'Make-up helped connect me to my Indian heritage'

Rahual Das likes to draw on his Indian heritage when creating make-up looks

A make-up artist from Birmingham is hoping to win the latest season of the reality competition Glow Up by using his Indian heritage as inspiration.

Rahual Das is among 10 contestants on the BBC Three programme battling to become the country's next make-up star.

Although he is proud to be the first British Indian man on the show, the 31-year-old from Handsworth Wood said he grew up with some backlash from his community.

"I experienced a little bit of oppression or feeling like I wasn't fitting into societal norms or standards," he said. "A lot of that did transmute into limiting me and stalling my journey."

Das created the make-up look called The Light Within, for the first creative brief on Glow Up

Now Das, who travels the world as part of his job, often goes to India for projects and has learnt more about his ancestral homeland.

"A lot of ancient history fuels my artistry and how I apply my techniques," he said. "The kings and maharajas were wearing eyeliner before it was even a thing."

He said Indian culture inspired him as an artist.

"For me it was the magic I felt through the art of make-up and also the connection it gave me to my ancestry and to my heritage," he explained.

On the first episode of Glow Up, Das also spoke about the importance of spirituality in his culture, which influenced his make-up look called The Light Within.

While abroad, he saw men were the lead make-up artists behind the scenes in Bollywood and asked himself: "Why has that been lost in translation in Britain?"

"We can count on our hands how many South Asian make-up artists there are and male make-up artists," he said.

Siyon Stanley Carvalho is studying a hair and make-up course at University College Birmingham

To try and help improve representation in the industry, Das recently spoke to more than 150 students at a BBC outreach event at University College Birmingham.

Seeing him there was particularly inspiring for 22-year-old Quinn Fishwick, who added: "The industry is more female-focused and more space is needed for men."

Fishwick's classmate Siyon Stanley Carvalho, 21, said she had concerns over a lack of diversity in the industry as she starts her make-up career.

She added: "I need to make sure that I'm strong in what I can do.

"I can only put in the work and hope that other people see how determined I am and how much I love what I do."

Black British supermodel and Glow up presenter Leomie Anderson was also at the event and has previously been vocal about the need for more diversity.

"The industry has come along leaps and bounds," she said. "But there's still a long way to go when it comes to representation both in front and behind of the camera."

Model Leomie Anderson is the host of BBC Three's Glow Up alongside judges Val Garland (left) and Dominic Skinner

For Das, while it is important to make space for South Asian men, he is also looking toward a future beyond this.

"It's about breaking the word minority and making it something that's just a standardised norm," he said.

Glow Up: Britain's Next Make-Up Star is on BBC Three at 20:00 on Wednesdays and is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.