Teenagers launch initiative for inclusive beauty

Two youngsters from the city — teenagers to be precise — decided barely a fortnight ago that age isn’t a factor to make a difference. Anandita (Ani) Sundar and Zaina Fazal’s new start-up titled Anmol by Ani is a platform that wishes to bring about inclusion, empower women and celebrate beauty in all sizes, shapes and shades. Their website, which was launched on Tuesday morning, garnered 30,000-plus visitors within a few hours after Karan Johar took to Twitter to congratulate the duo.

When asked how the concept came about, Zaina says, “In the second week of January, I messaged Ani on Instagram asking if I could meet her to discuss the idea for this venture. A friend told me that every time I spoke about my vision of helping people, I reminded her of Ani.” The 19-year-old admits she was initially skeptical if they would get along because of their contrasting backgrounds — she hails from a conservative Muslim family while Ani has seen a glamourous lifestyle, being Khushbu and Sundar C’s daughter. “When we eventually met for lunch though, we immediately bonded over our love for the beauty business and hatred for societal stereotypes,” rattles off an excited Zaina.

Both the girls shared the common vision of wanting to use makeup as a tool to break industry stereotypes. Anandita tells us, “Teenagers like us aren’t taken seriously when we want to bring about a change. Moreover, I wanted to prove that I am so much more than the daughter of a celebrity. So, we decided to create a beauty platform, where I could use my skills as a makeup artist to shatter social stereotypes on beauty that promote insecurities.”

Her love for makeup began three years ago, says the now 16-year-old. “When started doing makeup, I got completely obsessed. I was hooked to YouTube tutorials and began buying as much makeup as I could, spending hours every day on perfecting different looks,” she shares.

Their common belief is that people with uniquely beautiful skin tones that aren’t included in makeup products, those with skin conditions which are looked down upon, members of the LGBTQIA+ community who aren’t accepted and acid attack victims among others, must be empowered to be comfortable in their skin and own it.

“This is why we chose the name Anmol — to show that everyone’s unique. We’re going to begin by conducting non-binary gender identity makeup workshops. This could enable people to take up makeup as a profession and create a livelihood for themselves,” explains Ani. “Our aim is to help participants feel beautiful the way they are by encouraging them to highlight their features, not cover up their flaws or transform to look like someone else,” says Zaina on a concluding note.