Tag: Beauty

RUBINA’S RADAR | THE POWER ERAS

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OCTOBER 17, 2023

It’s been a high baller of an October weekend, from New York to Mumbai, both island cities where concrete skyscrapers rise high, but not higher than their corridors of power. Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce hard launched their love in styled ease on Sunday night, and on Saturday Night Live in New York, with her Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour that released on October 13th becoming the highest-opening concert film of all time. In Mumbai, Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphatically expressed a desire to host the 2036 Olympics in India at the International Olympic Committee on Friday, October 14th, in the presence of eminent personalities from the worlds of sport, politics and entertainment. It’s just the power eras we live in!

MUMBAI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 141st International Olympic Committee (IOC) session at the Jio World Centre in BKC in Mumbai, on October, 14th, 2023. This is the second time India has hosted the IOC after the 86th session was held in New Delhi in 1983, 40 years ago. “India is eager to host the Olympics in the country and will leave no stone unturned in the preparation for the successful organization of the Olympics in 2036. This is the dream of the 140 crore Indians,” said the Prime Minister in his inaugural address. Thomas Bach, the President of the International Olympic Committee and members of the IOC like Nita Ambani, Abhinav Bindra, Neeraj Chopra, Bajrang Punia, PR Sreejesh, PT Usha, Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone from the worlds of sport, politics and entertainment were in attendance. The Prime Minister also congratulated Team India on their ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 win in Ahmedabad stating, “I congratulate Team Bharat and every Indian on this historic victory.”

©Narendra Modi at the 141st International Olympic Committee in Mumbai

NEW YORK: Pop superstar Taylor Swift and Kansas City Chief’s tight end, Travis Kelce hard launched their love in New York on Saturday night, early Sunday morning. The couple made a surprise appearance, albeit separately, in the sketches, on the season premiere of Saturday Night Live, Season 49, on October 14th in New York. Kelce made a cameo at the end of the first sketch, where the SNL cast mocked the NFL for focusing on Swift during the games and Swift introduced the musical guest, Ice Spice, who she’s collaborated with on her song, Karma. This was Swift’s sixth appearance on SNL. After weeks of making football stand appearances with Kelce’s mother, Donna, Swift is now in her official Travis Kelce era as of October 15th, and everyone is making a song about it, except Swift herself, who is known to express herself vividly through her songwriting and music. Her date night Versace corset was very 2017 Reputation-esque, the album that she is yet to re-record. Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour concert film made between $95 million to $97 million during its opening weekend, according to the distributor AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc, USA, making it the highest-opening concert film of all time. Interestingly, you can get paid to be a devoted Swiftie given USA Today and the The USA Today Network’s newspaper, The Tennessean, have been actively seeking a uniquely skilled journalist to fill a new role: Taylor Swift reporter, since September 12th. “Swift’s fanbase has grown to unprecedented heights, and so has the significance of her music and growing legacy. We are looking for an energetic writer, photographer and social media pro who can quench an undeniable thirst for all things Taylor Swift with a steady stream of content across multiple platforms,” ran the job post. If the position hasn’t been filled yet, you know where to apply for it as it is a legit paying job!

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 15: Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift arrive at SNL Afterparty on October 15, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Gotham/GC Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 15: Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce have dinner at Waverly Inn on October 15, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Gotham/GC Images)

MUMBAI / ITALY: Straight from 10 Via Carlo Goldoni in Milan to the island of Mumbai, Dolce&Gabbana Beauty is coming to India very soon, but not without their sacred heart. Their fragrances have always been popular with Indians right from the very first one they created in 1992, Pour Femme to The One, Pour Homme, Light Blue and the Dolce collections. D&G will make a fabulous addition to the growing luxury beauty market in the country with their makeup collection of lipsticks, mascaras and illuminating face powders, and, their new fragrance for women, Devotion. The campaign for the Devotion Eau De Parfum is fronted by American singer and songwriter, Katy Perry. The Devotion collection is slated to launch in India by the end of November, early December this year. Founded in 1985 in Legnano by Italian designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, Dolce&Gabbana presented their first women’s collection in Milan in 1985, with Stefano Gabbana attributing Dolce&Gabbana’s escalating success in menswear over the years to the power of celebrity, especially David Beckham. He said, “David was the start – a hot, straight, family man with kids. He made it possible for men to approach fashion without fear. Men felt if he can do it, I can.”

©Katy Perry, the face of Dolce & Gabbana’s Eau De Parfum, Devotion

©Dolce & Gabbana’s beauty and fragrance from the Devotion collection

They have gone on to turning into ‘the’ Dolce&Gabbana since, but not without their dramatic controversies over the years, one of them causing a major hit to the brand in China. Dolce&Gabbana is still trying to recover in China, a market they had it pretty good in since 2006. And to think all this hellfire for the brand in China started with an Instagram conversation!

Disclaimer: Any part of the content on the rubinaakhan.com website cannot be reproduced without prior permission and crediting the website and the author.

