FASHION Magazine

By Jennifer Campbell

On June 27, FASHION spent an afternoon at Holt Renfrew’s flagship filming the Toronto segment of the Dior Makeup Artist Casting Call. Having watched dozens of contestants take up their brushes, we’d be remiss not to introduce you to the winner. We ventured up to Holts once again to meet the finalists (catch three of them here) and sit down with winner Shobana Lakkavally to talk about the contest, her love of beauty blogs and the nitty gritty of curly lashes.

How long have you been working as a makeup artist?

For about a year and a half, but I’ve been doing makeup and dealing with makeup since I was 13.

Was your mom into makeup? Did you learn from her?

My mom was really into getting me ready. You know, a bit of blush, lipstick. I started experimenting myself with cover up and foundation as a teenager.

Did you experiment on your friends?

Yes. I was basically the person everyone came to with questions.

What prompted you to enter this contest?

A friend of mine told me about it. Right now I’m developing my talent and experience. Dior embodies luxury and fashion and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to get into the industry and learn about the Dior line. My goal is to make people feel happy and look beautiful, and the way you do that is by knowing what the marketplace has to offer.

One of the judges mentioned that you have fantastic product knowledge. How do you learn?

I’ve worked with education and marketing at companies in the past and that helped me learn. But also the Internet and beauty blogs: the best way to learn is really by other peoples’ experiences and other artists sharing their knowledge.

I hear you know a lot about mascara.
That was my question [at the casting call]! When it comes to mascara, the two ways companies achieve the desired effect is the formula and the shape of the wand. Some customers want to curl their lashes, some want to lengthen or thicken, some want defined lashes. Some want long and thick!

Let’s say you want curly. All curling mascaras have a curved applicator to curl the lashes. Thick and curly will usually have a thicker curved brush and defining has a thinner, longer brush that will deposit colour onto the lash.

What’s great about Dior is that they’ve broken out of the mold of four or five needs with the Black Out mascara. It gives you the darkest, thickest lashes but also provides a liner effect. It really shows how they’re one step forward.

Why are you excited to work with Dior?

I’m looking forward to working with a beauty legacy and have the opportunity to take some of that away with me. It’s an opportunity to see makeup from the eyes of Mr. Dior: all of the intricate details and making every woman feel luxurious in her own skin. It also opens doors for me in the industry and I get to meet other makeup artists and to work off of their passion as well.

How did it feel to win?
I got a call and it was all of [the judges] in a conference room telling me I’d won first place. I was excited and exhilarated for people who have been working in the industry for so long to recognize me. I don’t think I’ve ever had a moment like that in my life.

Shown: Shobana Lakkavally (right) with her model, Afrodite.

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