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Makeup tips and tricks – An interview with MAC Global Senior artist Sonic Sarwate

Hey hey! 🙂

If you all read my blog about MAC Cosmetics Spring/Summer 2015 makeup trends, I’m sure you also read that I would write another blog about it. But this time around, I’ll be sharing some makeup tips and tricks that we asked Sonic Sarwate to share exclusively with our readers! He was kind enough to answer all our queries and here’s what you need to read to take another step towards mastering that art of makeup. 🙂

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So here’s what we asked him:

The Jeromy Diaries: Sonic, we see you do magic with makeup on Indian skin tones. The kind of makeup that you choose for Indian skin tones is just amazing. What’s the secret behind that?  

Sonic Sarwate: I think it’s about choosing the right colour and right texture when it comes to choosing foundation for yourself. One has to find the right formula that works for your skin type and also for your skin tone. In some cases, people have discolouration on their face for which one has to use a good concealer and corrector. At MAC, we have concealer and corrector palettes in which one can mix the corrector and concealer to get the colour right and I think they just work magic on Indian skin tones.

TJD: Talking about foundations, what are the kind of foundations you would suggest for oily skin type? 

Sonic Sarwate: For oily skin type, one should go for foundations that are natural matte. At MAC, we have liquid foundations like MAC Studio Fix Fluid foundation, MAC Prolong wear foundation which is long-lasting on oily skin tones and we also have MAC Studio Fix powder foundation. MAC Studio Fix Powder foundation is a mix of powder and foundation which works very well on oily skin type.

mac cosmetics foundations for indian skin tones

TJD: So what are the kind of foundations for dry skin type? 

Sonic Sarwate: For dry skin, one can opt for MAC Mineralize Skin Finish foundation which is a foundation with 77 minerals that helps for dryness of the skin and it adds a natural kind of luminosity to the skin. Then you also have MAC Studio Sculpt foundation which has a little bit more coverage than MAC Mineralize Skin Finish foundation. These two foundations work well for all skin types but works extremely well for dry skin.

One more pointer for choosing foundations depends upon the kind of coverage you need. People who don’t need much coverage should go for lighter foundations. And for some who want to hide the discolouration on their face can opt for foundations with more coverage.

TJD: I think one of the requisites of this year is the NO-MAKEUP look. So how does one achieve that? 

Sonic Sarwate: For No-Makeup look, it is very important to first look at your face and understand the colour of your skin. When you do that, you choose colours that already exist in your skin to get that no-makeup look. So for example, if you have that natural rosiness on your cheeks or a little redness in your eye, we leave it that way so that it makes it look more natural. No-Makeup look doesn’t mean there is no makeup but actually needs a lot more skill to achieve that no-makeup kind of look.

A vital part of that no-makeup look is the Nude Lip. Nude Lip, a few years back meant what ever your skin colour is, you apply the same colour on your lips. It’s not the same anymore. Now, what ever your natural lip colour is, we work on enhancing that.

TJD: Being a blogger, I end up spending most of my time in front of my laptop and sometimes give up on my precious sleep also for that. So what are the kind of under-eye concealers you would suggest?

Sonic Sarwate:  At MAC, we have MAC Pro Concealer palette which has correctors + concealers. There are days, when dark circles look darker than usual and days when you don’t see it at all so one good thing about MAC Pro Concealer palette is that it has 4 shades of concealers and 2 shades of corrector in it which work on any kind of discolouration. Some of these darker colours can also be used to contour the face. Also, with concealers and correctors, one has to mix and match to get the colour right.

mac pro conceal palette medium

TJD: I have oily skin and there are times, I would want to give highlighters a try for that natural luminosity and sheen on my face. But with oily skin, applying any highlighter tends to wear off very soon. What do you suggest for that? 

Sonic Sarwate: For oily skin, one needs to remember that it tends to get oily very soon than other skin types. So if you use products that are natural matte, one needs to moisturize your skin well. If you do that, even when you apply a natural matte foundation on top of the moisturizer, after half an hour or so you would see that natural glow on the skin. So with oily skin, one need not make efforts to actually use highlighters. But if you would still want to add highlighters for oily skin, cream-based highlighters won’t stay so long so one should opt for powder-based highlighters. We have MAC Mineralize Skin Finish Highlighter Soft and Gentle, MAC Mineralize Skin Finish Global Glow which is mineralized powder with a little shimmer in it. Since it is powder-based, it wouldn’t feel sticky on the skin.

TJD: For anyone, choosing the right kind of foundation, concealer and compact becomes very important. Because a few foundations seem to crease and wear off. So what would be your suggestion when it comes to this trio? 

Sonic Sarwate: One should always remember that the discolouration on the face and the skin tone are different. For example, if you use one foundation on one person and use the same foundation on someone else, it might not work. So while choosing a foundation, choose a foundation that is really close to your skin tone and that matches the skin tone on your neck.

