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That Bollywood look
Aishwarya Rai
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Aishwarya Rai. (Bloomberg/Kalyan Jewelers) (Bloomberg/Kalyan Jewelers)
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span class="inline inline-left">Aishwarya Rai. (Bloomberg/Kalyan Jewelers)With a love for colors since he was young, Indian makeup artist Rishab Khanna now beautifies Bollywood stars, from Priyanka Chopra, Aishwara Rai to the stunning upcoming actress Neha Dhupia.
In the makeup business for eight years now, Khanna revealed how Bollywood actresses take a really good care of their skin.
'They spend thousands of dollars nurturing their skin. They don't drink or smoke and are always on a healthy diet to keep their complexions glowing,' he said when visiting his student and giving a workshop on the latest makeup trends in Jakarta.
Indian actresses prefer a very soft, 'no makeup look' which looks natural on screen as most movies in India these days are realistic films.
'I enjoy working with upcoming actresses as I have the leeway of creating a trend or a signature style for them.'
During the workshop, Khanna recommended a stronger eyebrow for the spring makeup style.
'The poppy orange lip color is still 'in' this season. The all-natural look is always in where it is a high shine skin. A glossy cheeks, nude lips, nude eyes, a lot of mascara and strong eyebrows are very in right now.'
He added that a trend this season it is the psychedelic look where garish eyeliners are used. Psychedelic smoky eye makeup is square in shape.
'Indonesians have slightly less eyes space to work on compared to Indians, so they should create depth in their eyes instead of going really soft and using lighter colored eye shadows all over,' he suggests
'The dark colors should be well blended so that you don't know where it starts and ends. The makeup should be seamless. They should make their eyebrows stronger.'
He observed that many Indonesian women do not have thick eyebrows.
'Eyebrows really frame our faces and make an impact, so if you groom and do up your eyebrows really well, plus a lot of mascara on the lashes, it will really look nice. This is what I recommend to Indonesian women.'
He also noted that many Asian women use foundations two shades lighter than their skin tone ' most of them prefer to look white. His advice for women would be to 'keep it minimalist, keep it natural, especially the foundation'.
'Use a foundation that actually matches your skin tone. Use a warm tone on your face as it makes it look better,' Khanna says.
His love for colors started when he was young. He loves painting and blending colors. He wanted to get into the world of arts but his parents encouraged him to take up business management in England instead. After graduating, he worked for a bank as an insurance adviser.
'I hated my job because I thought one day I will die at the desk issuing insurance for people,' he says.
While walking in the street one day in England he saw an MAC cosmetics store. 'I saw all the employees dressed completely in black; bizarre hair; funky looking with hot, sexy makeup complementing the music played in the store,' he recalled. 'I was so attracted to that I wanted to be there as one of them and not doing what I was doing, that boring office job nine to five.'
Khanna entered the world of makeup when he was hired by MAC as a retail manager.
'For me understanding colors, how to use brushes and blending the colors, came in naturally with my background on painting. When I had my first interview at MAC, I told the lady in charge I was not a makeup artist but simply an artist.'
At that time, he was required to have a makeup test. 'I did the test and the lady couldn't believe that I have never applied makeup on anyone before! She said, 'the best of the company's artists couldn't do it as well as you have done it'.'
He was hired as a manager and at the same time applied makeup on clients. He took courses on makeup in different parts of the world and learned from different makeup artists.
Soon, he gained such popularity that all the 'difficult' clients were passed on to him. 'I was the manager and it was my duty to make sure the clients were satisfied.'
He reached a point where he was flooded with appointments for makeup everyday ' a point of saturation ' so he decided to quit the job and be his own master.
For the past four years, he has worked for himself, taking only one or two appointments a day. He holds workshops in Mumbai for makeup artists and newcomers. He loves to share his ideas through the media like L'officiel, Beauty and Style, Women's Era and Zoom TV.
'I love learning. I still learn every day, sometimes from my juniors and seniors. Sometimes from my customers who might just have a 'quick fix' tip. I learned how to make lipstick last longer from my mother!'
