Stroke Of Genius

Bronzed skin, red or berry lips, winged liners and smokey eyes are du jour for bridal collections on the ramp. But at the India Couture Week, two designers went cutting edge. With fantastic colours, graphic strokes and a play of iridescence, the beauty looks at Manish Arora and Gaurav Gupta were show-stealers. We went behind the scenes to catch Mickey Contractor and Sonic Sarwate of M·A·C India create the looks. Photographs by Mehtab Mann The Mythical Bride Mickey Contractor, Director of Makeup Artistry, M·A·C India, for Gaurav Gupta Medusa and mermaids. The beauty look keyed by Mickey Contractor for Gaurav Gupta took from these mythological creatures.“We’ve actually tried to work the cut and colours of the clothes into the makeup,” says Mickey. “So the fish cut of the gowns finds its way into the graphic eyes, which also compliment the metallics of the fabrics with a gradation of gold, copper, brown and black. With the exception of the black, all these colours are metallic.” The iridescence, which is mermaid-inspired, finds its way to the cheeks. “In fact, this is the first time at a fashion week that we’ve picked iridescent over bronzed cheeks,” he reveals. The hair is very Medusa-like. Twisted and knotted into multiple buns with gold thread weaving through, it complements the eyes perfectly. “The inspiration here is Greek mythology,” adds Mickey. Surely, the stuff that legends are made of!

The Brave Bride Sonic Sarwate, Senior Artist, M·A·C India, for Manish Arora “When you’ve got elaborate headpieces and ornate veils, there’s only one of two ways you can go—keep the makeup simple, or go all out,” says Sonic Sarwate, who executed the beauty look for Manish Arora. “With Manish, there was only one way to go...it had to be all out!” Geisha lips, bindi mosaics and coloured bands from temple to temple, across the eyes and the bridge of the nose. Yes, this was all out. Global elements were picked and placed in an Indian context, and vice versa. “The geisha lips in pop colours were inspired by Manish’s travels, while the bindi took from various Indian traditions where the bride’s forehead is adorned with them,”explains Sonic.“The band across the eyes is significant of a ray of light and is more psychedelic. It is also more representative of the textures used in Manish’s collection: metallic, metallic with sparkles, iridescent and textured matte.”

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August 2014 89 90 August 2014