[100 Emerging Women Leaders] From a double major in chemistry to becoming one of India’s top makeup artists: The story of Bianca Louzado

Bianca Louzado faced one big hurdle as she decided to become a celebrity makeup artist. 

In a conversation with HerStory, she says, “There were no women makeup artists, and also we weren’t allowed to be makeup artists. For a woman to become a makeup artist, we had to create a separate group and get special permissions.” 

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She recalls a movie production team had to halt the shooting for a day as “the association had figured out a woman makeup artist was hired.”

“They had come to stop the shoot and check why there was a woman makeup artist,” says Bianca. 

Today, her clientele includes names like Priyanka Chopra, Dia Mirza, Sachin Tendulkar, and Sania Mirza.

A double major in chemistry and food technology, Bianca initially wanted to set up a wellness centre. Soon, she realised she wanted to try different things. She went on to become a model, a VJ, and even a flight attendant.

Bianca adds, “I always knew something was missing. I decided to quit my job as a flight attendant to see what needs to be done next. That is when my late father asked me, “you love makeup so much, why don’t you look at that segment?”

Thus, began Bianca’s journey of honing her makeup skills. Over time, she learnt from over 50 renowned artists, including Pati Dubroff, Mario Dedivanovic, Alex Box, Bobbi Brown, and many others. 

“I kept doing events and shows. I got my break in 2015 with Manish Malhotra and Shahab Durazi’s collections at India Couture Week. I was the official Makeup and Hair Designer for Femina Miss India and Miss India Universe since 2015,” says Bianca. 

During this time, she realised one thing, which most people who do makeup also face — hygiene in the beauty industry while using the products and beauty tools. 

“There are hardly any options for people to clean their brushes and sponges hygienically. There was a need for a cosmetic sanitising label. That is how I started Code Beauty amidst the COVID-19 pandemic,” adds Bianca. 

Thereon, her journey began of formulating and creating sanitisers, sanitising wipes, and cleansing balms for different brushes and sponges.

Bianca says, “Code Beauty is India’s answer to hygiene in the beauty industry. While hair and makeup artists use commercially available surface disinfectants and surgical spirits on their makeup products and beauty tools, it ruins the texture and composition in the long run.” 

She adds, “There has never been any range of hygiene products that can be used on makeup and hairstyling tools specifically, and Code Beauty aims to bridge that gap.”

The label offers an anti-bacterial cosmetic disinfectant and anti-bacterial cosmetic sanitising wipes, designed to cleanse 99.9 percent of surface bacteria from makeup products and tools. 

Bianca’s vision for her label is to empower not only makeup artists and hairstyling professionals but also every single person owning makeup products and beauty tools with the confidence they aren’t inviting bacterial residue onto their skin.