by Nadee Naboneeta Imran
One
of the most dominating aspects of a wedding ceremony is the look that
the bride displays. One of the foremost concerns for the family,
friends, the guests and the bride herself is how she wants to present
herself on her big day! The brides often rest their trust upon one
beauty expert to take of their desired look for their wedding events.
The expectation, dreams and hopes of the brides makes the work of a
bridal makeup artist even more difficult than a regular artist. So, we
talked to three eminent bridal make up artists to learn about their work
and responsibilities.
Tilat Khayer
A
makeup artist first and an economist second, Tilat Khayer loves the art
of doing makeup so much that she gave up her master's degree in
Economics and job in the financial sector of UK to chase her passion in
this sector.
Khayer ventured into the world of beauty and makeup back in 2002 while she was still working for a financial agency; during then, she was working independently for different shows like hair shows, beauty salon shows, etc. Her passion found its real ground when she joined the Academy of Freelance Makeup, an institution that is primarily responsible for all the makeup and makeover of London Fashion Week.
The experience was a bit scary at the beginning because the makeup industry in UK is a very racist one. Even before she joined the school she was told that she can pursue education if she wants to but jobs are only offered to white people. However, once into the school she proved her aptness in the field and quickly became her teachers' favourite. She attended the first London Fashion Week in 2008. It was elating and at the same time a much rewarding experience for her.
A
makeup artist first and an economist second, Tilat Khayer loves the art
of doing makeup so much that she gave up her master's degree in
Economics and job in the financial sector of UK to chase her passion in
this sector. Khayer ventured into the world of beauty and makeup back in 2002 while she was still working for a financial agency; during then, she was working independently for different shows like hair shows, beauty salon shows, etc. Her passion found its real ground when she joined the Academy of Freelance Makeup, an institution that is primarily responsible for all the makeup and makeover of London Fashion Week.
The experience was a bit scary at the beginning because the makeup industry in UK is a very racist one. Even before she joined the school she was told that she can pursue education if she wants to but jobs are only offered to white people. However, once into the school she proved her aptness in the field and quickly became her teachers' favourite. She attended the first London Fashion Week in 2008. It was elating and at the same time a much rewarding experience for her.
Later, when she moved to Bangladesh she started working with Total Care, a beauty salon, for bridal makeup and is also working free lance for adorning brides or models. At the same time she is also working in London doing fashion weeks, shoots and shows.
'Bridal makeup is very different from other forms of makeup like that for the fashion industry or shows. Brides should not be turned into models or mannequins. Bridal makeup should be all about enhancing the best traits of a girl and hiding her flaws without turning the bride into someone she is not,' says Khayer.
Tilat Khayer feels that the client these days are very well aware of their demands, have a well researched idea on how she wants to look on her big day and have good idea about their strengths and weaknesses.
Before starting off with the makeup Khayer makes sure she gets some time to talk to the bride and know of her preferences. It is more like a brainstorming session. 'While applying makeup on a bride it is most important to watch out if the look will complement her personality. I also like to see the bridal dress before the event, try to know about the brides personality and how well acquainted she is with makeup,’ she says.
Khayer has always looked up to Pat Mcgrath as an inspiration in this line. She believes that she has only one unique style that is to keep the makeup simple and natural. Her all time accomplice in her work are famous brands like MAC, Armani, Chanel. Airbase etc. One of her recent favourites for doing the base makeup is Air Brush which is a silicon based makeup that ensures water durability, long time durability and flawless finish.
What Khayer enjoys the most about this profession is the different individuals and personalities she gets to meet and to add to that her work takes her places where she can experience different cultures.
She recalls working with a bride who brought a photo of Jasmin from Alladin and said she wanted to look like her, although she did not resemble the character Jasmin much. However, her sincere efforts did make her client very happy with her makeover.
Her advice to all the brides to be is to stay de-stressed, drink lots of water and finish all kinds of facial treatments at least three days prior to the event. A good makeup gives a girl her much deserved self-esteem and confidence for her special day.
To keep her art flawless and give utmost attention to each of her creations she does not take appointments for more than four brides a day.
Tilat Khayer likes adventurism in the sense that she dared to leave a highly technical field such as Economics for pursuing her passion and luckily her family has always extended their utmost support for it.