©Rubina A Khan 2023

RUBINA’S RADAR | OF BEAUTIES AND BRANDS

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OCTOBER 13, 2023

India is in the throes of a beauty and fashion brand avalanche in the country, with Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez launching during the summer in June 2023, followed by many more that have launched, and are planning to launch since. But the bigger question here is: When will Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty, Kylie Jenner’s Kylie Cosmetics and Kim Kardashian’s SKKN – all three being coveted celebrity owned and fabulous beauty brands – come to India? Beauty is a business to make money in, especially in India!

MUMBAI / JAPAN: Actor Tamannaah Bhatia’s skin is always in, making her the first Indian brand ambassador for the Japanese cosmetics brand, Shiseido. This ambassadorship in India is a collaboration with Shiseido’s Indian distributor, Baccarose Perfumes & Beauty Products Pvt. Ltd. founded by the late Hemansu Kotecha in 1984, in a landscape nascent of luxury beauty in India. “I am absolutely thrilled to be associated with Shiseido, a brand that has consistently set the standard for excellence in beauty for over a century,” says Bhatia. She makes an excellent poster girl for Shiseido in Asia with her flawless skin and personable countenance. Shiseido was founded in 1872 by Arinobu Fukuhara as Japan’s first Western-style pharmacy in Ginza, Tokyo. Fukuhara, the son of an Eastern herbal medicine doctor, was a trained pharmacist, educated in Western medicine, who rose up the ranks to Chief Pharmacist in the Japanese Navy. The name Shiseido comes from Chinese Yi Jing, the Book of Changes from the Four Books and Five Classics of Confucianism meaning, ‘Praise the virtues of the Earth, which nurtures new life and brings forth significant values.’ Translated into English, Do means ‘house of’, and Shi Sei means ‘where everything is born’. The first non-pharmaceutical product Fukuhara created was a cake of toothpaste in 1888 that sold successfully at eight times the price of regular toothpaste. And 151 years on, Shiseido is not just a global leader in the beauty business with its skincare, makeup and fragrance lines today, it is a lasting legacy of the Japanese visionary. Shiseido’s presence in India so far has only been online via Shopper’s Stop, Parcos, Sephora and Nykaa. But the brand is set to open its first brick and mortar store in India on October 18th, 2023 at the Inorbit Mall in Malad, Mumbai, with their skincare trio regime being unveiled by Tamannaah Bhatia.

Tamannaah Bhatia ©Shiseido India

MUMBAI: A fresh-faced beauty from Juhu, Paloma, made her debut as an actor and not a star, in a film called Dono last Friday. And I say this because Paloma can act, and not everyone from the Juhu zip code in Mumbai can! She did not break character for a nano-second with her succinct and able performance in her portrayal of a regular working girl dealing with a red flag of an ex boyfriend in the film. Her zephyr-like body language and her perfectly made-up face (big ups to her makeup artist) express the emotions of her character in a manner most beguiling. Her dialogue delivery is well-timed and she speaks Hindi clearly, without any affected accents and pretentious colloquialisms like some of her ilk. I see Paloma making big strides in acting roles in films and headlining fashion and beauty campaigns in India with her arresting eyes and lithe body. Though what I’d really like to see her in is in a gripping Netflix series because that will make her shine internationally. Daughter of the beauteous actor, Poonam Dhillon and film producer Ashok Thakeria, Paloma has done the work that goes into the making of an actor, and if she keeps honing her innate acting skills, stardom will be hers.

©Paloma

MUMBAI: NARS Cosmetics launched in India on October 10, 2023 with its bestselling Cruella Velvet Matte lips, Tinted Moisturizers, Light Reflecting Collections and so much more just an “Add to cart” away for Indians. “Don’t be so serious, it’s only makeup” said François Nars, the founder and creative director of NARS Cosmetics. But who should know better than Nars, a makeup artist and photographer, that beauty is a serious billion dollar business that’s been making him coin since he founded NARS Cosmetics in 1994. NARS Cosmetics started with twelve lipsticks created by Nars, that were sold at Barneys New York and has gone on to create multi-use beauty and skin products since. Born in Tarbes in the South of France, Nars assisted some of the top makeup artists in Paris, and graduated from the Carita Makeup school in Paris subsequently. He worked with fashion’s very best – the legendary photographer Steven Meisel and hairstylist Oribe Canales when he moved to New York in 1984.

©Nars

NARS Cosmetics is a subsidiary of Shiseido since 2000 after it was sold to the Japanese company, but Nars remains the artistic director, copywriter and in-house photographer for the brand he created.

Disclaimer: Any part of the content on the rubinaakhan.com website cannot be reproduced without prior permission and crediting the website and the author.

