Kiss and make-up

Valentine’s Day is almost upon us; the day when we dress to nines and celebrate our love for our significant others.

Valentine’s Day is almost upon us; the day when we dress to the nines and celebrate our love for our significant others. Given that Valentine’s Day is often about fulfilling fantasies and making dreams come true, this V Day, the team at Toni&Guy Lahore decided to do a little ‘dreaming’ of our own. So here are three celebrity couples we would love to style for Cupid’s big day — along with the looks we think would make them truly shine!

Aaminah Haq & Ammar Belal

The iconoclastic designer and the drop-dead gorgeous supermodel are truly Pakistani fashion’s real power couple. Ammar is style personified, while Aaminah exudes charm, charisma and confidence from every pore. The two are an amazing example of how great couples complement one another to perfection and should build on their classic sense of style.

Aaminah

Supermodel Aaminah Haq has the perfect mix sensuality and style. For Aaminah’s V Day look, we recommend sticking to the theme of classic chic. Given the shape of Aaminah’s face, her V Day style is one that will accentuate her features.

Aaminah’s hair is glossed with L’Oreal’s rich Dark Golden Mahogany, accentuating the colour with curls hearkening back to the style of the Twenties. The sides are pulled back tightly into a high pony-tail, gathering the hair at the back in a mass of voluminous spirals. The tightly pulled back sides bring attention to Aaminah’s high cheekbones, while the high pony-tail allows her to show off her shapely shoulder bones and nape of her neck. The front could either be pulled back also, highlighting Aaminah’s classic forehead. Alternatively, a shapely flick of curls could lightly crown Aaminah’s forehead, serving the same purpose in a softer manner, while calling notice to her large eyes.

Aaminah’s make-up should continue the theme of classic, simple chic, focusing on her finest features. Aaminah’s luminous eyes will be made up with classic Diana of London #19 eyeliner reminiscent of a young Audrey Hepburn, and shimmer to highlight her perfectly arched eyebrows. Her luscious lips will be coloured with MAC Russian Red blood-red lipstick, along with a covering gloss.

Ammar

As one of Pakistan’s leading designers, Ammar is no stranger to style. Ammar’s fashion sense is the perfect blend of classic with a twist. The young designer can often be spotted in immaculately tailored suits or blazers, yet always carrying subtle hints of the swanky rebelliousness that first catapulted him onto the Pakistani fashion scene.

Given this mix of classic modernity, Ammar’s style this V Day should hearken back to the sleek chic of the Seventies. Think Michael Corleone but updated for 2012. We recommend styling Ammar’s thick, wavy locks pushed back and parted to the side. Instead of a razor sharp parting like the one Al Pacino sports in the cinema classic, Ammar’s 21st century take on this classic hairstyle would be parted more casually, as if parted by hand. We’d use Label.M Strong Wax or Mud Clay to add some texture and shine to the style without looking greasy.

Meesha Shafi & Mahmood Rahman

Meesha and Mahmood are Pakistani rock’s newest and hottest couple. Parents to a beautiful baby girl, Jhanavi, the couple are artists and celebrities in their own individual capacities. Meesha has also recently made the move to the Silver Screen, starring in Mira Nair’s upcoming adaptation of Mohsin Hamid’s best-selling novel, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, and our very own upcoming action thriller Waar. The fun-loving, down-to-earth couple are a perfect melody — she’s a rock chick and he’s a biker-esque ‘bad boy’ guitarist.

Mahmood

 

Mahmood’s look will build on his existing persona as a kick-ass rocker. Mahmood’s wardrobe and sense of style remind us of those bad-ass Hell’s Angels in the classic motorbike movie Easy Rider. His look this Valentine’s Day therefore acts as the Clyde to Meesha’s rocking Bonnie.

We’d clip Mahmood’s hair into short tailored sides and back and loosely textured from the top. The texture is accentuated with Label.M Matt Paste and Sea Salt Spray. And to add that final bit of pizzazz, we’d leave Mahmood with light stubble to complete the rocking biker look.

Meesha

Casual, laid back and relaxed, Meesha is the very definition of boho chic. Our V day look for Meesha builds on her chilled out persona, keeping her looking cool and fresh.

Meesha’s hair normally falls pins straight, so for this Valentine’s Day we think she should shake things up a bit with some movement and texture. We’d use Label.M Hair Souffle to sculpt Meesha’s straight locks into soft loose waves and add Volume Mousse for body and bounce. The final look is one of casual, tousled curls, softly framing Meesha’s face. We finish off with a quick spritz of Label.M Shine Mist to add a healthy gleam.

Meesha’s make-up is designed to draw attention to her sharp, captivating features, while sticking with the theme of ‘keeping it simple’. We use Diana of London #19 shimmer under Meesha’s eyebrows to give a ‘wide look’, combined with a L’Oreal #508 shade of Aubergine eye shadow, blended deeply, and accompanied by lots of L’Oreal mascara to lengthen Meesha’s already long lashes. The look is capped with a bright pink lipstick by Rimmel #006.

Usman & Samina Peerzada

Our final celebrity couple are the stylish and somewhat older Samina and Usman Peerzada. The Peerzadas are a distinguished and accomplished couple with a great deal of living and working under their belts. The most endearing part about them is that they retain a fresh outlook towards their lives and work and are still in the forefront of innovation and experimentation in their fields. This is part of what we want to reflect in their styling: their innovative attitudes and accomplished styles.

Samina

Even today, Samina Peerzada manages to captivate people and turn heads when she enters a room. She is defined by her elegance and grace, and this is what we want to stick with when styling her for Valentine’s Day 2012.

We’d cut Samina’s hair in a Charlie’s Angels-esque style, think the glamorous Farrah Fawcett, but toned down and less feathered. The hair would be parted in the centre with tons of volume, and flicked out at the ends. The style would be textured with Label.M Hair Souffle and then blow-dried with Label.M Blow-Out Spray to protect from the heat. A final addition of Shine Mist adds a high glossy finish to the classy glam look.

Samina’s make-up would work to accentuate her defined yet delicate features, with a colour palette of soft browns and bronzes. Eyeliner to accentuate the shape of Samina’s almond eyes, coupled with lots of L’Oreal mascara and a final touch of kajol to remind us that she is one of South Asia’s True Beauties. The look would be completed with a final touch of extremely muted, nude lipstick with gloss by L’Oreal #715.

Usman

A classic actor and scion to the famous puppeteering family, Usman Peerzada still defines Pakistani masculinity. His deep, sexy voice and sheer animal magnetism and charisma are what we want to reflect in Usman’s styling for Valentine’s Day.

While Usman has often sported medium to long hair, this V Day we’d style him a little differently; keeping his classic style but bringing in a bit of 2012 oomph. Before anything else, we’d treat Usman to a Hydra Dermie Lift Facial, to tighten and rejuvenate the facial skin and bring out Usman’s strong jawline. Usman’s salt and pepper locks would be tailored along the sides and the back, but not too short. And we’d leave the top to hang very loosely over.

Shammal Qureshi is the creative director of the Toni & Guy salons in Lahore and the Creative Consultant & Trainer for L’Oreal in Pakistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, February 12^th, 2012.