Concealer should be in a colour that works on that discolouration. It is not the same colour as your foundation and it cannot be lighter than your skin tone. One should opt for peach coloured concealers.

Now when you talk about compact, it is the last thing that you apply on your face to set the makeup. Concealer is highly concentrated when it comes to coverage, after which comes the foundation which has medium coverage and compact powder has the least coverage.

mac foundations

TJD: Any tips on blending the foundation and concealer? 

Sonic Sarwate:  Now for blending, the main thing is you prep the skin. Preparation of skin is really important. How you start your makeup will really affect the way you blend your makeup.

First thing that everyone should do is using a good moisturizer for dry as well as oily skin. People with oily skin type tend to think that applying moisturizer will just make their face more oily. They fail to notice that oily skin becomes dehydrated if you don’t use a moisturizer and that oil secretion tends to increase when you apply makeup on a face without moisture.

Second thing is using a primer. Primer helps in making your skin texture smooth and easier to blend the makeup. Primers also help in long-lasting makeup and the skin texture will look more smoother. Primer goes first after which you apply foundation on your face and blend well.

Also, choosing the right makeup tools is important. If you use brushes, it makes it so much more easier to blend. Stippling brush is used to polish the skin so what ever is extra you can just blend it out. Whereas when you use fingers, it doesn’t give that look. It would either be too much or you just wipe off the makeup with that.

TJD: Contouring has hit a new high this season. How does one achieve that contoured look without looking weird because I have seen many contoured faces that look so made-up and cartoon-ish. 😛

Sonic Sarwate: For photography, contouring is done differently as we change filters and lightings etc. and it just works well that way. But when you are doing it in real life,what you would want to do with contouring and highlighting is-

For contouring, choose shades that are 2 to 3 shades darker than the skin. And make sure that you are really blending it well. The texture for contouring should be matte or satin-matte texture.

And for highlighting, one has to choose a shade that is 1 or 2 shades lighter than the skin tone. And it can be anything from satin to a frosty texture.

If you get these two things right, next would be blending them all really well.

TJD: Sonic, please give us a step-by-step guide of how to apply makeup.

Sonic Sarwate: Sure!

1) Clean your face well.

2) Moisturize with a good moisturizer.

3) Use a primer before foundation.

4) Apply foundation and then apply concealer over that or you could also do vice versa ie apply concealer first and then foundation.

5) Set the whole makeup with compact powder.

6)Next thing is you would add contour and then add blush on your cheeks.

7) Then one can go ahead with the eye makeup and lip color.

TJD: What are the lip colors that you suggest for Spring/Summer 2015? 

Sonic Sarwate: Lip colours would definitely be bright and bold this season. Pinks, Fuschias, oranges and reds. And I always say that the best colour on your lips is something that you are comfortable flaunting.

TJD: Marsala has been declared Pantone colour of the year 2015. You recently did a shoot with Carol Gracias where you completely nailed the look with Marsala lips. What do you think of this trend? 

Sonic Sarwate: I think we should not even worry about that lip colour because I have seen my mum, aunt and everybody wearing that colour and it’s just made a major comeback this season. So go ahead and use it. It’s a colour that looks fantastic on Indian skin tones. The difference being now we use a bit brighter and deeper colours.

mac blushes

TJD: Sonic, everyone are so busy handling work that sometimes, they don’t get time to actually dress up if they have an event the same day elsewhere. So could you give our readers a few tips for a makeup transition from day makeup to a night makeup look? 

Sonic Sarwate: If you are looking for a day to night look, just add a nice and bright coloured eyeliner. That does the trick for a transition from day makeup to night makeup. One should also have a bright lip colour always in their bag. The minute you want to look dressy, just dab on some bright lip colour that would brighten up your face and day any time!

TJD: What are the bright and bold lipsticks from MAC that one should definitely try once or own? 

Sonic Sarwate: MAC Ruby Woo is a retro matte classic red that looks stunning on Indian skin tones. From the Retro matte range, there is MAC Relentlessly Red and MAC All Fired up.

TJD: Thank you so much Sonic for giving our readers these makeup tips and tricks that they can implicate in some way. It was a pleasure talking to you and we wish you all the success in the world! 🙂 

mac cosmetics products in india

And to all our readers, I hope you learnt something new in this blog post. If you have any queries, please list them in the comments below and I’ll answer them for you!

Until next time,

Ciao. ♥

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5 comments

  1. This article has finally convinced me enough to invest in MAC Studio Fix 😀

    1. @thedreamydamsel:disqus yo! Give it a try and let me know how it turned out ^_^

  2. Great post Princy! It was fun to read. The dark circle query was just like it was coming straight from my heart! 😀 By the way you were missing in the post until I saw the last picture 😛

    1. @vishakhareviewwali:disqus Thank you Vishakha ♥ hahaha you caught me there 😛 I know right?! I always think about those sleepless nights that we spend blogging 😛

  3. […] At the event, we had so much to learn and take back that I have written another post about the makeup tricks and tricks from Sonic Sarwate. […]