In this as-told-to essay, singer Rhea Raj talks to contributor Shriya Bhattacharya about how she gets ready for Diwali, what the festival means to her, how she celebrated growing up, and her favorite beauty brands
Diwali is really all about family. Growing up in United States, I remember my grandparents coming over from India and staying with us for months at a time. I was really close to my grandmother, my Patti, who passed away two years ago, and she was such a powerful presence in my life. She and my grandfather made sure they sat with us during Diwali and told us all the stories of our culture like Ramayana.
Life moves so fast, and especially my sister Lara and I, we’re always traveling and working, so every year we take a moment to have dinner with our family and close friends. We light diyas and we have a beautiful setup in the corner with all the gods and goddesses we pray to.
For me, this festival comes down to food and fashion. Meals are such a big part of our culture, so we all cook together and have a feast. My family is originally from Chennai so we have a lot of South Indian dishes like rasam and kari kuta, but my dad grew up in Kolkata, so I love sweets, or mishti. My favorite is halwa — I swear my mom can turn any vegetable into that. I stopped eating dairy years ago, so we try to make everything with coconut milk, which is very South Indian, or almond milk or cashew milk.
Patti would also bring a whole suitcase of just bindis, accessories, and saris — she had a collection so huge that one whole bedroom was dedicated to racks and racks of saris. I still wear some of them, even on the red carpet. That’s where my love of Indian fashion really came from.
The party I’m getting ready for right now is Lilly Singh’s Diwali bash. Lara and I are going together, so we’re coordinating our looks. I always have at least three outfit options prepared and when I’m actually changing is when I make my final choice. Our friend Rumsha Hassan helped style Lara and me, and we finally decided on lehengas from Loveleen Sari Palace, a place here in California, and my top is from Honey Birdette.
Whenever I’m getting ready, I make some chai with soy milk, light some incense, pick out my jewelry, and just lay everything out. I also do black henna; recently, I’ve started doing it at least once a month because I just want it to be on me permanently.
I’m very maximalist — accessories and headpieces and jewels on my face and gloves and all the things. I like to do everything. I do my own hair and makeup most of the time, so the products I buy are just really important. I’m obsessed with Fable & Mane, their stuff is just so good. It’s been a bit of a struggle for me to find hair care products that work and I just love everything their brand stands for. I’ve also been using a lot of LiveTinted products like their liquid kajal.
For this party, I’m going to do a big smokey eye with a sparkly lid moment. I love lining the bottom waterline with black. Pat Mcgrath is my go-to, I really only use this one eyeshadow palette by her for everything. In addition to the statement, sparkly outfit, I need my body to be shimmery and dewy like the sun in India. I love a lot of body highlighter, the one I’m using now is by Anastasia Beverly Hills. I’ve been a Mac girl from the beginning, so my favorite lip liners and blushes are always from them. We collaborated last year for my music video “Messy.” Their whole ethos is about bold makeup which is exactly what I’m about. I also do my own bindi formations, they’re always crystals so I make my own diamond shape or a star. I wouldn’t say I have a signature scent or anything, but my go-to these days is Black Opium Glitter by Yves St. Laurent.
I know a lot of people have makeup rules about how if you have a big lip you can’t do a big eye or things like that, but I don’t have any. I go big on everything. Maximalist always. I’ll do a big blush, a big eye, and a dark brown lip with a nude shade.
These parties are all about the outfits right now. We’re seeing this really cool wave of young Indian designers all over the world that are really bringing to life what I’ve always imagined in my head of textures and styles and also making them comfy. I found this pair of boots with ghungroos on them by Hityshi, and I’m obsessed. This designer named Shloka is also someone I’m really excited about, and a few other favorites are Nikita Karizma and Kash Collective — I love their Bollywood tees and we even made one together for my new song “Mumbai.”
Diwali is the start of the new year, but I think of it as the start of a new season, a new chapter in my life. It’s a time to reflect and reevaluate. My family and I will always take a moment to do a nice prayer all together and then talk about what we want to achieve. For me, I’m really focused on my tour. I’ve been planning this for a year now, and it’s the final push. I have such renewed energy to travel and be on stage and bring my EP Commotion to life. I’m just so excited for all of us to celebrate together.
