Always dreamed of having actor Anushka Sharma’s fresh-faced look? Now, her personal make-up artiste reveals her trade secrets, joining the gang of war-paint wizards whose client base is increasingly filled with regular Janes, eager to learn the art of application.
Puneet Saini, who’s just finished dolling Sharma up for Vishal Bhardwaj’s Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola, offers classes for make-up amateurs as part of her company, Pankake by Puneet. "The classes usually last for four days, six hours each, where we tackle four different looks," she explains, adding, "Make-up wasn’t part of the Indian girl’s regimen while growing up. But now, most women like getting decked up to go out, and it’s not possible to call a make-up artiste over all the time."
According to Vikas Marwah, who’s worked with names like Mallika Sherawat and Arjun Rampal, his non-celebrity client base consists largely of women in the hospitality and aviation industry. "We get a lot of requests from air hostesses and hoteliers because they need to look their best all the time," he reveals.
Indian women seem to be obsessed with eye make-up, and all the artistes agree that the ‘smokey eye’ tops the list of popular make-up techniques. But like her colleagues, Virginia Holmes, who conducts regular ‘make-overs’ with her company Fat Mu, insists that they must always start with the face. Starting with a class on how to select the right foundation to build a natural ‘day look’, they progress to a glamourous night look. "We ask them to bring their own products to the class so that we can design a look that doesn’t require a departure from their daily schedule. Sometimes, we get just one kajal pencil, though we’ve even had someone bring in three trunks of make-up. Ideally, we show you how to get a professional look using just five products in under 10 minutes," Holmes explains.
Make-up checklist
Here are the fundamentals you need to know before you start piling on the war paint.
1 Make-up begins with good skin care. Take care of your skin by using the right products and being a stickler for cleanliness.
2 Minimise the items in your make-up bag to a few essential items so that you’re not confused by an overload of products.
3 Check your tools. Do you have the right brushes, swabs, pencils?
4 Check if your make-up still works for you. If it’s too old or doesn’t match your style any more, throw it away. Even expensive make-up comes with an expiry date.
5 The Little Black Dress of eye make-up is a good black eye pencil, so make sure you have one.
Make-up checklist
Here are the fundamentals you need to know before you start piling on the war paint.
1 Make-up begins with good skin care. Take care of your skin by using the right products and being a stickler for cleanliness.
2 Minimise the items in your make-up bag to a few essential items so that you’re not confused by an overload of products.
3 Check your tools. Do you have the right brushes, swabs, pencils?
4 Check if your make-up still works for you. If it’s too old or doesn’t match your style any more, throw it away. Even expensive make-up comes with an expiry date.
5 The Little Black Dress of eye make-up is a good black eye pencil, so make sure you have one.
The courses cost anywhere from Rs 5,000 to Rs 12,000. For Fat Mu, contact 9920753846. Or visit www.pankakebypuneet.com
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