This Hong Kong-based makeup artist has created a brand that is all about women's empowerment

If you happen to be a non-resident Indian who does not really have to think twice before splurging on her big day, Natasha Moor is likely to figure in your list of go-to makeup artists. In the past four-and-a-half years, Hong Kong-based Natasha has become one of the most sought-after names in the Indian bridal industry. Booked several months in advance, Natasha charges $1500 (Dh5,508) onwards a day for bridal makeup. Lately, she has worked her magic at some big fat Indian weddings, including that of Eshanka Wahi (actress Shraddha Kapoor's best friend who got hitched in Dubai last year) and Sonam Fabiani (daughter of prominent Dubai-based businessman Sunil Vaswani, whose opulent wedding saw lavish dos in London, Dubai, Vienna and Madrid).
It all started with a hobby. Soon after graduating, Natasha plunged into the world of public relations and worked in her hometown. Incidentally, the company she had been working for had numerous fashion clients. Wherever Natasha went, everyone would compliment her on her makeup. Such was the curiosity generated by her look that many socialites would seek her advice on where to get their makeup done for important events. Natasha picked up on the cues and forayed into the beauty industry as a makeup artist. "Most makeup artists enter the industry working with magazines. It's a fairly common practice to do so for credits, even if that means not charging a fee. Somehow, my initial clients were all brides. Word of my work spread and I found myself doing more bridal makeup."
Today, Natasha makes no bones about the fact that bridal makeup is her true calling. "I love the idea of building a relationship with a bride-to-be. It's almost like embarking on a journey with someone; it usually takes about six months," she says. By the end of her work, she conducts a shoot with her brides so that they can revisit the memories of their special day. "I travel with 50 kg worth of makeup and lights," she adds.
Fairly early on in her career, Natasha learnt an important trick of the trade - being creative is not enough, you need your own brand. It led her to come up with her own line of makeup brushes. While the endeavour was successful, she realised that makeup brushes were largely a one-time investment - in effect, there wouldn't be any repeat orders. That's when Natasha began to toy with the idea of branching out into the world of lipsticks. As a bridal makeup artist, she often found it difficult to find those perfect reds, pinks or nudes that could go with the Indian skin tone. Often, she'd mix several products together but would be far from happy with the results - the mattes would really dry the lips, other options would just not last long enough. "I realised there was a need for a good, affordable lipstick," she says.
Today, her lipstick range is diverse - each piece has a rose gold packaging with a small mirror on the side so that you can easily refresh the colour. The long-lasting options have been given a thumbs-up by many clients ever since the line was launched last year. Dubai, however, got its first peek into Natasha's range of lipsticks just a few weeks ago at a pop-up at Emirates Hills, where she was selling them alongside Esse Vie, a contemporary ready-to-wear line founded by a former Natasha Moor bride, Sonam Fabiani.
There are about 21 lipsticks in the Natasha Moor brand with 'Game-Changer', from her Molten Matte range, and 'Fearless', a bright and bold red with undertones of blue from her Silk Suede range, commanding their own popularity. Interestingly, she has also named each product with the goal of conveying a sense of empowerment. "The idea is for women to believe they are both beautiful and indestructible," she says.
While Natasha retails through her own website (www.natashamoor.com), she says she finds flash retailing to be more beneficial for new players in the market. Ever since her lipsticks made their debut four months ago, she has gone to Singapore, Philippines and Indonesia to participate in pop-ups, and is already planning to return to Dubai soon.
With e-commerce sites selling makeup, one often wonders how to choose the perfect lip colour online. "Look at your own lip colour. If you have a lot of pink already, every lipstick will seem pink-er than how it looks on screen," she advises, adding that the biggest faux pas women make is trying the lipstick on the back of their hands. "You have to try it on your lips."
For now, though, Natasha has three goals: to sell her brand of makeup (she is already working on her next product) at Sephora one day, to have internationally-acclaimed beauty blogger Huda Kattan review her products ("I even went to her office in Dubai's Jumeirah Lake Towers to drop them off," she says) and to ensure a percentage of the profits she makes goes to victims of domestic abuse. As for the latter, she has even identified a Los Angeles-based charity she wants to work with for the same. "This is a brand made by a woman entrepreneur that is all about female empowerment," she says. We hear you loud and clear, Natasha.
sujata@khaleejtimes.com