I recently emailed celebrity make-up artist Lippi Lal with some questions and she was kind enough to answer them for me. Instead of me thinking of a witty and clever introduction riddled with my horrifically lame sense of humour, I'll just let her official profile and photo do the talking. After that read on for the interview (by the way, I love her sense of humour in all of it).

Profile
Lippi has over 14 years of experience in the luxury brands business specializing in prestige fragrances, skincare and makeup. During this time she has worked with some of the leading brands in the business such as Nina Ricci, Shiseido, Versace, Escada, Burberry and several others.

As a trainer for these brands she has their trained frontline staff across the country and conducted scores of Fragrance appreciation and Beauty workshops for the media and customers. Her workshops have been written about in leading publications like the Bombay times,Midday and several others.

She has also appeared on prime time television as a presenter for beauty workshops. Currently she is working as a consultant within the industry, conducting Training Programmes for leading luxury brands Max Factor,Azzaro,Thierry Mugler,and Cartier and using her makeup skills to create magical looks for brides,models and beautiful women across India.

Interview

Me: Are there any products that always feature in your kit?

Lippi Lal: Yes. I always have to have my Max Factor mascaras as they are the best, especially Masterpiece which is a work of genius. It is a defining mascara that creates a natural false eyelash effect. My Shiseido Corrector Pencil which is another fabulous invention that I can use to “mop up” make-up mistakes without wrecking the while look. My MAC pigment in Silver which I can use as highlighter and eyeshadow is also an absolute must.

ME: What brands do you rely on for foundation? Which brands do you prefer for darker skin tones and which would you prefer for lighter skin tones?

Lippi Lal: Depending on the texture I want MAC, Max Factor, and Shiseido are my hot favourites. Age Renew from Max Factor gives the skin a candlelit glow but I sometimes have difficulty finding darker shades in the brand. Shiseido's stick foundation gives the most natural finish and actually contains natural shading powder which naturally contours the face. I use it for a variety of skin tones (they have a special technology that has red pigment in the darker shades and green pigment in the lighter shades, therefore making it suitable for a range of skintones). MAC Hyper Real is also a favourite; I love the sculpting effect it has on the face.

Note: I believe the Shiseido foundation she is talking about is the Shiseido Foundation Control Color.

ME: I read that you specialize in corrective make-up. What are some things women do to minimize flaws but end up accentuating them instead and what would you recommend doing instead? Do you have any favourite products that you feel help minimize flaws.

Lippi Lal: Ah! My favourite topic! I think the worst thing is watching women deliberately choosing a lighter foundation to look “fairer.” Yuck! They look more like they have fallen into a flour bin or a la Michael Jackson. Even if your natural colour is midnight blue, you have to choose a foundation to match that. Trying to change your skin colour makes you look dated, older, and, worst of all, scary. So have mercy on your fellow beings and pick a suitable shade.

Another trick I have seen a lot of make-up artists do in India is contouring the nose to make it appear slimmer. It actually does the opposite and brings attention to it saying “Hi there! It’s me, your bulging nose.” A better way is to take attention away by enhancing a more desirable feature like the eyes or mouth.

I do have personal favourites for corrective make-up. Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat for sure and also Lash Lift mascara from Max Factor which makes nonexistent straight lashes magically reappear. I also love a good eyebrow pencil and lip definer to enhance the shape of the eyebrows and lips. Both are very important elements of corrective make-up.

ME: Do you have any favourite blush shades from specific brand that you like using on indian skin?

Lippi Lal: Indian skin has a variety of tones ranging from light to very dark and undertones could vary from red to yellow depending on the region the person comes from. For instance, Punjabis who have lighter skin will have a red undertone but Bengalis with lighter skin may have a yellow undertone. Some North Indians with darker skin may still have red undertones. Keeping this in mind, I love Max Factor Flawless Perfection bushes. They have a variety of shades that work beautifully on Indian skintones.

ME: I love the following look you did on the model. Can you name any of the products you used to recreate the look?

Lippi Lal: Yes. Thanks! The look was created using Mac Hyper Real foundation, MAC pigment in Silver as highlighter, Elizabeth Arden eyeliners (I love Arden liners), and Chambor Moisture Lipstick in Maroon Plus.

Hope that answers all your questions.

This post has been long in the making. A lot of people come to me and ask me for a makeover and have a vague idea of what they want. Vague, especially in a world where acid green can subjectively be called a neutral, is really of no use to you or the make-up artist.

The ubiquitous "do whatever you think will look good on me" is not going to cut it. No matter what, you take a huge risk asking the make-up artists to "do whatever." Your version of smokey eyes might be the artist's version of drag queen with a hangover or vice versa. So here are a few useful things you can do to help the make-up artist tailor your make-up to your liking:

• Determine what kind of a look you want. It really helps the make-up artist to know which colours are a no-no, what you definitely want incorporated, whether you want it tailored towards a daytime or a nighttime look, etc. Seemingly small specifics can really help out the artist.

