The Perfect Makeover

Navin Ahmed. Photo: Courtesy

Even a decade or two ago, the make up department was limited to only a handful of masters – displaying their talents at transformations of the human face. Darker skin would get whiter, smaller eyes would get bigger and lips that would put the rosy-lipped Disney princesses to shame. Everything was brighter and shinier, until the advent of a niche group of make up professionals, who thought of working with natural tones and a classier look. 

Navin Ahmed is one such makeup artist, who is slowly changing the language of makeovers and looks in her own way. The owner of Gala Makeover Studio, Navin has been an underground make up artist for quiet some time, giving makeovers to friends and family members. It was not until after finishing high school that she thought of taking this to the next step. "I went to Toronto for my higher studies and did a two year extensive diploma course at the Sheridan College on Cosmetic Techniques and Management and later went to York University," she says. "After finishing that I returned to Bangladesh. In 2011, I started Gala Makeover Studio and began to do makeup professionally." While Navin's main focus is Bridal Makeup, she also does plenty of editorial shoots. 

"Being an entrepreneur in Bangladesh has been an eye opener for me," she adds.  "I always thought it would be difficult as my style of makeup is different than what the traditional parlours offer but it was amazingly easy. In Bangladesh where the Bridal Makeup scene meant heavy, cakey makeup, I introduced the idea of looking natural and just being oneself, only enhancing ones natural features. So I guess this new concept of having a fresh, dewy, glowy modern bridal makeup with the help of using only high end good quality branded products really appealed to the modern brides as they weren't available at the time when I started my services."

Most young women, who happen to be fans of Navin's style of applying makeup, love the way she does the eyes! "Yes!" says Navin. "My favourite part would be doing eye makeup and contouring and highlighting."

In a culture of big weddings, where choosing the right make up artist is as important as buying the right clothes and jewelry, Navin Ahmed has experienced so much inside her studio. "There was a time when a bride and her sister in law came over to my studio for a bridal make up," she says. "The sister in law ended up asking for everything the bride did. At one point they began to fight and it was a very distressing moment for me!"

An artist, when given space, strives to create a home for himself or herself. "As an artist, my canvas is a pretty face that I get to beautify further," she says. "But exterior beauty is nothing without a strong inner beauty because I strongly believe true beauty is in a person's good manners and how he/she goes out of their way to make life beautiful for others."