Bandana Gujral - Celebrity Makeup Artist, Bridal Specialist & Founder of Makeup by Bandana from Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Q1. How did your career journey start? Or Who/What inspired you to start this business/ entrepreneurship? I was always interested in beauty ...

Q1. How did your career journey start? Or Who/What inspired you to start this business/ entrepreneurship?

I was always interested in beauty and makeup since my school years, but I never imagined molding my hobby into a successful profession until I was almost done with college. After majoring in finance, I decided to give it a shot and see how it goes. Fortunately for me, I had a lot of support from my family and friends which led me into becoming a Celebrity Makeup Artist. 

Q2. Kindly share some information about your Business, products and services here. Also mention your USP if any.

I am a celebrity makeup artist and a bridal specialist. I have my own team who help me with hair and draping for my clients. We start with trials for my brides, wherein we discuss what kind of looks they have in mind in terms of jewellery, hair, outfit, if they want coloured contacts, false eyelashes etc. I use luxury makeup products. I make sure I provide the best in terms of my services to the clients. My USP is that my makeup doesn’t look over the top and does not necessarily change your features but accentuates your features. Radiant, glowy and fresh makeup is more my style.

Q3. What kind of challenges did you face while starting/doing business?

No job is easy and especially for a profession like this, there are certain troubles that will always come up. In the start it is quite difficult to make a vast clientele and get your name out there. There were days when a steady stream of income was not possible and hence I needed to believe in myself and be patient. Weeks would go by without clients and that was pretty disappointing. 

Q4. Do share with our readers about your discovery period when you were facing difficulties in your business?

As I mentioned in the beginning business was not booming, hence I needed another opportunity to learn and better my skill. Assisting different makeup artists in the industry was something that became extremely important to me in terms of experience and knowledge. Assisting helps you understand how to behave with clients, how to pack your kit and learn the right way to network.

Q5. Share with our readers about your experiment period after the discovery period?

I experimented with several free shoots for celebrities, influencers and bloggers which gave me enough content to market myself to an audience and build my portfolio. Working on different shoots gives you a grasp on your art and helps you understand future work better.

Q6. What are your future plans? Or now what is your vision for next five years?

The vision is to grow even further, I would like to travel to different locations and make connections and network with different clients to expand my client base. I also want to start teaching makeup on a larger scale. I do teach makeup for personal use and to budding makeup artists, but I would like to expand that on a larger scale.

Q7. How would you advise/suggest new entrepreneurs who want to start & sustain in business?

Patience is key, along with marketing yourself and networking. There is tremendous competition in this field and is growing by the minute. One needs to do more than just ‘makeup’. The client should feel comfortable around you and trust your skill on their big day. So just be patient and make sure you are learning new techniques every day, you are staying up to date with trends and marketing yourself strategically.

Q8. LinkedIn profile URL link

NA

Q9. Facebook profile URL link

https://www.facebook.com/makeupbybandana/ 

Q10. Twitter profile URL link

NA

Q11. Instagram profile URL link

http://instagram.com/makeupbybandana

Q12. Personal blog URL link

NA

Q13. Company website & Company blog URL link

NA

Q14. YouTube channel URL link

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS902V-orj0-RpFffuyCWzA 

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Interviewed by : Khushboo Chotaliya - Lifestyles Influencer & Co-Founder of Sanskari Decor from Mumbai, India

Khushboo is a student of Yogesh MA's InfluencerThon - Digital Influencer Academy.

Follow Khushboo here : instagram.com/KhushbooBChotaliya

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