Becca to the future

Would you trust a former engineer and vintner with your makeup? Stranger things have happened, but if you listen to what Steven Schapera has to say about concealers, powders and the technology that goes into the perfect stick foundation, then you might not be as skeptical. As CEO of Becca Cosmetics, Schapera probably knows more than any beauty junkie about the science behind what goes into your skin — and what shouldn’t — although he will probably be the first to admit that he knew nil about makeup before he partnered with Australian makeup artist Rebecca Williams about 14 years ago.

Becca CEO Steven Schapera was an engineer and a vintner before he became involved in the wonderful world of “triple-jet milled” makeup.

Schapera, who was recently in Manila with two of Becca’s international makeup artists, Nikki Marriott and Devina Vanderpoorten, started his career path as a mechanical engineer, a very “geeky and boring” job that lasted all of six weeks. His background and possibly fate then led him to the agricultural sector, first working on building a vineyard in Australia and then eventually producing wine. That lasted longer: 15 years. “But I got to the point where I was looking for a new challenge, something different.” And makeup was as different as it got. He met Rebecca, and found her theories on foundation color interesting. “Rebecca had explained to me that one of three women were not wearing the right foundation color, and one of three women were not wearing foundation at all because they don’t like how it feels on their face,” Schapera recalls. He thought that possibly selling to two-thirds of the female market was quite promising. They shook hands and Schapera proceeded to learn all he could about ultra-fine, triple jet-milled makeup, the signature that has had women all over the world declaring devotion to Becca’s best-selling stick foundations, concealers and tints.

Chances are you probably don’t know that Becca’s makeup is triple jet-milled, only that it goes smoothly and lightly onto your face. Schapera explains it all, and it’s actually worth a listen. Makeup pigment is actually extracted from rocks and minerals, which are crushed and then converted into powder. The milling process involves the rocks passing through two rollers, and the end result is millions and millions of tiny powdered rocks: makeup.

But that is not how Becca does their powders. “Before we come to the part that involves millions and millions of tiny rocks, our crushed rocks first go through a chamber with air jets that blast these rocks for an extended period of time until they have rounded edges.”

It sounds like something straight out of an engineer’s spiel, but Steven continues that all they’re doing, really, is mimicking nature. “Think of a stone that you find in a river. It’s smooth and of a rounded shape. That’s from millions of years of water passing over a rock. What we do is an accelerated version by using high-speed air that smoothens out the surfaces.”

Wonders from Down Under: Becca’s complete range, including its best-selling Skin Perfecting System, cream blushes and lip-and-cheek tints, is only available at Adora in Greenbelt 5. Photos by JOEY MENDOZA

Taking it one step further, Becca then makes sure that all these tiny, rounded rocks are all the same size and shape — the reason why Becca powders and makeup glide so smoothly on the skin. “They’re not just being spread across the skin; the rounded edges and similar size assure that they’re sliding gracefully onto the skin. Our makeup behaves differently.” Schapera tells us to think of marbles that you put on the ground. “They’re all the same size and shape so it’s so much easier for them to even out.” Becca rolls over the skin much like marbles on a level surface. The difference between marbles and Becca foundation: Becca stays in place. Until way after the end of the day.

Becca international makeup artists Nikki Marriott, who has done Sienna Miller, and Devina Vanderpoorten, who is half-Filipina, work with more than 30 shades of concealer and foundation to cover every skin tone.

It’s not just the way they’re made that makes Becca the “authority on foundation,” it’s also how Schapera and Williams have used the triple-jet milled process to come up with makeup for women of every race and color.

Says Becca international makeup artist Devina Vanderpoorten, who’s half-Filipino, by the way, “A few makeup brands out there will be specifically yellow-based or pink-based. Becca is one of those few brands that cover every skin tone. Whether you have warm skin tones but are still quite fair, or if you’re of Chinese ancestry with orange-peachy skin tones, we have something for you.”

Adds Schapera, “A lot of brands keep taking a particular color and just keep on making it darker. You can’t do that. The undertone changes as the skin becomes darker. One of the hallmarks that makes Becca so strong is that there is nobody whose skin tone we can’t match.”

Becca has 32 colors of foundation and 34 colors of concealer — and counting. In fact, the brand ran a competition in the US last year: if you couldn’t find your skin tone in any of Becca’s concealers or foundations, you got $1,000 and Becca made the shade for you. “We never had to give $1,000. We can cover every skin tone, from the lightest Norwegian to the darkest African.”

Finish up your makeup session with Becca’s contouring bronzers.

There might be other luxury brands with varying shades of color but Steven confidently asserts, “These will not work as well on the skin and certainly not in a non-photographic setting.” Becca, with its lightweight formula, is everyday makeup, the kind that absorbs well and sits lightly on the skin rather than wraps it, the kind that you can wear every day and won’t have to worry about chiseling off your face come nighttime. Becca’s makeup won’t leave powdery imprints on your mobile phone soon as you finish a call, nor will it — in the worst-case scenario that you fall asleep with your makeup still on — leave streaky marks on your pillowcase.

And it’s also makeup that takes care of your skin. Nikki Marriott, who has done makeup on Sienna Miller and Lindsay Lohan and has been with working with Becca for five years, points out that Becca foundations have SPF infused into their formula, and also has vitamins A, B and D. “Our makeup is also long-lasting and water-resistant, especially our tints.”

Start out your makeup perfecting system with the Luminous Skin Colour, a tint that acts as a primer and moisturizer.

The triple jet-milled technology, skincare factors and easy wearability are all in Becca’s new Prairie Moon collection. Inspired by the open landscape of the United States and the vast flatland that hints of Indian reservations and wandering wildlife, Prairie Moon is all about the soothing colors of the rising moon, just when the sun has set, essentially a lot of khakis and earthy shades. One must-have is the new lip and cheek Beach Tint in Fig, a very soft pink shade that gives a bit of warmth to the cheek. The Eye Tint in Pewter has also gotten Marriott keyed up. “It’s a cool, metallic color that gives you an instant smoky eye.” Given that, and the knowledge gained on the R&D that goes into Becca’s makeup, it’s easy enough to get excited along with her.

* * *

Becca is exclusively available at Adora in Greenbelt 5.