OUR STORY
Renowned beauty guru, Ambika Pillai has been influencing the beauty world for more than three decades now. Known among the top hairstylists and make-up artists, of India, she's also one of the top beauty entrepreneurs with her chain of salons. In 2020 during the Covid pandemic she shut down all her branches. Her career has been immensely satisfying having won numerous awards in the beauty industry. She is known as a person for the masses .. She doesn't like to be exclusive and unaffordable There's no denying that she has been one of the forces behind changing the face of beauty via movies, fashion, her salons and now through her social media presence. She shares her expertise with people from the beauty industry by taking part in work shops and master classes through the length and breath of the country and around the world. Besides being the most sought after name for every fashion related event in the capital, her turf extends internationally as well.
She has done fashion shows in New York, London, Paris, Singapore, Dubai, Mauritius, Switzerland etc and bridal makeup for the royal families of Kuwait, Abu Dhabi and Dubai. She has done faces of big celebrities and stars in Bollywood and from the sporting industry, such as Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Sushmita Sen, Dipika Padukon, Katrina Kaif, Sachin Tendulkar, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, to name a few. - Ambika Pillai
WINNERS OF
HOW AMBIKA PILLAI HAIR & SKIN CARE WAS BORN
As told by Ambika Pillai
My childhood memories are timeless treasures.. It's the little moments in
my childhood that has made the biggest impact on my choices in my journey
of life. My earliest memories of skin and hair care are rooted in the
trusted homemade mixes of oils, herbs, salts, plants and infused oils.
I am the second of four daughters and my mother took great pride when her
friends complimented us on our radiant glowing skin and thick, strong hair
and how impeccable we always looked. My mom spent time making body and
hair oils and scrubs, the face packs and home made Kajal were absolute
treasures. All of it seeped into my soul. I grew up and followed my
passion of being a hair stylist, skin specialist and a makeup artist.
I worked tirelessly for more than 3 decades, won many awards
related to my field of work, opened 15 salons in all, became a household
name in the north and south of India… but there was always a restlessness
within me.. like I needed to do something more. Many a time I would
revisit my childhood and relive the fragrant aroma of herbs boiling in
pure coconut oil..the tender teak leaves crushed along with their tiny,
fragrant white flowers and the smoky fragrance the ruby red oil had is
burnt deep in my memory. ...
To relax from a gruelling day of work I would come home and to unwind I
would make body scrubs with infused oils, face creams and body lotions,
lip balms and cheek rouge.. all out of my kitchen and sometimes sitting
comfortably on the floor in my bedroom…and give them happily to my
daughter and friends. I knew this is what I wanted to do once I stepped
back from my hectic life running salons and when I would eventually
retire. I know I made mistakes along the way. I brought out a fabulous
line of makeup products under the ambikapillai brand, a little too early
in life, I was in the thick of my career as an entrepreneur whose
primarily business was the salon business, I had no time to concentrate
on marketing and growing the line of products I had brought out. I found
out make up is a niche market… I had 30% of my clients who would ask me
what colour lipstick would suit them and 70% would want answers,
remedies and cures for their hair, scalp and skin problems… so I would
go back home and make homemade products, bottled in tiny jars and give
it to them.. I taught them how to make their own serums and creams.
It finally dawned on me that this is what I need to do.. put all
my knowledge and expertise of 35 long years of working in this field and
put it into little bottles and make it easily accessible, affordable and
available for the masses. Natural and herbal products is what I wanted
to do. In 2019 just before the pandemic hit humankind I brought out the
'ambikapillai' skin and hair care products. It was a life saver in more
ways than one.
'Work from home is not a concept that is conducive to my salon
line of work but with my product line it was all about working from
home. I introduced the products and their benefits on my social media
handles and took orders on my phone.. it kept me on my toes, Kavitha, my
daughters and my head above water and totally filled a void that
shutting down all my salon after Covid had caused. Unfortunately Covid
was crushing for my salon business. The ambikapillai products are available in Beaute & Nutrie stores in Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai. The products will always be available on this platform and if you directly order with me through WhatsApp.
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