‘Make-up should not look like make-up’

Bollywood make-up artist Rajesh Patil reveals secrets of the art of making people look good.

Their contribution to the making of a film may seem less, but make-up artistes single-handedly can make and break the ‘glamour’ quotient of a movie. Rajesh Patil has been making actresses look good for over 22 years. He swung into the spotlight last, when he created 12 different looks for Priyanka Chopra in What’s Your Rashee. His most recent work was for the actresses in Dil Toh Bachcha Hai Ji.

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Talking about the intricacies of making different actors with varying skin tones look good, Patil says, “I was asked to go easy on Shazahn’s (Padamsee) look. She is fair, so the tone had to be soft. It is very easy to give someone a loud appearance. But the whole purpose of make-up is that it should not look like make-up.”

Many times, actors have to wear make-up for hours at a stretch. Especially in television shoots, the halogen lighting is known to have damaged several actors’ skin. Using the best quality make-up, of course, is of utmost importance. Spilling the beans on what make-up looks good on which skin tones, Patil says, “Fair people can never afford to wear loud make-up. It should be subtle, depending on the occasion. Major differentiation can be made with proper shades of lipstick or a high lighted eye shadow.” While he deems ‘foundation’ as the most essential part of any look, he also says that finding a perfect shade is the toughest. “We usually have a pallet of tones that we mix and match according to the actor’s skin. Finding your shade is the most important step towards looking good and not made up.”

According to him, fair women can afford to wear almost any colour on their lips, but those with a wheatish skin tone should stick only to nude shades. “A common mistake people make is that they only take their face and neck into consideration. Then, in pictures, the ears stand out,” he says. Though Patil himself was never trained in the technique, he recently launched his own make-up studio, Face Factor. “I learned from my seniors for about 10 years. I came from a small village, so I didn’t have an option. But now people do.”