Ambika Pillai is a well known name within the beauty care industry in India. She has been elected as one of the 25 most powerful women influencers in India by Marie Claire in 2013. Ambika made her mark in bollywood film industry when she did the make-up for Aiswarya Rai in the movie Taal. She had done make-up and hairstyling for actresses Deepika Padukone, Sushmita Sen, Bipasha Basu, Katrina Kaif and Sonam Kapoor. Once in a video, Sushmita Sen mentioned “Ambu (Sushmita calls Ambika as Ambu) is one of my favourite make-up artists and she is a wonderful person.” The acclaimed hair stylist and makeup artist has opened a branch of her salon in Trivandrum city in 2014. Actress Shobhana inaugurated the branch. Her salon has got branches in Kerala and Delhi. Ambika Pillai shares her journey of success with Brand Kerala. “I hail from Kollam. I left Kerala 30 years ago and headed to Delhi to stand on my own feet with a two year old daughter in my arms, leaving behind a marriage, at the age of 17, that didn’t work out. The road to success was, for me, a very long and tedious but worth it after struggling for years to find my own little spot in the sun. I wanted to go to Delhi, do a course in beauty and hair and wanted to come back home and open a small salon in my home town Kollam but that didn’t happen. I got my first job that paid me two thousand rupees. With that money I bought my first vehicle, a second hand moped and as long as I had enough money for the food to feed my daughter Kavitha and my stomach and a roof over
our heads, I was happy,” she recollects her eventful journey . Now ‘Ambika’ is a leading fashion brand of beauty and hair products in India. She has now become a brand by herself. She adds, “My dream was never to become a high powered business woman but a happily married woman with 3/4 children. But God works in mysterious ways. People often ask me if my story was one from rags to riches but I have to admit it was totally the other way around. I come from a very illustrious cashew family. Born to Gopinathan Pillai and Santha Kumari Amma, as the second of four daughters; Gopika, Ambika, Devika and Renuka. I was born with the proverbial silver spoon in my mouth. I wanted for absolutely nothing in my growing up years but the divorce destroyed my self confidence. I wanted to believe in myself again and reinstall in my heart that even though I was a woman I could and I would stand on my own and make both my parents and my daughter proud of me.” Hopping for want of a better pay, after the initial job, I opened my very first salon with a partner. And then another. My experiences with my two best friends as partners were disappointing and disastrous. Both of them swindled me of hard earned money from working extremely hard for more than 20 years. But like I always say, anyone can take my money, but there are two things that no one can take away from me. One is my name- Ambika Pillai and the other is this amazing gift God has given me in my hands. When I won my first ever national Award for best makeup artist after doing the makeup and hair styling for the then reigning Miss World Aishwarya Rai, only then I realized that I was gifted with this talent. 30 years crossed as she has left her home in Kerala and been in the beauty industry. Now, she is referred to as the renowned beauty guru, who has been influencing the beauty world for more than three decades. Explaining about her new venture, a new progression of her getting into the beauty and hair products, Ambika seems to be very much excited. “My chain of salons located at South Extension, Chhatarpur, Kochi and Trivandrum handles celebrity circuit that includes models, film stars, fashion designers, publishers, socialites amongst others. My team and I delight in creating the most fabulous looks on regular clients. Besides being the most sought after name for every fashion related event in the capital, my turf extends internationally as well. I have done fashion shows in New York, London, Paris, Singapore, Dubai, Mauritius, Switzerland etc. I had accumulated so much knowledge and know how through my journey in this field. I thought it was time to give back and I could think of no better way than launching the best natural and ayurvedic products at the most reasonable prices. My customers has been requesting for so many years, to launch hair and beauty products. I was in search of a right, perfect partner to start, and then I met the AVA group. What I liked the most in AVA group is they don’t compromise in the quality of their products. I was in need of that commitment from my partner. I was so happy that I reached at the right place. Combining my experience and AVA group’s R&D, we decided to launch a new range of ayurvedic products. That is how ‘Kaytra’ was born. Kaytra products are available in more than 2500 stores in Kerala and also in Amazon and Flipkart. The products will be launched in 6 GCC countries soon.” She says
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