Way to glow
Farah Fawcett had it — and still does to an extent — by the millions of posters she used to sell back in her Charlie’s Angels days. Kate Bosworth had it when she was still deliriously in love with Orlando Bloom and before she dropped to a skeletal size zero. Cameron Diaz has it, especially when she pastes on that wide goofy, albeit charming, grin.
By “it,” we mean the unquantifiable factor that transforms a comparatively plain face into one of engaging beauty: a fresh, healthy, youthful radiance. “Healthy people with healthy skin have a radiance. Youthfulness looks radiant. Radiance is beautiful. It’s that simple.” This comes from Steven Schapera, CEO and managing director of Becca Cosmetics, the Australian brand, established 12 years ago, that has found favor with both “real women” and Hollywood celebrities such as Julia Roberts, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kylie Minogue, and — bingo — Cameron Diaz.
If you ask Schapera and his partner and Becca founder Rebecca Morrice Williams, for whom the brand was obviously named, that healthy radiance is not as elusive as most women think. After all, their makeup is all about giving women the perfect, natural-looking skin.
“Anything that looks natural will make you look younger,” exclaimed Schapera when he was recently in
Steven is all set to correct this error. “The modern woman has got a fresh, natural makeup look. She’s got beautiful flawless skin with a hint of color. Becca products are designed to give you that.”
The first step to beautiful makeup starts with the brand’s lightweight primers that prep the skin, finely milled (claimed to be the finest in the market) powders that go on invisibly and cream blushes that can be worn under or over foundation. He refers to a best-selling product. “The reason why the Beach Tint is so popular here is because it makes you look naturally younger and healthy, as if you just came from Boracay.”
Makeup, Becca believes, should be as subtle as possible. Unless you’re a rock star or an actress about to go on the red carpet, women should know to keep their makeup as realistic as possible. Says Schapera, “I’m a man and when I’m looking at a woman, I just want to see that natural beauty. I’m not saying that women should put makeup on their face to attract men. That would be over-simplifying things. But I do know that men are attracted to skin that looks naturally flawless rather than skin with caked-on makeup.”
Becca’s concept of flawless, however, isn’t necessarily how traditionalists define it. If you log on to their website, the first image that greets you is a striking black and white image of Australian model Sonya Kukainis looking defiantly beautiful and unabashedly showing off her freckles. “We don’t believe that freckles are imperfections,” says Schapera. “We don’t believe in covering that up. That’s natural. That’s beautiful.”
The brand also believes that beauty comes in different colors and ethnicities, which explains why they came up with 34 different foundation shades. Filipinas, from varying ethnic backgrounds, are sure to find a shade that will exactly suit their skin tone. They’ll also find that Becca makeup is suited to their skin in more ways than one.
Given our hot, humid weather, a lot of Filipinas shy away from cream makeup thinking that these feel too heavy on the skin, which is a shame since it is usually cream or liquid makeup that can effectively give that natural, youthful flush. Becca’s products, however, should be taken differently. “Our products are created for your climate,” insists Schapera. “You forget that we’re an Australian brand and in
Becca’s products work to control the oiliness in the skin. They are proud of their very thin, sheer water-based liquid foundation, in particular, as well as their primers, all of which have SPF. “We believe that foundation is actually the last step in skincare and not the first step in makeup.” Aside from a relatively high level of SPF, Becca foundations have ingredients that will nourish and improve the appearance and texture of the skin. Their liquid foundations, for instance, contain vitamins A, B, D and E.
SPF was already a requirement when the brand launched, although the levels only went up to about 20. Now, the foundations have sun protection as high as 30. But Schapera inserts a bit of information not too many makeup junkies know. SPF in makeup varies with the color. A darker makeup color will absorb more light than a lighter tone. “Essentially, if an SPF 25 is tested and printed on a dark foundation color, on a lighter tone, it’d be an SPF 28 or so.”
“The Becca customer is intelligent. She is educated, well-read and is not easily fooled.” What Becca tries to deliver to her is honest and backed-up by research, hence the brand’s obsession with SPF, their stand that only paraben-free ingredients go into their makeup and their belief that makeup should enhance rather than cover up. It’s a brand that presents beauty as is should be: an everyday occurrence.
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