Haritha Shan is MAC’s Senior Makeup Artist and heads MAC’s Artistic Team which has created the looks for popular musicals such as “Cabaret”, “Puteri Gunung Ledang” and the upcoming musical, “The Secret Life Of Nora”. Always affable and animated, she talks about MAC’s Fall Trends 2011 and the looks created for Nora, the main protagonist and spoilt rich girl turned spy in “The Secret Life Of Nora”.

Could you please tell us about MAC’s Fall Trends 2011?

Haritha : There are 4 trends for this Fall, namely:-

(1) Disco Tech – a trend which is all about colours. It’s a girl who wants to play with colours so there’s strong lips and eyes. It’s like a socialite who wants to have fun.

(2) Amber Gris – it’s a manly look with thick eyebrows. It’s for girls who want to be boys.

(3) Modernist – it’s a pale look with pale lips and eyes.

(4) Tough Love – there are a lot of beige, nude shades in this trend with an edgy, androgynous look.

What kind of looks have you created for Nora?

Haritha : There are 3 looks which all have something in common, the wingliner inspired by the 1960s:-

(1) 1st look is Nora Spy inspired by Sophia Loren. The focus is on the lips with a red lip pencil and Morange lipstick (it’s very orangey!), a combination which is beautiful for the stage. Highlight is on the eyelids with contouring on the eyelids and false lashes on top only.

(2) 2nd look is Nora Prima Donna with emphasis on the eyelids with bold colours such as blues and turquoises on the crease of the eyes. False lashes are placed on the top and bottom for a more dramatic, glitz and glamour look.

(3) 3rd look is Nora Natural – there isn’t much difference between this and the 1st look other than we take away the colour on the lips and lips are pale. Nora Natural’s lips speak louder than words, although she looks subtle, she is confident, bold and brassy.

Did you research looks of the 1960s in coming up with these looks?

Haritha : Yes, I searched through the Internet. Then our Artistic Team sat down with Datin Seri Tiara Jacquelina’s team to talk about the inspiration behind the looks and it didn’t take us long to reach an agreement on what the final looks would be.

Who were you inspired by from the 1960s?

Haritha : Sophia Loren is an inspiration. The Prima Donna look is inspired by Twiggy.

How is the look for the dancers in this musical different from the looks which were created for “Cabaret”?

Haritha : The other musical (“Cabaret”) had a lot of dark and wild colours. The colours we are using on Nora are more sophisticated.

You mentioned earlier in your introduction to the preview of the looks for Nora that you’re using colours from MAC’s Autumn/Winter Collections. Which Collections are you using?

Haritha : We are using a lot of Cine-matics and Colourization. These Collections came out at the right time, they are perfect for the eyes and lips look for this musical as the colours are strong.

Note : Thanks to Haritha Shan and MAC Cosmetics for this interview.