Kaveri Acharya: “I Gave Up Eyeliner”
DAY 1
“My ’60s-inspired Jean Seberg eyeliner has been my signature for years, so this wasn’t easy. On my first day sans liner, I left home with concealer, mascara, and tinted balm. The reaction: ‘You look washed-out!’ ‘Washed-out’ isn’t a look, so tomorrow must be different.”
DAY 2
“To avoid looking ‘washed-out’, I have to make my eyes-pop...but without my usual ammo. So I go with gold lids, mascara and blend a copper and plum blush to highlight my cheeks. I feel comfortable without my eyeliner today and get no negative comments either.”
DAY 3
“Today is Saturday and I’m wearing plum lips, mascara, and contoured cheeks. People notice the rich colour on my mouth, in a good way. The best part about this diet is that it’s forced me to review my make-up options. I missed my liner but it was worth it!”
Ami Unnikrishnan: “I Gave Up Red Lips”
DAY 1
“I love red lipstick. It lifts any outfit, adds colour, and really does complete a look. But today I give eyeliner a go, which takes me 20 minutes. I’m running late and feeling foul. At work I hear ‘Where’s the red ? Are you okay?’ But later, my Editor says my natural lip colour is ‘beautiful’.”
DAY 2
“Tonight I have to go out for dinner, and I feel naked without my red lippie. Friends comment on my nude lips, and Cosmo’s Beauty Diet becomes the dinner subject. They miss my red as it’s now a part of my personality, and so do I.”
DAY 3
“It’s the weekend...do I cheat? Over the last two days, I’ve thought about when exactly my red lips became such an addiction. Today, no one asks me if I am sick, or sad. The
ex boyfriend hated it, so for six years I was lipstick free, just a gloss every now and then. Single again, I can do what I want. More red lips I say.”
Vasudha Rai: “I gave up...Mascara”
DAY 1
“So much do I love mascara that I wear YSL Shocking in the day! The last time I didn’t wear it, I was in college. Today I have a neck brace for a yoga injury, and without mascara I look (truly) sickly. I know my beauty stakes are very low when a colleague offers me a Combiflam.”
DAY 2
“To offset looking tired, I wear a fuchsia lip with bronzer and blush. The skin brightening powers of my bold mouth take me by surprise. My imperfections look less obvious and at work I get a tonne of compliments, from ‘You should do this more often’, to ‘What have you been up to?’”
DAY 3
“Today I have to attend a press conference and have teamed a robin’s-egg blue dress with a deep-pink mouth. Still without mascara, I’m feeling fairly confident in my bold-lip look. I wonder if I’m more addicted to mascara or the meditative action of combing my lashes with product. Either way, bright lips are an addition that will stay!”