Get that J-Lo Glow!!!

Even though Celina Jaitley's makeup looks a bit cakey in this picture, it's suitable for the stage or the big screen. However, when you want full coverage for every day use without a cakey, overly powdery finish, using a makeup setting spray such as MAC's Fix + is ideal.

MAC Fix + is a water-based spray full of vitamins and minerals, which soothe the face and provide moisture. You can simply spritz on this mist onto the face directly. This will ensure that when you hug someone or rub up against any surface, your makeup will be less likely to rub off.

One trick I like to use in order to save more product is to simply spray Fix + directly on to my MAC 187 Duo Fibre Face Brush. I then "stipple" the product all over my face and blend in circular motions. Right away you get a more natural finish, but with the proper coverage.

MAC Fix + Duo Fibre Brush

Best Makeup Advice: Less is More!

I don't know what Shilpa Shetty was thinking when she hired her makeup artist, but she should have definitely taken a look in the mirror. Shilpa Shetty, who normally glows and looks flawless, youthful and fresh, looks like an out of work drag queen.

Shilpa- lose the garish eye makeup, overdone contour/blush and please don't wear kabuki white makeup- you're not fooling anyone into thinking you're Snow White. So please, spare us all and chisel that makeup right off. Didn't your mama tell you- less is more?

How to Glow Using Perfectly Peachy Makeup

Madhuri Dixit-Nene has the most captivating smile in the entire industry. So it's not surprising to want to copy Mads' fresh peachy look.

Here are a few amazing colours that are universally flattering, that will also allow you to recreate Madhuri's makeup.

On the eyes:

1. MAC's Goldbit e/s is absolutely perfect, but it has been discontinued, so a colour close to this would be MAC's Naked Lunch. Sweep this colour over the entire lid.

2. Line the upper lashes with a dark brown pencil, such as MAC's eye pencil in Coffee. Smudge more liner on the lower lash line using a cutip.

3. Finish off with 2 coats of mascara after curling eyelashes. (Tip: Once again, the best eyelash curler on the market has to be by Shiseido).

On the face:

1. Even out your skin by using a primer for the face so that your makeup will have a smoother finish. A primer with flawless results is Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer, or Make Up For Ever's HD Microperfecting Primer (both are available at Sephora).

2. Use a lightweight foundation as close to your skin colour as possible.

3. Place MAC's Mineralize Blush in Dainty on the apples of the cheeks in small circular motions using MAC's #116 Blush Brush.

(Mineralize Blush Tip: With mineralize blushes, the more you "buff" them onto your cheeks with a blush brush, the more vivid the colour appears!)

On the Lips:

1. Apply MAC's Velvet Teddy lipstick all over the lip.

2. Apply MAC's Dazzleglass Lip gloss in Bare Necessity (Note: this colour was a limited edition, but has just come back permanently this week!)

Colourful Koko!

Out of all of the Bollywood actresses, Konkona Sen Sharma (aka Koko) is one of the most talented actresses to ever grace the screens. This 29-year old actress has received two National Awards as a Best Supporting Actress in Omkara (2006) and Life in a...Metro (2007).

On the carpet, Koko keeps it traditional with saris and churidars and tends to gravitate towards metallics and jewel tones, which make her skin look radiant.

In this pictures, it's all about the eyes! Here are a few products that you can try to achieve a similar look:

1. Try MAC's Rubenesque Paint Pot (a beautiful golden peach) all over the lid. I like to use my fingers.

2. MAC's Dame Edna: Royal Tour Eye Trio (Limited Edition) is not only perfect for this look, it also has Dame Edna's iconic frames on the front of the compact in red glitter. How glam!

The colours are (from left to right): Dame's Desire, Climate Blue and Royal Tour.

First, apply "Royal Tour" e/s using MAC's #231 Small Shader Brush in small upward strokes from the upper lash line, a 1/4 of the way up to the crease. (Tip: Wet the brush a tiny amount to create a more saturated colour on the lid).

Then, go over "Royal Tour" e/s with "Climate Blue" e/s using the same technique. Next, place "Climate Blue" on the lower lash line (use excess eye shadow from upper lash line) using MAC's #263 Small Angled Brush.

After that, apply black liner such as MAC's Technakohl liner in Graphblack, as close to the upper lash line as possible and in the water line. (Tip: For a slightly smoky look, smudge out the edges using the tip of a cotton ball).

Finally, add two coats of the blackest mascara to both upper and lower lashes. Voila!

Lara Dutta's Sultry Summer Look

Crowned Miss Universe in 2000, and working in the Bollywood film industry for over 7 years, Lara Dutta is no stranger to the limelight. As one of Bollywood's up and coming actresses, Lara is not afraid of playing with her makeup.

This look is not only sultry and sexy but it's pretty simple to replicate. You only need a few good products (I'm always a MAC fan, but you can use whatever products you like to achieve a similar look.

For the face:

1. Lara uses a full-coverage foundation but still keeps skin dewy, not matte (key for a fresh summer look). Try using MAC's Mineralize Satinfinish SPF 15 Foundation. Lara's colour would be NW35.

2. Lara applied bronzer to the outside perimeter of her face, as well as to her cheekbones in order to add colour and contour simultaneously. MAC's Bronzing Powder in Refined Gold would bring out Lara's glow beautifully.

3. Apply a misting of MAC's Fix + Spray onto MAC's Duo Fibre brush. Speckle onto face and then blend in to create a natural, flawless finish to the skin.

4. Add MAC's Mineralize Skinfinish in Refined as a highlighter on cheekbones and along the brow bone.

For the eyes:

1. Prime eyes with MAC's Rubinesque Paintpot all over lid (primer).

2. A good eyeshadow duo with the perfect amount of natural shimmer is MAC's Mineralize Eye Shadow (Duo) in Heat/Element (right). Place the lighter colour all over entire lid, going past the crease. Apply the lighter colour in the inner tear duct of the eye. Place the darker colour along the crease line using windshield wiper motions.

