Skin Deep

The book jacket as well as all the pre-release media hype tout him as Mumbai’s best-kept secret. Skin aesthetician Dr Dinyar Workingboxwalla may not find regular mention in the media,but his name is enlisted in the little black beauty books of some of the city’s most beautiful women.

Discreet to a fault and extremely soft-spoken,the cosmetologist refrains from name-dropping (Lara Dutta,Kim Sharma and Mehr Jesia are regulars) and would rather talk about his oldest client,who is 82 years old. His recently released book,Beauty Unleashed: A comprehensive guide to the perfect skin and hair (Westland,Rs 295) is a user-friendly beauty

manual,a summation of 40 years of experience and cosmetic wisdom.

From his first-ever client — his tuition teacher’s sister who he charged six rupees for a facial,to an established practice where facials start at Rs 3,000 — Workingboxwalla,64,has truly come a long way. “To be the first male in Mumbai,that too from an orthodox Parsi family,to step into a female-oriented profession,it was an uphill task,” he says.

Beauty Unleashed took 10 years to complete and there’s a sequel in the pipeline too.