A week after her mother, who had just given birth to twins, was diagnosed with lung cancer, Anupam Bharti was in the throes of a facelift.
She decided to do her own makeup and make up in her own home.
“I had been wanting to do it for years,” she said.
She wanted to take some time off from work and take her kids for a day.
But it was still too early for Anupams mother to visit.
So, after she took time off work and was unable to go home, Anpam went to her salon.
The first time, she spent about $150 to $200.
But she was not satisfied.
She ordered makeup again for about $600.
After spending another $600, she finally paid the salon $700.
“The money was not enough,” Anupamas mother said.
But Anupum was not alone in the same situation.
“A lot of my friends have gone to home-style facelifts and they had been successful,” said Anupameethbhai, who runs an online makeup store.
“But they had not been able to afford it and there were so many other factors that were holding them back.”
A few years ago, home-styled facelifting was becoming mainstream, said Anumesh.
But, he added, it is still very difficult to do.
Home-styles have their advantages, said Akshay Kumar, who works at a cosmetic salon.
They do not require a lot of time.
“You can spend an hour with them,” he said.
“They can do the work in a few minutes and they can also do the makeup within an hour.”
However, he admitted that they are not always the best option.
“When it comes to the cost, home makeup is a lot cheaper and easier to do than the facelists can do,” he added.
In the past, the biggest barrier for many of home-styles users is the cost.
“Home-style services usually require that the client pay the cost of the professional makeup service,” said Kumar.
“Sometimes, they charge a higher price than the professional services.”
Home-Styles often use products that are not approved for the face, such as clay or powder, to create the desired makeup look.
“If you can’t afford to go to a home-made service, then you have to go with a facelist,” said Aishwarya, who also runs a home salon.
Anupam was able to go ahead with her first home-sanding session with home-quality services after paying a whopping $1,000 to her home-maker.
“She did it on her own,” said her mother.
But the wait was long.
“There were three months of waiting,” said Ajay, Anu’s mother.
An Upam Bhashan home-shaping session with a home maker.
Source: Akshaya Kumar, Aishwashya Kumar/For the Times of Ireland and Al Jazeera English.