Lopa Rahman
Like
every young girl Lopa Rahman loved make up; she used to sit beside her
mother's dresser and watch with awe how her mother applied makeup. Since
school days she was very interested in doing makeup for her friends,
cousins and other acquaintances. This interest only grew more with age
till it came to a point where her friends, cousins and even friends'
friends wanted her to do their make for their weddings.
Initially Rahman was not so confident about it and instead was sceptic as well as a little hesitant about the huge responsibility that went along with doing wedding makeup for a bride. However, her work always pleased the people around her and her friends and family started inspiring her to take up makeup as a profession and that’s when she decided on it.
It all began by doing makeup on acquaintance's weddings who wanted her to take a pay for her work and do it as a professional task. Since then, for 17 years now she has been continuing her passion as a profession based on mere word of mouth recommendation.
Lopa Rahman has not had any technical training in makeup because she feels that training and courses can teach the styles and techniques of makeup but one can only learn the tricks and tools of makeup through experience. There is no definite AB C D; the more you see, the more you work, the more apt you get.
Rahman says, 'A person's personality is highly intertwined with the makeup. So, no matter what the occasion is I prefer to portray the shyness, youth and glow that a bride has on her wedding.'
She admits being a perfectionist and says that she likes to take her time when doing a bridal makeup and ensure that everything about the makeup is flawless. Although she loves her work, she prefers remaining in her niche and as such does not dream of opening up a salon.
Even as a child, Rahman was into drawing and sketching, and one of her most preferred subjects used to be drawing brides. She considers herself very lucky that she came into a field that is not really work to her but a something she loves doing. She feels that the best part of this job is to see the smile of a satisfied bride. It is not always easy to bring out the best look but she believes that every bride is beautiful and the challenge of the bridal makeup artist is to retain the softness, shyness and glow of the young bride and to make her stand out from everyone around her.
There are a few things that she gives a lot of attention to while doing make up and that is creating a base that is as natural as possible and playing with shades for the eyes. 'Bridal makeup should not be about changing the face; it should be about accentuating the best features of the bride,’ says Rahman. However, she also highlights that the lighting of the venue, dress and jewellery selection is equally important as the makeup. ‘Every bride should keep the sari and the jewellery as simple as possible so that the bride does not get over shadowed by the accessories,’ she advices.
She believes in sharing and advising when doing a makeup but too many restrictions block out an artist because no form of art can reach its pinnacle if it is continuously hindered. At the end of the day if the bride is not happy or comfortable with it, it will show on her face so it is important to understand the bride and her needs.
Because of the perfectionist that she is, she does not take more than four clients a day under any circumstances. Lopa Rahman looks in to the hair, jewellery, sari, styling and all the other aspects that surround the bride on her big day along with the make up to make sure that the bride gets the best look.
Farzana MunnyLike
every young girl Lopa Rahman loved make up; she used to sit beside her
mother's dresser and watch with awe how her mother applied makeup. Since
school days she was very interested in doing makeup for her friends,
cousins and other acquaintances. This interest only grew more with age
till it came to a point where her friends, cousins and even friends'
friends wanted her to do their make for their weddings.Initially Rahman was not so confident about it and instead was sceptic as well as a little hesitant about the huge responsibility that went along with doing wedding makeup for a bride. However, her work always pleased the people around her and her friends and family started inspiring her to take up makeup as a profession and that’s when she decided on it.
It all began by doing makeup on acquaintance's weddings who wanted her to take a pay for her work and do it as a professional task. Since then, for 17 years now she has been continuing her passion as a profession based on mere word of mouth recommendation.
Lopa Rahman has not had any technical training in makeup because she feels that training and courses can teach the styles and techniques of makeup but one can only learn the tricks and tools of makeup through experience. There is no definite AB C D; the more you see, the more you work, the more apt you get.
Rahman says, 'A person's personality is highly intertwined with the makeup. So, no matter what the occasion is I prefer to portray the shyness, youth and glow that a bride has on her wedding.'
She admits being a perfectionist and says that she likes to take her time when doing a bridal makeup and ensure that everything about the makeup is flawless. Although she loves her work, she prefers remaining in her niche and as such does not dream of opening up a salon.
Even as a child, Rahman was into drawing and sketching, and one of her most preferred subjects used to be drawing brides. She considers herself very lucky that she came into a field that is not really work to her but a something she loves doing. She feels that the best part of this job is to see the smile of a satisfied bride. It is not always easy to bring out the best look but she believes that every bride is beautiful and the challenge of the bridal makeup artist is to retain the softness, shyness and glow of the young bride and to make her stand out from everyone around her.
