Vimi's Tips and Techniques to Look like a Bollywood Diva

In Hollywood actors cope with the constant attention with a complex subterfuge of facials, dermatologist visits, and personal trainers to achieve what we call the natural look. In India, where heavy eyeliner, jeweled bindis, and henna-stained hands and feet have defined beauty for centuries, “it’s the exact opposite,” Vimi says. “The more color, the more shimmer and gloss, the better. For a makeup artist, it’s like being a kid in a candy store.” Pancake remains the foundation of choice; the heavy-duty contouring of cheekbones, noses, and jawlines known as “cutting” is a standard practice. And eyes, the hugely meaningful, communicative focal point of the Indian face—even in chaste Bollywood movies, where kisses are still considered risqué, eyes aren’t afraid to say it all—are “big, always exaggerated, with liner, glitter, shimmer, frost, cream,” she says. “They’re like, Bring it on!”

Making all that glitz stick in the hot, humid climate, whether on shoots (“you know, every Bollywood movie has some kind of crying scene under a waterfall,” Vimi jokes) or red carpets, has necessitated time-honored techniques that make Kabuki look plain. Since moisturizer would lead to makeup meltdown, Joshi preps skin with a hydrating spritz, then applies full-coverage foundation using a buffing brush. (“It’s almost like we ground the foundation in,” she says.) Next comes something called a wash: She completely dusts the face in a mixture of loose powders in glowing yellow, peach, and pale orange tones, stippling on more and more until skin is completely chalky. Then with a water spritz, she “washes” the powder until it sinks in and sets. After that, she mixes more powder with a little water and then applies this emulsification with a fan brush. “At this point, your base isn’t going anywhere,” she says. No kidding.

Only with this canvas in place does the “cutting” process of drawing facial contours back on with a darker shade of foundation begin. “A lot of it is cheekbones and definitely the nose—they want it slimmer and thin on the tip,” Joshi says. As for touch-ups, any more powder added on top of sweat and oil would get muddy; instead, they use linen cloths kept in an iced cooler.