©Rubina A Khan 2023

RUBINA’S RADAR | BOLLYWOOD ACTORS DEEPIKA PADUKONE & RANVEER SINGH’S NOVEMBER WEDDING IN LAKE COMO

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Bengaluru girl is marrying her Bandra lover boy for real. Bollywood actors Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh (Bhavnani) are getting married on November 14/15 in Lake Como, Italy. The couple announced the wedding dates, sans any other details, on instagram around 4pm on Sunday evening, sending the 42 million people following them, and more, into a ‘gramming, tweeting and whatsapping hysteria. Padukone and Singh have worked in three films together, all of which were directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali – Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela (2013) Bajirao Mastani (2015) and Padmaavat (2018) and have since become a haute favourite with audiences as a reel couple. Padukone, now an international actor having played the lead in xXx: Return of Xander Cage alongside Vin Diesel made it the 2018 Time 100 List as one of the 100 most influential people in the world and Singh is one of the highest paid actors in Bollywood and a hopping favourite with brands, both national and international. Their real life coupling as Mr and Mrs Bhavnani in November is only going to intensify their celluloid net worth. Together, they’ll make money move, and how! Congratulations you two!

Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh’s wedding announcement
Ranveer Singh walks for Manish Malhotra’s Sensual Affair
Deepika Padukone attends the ‘Nelyobov (Loveless)’ screening during the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 18, 2017 in Cannes, France

Where there’s a wedding, there’s always jewellery in the known universe. And jewellery advisor Arundhati De-Sheth knows that and more. After graduating from the ESSEC Business School in Paris, Sheth was selected to the Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy program to specialize in Luxury Brand Management, leading her to a working stint at Cartier Dubai. Mumbai-based Sheth pulls diamonds, rubies and emeralds from jewellers for a living, and loves it. Sheth, Mumbai’s first ever jewellery advisor, or perhaps India’s first, hosted a pop-up of jewels curated by her at Le Mill in the city recently. “I am very passionate about jewellery and the art of making it. In my role as a jewellery advisor, I work with a small group of handpicked jewellers from Mumbai that each specialise in diamonds, coloured gem stones and Jaipur jadau. I source jewellery from them on request, but I also approach other jewellers for a request that fits them. I’m not working with large brands at the moment, only private jewellers who work in a very organised and professional manner,” says Sheth of her distinctive job profile.

Arundhati De-Sheth’s website
Jewellery Advisor Arundhati De-Sheth
Arundhati De-Sheth’s website

I think fashion stylists in India are so focused on pulling clothes for their celeb and bridal clientele that they never seem to get the accessories, or the jewellery accents right. It’s always too much or too little, never just right. Jewels can play up an ensemble majestically as can the most exquisite diamond look stunning on one individual and most unsightly on another. But then again, Sheth gets paid to tell you that as your personal jewellery advisor on call. The allure of beauteous, blinding bijoux is where Sheth steps in, nudging you towards bespoke sparkles befitting your persona, awakening your latent personal style in the process, all for a price of course.

Mumbai’s culinary landscape is as multifarious as it’s ad-interim. Relevance, consistency and popularity make for a rare threesome in the newly-opened bars and restaurants in the city. Kode, a freestyle bar and kitchen in Kamla Mills, Mumbai that opened in June 2017 is where it’s at with contemporary flavourful fare, theatrical cocktails, speak-easy design spread across 4000 square feet of industrial ground and Friday nights as a thumping lounge with a dance floor that 500 people shimmy and shake on.

White Chocolate French Toast with Mango | Rubina A Khan
Avocado Carpaccio & Crackling Spinach | Rubina A Khan
Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls | Rubina A Khan

The Burrata accompanied with a Tomato Foam, Melba Toast, Rocket Leaves and Balsamic Vinegar was great. The Turkish Flat Bread, Asparagus and Gruyere Quiche, Avocado Carpaccio with Crackling Spinach, Edamame and Tofu Thai Curry with Garlic Rice, Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls, Beurre Blanc Chargrilled Prawns, Sweet Potato Crisps with a Green Pea Truffle Oil Dip make for my favourites from the expansive menu led by Chef Momin. And there’s still desserts and cocktails! The White Chocolate French Toast with Mango looks like a sunny-side up egg but it’s anything but, despite the mango “yolk” running over. It’s like a Westernised and very elegant Shahi-Tukda so to speak. Beloved by all, the Deconstructed Black Forest Cake with Maraschino Cherries is addictive. The theatrical presentation of the food and cocktails, like the cinnamon stick on fire in the Bird’s Nest Cranberry Passion Fruit Vodka Cocktail or the crushed rose petals that go into making the exquisite Forgotten Petal Sour Gin Cocktail replete with a Campari Soap, Australian Champagne Tea Foam and Cotton Candy or the White Chocolate French Toast, does not take away from their intrinsic flavours. It just adds to the drama and fun of drinking and eating out in a city that went from being a Bombay that never slept, to a Mumbai that sleeps way too early.

Disclaimer: Any part of the content on the rubinaakhan.com website cannot be reproduced without prior permission and crediting the website and the author.

©Rubina A Khan 2018