A Gujarati girl brought up in the U.K. in a thoroughly conventional family, M.A.C Senior Artist, Vimi Joshi was training to be a doctor, not that she wanted to. At one week-end stint as a group dancer for pop albums, Vimi was fascinated at how makeup transformed pop sensation Lulu from the girl-next-door to the diva. “I found my true calling,” remarks Vimi who found it difficult to convince her mother to allow her to chuck medicine and become a makeup artist. “Finally she agreed to give me one year. If I did not succeed in that time, I promised to return to medicine.” But, with her first client being none other than Tony Blair, Vimi never looked back. In the last 12 years, she has worked her magic on Richard Gere, Oliver Russell, Amitabh Bachchan, Trudie Styler; has worked on MTV Europe Music Awards, Kingfisher calendar 2005, IIFA awards 2008; and also done collections for DKNY, Kenzo, Michael Kors.
Tips from the pro
Hear her speak about right-here-right-now makeup trends. “After the in-your-face, bold makeup of the last couple of seasons, The natural, squeaky-clean beautiful look is back as the autumn-winter 09 makeup trend. Actually, the dewy-fresh skin, clear-eyed, pink-lips look can never go out of style. It is timeless. One may wear loads of makeup but if the skin beneath those layers is haggard and tired, the entire effort is down the drain. I’d first tell all girls out there to follow the cleansing-toning-moisturizing (CTM) routine to the T. “Next, nothing works better than a sheer tinted moisturizer or a perfect foundation to enhance that carefully nurtured skin. It is imperative to choose the perfect shade of foundation to keep skin from looking yellow or gray. The trick also lies in blending foundation perfectly, with one’s fingertips or a clean sponge.”
What’s in?
For the skin: It is a time for skin to be contoured, highlighted, pampered…pay attention to detail. Colors like caramel, terracotta, honey, sepia and taupe are hot. The emphasis is on making the look as natural as possible but not allowing it to be sloppy or half-done.
For the eyes: Black gets several personalities this season: matte, waxy, glossy, frosty, shiny' While the smoky eye look is still in, it is not the messy, just-out-of-bed smoky look. Rather, it is created by shaping and defining the eyes with shades of black complimented with colors like green, fuchsia, gold and peacock blue!
For the cheeks: Blushes are applied to enhance the natural angles of one’s face, a la 1980s sans the shocking bright colors, is a must-do. Fairer skins, opt for the baby pinks and roses whereas those blessed with that amazing caramel-colored skin-tone can experiment with fuchsia and magenta. The aim is to ‘lift’ a face with an expert sweep of a blush coupled with a dash of lip-gloss and mascara.
For the lips: The lips stand out exceptionally in a tribute to the wild 1980s; in fact, they take center-stage in the A/W’09 trends. Lips are now more triangular than ever and painted in far-out colors like magenta, pink, orange and even neon green! Lip liner is back this season but more to ‘form’ a lip than merely outline it.
As you see, it’s all about combining the innocent with the brazen; dewy-fresh with the been-there-done-that. And trust me; it makes for an explosive, head-turning look in the chilly, gray winters.
