“I can not do hair price shit,” she says. “My solely styling method is to place my hair in a bun in a good elastic so it will get type of wavy, and that is it.” Whereas filming, she will get a blowout as usually as each different day and likes to air-dry her strands and use hair masks to strengthen them when her schedule loosens. “Once I was a bit of lady, we used to take uncooked egg and beat it and put that in our hair for protein. Now I am utilizing K18 or Olaplex, nevertheless it’s the identical precept.” Her historical past with make-up, although, runs deeper.
“I am tremendous beauty-focused. I believe if I did not do what I do, I would in all probability be a make-up artist,” she says. “I used to be doing make-up at seven years previous; I used to do my aunt’s.” Magnificence was a household affair: She remembers her grandmother hand-making their kajal, a standard kohl liner. “I at all times wore eyeliner, for so long as I can keep in mind. I keep in mind sporting it after I was 4. All [South] Indian ladies do, and boys put on it too.”
Lakshmi additionally remembers doing her personal glam backstage out of necessity whereas modeling within the ’90s. “Lots of people nonetheless couldn’t do make-up on my pores and skin [tone], so I discovered methods to do my very own and methods to combine my very own [shades], and I am actually good with my make-up for that motive.” In 2018, Lakshmi launched a capsule assortment with MAC Cosmetics — “I nonetheless use it! I like it!” — impressed by her Indian heritage, together with dual-ended eyeliner pencils, eyeshadow quads, and six lipsticks, packaged in golden circumstances that mimic the Turkish plates in her kitchen. Discovering frequent inspiration by means of meals and make-up is one thing Lakshmi finds solely pure.
“I’m that sensorial particular person. Mixing colours is like cooking. It is like making my fragrance. It is like making my bathtub oil. Whether or not it is mixing spices or mixing important oils to get what I would like, to me, it is a very sensual expertise.”
Taking a look at Lakshmi’s numerous profession, it is not shocking that following her senses has led to so many ardour initiatives. “I’ve by no means been on a really particular monitor,” she says after I ask what is likely to be subsequent after her yet-to-be-named cookbook, which will likely be a set of recipes and travelogues from her current journeys. “I’ve simply at all times tried to push towards the open door.”