India, Sept. 25 -- Festive makeup often comes with a familiar dilemma: how to look polished and picture-ready for hours without ending up with a heavy or cakey base. Add long celebrations, changing weather and an endless stream of beauty trends on social media, and figuring out what is worth trying and what is better left behind can get tricky.

In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Vaishnavi Jain, beauty expert, makeup artist and head of product development at PAC Cosmetics, shares her insights on the festive makeup trends that are in, what's out and how to create a polished look that lasts. (Also read: Content creators Aparna Thomas and Mehr Panchal share their favourite 'tried and tested beauty hacks' on Makeup Day 2026 )

"The festive be...