The face as a canvas

She loves to play with colours and that’s what inspired her to become a make-up artist. It has been over 18 years since Zara Syed, a celebrity make-up artist, entered the industry.

   Zara believes that a face is similar to a canvas and a make-up artist gets the chance to showcase his or her skills in the most ideal way. Zara also teaches young girls and corporate women to manage and take care of their hair and skin on a daily basis.  She also trains those who want to take it up as a profession.

   Recollecting how she got into this profession, she says, “I moved to Bengaluru eight years back and assisted many make-up artists. Since I was doing a hairdressing course then, I decided to start my career with hairstyling solely. I worked on shoots and commercials, and soon enough, I got attracted to this profession. I fell in love with how the face is sculpted and the ways one can change someone’s look just by using various tactics and colours.”

    Having worked with many popular faces in the movie industry, both Sandalwood and Bollywood, she says that she has a long list of names she would want to work with in future. “I worked with  Sridevi and a couple of Marathi actresses and down South, with Ramya and Sharmila Mandre. Very soon, I will work with Aindrita as well,”  she says.

Zara’s forte is giving a natural look to a face. She explains, “I keep my work natural, sharp and defined and avoid choky make-up. I’d rather work on making the person look younger. It should be wearable on a daily basis and not just for the ramp. It defines a woman, makes her look more defined and confident.”

Her look for Christmas is, “Keeping one’s face fresh and natural with a little gloss on the cheeks for the youthful look. Winter makes the skin dry and dehydrated, so my advice is to illuminate the cheekbones and make it look more young and lively rather than leaving it dry and flaky.”

A few things that she keeps in mind when working on someone are, “I focus on the jawline and  features that are sharp. Only after this do I decide the base to be applied on someone. I constantly keep in mind that a girl should look beautiful and try my best to achieve that.”

She says that the best thing about her profession is to see the happiness on a girl’s face and especially when it is for a wedding. It is a pleasure to see the bride pleased with what she has done. “It is her day and she should look stunning and at her best.”

As for her future plans, she wants to teach more young girls about the art of applying make-up and encourage them to take it up as a profession. “I strongly believe that a woman can make another woman beautiful since she understands the characteristics and the flaws and can correct it. I would like to help my students financially and make them stand on their feet,” she says.

On a lighter note, she adds, “If not a make-up artist, I would have definitely been a chef since I love to cook and experiment. I love Chinese cuisine and would love to learn more about this it.”

As a piece of advice, she says, “I always advise make-up artists, especially if it is one woman dressing-up another, to focus on the face and forget about themselves. “The face is a canvas and as an artist, you have to give your best and make it look beautiful.”

Make-up for her, “is life. It is like meditation, and I love to play with colours. I completely forget about my worries when I am working with make-up. It is like a stressbuster.”