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You’ve got the look

Feline flicks are hard to get right. More often than not, they end up looking like squiggles, each pointing in a different direction. Those with unsteady hands even manage to get more eyeliner on the cheeks and below the brows than on their eyelids.
For makeup artist and trainer Akriti Sachdev, dealing with unskilled makeup enthusiasts is just another day on the job. Her studio and workshop is a haven of vanity. Armed with stippling brushes and pots of foundation, a row of enthusiastic makeup lovers follows instructions. They change brushes — their kits hold 12 important ones in varying shapes and sizes — as they proceed to do up different parts of their faces and eyes. By the end of it, their features are indeed transformed. Akriti is delighted as her class has managed to get most of the look right. She moves across from one student to another, setting right whatever has gone wrong.
“Winged eyeliner is what everybody wants to learn. But getting the symmetry right is tricky,” says Akriti. She suggests a quick fix — put a tape at the corner of your eye and hold it at an angle to where your eyebrow ends. Keep your eyes open, stretch your eyebrows and use the liner.
Three weekends a month, Akriti teaches a class of six the basics of makeup. And, the ones learning are not those interested in making a career out of it. In fact, they are women who have careers of their own, but are here to learn the art of looking good. “People are conscious about how they look. Social media is making them more aware and introducing them to what’s happening in the cosmetic world,” says the 26-year-old. And, there have been queries from men too; a few actors request personalised classes.
The demand for makeup classes has skyrocketed in the last two years, with people willing to spend anywhere between Rs. 3,500 and Rs. 15,000.
Akriti now has nearly 50 people on her waiting list every time she conducts one. Her classes have fixed topics — getting the base right, smoky eyes, office makeup and bridal looks. She says it’s interesting that her clients wish to get a natural look, but with the help of makeup. “I created a Bajirao Mastani look that was a hit on my YouTube channel. It’s a natural, no-makeup look, but while teaching people, I realised I used 15 products to achieve it,” she laughs.
She’s shortly launching intermediary classes for those seeking advanced lessons. In addition, she also conducts classes in Kerala, Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Hyderabad and Bangalore. Her students are in the age group of 25 to 40. While 20-year-olds are open to experimenting and taking risks, older women prefer matte looks that make their skin appear smoother, she says.
Shrutilaya Ramanathan, a trained prosthetic and makeup expert, who conducts one-on-one classes when she’s not busy styling at shoots, says her clients in the age bracket of 40 to 50 years primarily want to learn how to cover up blemishes and make their skin look younger. Often, out-of-towners visiting Chennai for a weekend break write/call in advance to fix classes with her.
Akriti during a make-up class. Photo: R. Ravindran
Image: chiffon bridesmaid dresses
“Shading is all the rage. It’s a technique that’s long been in use to give dimension to the face by adding shadow. Renamed contouring, the trend has become so well-known that even people who don’t really need it want to contour their faces. The same goes for colour correction. This involves correcting a particular tone of pigmentation using its opposite colour on the colour wheel. Pigmentation, in most cases, develops with age, and especially with prolonged sun exposure,” says Shrutilaya.
She notices that her clients spend anywhere between Rs. 3,000 and Rs.10,000 a month on cosmetics.
“I ask them to bring what they have; that way, I can see if it matches their skin tone, and if not, suggest what does. Also, for those who don’t wish to spend too much, I find them reasonable alternatives,” she says.
One of the reasons for such classes gaining popularity is that in the long run, makeup classes work out less expensive than getting something done at a salon; it also saves time.
“When you go to a salon, you’re mostly stuck with a look that they think works for you. But, at a class like this, you get to understand your face shape and skin tone, and the makeup expert and you work together on a look that best suits you, keeping your requirements in mind,” she adds.
Shrutilaya is open to teaching clients whatever trend or look they wish to learn; but the 24-year-old gets irked when they want to look like a celebrity. “A few wanted to replicate Kim Kardashian’s makeup. But that’s not feasible because she probably has four layers of products on her face and a lot of post-processing work goes on with the photographs. Unless you walk around with a filter around your face and an entourage of makeup artists, stylists and photo editors, you won’t get that effect,” she adds.
With beauty products becoming an integral part of a lot of people’s lives, they are always looking for ways to maximise benefits they can get with them.
“Some buy plenty of makeup and often don’t know the right usage; that’s where we step in,” says Prakruthi Ananth, a freelance makeup artist who focuses on bridals.
“Brides have a number of functions and dinners to attend pre- and post-wedding, for which they prefer doing their own makeup. Even when they are honeymooning, they want to look good, and obviously, can’t take a beautician along. So, I teach them an easy day look that won’t melt off their face and a quick smoky-eye evening look,” says Prakruthi.
Many who move to the U.S. or other parts of the globe realise that salons cost a fortune. It makes more sense for them to learn a few simple tricks here, and so they enrol themselves.
Such is the lure of cosmetics and what they can do to you, that even school students and kids as young as seven years old are intrigued by it.
At MAC, it’s the Miley Cyrus-inspired range that got the attention of school kids. The pink lip-gloss sold like hot cakes, despite being priced at Rs. 1,450.
The glitzy cosmetic giant brand, since its inception, runs makeup lessons for anyone interested. It starts at Rs. 7,500, but allows participants to redeem cosmetics worth that amount. “Every month, around 50 clients take these lessons,” says Suresh Menon, makeup artist at MAC Phoenix.
This also includes a handful of men from the television industry and flight attendants. They opt for lessons in concealing. “I even convinced a guy to buy eyebrow pencil after he saw my eyebrows. I use it every day in addition to an oil-control lotion, concealer, brow pencil and lip colour.”
And, given his skilful techniques, they seem au naturel and hardly visible.
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Kirjoitettu Friday 29.04.2016

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