Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai) - Brunch
JUST SKIN DEEP? FAR FROM IT!
Lack of access to regular beauty rituals during the pandemic has taught us to find solutions in nature
It’s 7pm on Monday and Paayal Mahajan is live with her weekly face workout party, taking us through her signature 10-10-10 massage.
As founder of the luxury skincare brand Essential Body Couture, Mahajan is now making a name for herself as face massage guru. With a 10-module, in-depth face massage course, her classes are limited to 10 people only. Just three months ago such a course would’ve barely registered.
LOOKING INWARD
Before Covid-19 transformed our lives, work, friends and chores took precedence. Within the realm of beauty, this was apparent with the rising demands for lunchtime procedures that allowed us to dip in and out of the doctor’s office. But as everything familiar is taken away, we’re learning beauty is not skin deep.
For Delhi-based sports nutritionist Lovneet Batra, business has almost doubled. “From focusing on weight loss for weddings and holidays, people now want to increase immunity and get rid of lifestyle diseases,” she says.
The fear of going to the hospital combined with the impact of co-morbidities on the severity of Covid-19 symptoms has underlined the focus inwards. “Self-care isn’t just a luxury, but a necessity,” says Batra, who talks of increased interest in ‘the Covid-19 diet’. Among other things it includes supplementation with Vitamin C, zinc and Vitamin D.
“DURING LOCKDOWN, PEOPLE REALISED THAT NOT WEARING MAKEUP BROUGHT INTO FOCUS SKIN IMPERFECTIONS CAUSED BY THE WRONG LIFESTYLE CHOICES”
GETTING REAL
Beauty from the inside-out is also the theme with Dr Renita Rajan, founder and chief consulting dermatologist, Render Skin & Hair Clinic, Chennai. “The lockdown was in three phases – first when everyone was in holiday mode, second when people realised that not wearing make-up brought into focus skin imperfections caused by the wrong lifestyle choices.”