Sonam Kapoor’s look on the March cover of ELLE India is very modern—it showcases her natural beauty. Sonam has got beautiful skin and I wanted that glow to shine through. It’s a very simple look—the make-up only took me about 10 minutes to do, but the skin prep takes about 25 to 30 minutes. This is just to ensure that that the skin and the face, both look fresh. Prepping correctly is essential, as it means you have to work far less on your skin and you end up using less foundation too.
PREP
STEP 1: I massaged her skin with a heavy moisturiser for 10 minutes, always in an upward direction. This removes any swelling or toxins out from the skin. The massage allows the moisturiser to really penetrate into the skin, which makes it moist and very easy for make-up application.
STEP 2: I followed that with a hydrating intensive eye cream and allowed it to sit for good 7-8 minutes. With a jade roller, I massaged the skin to ensure that the product penetrated into the under-eye area.
STEP 3: Post this, I applied beautiful lip oil or a lip balm to hydrate it.
BASE
STEP 1: Then I used a liquid highlighter all over the face except under the eyes—mainly focusing on the forehead, high cheekbones, bridge of the nose, chin, cheeks and I blended it out with a beauty blender. I allowed that to sit for at least 30 to 60 seconds.
STEP 2: I followed that directly with a liquid foundation, blending it in with a sponge. Since Sonam has got good skin, I didn’t have to go all over her face as it was not required. So, I focused on the sides of the cheeks, a little bit on the chin, the forehead. I allowed that to settle for two to three minutes.
STEP 3: Moving on to the corrector and concealer, I applied an orange-based corrector, followed by a lightweight concealer on Sonam’s under-eyes and blended it with a sponge.
STEP 4: I then applied a blot powder only on the under eyes. You can even use a loose powder—this is to make sure that the corrector and concealer stay in place. Remember that the rest of the skin remains glowy because of the liquid foundation and highlighter.
STEP 5: After allowing the make-up to sit for 60 to 90 seconds, I used the back of a beauty blender to apply a powder blush on the apples of the cheeks. I topped it off with a powder highlight on the high cheekbones, bridge of the nose, and even on the eyelids.
EYES
STEP 1: For the eyes, I first curled the lashes and put one coat of black mascara.
LIPS
STEP 1: I applied a red lipstick as a lip tint, so that it gives a nice flush of colour. The best way to do so is with your fingertip. Apply the lipstick on the centre of your top and bottom lip, and smudge it and move the pigment into the areas all over the lip using your ring finger. Ensure that the colour is moving from the centre outwards as it not only looks beautiful, but also gives a more pouty effect.
Expert’s tip: Another way you to prep your skin is to apply a hydrating sheet mask for 20 minutes, let the serum sit and then just spritz your face a bit of water. Blot your face with a tissue and then you’re ready to begin!
