Tina Derkse, professional MUA and beauty expert, shares her secrets to looking red-carpet ready

Say goodbye to being camera shy

By Shaan Bajaj

Who can relate: before leaving for an event, you check yourself out and your makeup looks flawless, and you take a quick mirror selfie for the 'gram, feeling proud. Fast forward a few hours into the party, and what do you see in the restroom mirror? A panda instead of your reflection, because your mascara is everywhere. The once-flawless makeup has melted, thanks to Thailand's unforgiving heat. To find a solution, I reached out to Tina Derkse (www.savourbytina.com; Instagram: @tina_derkse) to learn her makeup spells, and feel like Cinderella at the next ball.

As a professional global makeup artist, Tina has been providing many women, including models, celebrities, influencers and brides with her luxury makeup and beauty services. She also teaches makeup one-on-one for anyone who wants to learn. With 20 years under her belt, her journey began in a small city in the Netherlands, whereas a Thai-Dutch girl, it wasn't easy being one of the only multi-cultural kids. In secondary school, she realised the importance of having confidence in your appearance, as she started to gain popularity. "People treat you differently based on how you look," she tells me. "As you feel more confi dent and beautiful, you radiate happiness. It became my passion and purpose to learn everything I could in order to give this gift of beauty and confidence to women all over the world. I believe that my vision of elegance will suit every woman of any age at any time."

Here are her tips on how to create radiant and long-lasting makeup look for any event this festive season:

DIET
Your diet can have significant impact on your skin. To help your skin look its best:

1. Drink a lot of water to hydrate your skin, especially in the one week leading up to an event.
2. Eat anti-oxidant foods, like Vitamin C, to boost your inner glow.

SKIN CARE
To create dreamy skin texture:

1. Find skin care products that suit your skin tone and texture. Make sure you have tested them before using it on the day of the event to avoid any breakouts or adverse reactions.
2. On the night before the event, apply a gentle exfoliator to get rid of dead skin cells.
3. On the day of the event, use serums and moisturiser that instantly hydrate and plump your skin.

MAKEUP
To create a glamourous look while retaining a clean makeup aesthetic, the fundamentals rely on a well-balanced base, eyebrows, contouring, and lashes. These areas should be clean and not overdone. For your eyes, blush and lips, you can be playful with colour, as this adds glamour.

1. For luscious lips, scrub your lips at the beginning of your makeup routine. After removing the dead skin, apply a lip conditioner and let it settle in while you work on the rest of the face. Remove the lip conditioner and add a tiny bit of concealer or foundation at the edges, as it protects the lipstick from blurring. Use a lip liner to create the perfect shape, colour the lips in lightly to maintain the colour, and add your desired lipstick on top. For an extra glam effect, add a small amount of gloss at the centre.
2. For a flawless, red-carpet worthy base, use Tina's signature 3D radiant skin formula. It is built by matching a makeup aesthetic to each skin condition and light reflection. For Indian skin tones, the main issues are colour discoloration, dark circles and an oily T-Zone. Firstly, start by neutralising darker pigments using an orange-coloured primer or concealer, but only on the darker spots. For a flawless skin finish, build a base using many different types of finishes like semi-matte, radiant foundations, and concealers. Keep the centre more matte while working the glow towards the outer parts of the face. Your skin will look radiant while catching light beautifully without looking greasy or cakey.
3. For your eyes, apply an eye primer or concealer all over the eyelids. Use powder to set this. This creates a strong and flawless base to create different eye looks. Use a lash curler to bring out your eyes before adding false individual lashes to create more volume and to elevate your eyes. Finally, apply a layer of waterproof mascara.
4. Use a loose setting powder to set your final look. To do this, gently press the powder into the makeup. After a few moments, use a brush to get rid of the excess powder.
5. Once you think you have finished applying your makeup, take a final look to check if everything is well-balanced and beautiful. Then, use a setting spray and fan yourself with your hands to quickly dry the product, this will ensure you makeup is set in place.
6. Finally, and most importantly, look in the mirror and say, "Hello gorgeous!" with a huge smile on your face, and you're ready to face anything!

TINA DERKSE's qualifications
• Bridal makeup for a middle eastern princess and her royal family.
• Red-carpet looks at Cannes Film Festival with global desi influencer, Diipa Büller Khosla.
• Magazine stories for L'Officiel, Vogue, Grazia, Elegance and multiple fashion week makeup events and shows across Europe.
• Senior lead makeup artist Europe at Charlotte Tilbury
• Pro event makeup artist and manager at MAC Cosmetics