From Red Carpet To Reality: Stunning South Asian Celebrity Beauty Trends For 2025!

The recently ended awards season was full of South Asian beauties whose glamourous looks will serve as a font of inspiration as we prepare for weddings and summer parties.  In this blog, I have culled looks from the major awards shows and events that highlight how we can emphasise our eyes, skin, lips and cheeks to create unforgettable looks that are full of star power.

Be A Kajal Kween!

Charli XCX who hails from the United Kingdom, is not only the greatest “brat” of all time who just happened to win the Grammys for Best Dance Pop Recording, Best Dance/Electronic Album, her classic and regal eye liner look for the Grammys set the tone for 2025

The look takes at most 3 minutes to achieve, and it includes the time it takes for the products to set:

1. The first step is to colourwash the eyelids using the soft toned shadow such as Clé de peau Eye Color in Glistening Pearl for light-to medium skin tones and Wander Beauty Wandering Eyes Shadow Stick in Make your Mauve for darker skin tones.

2.  Once the colour is set, curl your eyelashes.

3. Pick an eye, and pull the skin taut towards the temple, making sure that your hand is steady, and the eye lid does not move. I like to place the liquid liner, such as the Live Tinted Legacy Liner Liquid Kajal, at the centre of the eye and draw a thicker line only going 1-2 millimetres past the end of the outer corner, making sure the line flicks up. It is important to wait a few seconds for the liner to set, before releasing your hold, and then using the tip of the liner to draw a thin line that traces the eye shape from the inner corner to the centre of the upper lash line.  If the line is too thin, retrace this half to thicken it up and repeat the steps on the other eye.

4. The lower lash line is a sensitive area because if too much kajal is applied, and it migrates, it will make for a messy soup with concealer in the contour, which already veers towards darkness. I suggest delicately tracing a fine line from the inner corner to the outer corner of the eye using a longwearing kajal such as the Live Tinted Hueliner Longwearing Kajal Liner. Once you have applied your concealer, take a cotton bud and then tap the line to create a smoky effect.

5. The last step is the mascara, and a thickening one  like the one by the Canadian brand Vasanti Cosmetics Kajal Big Up! Volumising Mascara, will enhance the liner look, as its intensity contributes to defining the eye area. I recommend placing the applicator at the base of the lashes and wiggling it out to the tips and adding a couple of extra coats to the outer lashes. I do not recommend applying the mascara on the lower lashes, because the heaviness of the formula can drag down the area and if some pigment flakes off during festivities, it will make an unseemly soup with the concealer.

Work In The Shadows

Mindy Kaling’s prolific work in various media is making her the next American media moghul, and her statement making silver look at the Oscars demonstrates that South Asians need not only rely on gold to shimmer. Aside from her stunning silhouette, Mindy’s eyeshadow look was equal parts smoke and shimmer, and incredibly mysterious because you could see her eyes but not the thoughts behind them.

The trick to this eye shadow look is to ensure that if you use dark colours that they neither mute the pupils nor emphasis dark circles, so a light hand is required.  Further, you do not always need to use black and grey to achieve the smoky effect.  The Estée Lauder Pure Color Envy  Luxe Eyeshadow Quad in Indigo Night is a palette that will suit rainbow of South Asian skin tones.

I love this palette because it uses silver and indigo to add playfulness and depth to the smoky look.  Below are the steps on how to create Mindy’s smoky look:

1. Colourwash the lid using the cream colour. It might look paler for deep toned beauties but given the smokiness of the look, we need to keep the base light and bright;
2. Using a flat, stiff, duck billed brush, cover the mobile lid in the shimmery indigo blue, and using a stiff angle brush, line the lower lash line with the same colour;
3. Use a pointy-tipped smudge brush and apply a few dots of the silver shade to the inner corners to add brightness to the area;
4. Use a fluffy brush and lightly, define the crease from the outer corner to the centre of the mobile lid using the chocolate shade;
5. Clean off and wet the angle brush, dip it into the chocolate shade, and define the upper lash line;
6. Apply a volumizing mascara.

Glowing, Brown Beautiful Skin

One of the breakout stories of the Grammys was how Indian-American, Chandrika Krishamurthy Tandon won the Grammy for Best New Age, Chant or Ambient Album.  Her story is inspiring because she was successful in the world of business, breaking barriers by becoming the first Indian American woman to be elected a partner at McKinsey and Company and by engaging in philanthropic efforts to improve her community.  Now as a Grammy award winner, Chandrika demonstrates that we can and should develop our artistic inclinations and that we can all contribute love and light to the world.

