“I find that most men who wear make-up comfortably have an expansive personality. Which is why they can adapt to fit into any mould,” says Elton Fernandez. The hair and make-up stylist to Bollywood elite like Aditi Rao Hydari and Malini Agarwal, consultant on Fox Life’s show, Styled by Neha , with Neha Dhupia, and Maybelline New York’s official make-up artist knows his way around the vanity table. His Instagram is proof enough.
While he admires Johnny Depp and Jared Leto’s devil-may-care attitude when it comes to wearing ‘guyliner’ or ‘manscara’, he says Indian celebs are not far behind. “Ranveer Singh and Jim Sarbh are so comfortable with their natural sexuality, that this expression becomes almost a second skin to them,” says Fernandez, adding that, in the queer community, Sushant Divgikar (Mr Gay India 2014 and reality TV star) “celebrates beauty and grooming, and is unafraid of having a voice” — not just in his drag avatar, Rani Ko-He-Noor, but also as himself.
For men who are just beginning their journey with make-up, he suggests starting out with less. “Don’t spend too much time blending or cleaning things up. The secret to wearing it naturally is to look like you’re wearing it as a celebration of expression, not as some embodiment of perfection.”
