How to do Indian makeup?

Makeup in Indian style is a chance to feel like a seductive beauty from a movie about love. The make-up is colorful, inappropriate for everyday use, but meets the requirements of stylized parties, an unusual photoset, a wedding in the spirit of mysterious India.

Features of makeup in Indian style

Indian makeup follows established traditions, has its own originality, making it possible to make the appearance charming.

To master the technique of applying make-up, the following features are taken into account: 

• emphasis is given to lips and eyes;
• the colors of decorative cosmetics are selected taking into account the created image;
• the skin should be perfectly smooth and tender; 
• deep shades of makeup are suitable for tanned skin, so self-tanning or dark foundation is used;
• bindi is drawn in the center of the forehead; 
• rhinestones, sparkles, shimmer are actively used.

The image of an Indian is best suited to a dark-skinned girl – a brunette with oriental features.

What does an Indian bindi look like:

The main principles of Indian makeup

There are several rules, following which, you can “reincarnate” as an Indian:

• highlight the eyes and lips equally intensely, while painting over the eyes more expressively and in more detail;
• pay special attention to outlining the eyebrows with a characteristic bend and a clear contour;
• use several types of shadows (with a smooth transition from one shade to another);
• if you have almond-shaped eyes, shade it with graceful arrows.

Indian make-up uses bright decorative cosmetics, but there are no acid tones.

Indian makeup: photo

Perfectly executed makeup in Indian style emphasizes the perfection of a woman’s face.
Used cosmetics and jewelry, clothes make up a single ensemble.

Choice of products and cosmetics

Makeup color depends on the choice of cosmetics. It cannot be made into a set of cosmetics for daily use: the shades are not colorful, and the effect is short-lived.

For the Indian make-up, decorative means are selected: powder, foundation, bright shades of lipstick, shadows – a holistic complex used to emphasize facial features.

Shadows

To shade beauty, shadows are used that are combined with the color of the eyes and make them large, attractive.

Makeup looks beautiful if the shade of the shadows is selected depending on the color of the skin.

Dark shade:

• terracotta;
• olive;
• peach;
• sand;
• silvery;
• golden;
• pale pink;
• light blue.

With a light shade use:

• green;
• yellow;
• purple.

Pomade

Lips should be beautiful, but natural, so both bright colors and lipsticks in natural shades (but not too pale) are used.

To give the lips volume and color, colors that have a mother-of-pearl texture are used:

• red;
• purple;
• coral;
• satin;
• velvet finish.

Bindi

Bindi is a sign of blessing, wisdom and protection from negativity. In the old days, married women drew a sign on the middle of their foreheads. Currently, the ritual value is lost.

Bindi is considered an ornament and the final part of the make-up, it is performed in various forms – round or tear-shaped.

Today, instead of a dot, a unique composition of precious stones is often used, their imitation of colored and unpainted rhinestones.

Decorations

Indian make-up is impossible to imagine without jewelry – a tribute to tradition. Earrings are welcome in the nose, in the ears, bracelets on the hands – at least.

It is believed that the more jewelry an Indian wears, the more reliable and happier her family union is. According to tradition, each of the parts of the body is decorated. This reflects the “shringar” – a set of 16 items, considered the standard of decoration for a married woman or bride.

Rationally combined modern and classic jewelry:

• head ornaments;
• various earrings and rings;
• necklaces;
• pendants.

They are worn both with national clothes and with modern ones, for example, with jeans.

How to apply bindi correctly?

The color of the classic bindi is red or burgundy. To obtain a perfect circle, the sign is traditionally applied with a fingertip or with a stencil. For drawing paints, pencils, powders are used.

Today’s bindi is perceived as a design element – they are matched to the color of clothing, jewelry and appearance.

Skillful use of the point corrects facial features:

• eyes are close or deep set – bindi is raised to the middle of the forehead;
• low forehead – medium size is selected or an openwork or oval point is drawn;
• a large bindi will decorate an elongated face, with wide-spaced eyes, a high forehead and small puffy lips;
• a non-oval face with thin lips gives beauty to a patterned bindi.

Overhead bindis are also used, which are produced in the form of a circle, oval, crescent or triangle, painted with patterns or decorated with stones.

Indian eye makeup techniques

With the technique of applying makeup, you can shape your eyes so that they look expressive, large, eye-catching. 

Arrows

Emphasizing the almond shape of the eyes and the depth of the gaze, an arrow is drawn. The contour is subject to a special requirement: the lines are continuous, without defects. 

Application rules:

• on the upper and lower eyelids, draw an arrow along the lash line and the inner corner of the eye;
• the tip should not be long, extending beyond the eye, and heading towards the temples.

The thickness of the arrow is selected according to the type of eyes. If they are closely set, the line goes from the middle, thin with a thickening to the outer edge. If wide – the line is solid, thickened.

