Now, let's make-up!

If you had to prep for a wedding or a party, gone are the days when you’d lean on your trusted cronie at the nearest salon to look your best. Sure, watching YouTube tutorials comes a close second, but a rising trend in the city has got our attention piqued! City folk are making a beeline to make-up artistes to take up professional courses either to look their best or to make a quick buck.

“To begin with, I was very skeptical about make-up. It may be because I wasn’t brought up in an environment that actively used it. I was also a tomboy,” reveals Ashwini Ramesh, an IT professional. That was before she sat in a professional make-up course as a model for someone learning it.

“I was curious and I walked out looking different and a lot more confident. That’s when I decided to learn it too,” she says, taking up a seven-day course that taught her everything from cosmetology and eye shapes, to make-up and its various variations.

For most people, it’s not just about self grooming but the advantages it comes with. Take Sunanda Kumari for instance. After battling erratic timings in the corporate sector for over 10 years, she wanted to pick a career that was creatively fulfilling.

“It also allowed me more time with my kids and it made me feel happy that I could make other people look and feel good!” she says, now taking on her own clients.

So, why is this probably better than looking at a tutorial? Sabrina Suhail has the answer. “Some people have the knack of looking and learning but some others need hand-holding,” says the city-based make-up artiste who has been at it for over 10 years.

These make-up courses can be customised for you for self-grooming purposes and will take you three hours and anywhere upwards of Rs 5,000 to master it.

“This one analyses the person’s face structure, eye shape and skin type and teaches them how to test foundation, contouring, colour corrections and to do a great duck lip for starters,” adds Sabrina, who takes up these courses every month.

Another celebrity makeup artiste, Vydurya Lokesh notes that everyone from housewives and students to people working in the corporates are opting for it.

“They are keen on understanding their features and on mastering techniques to accentuate them. It has now become widely accepted as men and women have realised that looking the best version of themselves is not a sin,” says the lass who has opened up her palette to the likes of Sandalwood actresses Sruthi Hariharan, Shwetha Srivastava and Mayuri Upadhya.

Aside of taking up weekly courses, she also trains people professionally, turning it into a viable career option too! If make-up is going to make you look like a million bucks, give you confidence AND financial independence, why not?