There are a few things that she gives a lot of attention to while doing make up and that is creating a base that is as natural as possible and playing with shades for the eyes. 'Bridal makeup should not be about changing the face; it should be about accentuating the best features of the bride,’ says Rahman. However, she also highlights that the lighting of the venue, dress and jewellery selection is equally important as the makeup. ‘Every bride should keep the sari and the jewellery as simple as possible so that the bride does not get over shadowed by the accessories,’ she advices.
She believes in sharing and advising when doing a makeup but too many restrictions block out an artist because no form of art can reach its pinnacle if it is continuously hindered. At the end of the day if the bride is not happy or comfortable with it, it will show on her face so it is important to understand the bride and her needs.
Because of the perfectionist that she is, she does not take more than four clients a day under any circumstances. Lopa Rahman looks in to the hair, jewellery, sari, styling and all the other aspects that surround the bride on her big day along with the make up to make sure that the bride gets the best look.
After
completing a course of fashion designing in FIT in New York, Munni
wanted to come back to Bangladesh and work in the fashion industry.
However, when she came back to Bangladesh she realised that her love for
makeup was greater than she had thought. Upon further consideration
regarding the beauty scene in Bangladesh she felt an urge to make a
contribution in this field. One of the most pressing problems in this
field was that modern and fashion conscious ladies harboured a fear
against going to beauty salons for makeup. 'I saw a lot of ladies complaining that applying makeup at a salon will make them look too white or too gaudy or in other words will not give them the natural desired look. Even I was apprehensive about choosing a salon that would do a nice makeup for me. So, I decided to enter this arena,' she says.
Munny did not want to come into the scene only as an entrepreneur and instead wanted to debut as a beauty expert. For that she carried out some research among her peers regarding the kind of makeup they liked and preferred. What came out from that research was that the Bangladeshi people really appreciated the Pakistani bridal look and following that Farzana Munny went to Karachi to attend courses of skin care and makeup at a beauty school there. After completing her course she felt that due to differences in skin tones of Pakistanis from Bangladeshi, their style was not apt for Bangladeshi brides.
Rather, the Indian skin tone resembles the Bangladeshi brides more. So her next stop was Delhi where she got tutored on makeup from the famous Ambika Pillai. She also took Loreal Professional course in Thailand. After having completed all the trainings she thought was necessary, she opened Que Bella beauty salon in 2001.
From the very beginning she was showered with a lot of love and acceptability from her customers. She did not only aim to be the best makeup artist but she tried to structure an institution were clients could come with ease and enjoy any and every service. Along with perfection in the services offered she made sure the administration and hospitality at her salon was unparallel.
She says that the makeup and makeover industry has undergone much transformation in the past years. The customers have become more aware about their preferences and choices, more conscious of what will suit them best and most amazingly the customers are profoundly affected by the global media especially the Indian showbiz.
Munny thinks that the thing she looks forward to in her job is seeing the content happy face of her clients. Apart from just beautifying her clients she is proud to be in a field where her contribution helps in creating employment for many women.
She compares herself to an artist as she says that each bride that she beautifies is a canvas for her to show her artistry. Each face is different and interesting and Munny loves working on different faces. The foremost challenge she is faced with quite often is convincing her clients the difference between reality and silver screen. However, at the end of the day it is all about making the bride look best on her big day. So, it is important to ensure that the makeup that is done does not only look good to the artist but also to the bride, because otherwise the bride's discontent will show on her face.
One of her must do’s before she embarks on any makeup session is a counselling session with the bride where they share and discuss their preferences and suggestions. She puts the utmost emphasis on natural look and good blending of all the makeup that is applied.
She often suggests brides to prepare ahead of the wedding rather than just depending on the makeup artist to do magic with make-up. Although it is possible to do magic with makeup, some issues must be paid heed to like taking care of hair, skin, staying absolutely de-stressed, not experimenting anything new on their body, etc.
She sees a positive air of change in the styles of the young brides which she highly appreciates like going for the sophisticated look rather than wanting to be a glamour mannequin. They demand a not so uptight look and wear the sari in more stylish ways or rather give a different look in every aspect. She feels that this industry is yet to see many more changes and the clients are up for getting their desired perfection.
