Coming Home Through Colour

Vimi Joshi has earned her wings in the frenetic, ephemeral world of global beauty, where talent is the prerequisite and staying power is the not always the norm. As a former MAC Global Artist who has studied beauty across global fashion weeks and red carpets, her three decades spent amidst the blinding flashbulbs and the finery revealed a void: a lack of true representation for the sun-drenched, warmer undertones of the East. Throughout her illustrious career, she identified a gap where products were rarely designed with these nuanced undertones at the forefront.

Today, Vimi steps out from behind the velvet curtain behind the scenes to take centre stage as a founder. With the launch of Vimi Joshi Beauty, born in the soil of Dubai, she is reclaiming a narrative that has long been overlooked. In this exclusive conversation with L’Officiel Arabia, she discusses the luminous DNA of the East, the sacred ritual of the kohl-lined eye, and why her brand is, above all, a homecoming.

Delna Mistry Anand: Your career has been a tapestry of global experiences, from the runways of Paris to the heritage suites of Rajasthan. As you join the dots of your journey, how did mastering the ‘global face’ eventually lead you back to your own roots?

Vimi Joshi: I was very fortunate to have been blessed with such an incredible global career. These experiences gave me the opportunity to work on so many different skin tones from around the world and whilst the fairest and darker skin tones were catered for in the beauty industry… I struggled with the warmer South Asian, Latin, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern skin tones. I had to mix shades to get the correct undertones. I was constantly mixing products to get the intensity of shades and colours to show up on our skin tone. It also fascinated me how colours would look in the packaging and how they completely changed when you applied them onto the skin. Especially, lipsticks that look amazing in the bullet and when I applied them, they completely washed me out. Even eyeshadows I had to layer products to ensure they showed up on our skin tones. This led me back to creating a beauty brand with high intensity pigments that with one stroke would translate beautifully on the skin. This process took over 3 years of research and development.

There is a specific, luminous DNA to the East that global beauty standards often overlook. Why is now the definitive moment to dedicate your artistry specifically to the heritage of Indian and Middle Eastern skin?

Eastern beauty is the birthplace of makeup. Beauty has been an integral part of our daily rituals, culture and heritage. It’s based on traditions that date back centuries where both men and women were known to wear makeup. Our culture celebrates beauty and the eyes are the windows to the soul. Dramatic eye makeup is worn with pride and maximalist makeup is the norm in our culture and honoured at weddings and celebrations. The global economy is moving eastwards and now our traditions and beauty practices are being showcased on the global forefront. It’s a proud movement and moment for us South Asians.

In both Indian and Middle Eastern cultures, beauty is a time-honoured ritual. How does your collection bring back a sense of ceremony and mindfulness in the way a woman connects with her image?

Vimi Joshi Beauty is my love letter to the South Asian culture and heritage. When you think of beauty within our culture, we immediately think of kohl lined eyes, strong structural features and beautiful eye makeup that elongates the eyes with eyeliner and mascara. I truly believe that social media has given us a global platform to honour our heritage. We celebrate beauty and honour it. It’s part of our traditions and that’s why I wanted to launch with the essential eight products. It’s where our story begins with tradition, culture and heritage, a meeting point of artistry and intention.

You’ve spent thousands of hours backstage, where time is of the essence. What is that special magic touch  from the runway that you have added into these formulas?

Our beauty story needs to be shared with the world. Every product has been created from a raw pigment. Every shade has been formulated with our undertone in mind. I have spent hours at the factory ensuring each texture was luxurious and it’s showed up on our skin tone. Hours of meticulously crafted shades that were perfect over and over again. It was a true labour of love. The one backstage secret was keep going until you get the results you want. When I was conceptualizing the brand the question I kept asking myself was How can I create products that gave immediate results? This was inspired by my 30 plus years of backstage experience where indeed time is of the essence.

We love that you’ve launched as a UAE-born brand. Why was it essential that Vimi Joshi Beauty be rooted in this soil, and how has this city reshaped your perspective on modern beauty?

Dubai has been my home for over 22 years and I wanted to honour the city that has given us all so much. Dubai is an Arabian city that welcomes everyone. Vimi Joshi Beauty, whilst inspired by my South Asian heritage, is available to everyone. The cultural diversity in this city is awe inspiring and constantly evolving and to me Dubai represents the epitome of modern beauty.

As you transition from artist to founder, what is the one emotion you hope a woman feels when she holds a Vimi Joshi product in her hand years from now?

Homecoming and belonging is the emotion I want women to feel. A celebration of who they are and the feeling of being able to accomplish anything they want in life – I want women to feel empowered embrace their uniqueness and to embody the knowing that they can achieve anything they want. And if I can do it, so can YOU!!