Monday, November 5, 2007

Ambika Pillai's Make-Up Tips

According to Bollywood make-up artist Ambika Pillai, it’s important to “just do your own thing and go wild”. The make-up moves she recommends:

Soft, smokey eyes accentuated by pale, glossy lips. “Besides the essential charcoal-gray, one can also use shades of midnight-blue, mehndi (henna)-green and even fuchsia to smoke out the eyes,” says Ambika.


• Pile on the glitter. Use eye-shadows in black, grey, blue or aquamarine and top with some sparkle.


Use a shimmery blush in any warm shade like amber or soft pink.


If you’re going strong on the eyes, ease up on the lips, using any soft skin tone shade, finished with generous dabs of gloss. Alternatively, play up the lips in rich burgundy or raisin if you’re going light on the eyes. She also adds, "Don’t follow these rainbow trends blindly. See what works for you and not the airbrushed model pouting from the magazine cover."


The fall-winter shows saw a lot of plum on the mouth with biggies John Galliano and Gucci followed by Rajesh Pratap Singh and Raghavendra Rathore coloring the mouths on the ramp. “The lips go brighter with orange, pink and red,” says Ambika.

For make-up expert Ambika Pillai, winter is the season when nice is out and naughty is in.“You can go really overboard with the tanned look this season to perfectly complement those earth-coloured outfits, which seem to be so much in vogue this season,” says Ambika. For the day look, you can use a cream-based foundation or a translucent powder with light blush over it. For the evening, go for a glossy foundation, add to it a bit of bronze shimmer and you’ll be all set to rock. Also apply a little blush to bring out your cheekbones, suggests Ambika.


For a day look, Ambika suggests a mild version where you can line your eyes with black, brown or blue kohl and apply light-colored eye-shadow. “The real experimentation should be for the evenings. Curl your lashes and apply heavy mascara on them. Use a dark eye-shadow and smoke out the kohl. Apply a little bit of shimmer on your eyelids, just above the eyeballs so that your eyes look nice when you move them,” explains Ambika.


“Winter sees lots of black in our wardrobes and red lips go very well with any black outfit,” says Ambika.

Five Favorite Bollywood Make-up Artists

Aniruddha Chakladar
His signature look
Kohl eyes and nude lips. Aniruddha always exaggerates the eyes with a whole lot of kohl, not just with sweeps of eye shadow.

Abhijit Chanda
His signature look
The mantra being “less is more”, his signature look is also very understated and subtle. “I am not one for a cakey look. Just kajal with mascara and a hint of blush with some lip gloss.”


Anita Sadhukhan
Her signature look
She sticks to a very natural base, an almost nude skin tone. “For a studio shoot I like pale lips but a bridal get-up always calls for brighter lips.”


Moushmi Chatterjee

Her signature look
Is very flexible. “Though I am all for a natural look, sometimes a designer’s shoot requires me to go with the chosen theme. At times like these, the natural look just doesn’t work.”


Nabin Das

His signature look
Bright eyes with a dash of glitter. He also specializes in “contouring to pronounce the jaw line”. He also believes that very pale lips look too dull and so favors a slight pink or peach glossy mouth.

Deepika's Make-Up Breakdown in Elle Magazine

To get Deepika's gorgeous make-up, Elle has broken down the steps to look as stunning as she does.

To get this:

Click on image to view her look


Do this:

Click on image to read her breakdown

Since Deepika is the Indian brand ambassador for Maybelline, all the products used by Venus Ferreira are by Maybelline.

Products used:

Make-up Trend: Light-to-Dark Gray Eyeshadow

Fashion has led the way with gray, and naturally our eyes are not far behind. Deepika Padukone rocks a graduated gray lid to widen her stare, enhance her almond-shaped eyes and complement her gorgeous dress.

Coat lids with a deep silver cream shadow, then add a dot of charcoal cream shadow to the outer corner of each lid. Blend in toward pupils with blender brush.

Rec:
Benefit Cosmetics Creaseless Cream Shadow in Skinny Jeans (light gray)
Benefit Cosmetics Creaseless Cream Shadow in Strut (dark gray)

Friday, November 2, 2007

Deepika Padukone's Make-up Breakdown

Face
  • MAC Prep + Prime Face
  • MAC Studio Finish SPF 35
  • MAC Studio Fix Fluid
  • MAC Loose Powder
  • MAC Blush in Melba (Soft coral-peach) dusted on apples of cheeks
  • MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Lightscapade (Pale pearl) dusted all over face to give a nice pearly sheen
Eyes
  • MAC Prep + Prime Eye
  • MAC Eyeshadow in Bronze (Golden brown with golden bronze shimmer) on lids
  • MAC Eyeshadow in Patina (Muted taupe brown with golden shimmer) in upper crease
  • MAC Pigment in Nylon (Pale gold with icy metallic shimmer) on browbone
  • MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack (Intense black) on top lid and waterline
  • MAC Prep + Prime Lash
  • MAC Plush Lash Mascara
Lips

  • MAC Prep + Prime Lip
  • MAC Lipglass Pencil in Rosebound (Sheer soft neutral pink with gold pearl)
  • MAC Lipstick in Lovelorn (Blue pink)

Malaika Arora's Make-Up Breakdown



Face
  • MAC Prep + Prime Face
  • MAC Studio Finish SPF 35
  • MAC Studio Fix Fluid
  • MAC Loose Powder
  • MAC Blush in Plum Foolery (Faintly plum with shimmer) dusted on apples of cheeks
Eyes
  • MAC Prep + Prime Eye
  • MAC Eyeshadow in Texture (Muted peachy-brown with subtle shimmer) on lid
  • MAC Eyeshadow in Patina (Muted taupe brown with golden shimmer) in upper crease
  • MAC Pigment in Vanilla (A frosted soft ivory white) on browbone
  • MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack (Intense black) on top lid and waterline
  • MAC Prep + Prime Lash
  • MAC Plush Lash Mascara
Lips

  • MAC Prep + Prime Lip
  • MAC Lip Pencil in Quartz (Pinkish-plum)
  • MAC Lipstick in Sophisto (Dewy plum rose splashed subtly with gold)

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Make-up Trend: Individual Fake Lash Clusters


Want a gorgeous gaze like Aishwarya Rai's? You don't need a full strip of falsies. Instead, apply a one three-lash cluster to the outermost corner of each upper lashline. You'll build sexy volume only where you need it.

Add a dot of glue to the the back of one hand. Wait five seconds until it's almost dry, then dab the knot into the glue and hold in place at the lashline for 10 seconds.

Rec: Ardell Duralash Naturals