Chandrika’s classic beauty look was anchored by her glowing skin which can be reproduced by using a lightweight foundation and concealer with a luminous powder.  Given that we are heading into hotter climes, I suggest using lightweight complexion products to achieve a glowing complexion.  This is how I achieve Chandrika’s glowing complexion:

1.I love the Estée Lauder Future Skin Tint Serum Foundation with Botanical Oil Infusion SPF 20, because it leaves a radiant finish and lasts for 8 hours, never creasing into my fine lines. The collection includes 29 shades, and covers a variety of skintones, which means that all South Asian beauties will find their perfect shade.  I drop a few droplets on the back of my hand and use a painter-style foundation brush to apply the product all over the face and neck.

2. I have dark circles and am mindful of using lightweight concealer products because I do not want to cover the darkness and then emphasise my fine lines. I am a fan of the Clinique Even Better™ All Over Concealer + Eraser because its doe foot applicator perfectly fits into the eye contour area and the product blends easily into the skin.  Additionally, the collection has 32 shades, so the selection is vast enough to accommodate the rainbow of shades that will suit South Asian beauties.

3. I like to set my concealer and my T-zone with a soft lit powder. I have used the Guerlain Light-Revealing Pearls of Powder for years, and I love its subtlety.  I look luminous and my makeup remains in place.  I have used my pearls for years and I only need one or two passes on my face to get the desired look.  This product is an investment that will last for years and is worth every penny.

Nude Lips Tips

An upcoming lip trend is nude lips, and British actress Banita Sandhu’s caramel toned pout at the 2025 SAG Awards demonstrated the look flawlessly.

When it comes to nude lips, it easy to immediately dive into brown shades, because of our skin tones.  However, we also need to account for the fact that South Asian beauties also have lips that range from pink to deep mauve, and sometimes the lips are a mix between the two, and depending on the intensity of the lip colour, it will impact the look of the lip product.  Consequently, when you select a nude shade, your lip colour(s) must be included in the analysis.

A great starting point to achieve a wonderful nude lip, is to visit Ctzn Cosmetics website and take the Nude Match Quiz to find your perfect nude lipstick – lip gloss combination and matching lip pencil. The double-sided component is convenient because you just need to swipe on lipstick and switch ends to add some gloss to the centre.

If you are looking exclusively for a lipstick, I recommend focusing on a satin finish, because a matte nude could diminish your glow.  I always appreciated the richness of colour of Tom Ford lip products, because what you see in the tube is what is produced on the lips, and the glide is smooth, and my lips feel hydrated.  If you want a more nineties, nude lip look, I suggest combining Tom Ford Lip Color in Understated and lining with 106 A-Listed.

If you are looking for a glossy nude lip, I recommend the Summer Fridays Nourishing Lip Oil because it delivers pigment and nourishes the lips, leaving a cushiony feel.  The colour choice includes several mauve shades, which will flatter South Asian beauties whose lips have a high mauve content.

Getting Cheeky

Canadian humourist, entrepreneur and social media personality Lilly Singh’s, softly sculpted cheeks at the 2025 Golden Globe Awards was timeless and stunning and works for work and play. I love it when a glamourous look fits seamlessly into multiple events.

To achieve this look, I love using blush sticks because they are easy to transport and I have an easier time building up the intensity of colour on my cheeks.  Mango People, a brand founded by Canadian Sravya Adusumilli, boasts of products which use mango butter that soothes the skin.  The Multi Stick in Peach will infuse lighter skin tones with energy and for deeper skin tones, Fudge will achieve the same effect.  What I appreciate about Fudge is that it falls within the brown shade family but when you apply to brown skin, it does not make the skin look muddy, instead it adds a soft sheen of sophisticated colour.

I just swirl the Multi Stick on the high points of my cheeks and then use my fingers to blend the colour.  The effect is a natural flush that brings out my bone structure.

We Are All Winners

The various beauty looks of South Asian talent that graced the award shows in 2025 demonstrates that we are a diverse group of winners.  All of our skin tones and styles are special, and with a touch of pigment, we transform into super novae. We just need to pick a feature, and we are already halfway there!