Cannes 2022: Tarini Peshawaria talks about debut jitters; dealing with social anxiety

This year, the 75th Cannes Film Festival turned really special for fashion and beauty influencer Tarini Peshawaria. After having started her journey as a digital creator three years back, Tarini made her debut at Cannes 2022. The influencer who grabbed eyeballs on the red carpet while walking for famous beauty and cosmetic brand, Loreal, opened up about her journey with Republic Media Network.

Tarini had walked the Cannes red carpet in a lavender frill gown with a long trail by famous designer Ambika Lal. She kept her makeup minimal with statement earrings and her signature smile. The lives of content creators are quite public with people keeping an eye on their daily routines to their life landmarks. Yet there is an innate curiosity about what they do and think.

In an exclusive tet-e-tete, the influencer candidly spoke about her experience of walking down the carpet for the first time and how she overcame her social anxiety problem. 

Tarini Peshawaria opens up about her Cannes 2022 red carpet debut experience 

1. With this year being your Cannes debut, did you face jitters? 

I most definitely faced the jitters, this was in process for a long time and as much as I could have prepared myself for it, feeling every emotion live was surreal and a one-of-a-kind experience. This opened up many new arenas for me, from sourcing outfits to meeting new people from across the world, my overall experience was ecstatic and I couldn’t be more grateful to be representing India on a global platform like this. 

2. How did you prepare yourself for the festival, given the fact that it's one of the most talked-about events?

I chose to stick to the basics, from working out to eating as clean as possible, my lifestyle is generally healthy so I adhered to the same. I do a mix of weight training and eat a relatively healthy diet that’s low on sugar, which I also spoke about recently on my page. Before it started, we had also planned the content beforehand so it becomes more feasible to execute it, and hence it all seamlessly came together. 

3. How did you deal with social anxiety since you are not comfortable with people around and what would you like to suggest to people facing similar things?

I do have social anxiety from time to time and I’m sure I am not the only one in this world dealing with it. However, I do take therapy and it really helps with dealing with it. I ensure that I remind myself that every opportunity that comes my way is because ‘I am ready for it and that I deserve it.’ 

For those who deal with similar things, I recommend talking to someone who you can trust whether that’s a therapist or a loved one who can listen to you. For me, preparation and planning also really help. Once I know I’m prepared for something I’m heading towards, the anxiety automatically reduces. It also really helps to have a strong support system. My family including my husband and sister-in-law were with me throughout the event which made it much easier for me.

4. You have a sprawling fanbase amongst youth, any specific advice you would give to aspiring bloggers/ influencers?

I think this is one industry that celebrates uniqueness so my advice to aspiring bloggers would be ‘you do you’ and ‘do it with all you got’ and make sure you’re consistent with it, to not look around you as to what others are doing and stick to what feels true to you. 

5. With just three years of dedicated hard work as a fashion influencer, you have managed to soar grandeurs, what is your success mantra behind it?

I think you truly need to love what you do with every cell in your body. I never chased Cannes or awards or worked every day because I wanted to get here. I did what I did because content creation and skincare are two things I’m so passionate about. There is no one formula to success. It has to be your own blend of honesty, passion, and sole dedication towards what you do."
Adding, she said, "In these three years, I was just being honest to my work & my audience and opportunities kept coming my way. I worked hard consistently May it be weekdays, weekends, and holidays and lucked out with an amazing online community who supported my content with so much love."

6. You met Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, one of the veterans at Cannes, anything special she shared with you? How was the experience? 

Meeting Aishwarya and her family was a very warm experience. They were down-to-earth and approachable and extremely kind to meet with. Abhishek even shared a bit about his first time walking the red carpet with my husband since he too had walked the carpet earlier that day with me. Aishwarya and I were both representing the same beauty brand and seeing her work ethic and composed demeanour was inspirational.

7. Can you share any specific beauty/Skincare routine that you religiously follow? 

As a part of my job, I test and try out several skincare products so sticking to a single routine can often be hard. But if there are two things I swear by is to always thoroughly cleanse and make sure that I am applying plenty of sunscreen regularly. 

IMAGE: Instagram/tarinipeshawaria