Ethnic Beauty Guide: Priya Chopra

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 the president and CEO of 1Milk2Sugars PR, Priya Chopra, about how the PR maven tames her voluminous mane and what she teaches her daughter about ethnic beauty.

Name: Priya Chopra

Your biggest beauty struggle:
Dark spots are my beauty woe of the moment. One thing about having pigmented skin is that we are prone to dark spots, which take weeks or even months to disappear — and as you age, the process is even longer!

How you’ve overcome said beauty struggle:
I try to go for facials as often as my schedule permits. Other than that, I use brightening systems such as the new Clarisonic Sonic Radiance Brightening Solution, made specifically for hyper-pigmentation.

What is something you’ve grown to love about yourself:
My voluminous hair! I always wanted to have thinner, tamer hair, but I have grown to love my unruly mane, which is typical of East Indian women. I have been wearing it more natural this year and everyone seems to like it better!

If you were to have a daughter, what is one thing you’d teach her about beauty, the way she looks, etc.
My daughter is four and she is a mix of three different cultures. She really represents ethnic beauty and I want her to grow up embracing beauty from all of her different heritages. I also want her to know that there is no one universal ideal or standard of beauty, and that it is truly in the eye of the beholder.

A beauty tip you swear by:
To get my beauty Zzzz’s! Early to bed, early to rise.

A beauty product you can’t live without:
My Arbonne CC Cream in “Medium,” which flawlessly corrects my complexion with just two small drops.

Favourite nude + red lipstick: 
Both my favourites are from Kat Von D — they have amazing texture and long wear. Two of my fave hues of the mo’ are Agatha for nude and Hexagram for a matte blood red.

Is there a beauty product that you love but can’t get in Canada: 
I love the Kohl pencils my friends bring me back from India and Pakistan. They cost just a few cents in our home country, and do an incredible job! Unfortunately, they are impossible to find here. 

Body hair removal preference:
I am all about laser and have been for years. No pain, no gain! Much better to invest in this and be done with it. Nowadays, you no longer need to go to a dermatologist’s office; I recommend the Tria Hair Removal 4X, which is available at Sephora. You can take home this baby and bid your hair follicles goodbye!

Brows, how do you like ’em and how do you groom ’em:
My handy Tweezerman and Anastasia Perfect Brow Pencil are my jam.

Celebrity icons:
Current fave: Amal Alamuddin.

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: Priya Chopra” at @ViewTheVibe.