beauty

SPOTLIGHT Cool is... on the global map Women of Indian descent around the globe are doing their part to reinvent the beauty industry—introducing Ayurveda to brand-new markets, launching make-up brands suited to ethnic colouring and creating viral videos that spill our best-kept beauty secrets. From New York to Paris, Hong Kong to London, meet the ladies who are changing the face of beauty around the world, one brow bar and contouring tutorial at a time. By SARAH KHAN

SHALINI VADHERA,  VANITA PARTI,  Founder, Passport2Beauty.com Founder, Blink Brow Bar WHO: The LA-based celebrity make-up artist WHO: Parti introduced Londoners to wrote Passport To Beauty, showcasing beauty eyebrow threading with Blink Brow Bar, a methods from around the world, and founded a chain of threading salons she founded in US$21 million make-up brand. 2004; she was awarded a Member of the HOW: From her start at a Clinique make-up Order of the British Empire for her e orts counter at the age of 17, Vadhera went on to help in the beauty industry. launch make-up brands Make Up For Ever, Laura HOW: Leaving a successful corporate Mercier and Smashbox in stores and work on The career in marketing at British Airways Tonight Show with Jay Leno. was no small feat, but Vanita realised that BREAKTHROUGH: Getting a book deal for having her own business was the only way Passport To Beauty was huge. She’s also appeared she could dictate how she ran her life and on The View the week it was released and seen prioritised her children’s schedules. it soar to number one on health and beauty BREAKTHROUGH: lists; launched her wellness and beauty brand; “Receiving an MBE from Prince and won the Oprah award for innovation. She William at Buckingham Palace recently launched Power Beauty Living, a series this year—nothing will ever beat of workshops that takes a holistic approach to that.” Other highlights: getting powering up your business, health, beauty and life. her fi rst chair at the prestigious COMING UP: Vadhera just launched her fi rst Fenwick Bond Street store and beauty wellness product, Beauty Warrior Skin retailing on Net-a-Porter.com. Radiance tea, and is working on her second book. Aside from her standalone salons, her brow bars are found at posh retailers like Selfridges, Harvey DEEPICA MUTYALA,  Nichols and Topshop in the UK Beauty expert and YouTube personality as well as Saks Fifth Avenue in WHO: Remember that viral clip of an Indian girl New York City. teaching you how to cover dark circles using red lipstick? COMING UP: A new That was Mutyala—her video got nearly 8 million views. campaign with popular British- HOW: This Texas girl decided at 16 that someday she’d Indian model Neelam Gill. move to New York and work in the beauty industry. She got an internship at L’Oréal, started a beauty blog, and worked at Birchbox. Growing up in a family of medical professionals, she knew she was heading for uncharted territory, but her family remains her biggest inspiration. BREAKTHROUGH: Her appearances on the Today show and Dr Oz were dreams come true—as was meeting Rachel Roy, someone she’s looked up to and hopes to collaborate with. COMING UP: She’s focusing on her YouTube channel and making television appearances as a beauty expert. “In just six months, my life has taken a complete 180-degree turn—I really feel like I’m just starting a whole new chapter of my life and have so many goals and aspirations!”

