Some people chase glow; Arpita Mehta just has it. The designer, who recently collaborated with Jo Malone for a Diwali gift box and soirée, insists she’s not a “beauty girl” in the conventional sense—no 12-step routine, no fridge full of serums. But she is devoted to the one thing she believes actually shows up on your face: balance. “If I can manage to bring a balance between the five things I love in life, you’ll see it on my face,” she says.
Mehta’s approach is less about products and more about living well. “I’ve always believed the less you tamper with your skin, the better it will be. You just have to be sensitive towards what you’re putting inside your body in terms of what you’re eating, how you’re sleeping, and if you’re in a good place mentally,” she says.
Below, she tells The Nod exactly what she does (and doesn’t do) to keep her skin luminous all year round.
My sister is my makeup guru. Everything I know about beauty is from her—she’s always tried things before I even think of them. Because we’re sisters, we have similar skin issues, so it’s like having an in-house skincare and beauty expert on call. She always recommends a list of 10 things. I’ll usually try one or two that I find interesting.
I got into skincare much later. Nowadays, of course, there’s a lot of knowledge because of Instagram. For the longest time, I didn’t even use face wash. I still don’t, unless I’ve been out in the dust all day. I have sensitive skin, and it feels too dry otherwise. I’ve only had a proper routine for the last five or six years.
My morning and evening skincare routines are almost identical. I wash my face with water while I’m in the shower, get out and apply Clarins Double Serum followed by moisturiser. I’ve used the serum for eight months now—it feels protective, gives a glow, and the texture just feels so good. Every time I come out of the shower, apply it, and go to the office, I genuinely feel like, wow, my day has started well.
I keep changing my face cream often, keeping the season in mind. If I’m using, say, a La Roche-Posay moisturiser for three months and it gets over, I won’t continue to use the same one for a while. Right now, I’m using one from the Korean brand Aestura, which I discovered because Nykaa sent it to me. It’s lightweight and perfect for Bombay humidity. After that, SPF. I usually use [ISDIN] Fotoprotector, but I recently discovered Apivita’s sunscreen in Mykonos while on holiday and it’s brilliant.
At night, I repeat the same routine. The only thing that I’ve started doing since a month ago is applying this under-eye cream by Kiehl’s. It’s a tester, so I wouldn’t say it’s part of my routine, but it feels great. Another new thing that I’ve started doing is using the Apivita sunscreen even at night before going to sleep. It feels so calming and nourishing, and I wake up in the morning with soft skin.
I love going to the local pharmacies whenever I’m travelling and asking them for their best blush, sunscreen, or cream—and they always have interesting products. I also love tanning on beach holidays, so I always ask for safe-tan recommendations.
I do a face clean-up once a year. I want to do it more often. The only time that I ended up going twice in a month was before my wedding and I indulged in an oxygen facial. However, I do like experimenting with face masks once in a while when I’m at home on Sunday mornings. But that too happens probably once in three months.
The one thing I want to try is something I’ve seen my aunt do for the longest time: dip her face in ice-cold water in the morning. Usually, people use ice-cold water to depuff, but my face isn’t puffy when I wake up. I actually think my skin looks the best in the morning because it’s well rested, but I want to make it a habit because I feel as you grow older you need to take more care of your skin. I tried it recently but didn’t keep at it because I got busy. It’s going to be my New Year’s resolution to make it a part of my morning routine.
I generally manage my skin on my own, but I shuffle between two dermats if I have any issues, need a facial, or recommendations—Dr Jaishree Sharad and Dr Harshna Bijlani—and they’re both excellent. My main queries are generally about tanning because I love it. Most dermats say avoid the sun, but I fight back and ask them how to do it safely because I love it so much.
I love using tanning oils with SPF—the one from Avène is outstanding. It’s funny, but my face tans much less than my body, so my body will always be one or two tones darker. I don’t see it as a problem, but I wish everything would tan evenly. My friends think I’m crazy to wish that.
After sunscreen, I use either the Rhode pocket blush or a Huda Beauty cheek tint on my face. I’ll rub the same cheek tint on my lips and a little on my eyelids. That’s my daily office look. And I have a powder Valentino blush for when the weather is too hot, because the creamy cheek tint just melts away in the heat. I also use Kay Beauty’s eyebrow pencil a little bit all over my brows with a very light hand because I feel eyebrows are a very important part of the face.
If I’m going out at night, I used to rely on this face tint by Rose Inc. that I loved. Unfortunately, they’ve closed down, but I thankfully still have a bottle left. I found a very similar water-based tint at Chanel Beauty that literally just blends into your skin. It doesn’t hide your blemishes or freckles, so it almost looks like your skin with a more even tone. And either a Makeup by Mario or a Huda Beauty contour stick in a very mild manner just to add a bit of dimension, because sometimes when you wear skin tint, it gets so even that the face looks all white. And I use a Nars concealer, but that’s only if I’m going out to a proper event. I’ll use the same blushes I use in the day, and I often mix a cream blush and a powder blush or mix shades to create my own version for my skin.
