About Lekha & I

My story
I didn't start here. I started in financial services, spreadsheets, strategy, boardrooms. Then I walked into a makeup chair and never really left. What I carried from that first life was something more useful than technique: the habit of asking why something works, not just whether it does.
That question has followed me through every film set, every bridal morning, every backstage moment before someone steps into the light. I've learned that confidence isn't applied. It's built slowly, through the right knowledge and the right tools, in the right hands.
I've also seen what's missing. The clutter. The noise. Too many products promising too much. Too few spaces where a YOU - whether YOU live in Mumbai or Muzaffarpur, can learn what actually works for their skin, their craft, their life.
Lekha & I is not a brand. It's a commitment - to give back what this journey has taught me, in forms that are genuinely useful.
Lekha Gupta, FounderThe journey
2007
Stepped into a corporate career - spreadsheets, strategy, boardrooms.
2008
Relocated from Kolkata with the ICICI Group.
2009
A first encounter with professional makeup, under Maestro Cory Wallia.
2010
A fork in the road - the stability of a job, or the pull of a makeup profession.
2011
Committed to the craft, and trained formally in Singapore - MAKEUP FOREVER ACADEMY
2012
The first bride, and the beginning of a body of work.
2013
Miss India 2013, and the short film Nayantara's Necklace with Konkona Sen Sharma.
2014
The Bengali film Knockout was her first ever feature film and then she found her way into the world of ad films with director Pradeep Sarkar.
2015
Kingfisher Calendar, India Resorts Fashion Week, and Lakme Fashion Week.
2016
A first Bollywood project with Daisy Shah, and a journey that began with Karisma Kapoor.
2017
A long collaboration begins & continues
2018
Bucket List, with Madhuri Dixit and bginning of a warm relationship with her
2019
Gradually started working with the Bollywood heroine like Kareena Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Tabu and the likes
2020
Began teaching, and thats where the spark started
2021
Recognised by Burda Media for incredible makeup work
2022
Makeup for films like Shershaah, Jug Jug Jeeyo, Good News, Kalank, Total Dhamaal, Satya Prem ki Katha, Bhool Bhulaiyaa and the list continues .....
2023
Did brand coallborations with eminent brands like Garnier, Nykaa, PinkVilla, Elizabeth Arden and hosted Masterclasses as Expert for such brands across.
2024
Stepped into the world of CANNES
2025
Became the official makeup mentor for the RUNWAY TO PARIS
2026
And her journey continues..... Alongside YOU!
What we believe
Knowledge
Every offering starts with the same question: what does this YOU actually need, not what's trending, not what photographs well.
Practice
A skill etched for life. Skin that's calm in its own skin. A piece that carries your values. Nothing here is disposable.
Structure
Whether reading a face, formulating for skin, or choosing a material, the same precision, the same refusal to accept less than what works.
Inclusion
The capitalized "YOU" is deliberate, this house is for anyone who shows up for it, regardless of where they begin.
The house
Skills fade. Craft doesn't.
Crosses a line between discarded & considered.
Balance, not transformation.