Colours make a difference

Cecilia Muench has on a red bindi, three necklaces and a pair of dark jhumkas. She has bought it with Juliette, the woman she calls her right hand. It has been nearly two weeks in Kerala and Cecilia has to turn to Juliette for the translations from Malayalam to English. In turn, she teaches Juliette bits of Spanish. Her English too has that Spanish touch. “But yes, I come from Mexico, I am just based in Miami, in the US now,” says the woman who has embraced the idea of makeup and beauty very early in life. She has about 25 years of experience now, working as a freelance artiste, and travelling the world taking lectures on how to be and not to be. In Kerala, she has come to talk about makeup in the time of changing technology — about being precise when HD has given way to 4K resolution.

“It is a technology that has more pixels and cameras that capture more pixels. The image is so sharp, so crystal clear and it has a magnifying effect. As a makeup artist you have to work in a precise way, for any mistake shows 20 times more on the screen,” she says. “4K has to do mostly with colour combination and coverage. Not too much product on the skin. You have directors looking for realistic images, people that look like people. And you have technology  that captures every single thing on screen. The trick is in balancing.” Cecilia had once studied to be a teacher of the English language in Mexico. But then she was already working as a makeup artiste. “It never dawned on me that one day I was going to put both together and become a makeup trainer.”

She first put makeup on her face as a 12-year-old and then took it to school to apply it on her friends. “In those days there were not many brands and I would go to the stores and look at what was there. I am 48 now, and I have had beauty all my life. Not just the superficial one. When you work with makeup you can make a person feel better. You work with the self esteem of people. That is the biggest purpose of makeup — to see a woman for all that she is. Makeup can be so misunderstood. People perceive it as artificial beauty. But it is not, you are just helping the inner beauty come through.”

Cecilia has never gone too much into film industries, except as a consultant, for she didn’t want to be gone for too long when her daughters were growing up. “Now they are 22 and 19 and don’t need me so much,” she says. Her younger daughter who is ‘whiter than her’ would often be in the sun trying to get darker. “It happens around the world. In Mexico where I come from, women are dark and they want to be fairer. Here my 46 students in Kochi want to look like me, while I adore their deep colours and dark eyes.” What she has found about the makeup in Kerala is that out on the streets, women hardly put on any, except for a bit of kohl around the eyes. “To be honest, that looks flat, there is only one colour on the face. Add some depth on the eyes, a little bit more colour on the lips and a little bit more blush. It looks healthier, happier.” She had thought Indian makeup was bold but realised it was not so. “Makeup artistes here like to play it safe, be more casual.”

Pattanam Rasheed, veteran makeup artiste in Mollywood, says that while the technologies in movie making have changed so much, the makeup methods have mostly remained the same. “There has been a huge change going from high-definition to 4K technology, like changing from typewriters to computers. Even the minutest details are highlighted with the digital age. But the makeup technicians need to grow with it. Rarely in movies like Slumdog Millionare have they made use of these new methods of makeup.” This becomes important when Malayalam cinema is seeing many cult movies like Karnan and Veeram where makeup plays a vital role in transforming characters to another era.

Cecilia says, “You should work the foundation. You can still use very bold eyes and lips as long as the skin —and thereby the foundation on it — doesn’t look ‘plasticy’. You should not be afraid of colour. Colour sends a message. If I wore neutral lips instead of bold red, you would perceive me differently. You judge. It takes less than three seconds to form an image of somebody. The message that I want to leave is true beauty is in the acceptance of who you are and enjoying your colour.” India is a colourful place, she says. “And Indian makeup is recognised and applauded around the world.” She would love to learn traditional makeup from an artiste and go away with wonderful memories of the bumpy rides on auto rickshaws that she simply loved to take.