Beauty Inc. models the winning look

Their most recent success is 24-year-old Diana Hayden who was crowned Miss World 1997 on Saturday night.

"It’s been a stroke of luck that both the girls I trained have gone on to win the title – I also trained Aishwarya,” says Shiamak Davar who worked intensively for eight days with Hayden before she left for Mahe. He worked on a body-toning routine which Diana followed through her stay in the Seychelles. But he adds modestly, “I wouldn’t really take the credit for their victory, because after all I only give them that extra edge which gives them more self-confidence."

But it is that extra pizzazz that has sent the ratings of Indian beauties soaring on the pageant circuit. As Doris and Bharat Godambe, the hair stylist and make-up artiste duo would vouch.

They trained Diana on how to do her own make-up and hair. Their work began almost a month before she left. "We trained her on what kind of make-up and hair-do go with which kind of attire, and how to do it herself. Diana was a quick study, though," says Doris, who has been training all the pageant candidates since Aishwarya Rai and Sushmita Sen. But what help is make-up alone if one doesn’t have the skin to complement it? That’s when real medical help arrives, in the form of doctors. Hayden for instance was under the regime of Jamuna Pai, who specialises in skin care and is the official consultant for all Indian beauty queens.

"Diana had been coming to me for the past two-odd years, with her day-to-day skin problems. But when she was shortlisted, I worked on her diet and the colour of her skin, which was made lighter. Then I also prescribed a procedure by which you moisturise skin for an extended period of time to keep it supple. It’s quite complicated and expensive, though. Before she left, she was given a month’s supply of all that she would need. All in all, I’d say that it worked out very well for her," says a satisfied Pai.

The changes made were not just skin-deep. Diana’s beautiful smile is being touted as a product of genes and a good orthodentist, in this case Santosh Mayekar. Cagey about specifying what he did, Mayekar explains how he had also evened out Manpreet Brar’s set. "What I work on is giving candidates the perfect smile – with teeth in proportion to gums and lips. In fact, when I had gone for the pageant a couple of years ago, I ran into the dentist from Dallas, who had totally reworked Miss Dallas’ teeth. We work on removing even the minutest imperfections," he explains.

The whole process of beautify Miss World’, would appear to cost quite a packet but all these messengers of beauty claim they are not into the game for the money. It’s the mileage they get out of it that is a major attraction. "When any one procedure gets too expensive, then I do charge for it, but on the whole I don’t take money from them," clarifies Pai.

With so much help and such a lot of backing, is it really any surprise that there International titles have become common currency? Going back to the time when none of this cosmetic help was available, former Miss India and a contender for Miss Universe, Persis Khambatta says, "I think it’s fabulous that finally we are finally working towards putting our country on the beauty pageant map. Earlier, like when I went for the pageant, no-one was even interested. And we must realise that girls do need to be encouraged – it is no small thing to go out there and compete at that level."