Base

Mickey stresses on moisturising the skin “lavishly” as he pats Sreshthaa’s face with Studio Moisture Fix. “Start with lots, you can remove the excess with tissue later,” he says.

• Go easy on oily parts of the face.

• Take some extra for the jaw to prevent blotchy make-up.

• Let the moisture soak in. It makes blending easier.

Sreshthaa’s T-zone is dotted with concealor and then blended all over. It is then “matted down with powder”. The concealor from the T-zone spreads evenly as base to the rest of the face at this stage.

• It is best to blend the powder with a brush with light, even strokes.

• Excess powder can be buffed away.

• Use a powder that is compatible with your foundation.

• Don’t forget the neck. If needed, use more powder on the neck to bring an even tone.

Eyes

On her eyelids, Mickey uses a cream blush called Tint and then brushes some powder over it to bring it to the same texture as the rest of the face. He then uses Blacktrack, a gel liner instead of regular eyeliner, and blends it a bit. He then applies Follie, a brown matte eyeshadow, and blends well, leaving no sharp lines. He then outlines the eye (top lid) from inside with Blacktrack and also the lower eyelid for the kohl effect. Follie is again applied with a pencil brush number 219 under the lower eyelids to elongate the eyes. He then takes MAC’s Carbon shadow on a slant brush and blends over Follie on the lower eye-line.

Sreshthaa’s eyelashes are then curled and MAC mascara Zoom Lash is applied.

He then uses Brown Down eyeshadow on a slant brush and goes over her eyebrows. A second coat of mascara finishes the smoky eyes.

• Tint acts as an eye shadow base. The shadow then moves better and doesn’t crease.

• If make-up smudges, pick it up while it’s wet with a Q-tip.

• An eyelash curler is essential. “Actresses always carry one in their bag!” Hold your lashes in an eyelash curler. Count till 20.

Blush

Mickey mixes Gingerly and Mocha for Sreshthaa and brushes her cheeks, finishing lightly on her chin and forehead. He also touches it over her hairline to get rid of any residual powderiness.

• You don’t need 20 colours. Buy four or five like peach, pink and brown and mix.

• Cream blush is best dabbed with fingers. Don’t forget to matt it with some powder.

Lips

Plum lipliner is used to outline and fill up Sreshthaa’s lips and then blended. Viva Glam 2 is then dabbed on her lips.

• Don’t sharpen the lipliner too much. Always round the tip off.

• Dual tone lips need to be filled with lipliner.

• Filled-in lipliner makes the lip-colour stay on long.

• Play down lips with smoky eyes.

• Stained lips are the ‘it’ look of the moment.

Top tricks of his trade

• Puffy eyes can’t be covered with make-up. Just hold your chin up to make sure it doesn’t show!

• Keep your make-up fresh for long by avoiding the sun. MAC’s Fix Plus spray is another quick fix-me-up.

• Treat problematic skin. Make-up is not the remedy.

• Since it is not possible for any brand to make 600 shades of foundation, buy the shades closest to your skin tone and mix. Do a patch test and step out in natural light before you decide to buy.

• MAC’s Studio Fix is the best make-up on the go.

• There are no make-up rules. Just bend the rules and be happy.

• Blending is super-important. The trick is not to show where it begins and ends.

• Invest in four or five good brushes. They will last a lifetime.

• Natural light is the best for applying make-up. At night, yellow lights work. Tube lights don’t.

Text: Shradha Agarwal
Pictures by Rashbehari Das