than a disciplined life. “I have always emphasized on maintaining discipline. If you have too wild a life, it reflects on your skin. Regular exercise, balanced diet, mandatory eight hours of sleep and lots of water makes your skin glow and stay glowing for the longest time.”

While H20 seems to be the elixir of beauty, former model Anna Bredmeyer has some other natural beauty secrets. “I use malai for moisturising my skin and I drink white pumpkin juice every morning to cleanse my system. I have been doing this for many years and it works wonders.”

“Eating healthy is of foremost importance,” asserts actor Deepika Padukone. “However much you outwardly take care of your skin, if you are not eating right, nothing works.”

Actor Simone Singh's weapon is cucumbers. “I eat loads of cucumbers through the day. I eat lots of carbs and proteins during the day which are more or less acidic in nature and cucumber is alkaline — it helps keep the balance. But yes, if you want a quick-fix method to look beautiful, then use a voluminizing mascara. Its effects are miraculous!”

Actor Urmila Matondkar enthuses, “Scrub your skin squeaky clean, no matter how tired you are. And use as little make-up as possible. Trust me, in the long run your skin will thank you for not assaulting it with make-up all the time.”

And if you are still looking tired, model Noyonika Chatterjee advises, “One beauty trick is to use a lot of kajal as it brightens up the entire face. So when in doubt, be sure to use kajal. Also, rubbing ice wrapped in a cloth is another great idea to give that fresh feel to your skin.”

Make-up Trend of the Month: Gold Rush

"Gold spells glamour," believes Charmaine Rao, make-up artist, YSL. On Indian skin, it also spells sensuality, opulence and radiance. As most make-up artists will vouch, this is a color that creates a glow like no other. "Gold is a symbol of celebration; it has unbound energy and is a burst of pure luxury. The hue complements Indian skin; it gives it luminosity and ignites a dramatic interplay of light and color," says Dinaz Jehani, brand manager, Shiseido. And with the wedding season upon us, it’s just the color to don. "Yes, gold is definitely going to be big because of the bridal season. Plus the couture fashion week is just over, too. Gold adds an element of richness and sophistication to the entire look," confirms Shailesh Moolya, salon director, Juice Hair.

Pretty Radiance

“Do not overdo it... gold should enhance the skin in a light shimmer and should be blended with elegant tones of brown for a rich diffused finish,” says Jehani. “Use gold on either eyes or lips – never both or else it will look very gaudy,” cautions Meeta Awatramani, training manager, Clarins. She recommends a dull gold for dusky skins and a pale one for fair complexions. Wheat skins can try a bronze-gold shade. In fact, to avoid looking like a jewelery showroom, Moolya recommends using very little to start with and then increasing the color as you go along. He advises sticking to matte textures for the day. “For the evening though, you can just go wild with this color,” he says. Awatramani suggests blending gold with browns, peaches and pinks to get a softer look for the day and merging it with blacks, grays, copper and plums for an intense evening look.

Face Forward

Keep lips subtle and subdued with a warm, pearly golden gloss while eyes go sophisticated and elegant with shimmer. Try Shiseido’s Autumn/Winter 2008 Silky Eye Shadow Quad Q12 Wood Tones, luxurious wood tones that complement the gold lips perfectly, suggests Jehani. For the eyes, use a pure gold shadow or blend gold with bronze or copper for a more subtle effect. Alternatively, just use gold shadow on the center of the eyelid after applying your regular shade, says Moolya. The hot colors this season are graphite grays, electric blues, fiery reds, plums and black and gold, which can be blended well to complete the bewitching eye equation, advises Awatramani. For the rest of the face, a golden bronze rouge on the cheekbones looks fabulous. Make sure you underplay the lips and cheeks if you are focusing on the eyes. “Blend in gold eye shadow with a touch of midnight blue/black at the outer corner of the eyes. Use a cream blush and a beige shade on the lips. On the cheeks, you could dab gold shimmer over your normal blush. If you’re playing down the eyes, go for a luscious pout with a nude gloss with gold hints,” says Rao.

Vimi on Faces being her Canvas

From the looks of it, had she tried she could have given the models a run for their money. Now she helps them get on the runway. Senior M.A.C make-up artist, Vimi Joshi would rather prefer dolling the models up than movie stars.
“Behind the scenes, is where the action takes place. Dressing up models is more fun because on the runway, you can be creative and more experimental. But when you are styling for movies, it is very character-oriented,” she asserted.
True, but that doesn’t hold her back to dress up movie stars. She has done the make-up for various Bollywood stars including the likes Deepika Padukone, Sonam Kapoor, Bipasha Basu, Katrina Kaif, Urmila, Mandira Bedi, Amisha Patel and Vidya Balan.
“Unlike, the grapevine, stars are one of the best people to work with. Most of them, come and hug me after the make-up is over, I think that is a sign of appreciation,” Vimi said.
But if there’s something she rues, is the lack of courage in actors to experiment with make-up.
“I hope that Indian actors could get a little more experimental because, they are the trend-setters of the country. Deepika Padukone’s eye make-up was heavily adopted by people. I had a lot of people who came to me and asked me for the Om Shanti Om eye-liner. The same case followed with Bipasha Basu’s extended eye-liner in Race,” Vimi informed.
Vimi adds that Indians should experiment with colors such as gray, purple, blue and greens.

“I would say that the top make-up artists in India always keep up with the international beauty trends. I had just returned from New York and the Milan fashion weeks. So I closely followed the international trends and adapted them to the Indian skin-tone while working for the Delhi Fashion Week,” the make-up artist said.

Make-up Trend: Layered Black and Turquoise Eyeshadow

Beauties like Urmila show, combining turquoise and jet black eye shadow makes your eyes pop! Blue shadow can be intimidating to wear alone because of its boldness, and black is severe, but mixing the two creates a deep colorful glow: Rim top lashlines in black pencil, then retrace with bright blue powder.

Add another hint of tint by dabbing blue mascara on the tips of your top lashes.

Rec: Red Earth Illusion Lights Beauty Pro eye shadow in Ultra Marine