(Tip: This shadow's intensity varies depending on the amount of product you apply. For a sheerer, more natural look, apply less, and for a more dramatic look, pat more eyeshadow onto the lid.)

3. Black liner is a must, so go with a waterproof version to avoid running and smudging in the warm summer months. A great product to try is MAC's Powerpoint Eye Pencil in Engraved. These pencils come in a shimmer, metallic or matte finish as well, so you can experiment and have fun with them. Place eyeliner on upper lash line (as close to the lashes as possible) and on the inner water line of your bottom lashes.

4. Finish with two coats of black mascara. One of the best new products to hit the market is Rimmel's Sexy Curves Mascara in Black. This mascara both volumizes and curls eyelashes. Many South Asian and Hispanic women have incredibly long, but straight lashes. In order to make the most of our lashes, it's important to curl them. By wiggling the brush on the underside of your lashes, you create instant volume and lift that lasts for a long time.

For the lips:

1. MAC's Capricious Lipstick is the perfect, wearable red lip colour with a sheer finish. Another option that is closer to Lara's lip colour is MAC's X-S lipstick. It's a rich reddish brown colour that suits all warm skin tones.

2. Blot MAC's Bronze Shimmer Lipstick on the centre of the lower lip to add shimmer and dimension.

Please tame those caterpillars!

There's no better way to give yourself a quick "face-lift" than a great pair of well-groomed eyebrows. Unfortunately for Kajol, one of Bollywood's favourite actresses, she refuses to pluck, wax, tweeze or thread her bushy brows because the process is painful. Well, Kajol should suck it up and do something fast because it's definitely more painful and distracting to look at those things. Kajol is an incredibly gifted actress and has beautiful green eyes. A lot of her beauty is hidden behind that unibrow.

I don't want to say this to be cruel, but I just want to say that as a young Indian woman, I feel that it's our moral obligation to tame our unruly brows (or any other bit of facial hair), since we have been blessed with such thick ones.




Check out Karishma Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor's sister and Bollywood alum. When she started acting, her brows were significantly larger and also distracting from her other delicate features. However, once she drastically changed her eyebrow shape (taking off about 3/4 of her original eyebrows) with the help of makeup artist Mickey Contracter, she quickly become a beauty icon. Look at some of those before/after pictures to see just what an improvement a well-groomed brow can do.

BEFORE & AFTER:















There are some great products on the market right now to help you achieve a perfectly sculpted eyebrow without spending oodles of money on monthly eyebrow grooming appointments. However, it's also worth investing in a professional eyebrow shaping and maintaining that shape with the right products.

Eyebrow maven Anastasia, created her best-selling All About Brows Kit, which can be bought online or through Sephora. Anastasia put together everything in this kit that you could possibly need to maintain salon brows at home. What I love is that there are four different brow stencils that you can use to achieve a symmetrical look that suits your face. Anastasia's tweezers are also perfect to get those tiny hairs that are so hard to remove. Plus, the brow powder duo comes in a variety of shades to best suit your hair colour. I also love the brow gel used to tame the most unruly brows.

Amazing Skin That's Affordable!!!

Makeup is fun to play and experiment with and is meant to enhance a woman's natural beauty. However, if skin isn't taken care of properly, it doesn't matter what we put on our faces, we won't get the best results. The best piece of beauty advice I received was to always take off my makeup. It prevents future breakouts, blackheads and scarring.

As your Bollywood Makeup Whiz (BMW), I'd love to share some great skin-care products that I absolutely love! Since I'm a product junkie, I've tried almost everything and I've noticed that the best results aren't always reached with the most expensive products. Here are some amazing skin-care products on a beauty budget!

For the eyes:

Since I love playing up my eyes with makeup, there's a lot that I need to take off and not a lot of products have successfully taken off ALL of my makeup. After much experimenting, I found that Olay's Mascara + Make-up Remover is a life saver. You can use it as an all-over makeup remover, but I simply use a cotton ball and squirt a dime-size amount per eye. After carefully rubbing the eye area in small circles all of my eye makeup is removed (even the hard to remove waterproof kind)!

Cleansing:

I then cleanse my skin with a beautiful smelling, gentle cleanser- St. Ives' Olive Cleanser. This is a fabulous product that is also easy on the budget and- most importantly it cleanses the skin thoroughly without stripping all of the skin's natural oils. My skin doesn't feel tight or dry,

plus it smells divine!

Exfoliating:

There's a general rule of thumb that you should not exfoliate more than 3 times a week. However, it does depend on the product. Some facial scrubs can tear gentle skin on the face because they are too harsh- these scrubs should 'never' be used. However, a great, gentle scrub that I like to use everyday is Biore's Pore Unclogging Scrub for Blemish Prone Skin. This is an affordable product, it smells wonderful and most importantly it leaves skin feeling smooth. Every week, I add a little bit of granulated sugar and mix it together with this scrub for an extra deep exfoliant. If you exfoliate regularly, it helps declog pores, makes skin glow and makes your makeup look smooth and flawless. Isn't that what every girl wants?

Toner:

I have to admit- I don't always use this step, but it is important to make sure that all of your makeup is removed. Caryl Baker Visage has an amazing Citrus Toner that feels so wonderful on the skin. This is the only slightly pricier item at $27 for a 250ml bottle, but a little goes a long way.

Moisturize:

I find that moisturizers are so individual that there's no one product that's universally usable. However, that's a whole other topic...

In the meantime, enjoy your makeup and remember to take care of your skin now- it'll thank you later!