To draw arrows, black or brown colors are used:

• liquid eyeliner;
• special paints;
• marker liner. 

Video instruction for drawing arrows:

Liner of the inner contour

To emphasize the eyes more, the mucous membrane is brought along the contour with a kajal – a soft contour pencil. Eyeliner is selected depending on the color of the eyes:

• dark – jet black;
• light – brown, gray.

When using a bright shade, eyeliner is performed along the entire contour of the eye.

How to bring the mucous membrane with kajal:

smokey ice

Smokey eye makeup emphasizes the beauty of the eyes and hides small flaws. The “smoky eyes” make-up technique is based on feathered shadows that have smooth transitions from light to dark shades.

Smokey ice is made in any shades, while taking into account eye color, skin type. The outer corners of the eyes are visually lifted, hiding defects, correcting their shape. 

Shadows are used:

• grey;
• beige;
• bright colors – pink, purple, emerald.

Concentrate on the hazy area at the outer corner for a drop-shaped eye makeup.

Video instruction on the technique of “smoky eyes”:

Eyelashes

Makeup in Indian style brightly emphasizes thick, long eyelashes. They are intensively stained in several layers. Mascara is selected with a lengthening effect, the shade is selected depending on the color of the eyes.

You can use false eyelashes, giving the look alluring charm.

How to make up eyelashes so that they become thicker and longer:

Light shimmery shadows

Applying light shimmering shadows visually enlarges the eyes.

Indian makeup uses a horizontal eyeshadow technique.

Design method:

1. With a darker shade, draw a crease and connect it to the outer corner of the eye.
2. Eyelid (mobile) cover with light shimmering shadows.

To make the tonal and color transitions smooth and soft, shading is done.

Video instruction on using the horizontal technique of applying shadows:

Lip makeup

To give the lips the desired volume and expressiveness, they are painted with bright shades of lipsticks.

Lip technique: 

1. Apply a special base.
2. Highlight the contour with an eyeliner that is chosen a tone darker.
3. Apply lipstick (with a brush).

A pearlescent sheen is applied over the lipstick. It visually enlarges the lips and gives seductiveness.

The color of lipstick should be combined with shades of cosmetics for the eyes.

How to make a traditional Indian make-up?

Indian make-up is bright, rich and varied. In combination with rich jewelry and colorful saris, it gives room for imagination.

Following the sequence of actions, it is easy to perform an Indian make-up:

1. Cleanse the skin, applying milk, apply a moisturizer.
2. Correct the shape of the eyebrows with a concealer, and brighten the forehead and upper eyelid with it.
3. Draw a crease with nude shadows, connecting with the outer corner.
4. Draw a dark shade on the outer corner of the eyes.
5. Apply light shadows to the inner corner.
6. Sparkling – apply to the middle of the moving eyelid.
7. With eyeliner, draw an arrow on the upper eyelid.
8. Apply glitter to the shadows of the upper eyelid.
9. With a kayal, draw an arrow along the lash line (lower), connecting them at the outer corner.
10. Apply lengthening black mascara to upper lashes, apply false lashes, and reapply mascara to upper and lower lashes.
11. Apply foundation on face, neck and lips.
12. Concealer remove “flaws” in the T-zone and around the eyes.
13. Apply the foundation on the T-zone, around the eyes and, with a driving motion, with the help of a sponge, blend.
14. Powder the face, neck, décolleté.
15. Highlight cheekbones and T-zone with a bronzer.
16. Apply a highlighter on the cheekbones (slightly higher), the area above the lip, nose.
17. Emphasize the “apples” of the cheeks with blush.
18. Outline the borders of the lips and make up with a bright color lipstick.

Step by step video for creating Indian makeup:

Common Mistakes 

When doing Indian make-up on your own, the following mistakes are often made:

• Asymmetry. Symmetry should be manifested in everything: in hair, makeup, jewelry.
• Pale lips. Lips are given special importance: they are bright and distinct.
• Excessive application of blush and highlighting of the cheekbones. Everything should be “rounded”.
• “Broken” brow line. The smoothness of the lines is an important part of the make-up of Indian women, so a sharp geometric shape is unacceptable.

Helpful Hints

A feature of Indian-style makeup is the active use of the brightest colors and shades. Bronze skin tone, rich colored shadows, thick eyelashes – all this is present in the make-up. For this:

• use a shimmering powder that has reflective gold or silver particles (finish);
• apply powder, hiding dark spots under the eyes, mask defects;
• the texture of the shadows for Indian makeup is quite oily; 
• bronze, terracotta shades are the priority for Indian women;
• eyeliner lines may vary depending on the shape of the face;
• it is better to bend the tips of the eyelashes up.

Indian makeup is clear, bewitching and, at the same time, feminine. Emphasizes the lines of the eyes and lips, making them more expressive, allows you to correct imperfections and is able to turn a woman into an exotic flower.