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Makeovers for fun
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It’s all about assessing one’s face and learning makeup techniques
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Photo: R. Ravindran
Face is his canvas An expert hand for a stunning makeover
There may be no free lunches in life, as the old adage goes, but there are free makeovers galore in the age of publicity and marketing.
The occasion: Monsoon makeovers. The venue: Shoppers Stop, Begumpet. The rain gods had been merciful and bountiful. Time to sit at home and enjoy snacks and a hot cuppa? Wrong, if the choked roads and overflowing malls with full parking spaces were any proof.
At Shoppers Stop, a bevy of college girls vie for beauty adviser G. Vinay Kumar’s attention at the hived off makeover zone. It’s no coincidence the makeover zone is surrounded by counters of various cosmetics brands. There are a host of other ladies, older and maturer, but just as eager, hovering in the background.
As one girl gets seated, she tells Vinay to tell her how to accentuate her cheekbones. The obliging artist picks up an array of brushes and proceeds with his strokes.
The face, the eyes, the cheeks, the nose, the lips, the chin, all are treated to a quick strokeplay.
In the midst of the painting, he peddles his wares, a skin serum to be mixed with foundation or moisturiser, a revitalising peel-off mask, all for the monsoon. The girl is soon on her feet, transformed and made over.
Time for her friend to get a quickie for her face. This one’s nose is the kind Sridevi had before the surgeon’s scalpel took it to task.
Vinay demonstrates how it can be made to look thinner and more delicate than the blob it is.
Another chum wishful of a cosmetic sheen plonks herself on the chair. This one wants smoky eyes and wants something to be done about her too-wide, square jawline.
Patiently, Vinay and his senior, Usha Kiran, work on the girls. Surprisingly, the gaggle of giggling college girls seem to be veteran makeover customers.
Prior to the makeover, they have descended with squeaky clean, schoolgirlish looks with hair pulled back and held by clasps and barrettes.
Post makeover session, they gather in a circle, sizing up each other, letting out oohs and aahs. After the admiration round, in one unspoken motion, the restraints from the hair are pulled out. They help each other in styling and setting the hair. The body language undergoes an instant makeover, too. In a jiffy, cellphones are whipped out.
Voila, you have a cluster of sirens here. Poses are struck, they prance in impromptu little pirouettes. The makeover beauties want this moment to be captured and stored in their cellphones’ memory.
As they prepare to leave, without making a single purchase, Usha Kiran speaks, “They’ll come back and buy maybe a lip gloss or an eye pencil. That’s the lowest priced at Rs 780. With their limited pocket money, that’s all they can afford to buy.”
But, then, who buys all this expensive stuff? “The women between 25 and 45. At one go, they buy stuff worth Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000.”
A prosperous-in-looks-and-figure woman, who has been awaiting her turn, gets the beauty advisers’ attention. This one could be a serious buyer, says the look on Usha Kiran’s face.
KOMAL VIJAY SINGH
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