Ethnic Beauty Guide: Anjli Patel

Vv Magazine’s Associate Editor Azra Hirji will be the first to tell you that, as a woman of colour working in a predominantly ‘white’ industry where having strong beauty game garners you some serious brownie points, it’s often difficult to find a little beauty inspiration that suits her skin tone. Azra decided to take her woes to the streets of Toronto for inspiration and answers, resulting in Vv Magazine’s Ethnic Beauty Guide — beauty advice and tips from some of the most influential (and beautiful) ethnic women in Toronto. From overcoming their beauty struggles to letting us in on their must-have makeup products, Ethnic Beauty Guide profiles a new face every week, with the woman behind the gorgeous features divulging her best-kept beauty secrets, tips, issues, and advice.

This week on Vv Magazine’s Ethnic Beauty Guide, we chat with ever-so-beautiful fashion lawyer Anjli Patel about what keeps her skin looking fresh, healthy, and flawless!

Name: Anjli Patel
Ethnicity: East Indian (Gujarati)

Your biggest beauty struggle:
Acne.

How you’ve overcome said beauty struggle: 
It’s a work in progress, but what helps is regular exercise, eating well, and drinking lots of water.

What is something you’ve grown to love about yourself: 
My skin.

If you were to have a daughter, what is one thing you’d teach her about beauty and the way she looks:
I would teach her to keep it simple, have a routine, and build her self-esteem on ability more than beauty.

A beauty tip you swear by:
I’ve been filling my brows with powder and an angled brush long before brows were in vogue. I use bareMinerals Liner Shadow in Soft Black.

A beauty product you can’t live without:
Sunscreen. I use SPF 15 that is incorporated into my face lotion, Murad’s Oil Control Mattifier. I have always had oily skin, but when I discovered this lotion, it changed my life. It’s unlike any face lotion I have ever used because it has a powdery finish, which keeps my face matte all day.

Favourite nude & red lipstick:
I’m probably the only woman on earth to have never worn either lip colour. Instead, I use Dior Addict Lip Glow in pink. It’s a lip balm with SPF 10 that is formulated to react to your pH and create a unique colour. (Supposedly.) What can I say? I like multi-functional products and the occasional gimmick.

Brows, how do you like ’em: 
I have tried waxing and threading, but I’ve found tweezing to be the most precise method.

Celebrity icons: 
Gayatri Devi and Audrey Hepburn for their simplicity — and those brows! Swoon.

If you have any beauty tips, secrets, and makeup must-haves that you’d like to add to our Ethnic Beauty Guide, be sure to chime in on the comments section below or tweet us your thoughts on this week’s “Ethnic Beauty Guide: Anjli Patel” at @ViewTheVibe.