Indonesia’s pride creates makeup imPACt

We have all done it before: pass up on Asian makeup brands thinking that their Western counterparts are always better. I admit to the same beauty crime but I have since been reformed, now that I’ve come to know PAC Cosmetics.

PAC Cosmetics is a little-known makeup brand from Indonesia that rightfully deserves center stage in the global beauty industry.  Short for Professional Artist Cosmetics, PAC is the beauty brainchild of Martha Tilaar, one of Indonesia’s most highly respected and successful female businesswomen and the mother of Indonesia’s cosmetic industry. Intended for use by professional stage performers during its inception in August 1997, PAC Cosmetics has since evolved into a complete commercial line of makeup products unique for its long-lasting rich color and skin-friendly qualities.

So what makes PAC Cosmetics unique? All their makeup products are developed and formulated from a careful selection of more than 130,00 species of aromatic, beauty and therapeutic ingredients found in the rich, natural resources of Indonesia.  With an herbal facility at the University of Indonesia that also serves as a vital resource center for international herbalists, PAC Cosmetics is constantly changing to adopt the benefits of organic and natural ingredients abundantly available in their country and to develop a sustainable line of makeup products that meets the demands of a market that is growing more environmentally friendly every day.

I tried PAC Cosmetics for the first time a few weeks ago and I was pleasantly surprised with my discovery — a truly long-lasting quality that kept me looking fresh from morning till afternoon without any touch-up. I particularly fell in love with the versatile dual-colored Intense Eyeshadow Pencil because the creamy texture makes it a breeze to blend and the earthy hues can double as lipstick. The Liquid Eyeliner is like a magic wand — one easy brush stroke and my eyes go from nada to drama. The Perfect Finish Blush On absorbs quickly into my skin and contours my face, as well as corrects any imperfections. I got to make my very own matte lipstick and its lightweight formula and gentle texture feels good on the lips. The Color Festival Eyeshadow in trendy, fashionable shades are fun to apply and the Face Painting line — particularly in the hands of a professional — are tools for such vivid, imaginative wonders, as I witnessed firsthand at the Asian PAC Beauty Awards 2013 in Jakarta.

Pinoys compete in PAC beauty awards

For the past several years, PAC Cosmetics has staged the Asian PAC Beauty Awards to discover new, talented makeup artists with international potential from Indonesia and Asia. This year PAC Cosmetics collaborated with Harper’s Bazaar magazine and the Association of Indonesian Fashion Designers (IPMI) for the Bazaar Fashion Festival and Trend IPMI show 2014 held at the Gandaria City Mall, one of Jakarta’s most famous, upscale shopping destinations. This year’s three-day event, dubbed “Eye Love Fashion,” featured beauty seminars and workshops conducted by international makeup artists, culminating with the national and international competitions for the Asian PAC Beauty Awards. Sharing their beauty expertise were Melbourne-based Justin Henry (makeup artist to Pink, Salma Hayek, Christina Aguilera and Kylie Minogue, to name a few), Yuan Sng from Singapore (Asia’s Next Top Model judge) and Sake, Indonesian makeup artist to beauty queens and local celebrities. With the theme “Beauty Eyesploring,” the guest makeup artists and PAC brand ambassadors gave guests a sneak peek at the 2014 spring/summer makeup trends, combining cool and warm colors in a graphic eye, and block makeup styles. During the Q&A segment, guests, including myself, were able to interact and ask makeup tips from the experts.

Thirty contestants from all parts of Indonesia vied for the national category and 28 entrants from the Philippines, Brunei, Singapore, Indonesia and Japan competed in the international category. Representing us were Jefferson de Guzman and Arianne Ang. The stage was transformed into mini makeup stations with the national contestants battling it out ahead of their international counterparts; each was given 60 minutes to work their magic, utilizing the latest PAC Professional Makeup Kit with emphasis on the PAC Intense Color Pencil Eyeshadow.

The panel of judges composed of Justin Henry, Yuan Sng, Pingkan Tilaar (school director of the Puspita Martha International Beauty School) and Indonesian fashion heavyweights like hairstylist Anthon Gozal, fashion designer Mel Ahyar, fashion photographer Nurulita and Dan Ria Lirungan, editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar Indonesia, walked back and forth across the stage, closely examining the work in progress of the makeup artists. Taking my cue from the panel, I also walked around and observed the makeup artists, picking my favorites. Judging from what I saw, the jury must have had a tough time selecting just five winners in all. Call it “having an eye,” but two of my favorite looks won in the national and international category.

The national category winners took home 45 million rupiahs (about P174,000) while the winners for the international category — one from Brunei and two from Indonesia — won a cash prize of 60 million rupiahs (P232,000) and a makeup course at Omula Japan each.

Martha Tilaar: the estee lauder of Asia

A true visionary, Martha Tilaar is the doyenne of Indonesia’s beauty industry. Youthful and spritely at 76 years of age, she sits at the helm of the PT Martina Berto Tbk, the company that owns PAC Cosmetics and other iconic national beauty and skincare products such as Sariayu, Biokos, Caring Colours, Belia, Rudy Hadisuwarno Cosmetics, Dewi Sri Spa, Cempaka and Mirabella, including the Puspita Martha International Beauty School. A mother of four, Tilaar found her calling in the beauty industry quite auspiciously in 1964 while living in the United States with her Indonesian doctor husband. Frustration with the lack of makeup in the United States for Asian women prompted her to go into the beauty business. Proud of her Asian identity and indigenous culture, she mined the treasure trove of tropical and sub-tropical ingredients native to Indonesia and combined this with Eastern technology and an American management style to create what is now the Martha Tilaar Group or PT Martina Berto Tbk.

Guided by the personal mantra “beauty is the expression of the inner self,” Martha Tilaar grew her business from a garage in her US home to a multi-million-dollar conglomerate with disiplin (discipline), kejujuran (honesty), iman (innovation), takud (diligence) and ulet (sustainability). Taught by her parents from a very young age to work hard, she is a firm believer in fulfilling promises with results and empowering her fellow Indonesians by educating them on how to run their own businesses via her beauty school. With over 1,000 students at a time, she has helped multitudes of Indonesians make their own living from Sumatra to Surabaya, across a spectrum of society, from the suburbs to the urban areas. Her PAC Cosmetics is also a strong supporter of various local and international events such as the Java Jazz Festival, Hong Kong Fashion Week, Islamic Fashion Festival, Indonesian Performing Arts “KOMA” and the Indonesian Art Festival 2013 in Singapore.

Martha Tilaar, revered and known to every Indonesian for her work and love for Indonesia, is fondly addressed by everyone as Ibu Martha or Mother Martha as a sign of respect. Although she has relinquished the day-to-day responsibilities to her four children, she is still actively involved in major decision-making and has no plans of retiring anytime soon. “Sariayu is used by 70 percent of Indonesian women; we are very big in Indonesia,” she says. “While PAC products are already sold in Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Brunei and select stores in the United Kingdom, I would like to see PAC Cosmetics become a trendsetting, global brand available everywhere.”

With an uncompromising quality akin to luxury brands and a continued commitment to collaborate with makeup artists, designers and figures in the fashion world and performing arts, it is just a matter of time before PAC Cosmetics aligns itself with other international brands — rightly so, if I may add.

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PAC Cosmetics is exclusively distributed in the Philippines by Godiva Incorporated and is available at selected SM Department Stores and Watson’s stores.

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