Ambika Pillai is a

hair stylist A hairdresser is a person whose occupation is to cut or style hair in order to change or maintain a person's image. This is achieved using a combination of hair coloring, haircutting, and hair texturing techniques. A Hairdresser may also be refe ...

and

make-up artist A make-up artist, also called a makeup artist, and often shortened to MUA, is an artist whose medium is the human body, applying makeup and prosthetics on others for theatre, television, film, fashion, magazines and other similar productions inc ...

from

Kollam Kollam (), also known by its former name Quilon , is an ancient seaport and city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. The city i ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Her work regularly appears in advertising campaigns, catwalk shows, fashion films, and editorials.

Personal life

Ambika Pillai was born to a cashew exporter Gopinath Pillai & Santha Gopinath Pillai in

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

. Her family then moved to her native place in Kollam, where she had a luxurious childhood, living in a bungalow by the backwaters of Kollam. After her boarding in Ooty, at the age of 7, she joined

Mount Carmel Convent Anglo-Indian Girls High School Mount Carmel Convent Anglo-Indian Girls High School is an English-medium all-through school in Tangasseri, Kollam District in Kerala, India. Located on the shores of the Arabian Sea, it consists of a day school, and a boarding house located wi ...

in Kollam. She was married to Surenda Nath on 1980 at the age of 17 and moved to

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

to have a settled married life but things did not turn out the way she had desired and had to be satisfied with taking forward her life in a tiny one bed room apartment. They have one daughter, Kavitha. Later she married Rakesh (aka Rocky) in 1993 but due to his heavy drinking & gambling she left him. Her three sisters, Gopika, Renuka and Devika were trained by her and are also into hair and skin makeover. She lives in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

but frequently travels to

Trivandrum Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

and

Kochi Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...

Career

She started her career as a hair stylist and moved on to Make-up. When Ambika started her first salon it was called Visions by Ambika. She later decided to develop it as a brand. At present Ambika Pillai is a brand by itself.Article Times of India
/ref> Pillai's salon has branches in

South Extension South Extension is a neighbourhood of South Delhi, India. It is also described as a premier shopping destination. Situated on the Ring Road, Delhi, just east of All India Institute of Medical Sciencesbr>ref name=":0" /> The colony is divided in ...

Punjabi Bagh Punjabi Bagh is a locality in Delhi, India. It also is one of the three sub-zones of West Delhi. History The land of nearby Madipur village was acquired by government of India for resettlement of refugees from Pakistan.It was previously call ...

Rajouri Garden Rajouri Garden is a market and residential neighbourhood in West Delhi, India. The Main Market and Nehru Market are the key markets of the area. The population is largely Punjabi who migrated to Delhi, following the Partition of India, from Paki ...

, Malviya Nagar and Model Town in the

Delhi National Capital Territory Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

;

Gurgaon Gurgaon (pronunciation: �ʊɽɡãːw, officially named Gurugram (pronunciation: �ʊɾʊɡɾaːm, is a city located in the northern Indian state of Haryana. It is situated near the Delhi–Haryana border, about southwest of the nationa ...

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ar ...

;

Chhatarpur Chhatarpur is a city and a municipality in Chhatarpur district in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Chhatarpur District. Chhatarpur is a city and a municipality in Chhatarpur district in the state of ...

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

; and

and

in Kerala.

Awards

Television

Pillai has appeared as a judge in: *

Midukki ''Midukki'' was a 2013-2013 Indian cinema, Indian reality television series in a beauty pageant style which was aired on the Mazhavil Manorama channel. The first season of the show was hosted by Malayalam cinema, Mollywood actress Rima Kallinga ...

(

Mazhavil Manorama Mazhavil Manorama is an Indian Free-to-air Malayalam general entertainment television channel operated and owned by Malayala Manorama Television (MMTV), the publisher of the widely circulated ''Malayalam Manorama'' daily, and the Malayalam wom ...

) * Malayali Veetamma (

Flowers A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pillai, Ambika Hairdressers Living people Artists from Kollam Indian make-up artists Articles created or expanded during Women's History Month (India) - 2015 Year of birth missing (living people)