The Hero heroine, Athiya Shetty, shares her make-up secrets with t2 after being named the new brand ambassador for Maybelline...

How has everything been post-Hero?

It’s been so exciting! I have just signed my first endorsement for Maybelline, which has always been my favourite brand. Ever since I can remember I have been using their Baby Lips lip balm and their Colossal kajal and mascara. And not only me, there are so many girls who love the brand. I especially like their new tag line ‘Make It Happen’. To me it means being ambitious, driven, modern and striving to make something out of your life. I think this feeling and independence is very important for every young girl today — to have that fire and that go-getting attitude.

And which beauty icon personifies that feeling for you?

Internationally, I’m a huge fan of supermodel Gigi Hadid. If I had to pick one in Bollywood, it would definitely be Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.

How important is make-up for you?

Because of my profession, it is extremely important. I have to look good all the time. Also, it helps enhance one’s confidence, so why not? But don’t make it so important that you leave the house every day with a lot of make-up on your face. What works best is defining one part of your face. Like for me it’s my eyes, so I work my make-up around highlighting it.

You have to apply so much make-up. How do you take care of your skin?

I don’t do a lot of facials or things like that. I’m more of a natural and basic person, like I make it a point to use a good scrub on my lips and face. I also use a lot of fruits on my face. And drinking water is extremely important to me. I even have a very helpful app on the phone that reminds me to drink water.

A casual day off and all the make-up you’d do would be...

Just plenty of mascara!

On the job, what is the one make-up trick that you’ve picked up?

If I don’t have access to a blush, I use lipstick for a little cheek tint. The glossy ones make your cheek look dewy and perk your face up.
 
What are the colours you recommend for this time of the year?

Autumn/winter colours are usually the deeper shades like a maroon or a wine red. But right now I’m quite obsessed with pastel. I love colours like pinks and orange on my lips and baby blue, lilac on my nails. Depends on your frame of mind.

What’s the one make-up trend you can’t understand?

I think doing too much of everything. Some girls just feel like because they have to look good they use so much foundation, and then they have heavily done up eyes and a loud lip. I think it’s important to strike a balance. Make-up should be used to enhance your natural beauty.

What are the must-haves in your bag?

My lip balm, my mascara, a kajal. There’s always a bottle of water, my phone charger and my iPod. I also have chocolates all the time.  

Your advice to the ladies...

Drink lots of water and fall in love with your sunblock!

Daily water: If Athiya has you convinced on the importance of an app on the phone to remind you to drink water, download one. Daily Water reminds you to drink your eight glasses of water a day and on time. A ready log, which you can email yourself or friends, keeps track of the collective water in-take per day, starting from when you download the app.

Pro: While drinking water is a good thing, too much of it can be bad. This app helps keep that in check.

Con: There’ll be frequent trips to the ladies’ room! *wink*

GROOMING TAKE-FIVE

French manicure or nail art: I’m very minimalistic, so a French manicure for me.

Red lip or a nude lip: During the day a nude one and if going out at night, a red one.

Eyebrows on fleek or contouring on fleek: Eyebrows.

Colour on your eyes or black kohl: Black kohl.

What’s wrong — too much blush or mascara: Too much blush.

 

Riddhima Khanna