New Delhi, March 31 -- No strong liners, no heavy contouring, no sharply defined lips-restraint is fast becoming the defining mood, and not just another passing make-up trend. At the recent fashion weeks in Paris, Milan and New York, barely-there bases, softly flushed cheeks, undone lips and lived-in skin dominated the runways, with make-up artists focusing firmly on making skin look, well, like skin.

The same mood has carried on to the red carpet. The 2026 Academy Awards and Golden Globe Awards saw actors such as Margot Robbie and Zendaya opting for pared-back beauty-sheer foundations and softly smudged eyes. The emphasis, increasingly, is on effortlessness.

Back home, at the recently concluded Lakme Fashion Week, "easy does it" was th...