Young Reshma Seejo has to her credit the opening of a bridal makeup studio in the city, the first, she claims. Salons, parlours, and beauty shops dot the landscape of our growing metro but there is no nook solely devoted to the needs of a bride. There certainly was a demand for such a niche as Reshma’s venture proves.
Since its soft launch in November the studio on Alappat Cross Road, behind Harbour View Hotel, Ravipuram, is only a word of mouth destination yet. . Reshma is expanding to add a full-fledged boutique , after which it will go public. Clients reach her through friends and Reshma has her hands full. Facebook networking has brought her plenty of brides.
Fascinated by cosmetics
It was a young girl’s fascination for cosmetics that bloomed into this passion.
Enamoured by it, the interest crystallised during her school and college days. With marriage came some leisure time which Reshma utilised to do a short course in makeup in Dubai.
Back in in Kochi, her home town, she set up shop and began dressing and grooming brides for the special day.
One bride led to another and her studio grew more professional . Today Reshma is all set to open her doors to all brides who deserve the best on that special day.
“Brides want to make it as special as they can. They send me photos of actresses and women who they wish to look like. These are photos mostly of Bollywood stars,” discloses Reshma.
The rule that one size fits all does not apply in a personalised service like this. So Reshma innovates with each bride.
Explaining the expert nuances required for makeup, Reshma says that a pancake foundation for everybody is a strict no-no. Each skin and face requires a different approach. “The T zone, comprising the forehead and nose is lighter than the cheek areas and hence the foundation has to be applied judiciously,” says the 26-year-old mother .
The accent is on the eyes and “brides even go in for false eyelashes”. Natural look is what Reshma pitches for and at the same time encourages brides to be bold and to experiment. She uses top-of-the-line brands and most of her products are imported. As the bride is the most photographed person in a wedding the makeup needs to be flawless. Its application is a time consuming process and hence the studio is a relaxing air conditioned, space that soothes and thrills the senses of tensebrides. A welcome drink is offered to calm the bride.
For that special look there is a range of options to choose from. They can opt for long locks or a coiffed look. For a Priyanka Chopra hairdo, in the film ‘Fashion’, Reshma procured the wig, a long plait of false hair, studded with rhinestones. “It looked fabulous on the bride,” she recalls.
Stylish accessories
A glitzy range of accessories like brooches, tiaras, clips, pins, gilded crunchies and set false hair, get-ups etc, to go with bridal dressing fill up Reshma’s vanity case.
As they say one thing leads to another, Reshma has slowly moved on to doing image makeovers. That began as a lark, she says. A friend for whom wedding proposals were not working out, till she was finally groomed by Reshma. She reinvented her friend’s look by giving her a smart hair cut, chic makeup and a stylish set of clothes . Reshma tagged her new look in her Facebook list and lo the friend was flooded with proposals, and finally found her match. “It worked like magic and after that I have got many such requests”. She now does image makeover too.
Reshma can be contacted at 97473 83838