• Pick out the colours that attract you together with the artist. I've found that it really helps women feel more in control of their makeover and happier with the direction it is going if they can approve beforehand the colours the artist will use on them.
  

• Let the artist know whether you have any specific concerns and need help with them. I have had a few women come in and they, in their own words, have no idea what to do with make-up after they buy it. So you don't want the artist to work their magic, buy the product, and be clueless when you get home. Ask the artist to explain application and they (really ought to be) should be willing to oblige.

• Check the progress every so often to see whether everything is going according to plan. By this I don't mean check whether the artist has applied every stroke properly. For example, check whether you like the shadow combination on your lids, whether the completed eye make-up is what you wanted, or whether the blush is too bright. When you point out things you want changed early enough they are easier and quicker to correct.

• Remember that what looks good on others might not necessarily look good on you. It's not just a question of skin tone, hair colour, eye colour, etc. but it is also about the comfort level of the person wearing the make-up. If you really like something you see used on someone else, ask the make-up artist how to incorporate it into your look.
  

• Don't jump from look to look during the makeover. Changing the direction of the look from a natural look to a green smokey eye to winged eyeliner with red lips every ten minutes will not only make the artist want to kill you but it might also end up in an amalgam of things. It's ok to change the direction of the look, just don't do it more frequently than you blink
  

I will add more such posts as I go along so you can really get the maximum out of your makeovers and consultations.

In honour of Closet Diva and anyone else who might find this helpful, I'm making a post on what to wear when attending a wedding. This is more geared to a day look and you're free to tweak it as you want. Also, Let me know what you ladies think of this. I will post more about the subject, just point me in the direction of your concerns.

Some general guidelines:

• What I really like doing is looking around for inspiration before any big event. I scour magazines and looks on celebs or from make-up lines. You can get tons of ideas this way and maybe decide on elements from particular looks and mesh them to create something unique of your own.

• Try not to be too matchy-matchy with your make-up. I don't go for make-up colours that clash too much with my outfit, but try thinking of your make-up as needing to suit your face. You want to flatter your face, not necessarily your outfit. I know this sounds weird, but if you subtly enhance your features you stand out. If you coordinate you make-up with your make-up, you're enhancing your clothes.

• Don't try out any new skincare things less than two to three weeks before the big event. Just imagine, you have two weeks to go, everything is finalized, and you try a new facial and you break out. Give your skin enough time to heal if heaven forbid you react badly to the new skin-care addition.

• Get a friend who will give you an honest opinion. Sounds so basic, but sometimes you just need someone to say "that does NOT look good, don't go with it.

Some make-up tips:

• Find a primer that works for you. By this I mean a foundation primer and an eyeshadow primer. A good foundation primer will make your make-up glide on better and help it stay on longer. A good eyeshadow primer will help bring out the shadow and liner colours and it will make them last.

• Find your foundation-concealor-powder combination. More than anything you want your skin to look good, so finding a combination of the products will really go a long way in fulfilling this goal. Some foundations contain titanium dioxide or zinc oxide and these give a whitish cast under flash light. Also, foundations and powders that have a dewy finish will look oily. Look at the ingredients and look for a satiny to matte finish rather than other finishes.

• I tend to make my eyes the focal point for a big event. Why? Because talking, eating, drinking, and eating again makes me lazy and I don't reapply my lipstick/gloss as much as I should. Make sure your eye make-up wears like steel. I adore Urban Decay's Primer Potion as it makes my shadows so vibrant and wear for a long time. If you have trouble blending shadows on it, try powdering your lids after applying the primer potion. I also like MAC's Fluidlines instead of traditional liners. For mascara, waterproof is a good choice. Another step I take if the occasion calls for it is Ben Nye Final Seal. I do have to make sure this doesn't go into my eyes but it is industrial strength when it comes to making my eye-make-up last.

• For blush, I want it to last but at the same time look natural. I like to layer blush so that it lasts longer. I look for a cheek stain and powder blush that compliment each other. A sheer cheek stain lasts for a long time and gives depth to the powder blush. This way, you will still have a hint of colour at the end of the day if the powder blush ever fades away. It is important to not overdo the blush. TheBalm has great cheekstains. I recently got TheBalm's Stainiac in Prom Queen. It is more of a gel than a liquid. It doesn't set the instant you put it on your skin so you have enough time to blend. After it sets, it holds really well until I wash it off at night.

• Stay away from shimmer. Shimmer is really exaggerated in pictures. If you want to add shimmer, take some pictures with your digital camera so you can calibrate the amount needed. However, less really is more.

• For lips, my biggest guidelines are to test drive the lipstick/gloss combo. What I mean here is that some lipsticks really dry out my lips eve if they're not long lasting formulations. For example, some MAC lipsticks kill my lips and I end up with ugly flakes. My lips can get so dry that not even gloss or balm can make the flakes disappear. Some really comfortable lipsticks are Clinique's Buttershines. I also really like lipsticks by Prescriptives and Origins because I find them so comfortable to wear.

• Don't go overboard on the gloss. Too shiny lips can break a look so just be careful with this.