Kriti Sanon's Bronzy, Glowy Evening Glam: Skin Prep, Soft Sculpting, and 500 Blushes

Starting With a Clay Mask and a Late Start in Skin Care

Sanon begins by lighting a candle to set the mood. She then applies an unlaunched Hyphen clay mask, pulling her hair back and spreading the mask with her hands.

She describes her early skin care as minimal. As a child and teenager, she washed her face and, she stresses, always used a moisturizer and sunscreen. Her interest deepened during COVID, around the time she turned 30. At that point, she says, she decided she needed to take her skin seriously and began researching ingredients and products. She connects this to her training: "I'm an engineer, so I kind of get into like detail of it." She found it interesting that different ingredients work in different ways. She started ordering many products online and says she became "almost obsessed" with skin care.

Fiber as a Daily Habit

While the mask sets, Sanon drinks a mix of fiber and electrolytes in water. She says she has it every day. She also argues that fiber gets overlooked: people talk about "protein, protein, protein" and forget about fiber.

A Microcurrent Device for the Car

After removing the mask, she introduces what she calls her "new love," a microcurrent device used with an activator gel. She mostly uses it while traveling. On the way to a shoot, she says, ten minutes in the car is enough, which she finds convenient. She demonstrates upward strokes along the face and jaw and points to the result on camera: "Do you see that lifted? It's like instant."

Homemade Mist, Serum, and Moisturizer

Next comes a mist she says she has used "since forever." It is homemade from rosewater and glycerin. She explains the reasoning: glycerin is very hydrating, and rosewater tones the face.

She follows with the Double Shot Radiance Lift Serum. She likes that it is bi-phasic, containing both water and oil. Since this is an evening look, she skips sunscreen and moves straight to moisturizer, the Barrier Care Cream. She calls skin prep "the most important" step. Her reasoning is that skin needs to be extremely hydrated for makeup to sit beautifully.

From Front-Bencher to Actor

During the prep, Sanon describes her upbringing. She was a very studious child. Her mother is a physics professor and her father is a chartered accountant, so education was always treated as the top priority. She calls herself "that 90%er," a front-bencher and a "nerdy kid" who was also very interested in dancing. She never expected dancing to become part of her career, though.

Her parents were clear that she had to finish her degree, so she completed her B.Tech. She even sat for campus placements knowing she wouldn't take the job, which she calls "the best feeling ever." She then moved to Mumbai and began auditioning. She sums up the experience: "Dreams do come true, so you got to dream big."

Building a Glowy, Bronzed Base

For the base, she wants the skin to look very glowy. She starts with Charlotte Tilbury Flawless Filter, applied all over and under the eyes, where she says it brightens noticeably. To suit the bronzy look, she mixes a small amount of Saie's bronzer with moisturizer and blends it in. She warns viewers, "don't get scared," at how dark the product looks.

She says she first saw serious, professional makeup backstage as a model. Her reaction was mixed. On some days she liked how she looked, and on others she didn't, because models were sometimes given very experimental looks she didn't love. Film makeup, she explains, is quite different. The camera catches every detail, so the makeup needs to look like skin, which she says she loves.

Concealing Where Others Contour

Sanon says she prefers creamy products because she is a "dry skin girly." She doesn't like matte finishes and wants her skin to feel dewy. Her concealer is the Kosas creamy concealer. She covers some redness, then points out a slight pigmentation along the sides of her face and says, "Most people contour there, but I conceal it." She learned this in films: her face looks much softer when it isn't made sharp.

She also admits to her "worst habit," picking pimples. She can't stand them and feels they take too long to go away, especially when she has a shoot and ends up with bumps. She can cover them with concealer, but she notes that picking does leave a mark.

Coming Around to Contour, Selectively

She says she never used to contour at all. That changed with her most recent film, where her look was bronzy and sun-kissed. Since then she has come to like contour, but only in certain places. She adds a slight definition under the jaw to sharpen the jawline. She stresses that it should be subtle: "you should never be able to tell." She also warms up the outer face. Because she considers herself very pale, she likes using contour and blush to bring back some life and color. For this look she places warmth higher up, where she says the sun would naturally hit.

She warns that she has "blush blindness" and says she owns around 500 blushes.

Easy Eyes: Tints, Tightlining, and Pencil as Liner

After setting her base, she uses Armani's eye tint. She describes it as very easy to use and says she loves easy products. She applies it somewhat randomly and says it doesn't need to be perfect. Along the lower lash line, she adds definition with a mix of shades that has a hint of peach and pink. She says she always uses a slightly red-brown color under her eyes because it makes them pop and look more lively.

For the upper lash line, she demonstrates a technique she admits is "not very comfortable, but if you learn how to do it, it's magic." She colors the upper waterline with any brown pencil, aiming for the slightest definition without it looking like obvious liner. With the same pencil she traces lightly over the lash line, extends it slightly outward, and softens it with her nail.

Curling Lashes Anywhere

Next she curls her lashes and says she can do it even in a moving car. She notes the difference it makes immediately. Her lashes are naturally straight, so on shoots she sometimes has to curl them several times. For mascara, she goes light on the bottom because her lower lashes are long, "a bit of like spider lashes," so she only touches the lash line. She then runs a Make Up For Ever lip pencil in Limitless Brown along the lower lash line and smudges it with her finger. She says she loves it on her lips too, and likes products that work in more than one place.

Red Blush, Bronze, and Highlight

Returning to blush, she tells viewers not to be afraid of red. According to her, it turns into a beautiful pink on the skin that "doesn't look like pink pink." She takes the blush up slightly toward the under-eye so everything blends together. She follows with a bronzy MAC product and says she must be careful with it because it is very pigmented. She finishes with a Stila highlighter on the high points only.

From Kajal-Only to Less Makeup

She reflects that she finds makeup interesting, "like art." In her teens and college years, the most makeup she wore was kajal. At the time she couldn't imagine going without it because she felt she looked sick. Through modeling and films, she wore many different looks and gradually moved toward more natural ones. She says she started liking herself without kajal and with less makeup overall.

Layering Lips So Something Lasts

For lips, Sanon says "nothing stays on my lip," which she calls a problem. Her solution is to layer several colors. She slightly overlines at the center of each lip and applies a lipstick that lasts somewhat, but not long, as a base. She then adds a lighter Maybelline shade and relines because the first layer has partly faded. She mentions that one of the lipsticks is among the very few she has actually finished, and she bought two so she wouldn't run out. She likes the center of the lips slightly brighter, so she dabs extra color there. She adds that for a blush touch-up, she would simply dab a little on.

Brows as Therapy

She says she doesn't fill in her brows much and has plucked them herself for years. According to her, her team jokes that "it's like 45 minutes gone" once she starts. She finds it therapeutic because it demands concentration. She sets her brows with Rare Beauty brow gel and likes that it doesn't leave visible flakes.

Finishing Touches

To finish, she adds a little more blush, this time a pink-coral shade she likes for its slight shine. She sets the look and adds a touch of gloss to the center of her lips. That completes what she calls her bronzy, glowy evening glam, and she signs off to head to a girls' night.