Beaut n y O

I am one with Gwyneth Paltrow when she says that beauty is comfort in your own skin. Or a kickass red lipstick. Especially the latter. While red lipstick might be my weapon of choice, everybody has their own, a fact we decided to celebrate in our first beauty issue. The Harper’s Bazaar team has spent the past four months finding the best products in every category imaginable, and inside lie the results from the hundreds tested by. The extra hour added to our daily routines led to everything from standout experiences to breakouts, and heated discussions on whether our generation was turning it into an obsession, a topic that led to an exploration of beauty by Nonita Kalra in the feature, ‘How much is too much?’.

I believe beauty is ephemeral, and there can be little consensus about it, yet there are some people universally lauded as beautiful. Chitrangda Singh is one such. The actress brought a dazzling earthiness to the public fore when she debuted on Indian screens in Sudhir Mishra’s Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi (2003). Over the last 10 years, she has established herself as an actor who can take on any role and excel, and for her first cover for Bazaar, the Indian in Paris set the city of lights afire. In this issue, we have tried to explore every aspect of beauty, and punk fits right in. Punk was a movement that challenged beauty, in fact, considered it anathema, using shock to make you reconsider set norms. Its revival on the catwalk—it’s one of fall’s strongest trends—is a comment on what we consider beautiful now, and whether, after seasons of pretty prints, it’s time for some tough love. I know you will find the best red lipstick inside, but I also hope that this issue makes you think a little more

about beauty. Enjoy!