Daniel Bauer is one of India’s Top Celebrity Bridal Makeup Artists and recently was also awarded as Vogue Makeup Artist of the year 2015-16. Working with a maximum of 20 brides a year, Daniel Bauer is India’s most in-demand and respected artists. Recently named as one of best in the business by Vogue, Condenast Traverler, Hello!, Harper’s Bazaar, L’Officiel and Noblesse, Daniel has made his reputation based on regularly creating outstanding work for Aishwarya, Deepika, Katrina, Kareena, Dia and Priyanka. Daniel Bauer is also the firm favourite of India’s top bridal designers, all regularly using and recommending Daniel; including Manish Malhotra, Tarun Tahilliani and Sabyasachi.

In a small chit-chat with WeddingPlz, Daniel disclosed few of his Makeup tricks and experiences. Have a look:

1) In your opinion, bridal makeup is all about…

I don’t really think in terms of bridal makeup, or not bridal makeup. The people I work with want to look their prettiest on their wedding day. Makeup allows your skin to look young, healthy and dewy. Depending on the designer she’s wearing and the cut of the dress, you chose to accentuate either the eyes or the lips. I’m not a bridal makeup artist, I’m a makeup artist. Many of the brides I work with hire me for their wedding day as I don’t do heavy bridal makeup.

2)      A beauty trick you swear by…

Less is more. If all the lights are on the traffic light, nobody knows where to go or where to look. Your face is no different. Heavy lips, bombastic eyes and shizzled cheekbones all on one face – it’s far too much. Pick one thing to highlight and let it shine. And as for going all out fairness…PLEASE always stay close to your skin tone, making dusky skin look fairer actually makes your skin look grey, it always washes out the couture of your face. You’ll only come to regret this once you see your wedding photos.

3)      When it comes to bridal makeup, the biggest faux-pas is…

I think some brides are so keen to be impress they can become lost in their own makeup. Being on trend is not the most important thing for anyone’s wedding. Trends last a season, but your wedding photo will last a lifetime. I always strive to make the bride look like herself, making her look pretty with beautiful skin, but most importantly, making her look timeless.

4)      What are the current beauty trends making the rounds?

Each bridal season, I believe India’s most iconic designers set the trends for thousands of young, hopeful and beautiful Indian brides, all over the world. I regularly work backstage at Lakme Fashion Week, for the most recent shows I worked with the likes of Ritu Kumar, Manish Malhota, Arpita Mehta, Swati & Sunaina and most recently with Deepika Padukone where she was show stopper for Anju Modi.

Across my shows, I played around with 5 emerging hair and beauty themes;

1. Playful Pouts – At LFW, signature lips are back with a bang. Strong and playful lip pouts were the dominant beauty statement. Shades of the Lakmé Absolute Lip Pout were part of my essentials. From the Lakmé Grand Finale to Nikasha’s show, we created strong lips in shades of rose and scarlet to bring to light the intensity of the garments, whereas for Hueum, we used shades of coral to portray condense and style, which their collection exudes. The overall theme for LFW, ‘lived-in’ beauty, worked for Masaba in a cool way, where we used dark shades to stain the middle of the upper and lower lips. The look was perfectly undone!

2. Graphic Eyes – The graphic eyeliner is one of my favourites. It has the power to turn a sophisticated look into punk, just with playing with the line angles. From the likes of Masaba, Mrinali Chandra, AM:PM to the GenNext designers, I experimented with different shapes and lines. Across these shows, the looks were tailored for each eye shape and the garment of the model. There are a few special ways to work the graphic eyeliner – the most important is to have a steady hand, the Lakmé Absolute Gloss Artist eyeliner and a precision make-up brush. I created fun and playful graphic eyeliner by applying dots on the lower lids for some of the GenNext designers. These looks were packed with personality, with loads of attitude and brought together sexy and irreverence in a contemporary way. It is easy to achieve – just the upper lid with a matt eyeshadow and create a wingtip across the lash line and extend, out and up, using a gloss liner to create the contrast. Then, with the gloss liner, apply the dots. For those who want to take the graphic eyeliner a notch further, strong brows are back in fashion and by adding slight accents of colour, one can pack in maximum punch in the personality.

3. Textured Hair – Mixed textured hair is a fantastic look to work with. Here we had looks going from super slick to textured waves. For two models, we played with differing centre partings, going with extreme parting across the side of the face and then the hair opening up into tussled and textured waves. From the TRESemmé styling range, we used the Sea Salt Spray, an extra hold hair spray and its new Shine Serum. For the designers, Nikasha and Anand Kabra, we took this idea to a new level by interlacing criss-cross sections on the hair, pulling it back into a textured pony. This was achieved by sewing sections of hair together and lapping them over to create a mesh effect. For munkee.see.munkee.doo, we created a textured bun, accompanied with two super-thin braids on either side.

4. Unconventional Braids – A braid is generally a safe style that doesn’t rock the boat, but with the right twist, a braid can rock any catwalk. Designers such as, Ritu Kumar, ILK and Quirkbox, wanted to appeal to a young and fresh audience. For ILK and Quirkbox, the girls needed a look that was both approachable and have the right balance of fashion. We created a textured bun and twisted the hair and wrapped it very tightly with elastic twine. On some girls, we back combed the ends and on the others, we kept it smooth. For Ritu Kumar, we wanted to open her incredibly elegant collection and appeal to a younger women and so the corn rows brought the right balance of chic and cool. I loved this look, as it was unexpected, edgy and young. To create the look, apply the TRESemmé Smooth Serum to your hair, create a centre part, and divide each side into four to have sections vertically. Secure each section with a hair clip. Create corn rows by braiding each section close to the scalp.

5. Dewy Skin – Dewy skin is a beauty statement that work on every occasion is perfect for day-to-day make-up. On the runway, it gives a fresh, evenly lit and youthful glow. From Quirkbox, to Namrata Joshipura to Manish Malhotra, we decided on the dewy look as hydrated skin brings fresh elegance to the look. Before you apply make-up, make sure you hydrate the skin. On the models I used the Lakmé Absolute Skin Gloss Serum and once it has settled, you can then start to apply make-up.

For all the ladies are who looking for real trendy makeup artists in Mumbai must catch up Daniel Bauer-Makeup & Hair stylist.