Business, beauty and bloggers
CHENNAI: On a sunny Friday noon, a bunch of fashion enthusiasts, bloggers and aspiring make-up artists gathered at Phoenix MarketCity to attend the first day of Beauty and Fashion Week as part of the September Fest 2019.
The first session was a panel discussion with reputed make-up artists and bloggers from across India. The panel comprised Akriti Sachdev, a make-up artist from Chennai; Suresh Menon, upcoming designer and make-up artist; Prakruti, a make-up artist and Shreya Jain, a national make-up influencer and artist. The topic for discussion was — How Instagram has given rise to digital beauty influencers. The hour-long session was anchored by model Sahithya Jagannathan.
The panelists addressed various issues they faced every day as Instagram celebrities. “A common question that people ask me is ‘how much is too much?’ I post only 60 per cent of what I do in a day. All of us have privacy which needs to be maintained and respected. That’s what we call a boundary in real life,” said Akriti. A common problem faced by these celebrities was plagiarism. “Most of my works involve bridal make-up. Even after water-marking pictures, people tend to copy designs and claim them as their works. I don’t support this as a creative artist. We must only focus on what we do and take inspiration from others. People should live by ethics to thrive in this profession for a long time. It’s a small world and people will easily find out,” said Prakruti.
Talking about the dos and don’ts to become successful as an influencer, Shreya said, “People often look very different from what they post on social media. As influencers, we must avoid using many filters and editing tools. My secret is natural sunlight. Secondly, if you do not like a particular product of a brand then say what did not work respectfully. These are crucial steps in the stages of growing up. Plan your videos or uploads and always have a back-up.”
Being the only male member in the panel, Suresh had a lot to say about choosing this offbeat career. “Often, clients’ families would be apprehensive about my bridal make-up. They still cannot accept a guy doing this profession. I strongly suggest that the before and after photos of clients must not be shared. I’m not that tech-savvy but I will soon start uploading videos as well,” he said.
“It’s beautiful how we can learn a lot from each other’s work. Instead of spewing jealousy and badmouthing, it’s better to live and let live,” said Prakruti. The engaging session came to an end with an interactive session.