454 VOGUE INDIA OCTOBER  www.vogue.in JAHNVI DAMERON KAVITA KHOSA,  NANDAN,  Founder and creative director, Perfumer and artistic director, Purearth The Perfume Library WHO: She’s the force behind WHO: She’s the founder of The Perfume Hong-Kong-based Purearth, an Library, India’s fi rst perfumery dedicated to ethical beauty and wellness brand the world’s rarest and fi nest compositions. that adapts Ayurveda’s methods HOW: Her fi rst book, Tokyo Style File, was into a modern context. well received. These days, she’s inspired HOW: Family and friends by beauty and the act of creation, and she call her a “skin chef,” because chose Delhi to open her perfumery instead she’s always concocting lotions of Paris, where she lives. “I knew that the and potions with food-grade interaction that I will have with people who ingredients and plant oils. experience my fragrances will be such an Though she studied Ayurveda, incredible source of inspiration,” she says. she also pursued a career in BREAKTHROUGH: Winning the Fine law. “I quit my law practice to Fragrance of the Year 2015 award for Corsica start a social enterprise with Furiosa by MA Cortichiato. “Perfumes are so three criteria in mind—India, hard to compose because you cannot write the earth and women.” Khosa them down; it’s all in the mind. So every time spent a year researching and I fi nish a composition, I feel so proud!” formulating Purearth, a brand COMING UP: Nandan is set to release now present in seven countries. signature perfumes for Tarun “I seek to impact positive social Tahiliani, Manish Arora and change, to support livelihoods and to empower other global celebrities. marginalised women through fair trade, not aid.” BREAKTHROUGH: In Purearth’s fi rst year, the brand won awards (including the GQ Men’s TAMANNA Grooming award), and retails in high-end shops ROASHAN,  and spas around the globe. International beauty mogul, COMING UP: Imparting training and marketing owner, DressYourFaceLive.com skills to women in remote villages in Ladakh, WHO: One of the most Kashmir and Himachal, and collaborating with sought-after beauty educators in corporates on sustainability initiatives. the world, she travels the globe to sold-out beauty courses. Last year she launched DressYourFaceLive. SHYEMA AZAM,  com, a subscription-based online Beauty blogger and associate research editor, Allure make-up and hairstyling e-school, WHY: This associate research editor at US with more than 30,000 members. beauty bible Allure has a huge following for her Her Instagram following—1.7 blog—Beautyandthefeastblog.com—where she million. chronicles her adventures in beauty and food. HOW: Roashan grew up obsessed HOW: Azam moved to New York from the with weddings, make-up, and henna. Midwest to work at magazines, and has stints She started with bridal make-up as at international lifestyle magazines, including a teenager and graduated to celebrities and Vogue, under her belt. “When I started there red carpets, before launching her business weren’t a lot of well-known girls with Indian and becoming a self-made millionaire backgrounds, but social media has really before the age of 30. She openly shares her changed that!” Fellow bloggers and writers knowledge and beauty secrets—“Why be who push her to be more creative and expand lonely when there’s plenty of room at the her knowledge base inspire her. “Beauty is top?” is her work-life mantra. not just skin deep and I’m a big believer in BREAKTHROUGH Her eyeshadow understanding what we’re putting on our skin as palette sold out at Anastasia Beverly Hills. much as what we’re putting in our bodies.” But more than anything, Tamanna BREAKTHROUGH: She became a blogger is proud of what she’s created with ambassador for brands like Olay, P&G, Redken DressYourFaceLive.com. “Being able to and Neutrogena. Azam has also spent time reach so many people around the world with covering beauty and fashion behind the scenes a ordable high-quality education has been at the IIFA awards in Toronto with Mickey so rewarding on many levels. This is what I Contractor and M.A.C. was meant to create!” COMING UP: “I hope to be writing about COMING UP: The debut of her ombré beauty for a long time—it’s fun and nerdy. I’m extensions with Bombayhair.com and also going to be re-designing the blog so it’ll the launch of DressYourFace Global have a di erent look. I’m not the same person Artist Agency, a platform to connect I was when I started it six years ago and I think certifi ed graduates with clients. the site should refl ect that.” >

www.vogue.in VOGUE INDIA OCTOBER  455 beauty

NIDHIMA MONAL PATEL, ; KOHLI,  PRITI PATEL, ; CEO and founder, PINKI GOSAL,  ; MyBeautyMatches.com GARGI PATEL,  WHO: London-based Vasanti Cosmetics Kohli left a lucrative WHY: Monal, Priti, Pinki and career in investment Gargi, together, are the force banking to launch behind Vasanti Cosmetics, a popular MyBeautyMatches. Canadian-made make-up brand com, the world’s founded in 1999. largest marketplace HOW: Hailing from varied for online beauty backgrounds—psychology to fi nance shopping. “We and make-up artistry—the girls saw essentially take the a void in the market for lightweight guesswork out of products that suited Indian skin tones shopping so you and concerns. Finally, Monal said to can spend your Priti, “If you really want to do this, let’s time doing more stop talking about it and just do it!” important things.” BREAKTHROUGH: They’ve HOW: A former developed products with a cult Miss Commonwealth following, like the O2 Orange India, Kohli initially Concealer, Eye Wonder triple-action enjoyed the fast pace peptide eye cream, and Brighten Up and luxurious lifestyle enzymatic face rejuvenator. of her banking career. COMING UP: Expanding the But she eventually found brand in India and the UK. herself getting bored and wanted to start her own business. At the same time, she was struggling to fi nd the perfect face cream, and KAVI AHUJA wasted too much money MOLTZ,  on the wrong products by Co-founder and creative researching on websites director, D.S. & Durga that weren’t personalised. “I WHO: She launched noticed millions of women all small-batch perfume house over the world struggling with D.S. & Durga with husband the same issues, so I decided David Moltz. He’s a to make beauty shopping self-taught perfumer; a luxurious experience that she handles all the creative was personalised, impartial, fast and of best value.” Thus, aspects in-house. MyBeautyMatches.com HOW: Born in New York, Kavi studied was born. architecture and design in Los Angeles and BREAKTHROUGH: The Holland, before returning to New York to Guardian nominated her as one design buildings. She met David there, and of the leading female business they founded D.S. & Durga as a labour of leaders in the UK. She’s built a love. “I’m inspired by almost everything community of 85,000 women I see—an old car on the street or shells without a marketing budget, on the beach, even the way my children servicing clients from more smell. I’m also very inspired by geometrical than 145 countries within a year patterns in nature.” of the site’s launch. BREAKTHROUGH: “We are proud of COMING UP: Tying up with the few awards and recognition we have partners like Net-a-Porter.com, gotten. But we are happiest when David launching in a new country, and brings home an incredible composition and making the MyBeautyMatches.com we realise he has grown as a perfumer, or experience even when I create a design that we feel really more personalised. captures where we are trying to go as a brand.” COMING UP: D.S. & Durga are launching fi ve new scents this winter in a new bottle with a custom cap. ■

456 VOGUE INDIA OCTOBER  www.vogue.in