Why buy from the behemoths of the beauty world when you can support local with these fab Hong Kong makeup brands?
As a makeup artist in the city, and someone who lives and breathes all things beauty and skincare, I’m lucky enough to get introduced to a lot of new local makeup brands, and anyone who knows me is aware how much I love trialling new products! You might be surprised to know that there are a number of great Hong Kong makeup brands offering everything from gorgeous lip colours to highlighters and more. I hope you enjoy learning about their businesses as much as I did.
Hong Kong makeup brands you need to know
1. Natasha Moor Cosmetics
Natasha is a businesswoman and fellow makeup artist. Her brand has been such a success with women in Hong Kong, it’s starting to spread across the rest of Asia. At the time of writing her products are available to buy in: Sephora Hong Kong, Sephora’s South East Asia and their website.
She started with lipsticks and liquid lipsticks, the latter of which I have tried and can confirm it feels great on the lips. The range has grown from there to include concealers, eyeliners and mascaras; which I’m dying to try! Read my chat with her below.
Hi, Natasha. Thanks for sitting down with me. What prompted you to start your brand?
I like to believe that I can be part of something bigger. Through my experiences as a makeup artist and philanthropist, I founded Natasha Moor Cosmetics with the intention of inspiring and empowering individuals through the transformative power of makeup.
I have always been inspired by my brides and my direct clientele. I have been so fortunate to work with such inspiring people throughout my career; their genuine reactions and burst of confidence post make-over always inspire me and the products in the collection.
Furthermore, my philanthropic work with underprivileged women also galvanised me to achieve my goals in building Natasha Moor Cosmetics. I wanted to investigate inspiring confidence in those who needed it the most. I believe make-up provides a universal language of happiness, self-love and creativity. I want to amplify my voice globally through Natasha Moor Cosmetics, with one goal: to empower and inspire all those who wear it.
Which product did you create especially for yourself? Every brand founder has one!
It’s definitely hard to choose one product from the entire Natasha Moor Cosmetics collection! Every one of the products in the collection have been inspired by my experiences as a makeup artist, and as an individual that wears makeup; each product fulfils a need and has a niche.
If I had to choose, I would have to say our lipsticks, as they were the first products in the collection. With lipstick, I noticed a gap in the market – I couldn’t find something that had lasting power and was hydrating, highly pigmented and looked luxurious, while being accessible at the same time. I took two years to formulate our Molten Matte Liquid Lipsticks, which come in 18 different pigmented shades, are moisturising and have a 14-hour staying power — to the extent that you don’t need to reapply.
The formulas are impeccable, but one of my favourite aspects is that every one of our lip colours is named after heartening and empowering mantras, with the intention to manifest and live by each message. Some of our shade names include Game Changer, Boss and Serendipity.
What’s the message you hope your brand conveys to your audience?
“No one is you and that is your power” is the brand ethos of Natasha Moor Cosmetics. My hope is that the Natasha Moor Cosmetics range empowers individuals to feel indestructibly confident in themselves. Each product is designed with unique aspirational affirmations; I want individuals to feel like a Hustler, when they are wearing their Molten Matte shade, Hustler.
2. WULT (Woke Up Like This)
This is a fun brand created by two besties, Jenn and Tawnia, who are beauty influencers in Hong Kong. They have unique products and packaging with thoughtful ingredients.
I have recently been reaching for the Lip Dab, the formula is especially great and the peachy look of shade ‘Look Good Nood’ is perfect! The Face Dab in Viva La Frida is described as a vibrant sangria red, and the pigment is excellent, they also have some stunning peachy shades. As a bonus the Face Daps are infused with squalane.
Hi, ladies. Can you tell me what made you launch WULT?
The word “self-love” really touched us, struggling with insecurities every single day even today. We realised that a lot of beauty perceptions are man made. After seeing ad after ad of models with flawless perfect skin make us feel inadequate, there’s no amount of skincare or makeup we can apply to simply wipe away all your flaws. That’s when we realised the problem is not on us, and so we NEEDED a beauty brand that could make us feel beautiful just by taking good care of our skin.
Which product did you create for yourselves?
Instead of saying products that we have created for ourselves, we would say we have our three cosmetic essentials created for our gal pals. We both feel that one of the most expressive features would be our lips that is why lipsticks are so important and so we made Lip Dabs.
The second one would be blushes – Face Dabs. They help highlight your cheeks and they really make a girl look dolled up.
The third would be tinted moisturiser because it helps to even out the skin tone but at the same time it doesn’t cover up your natural radiance.
Shop WULT
3. Popstar Cosmetics
Launched by Singapore-born, Hong Kong-based makeup artist and photographer Donald Chiu, Popstar Cosmetics is a completely vegan range. The brand launched with just eight shades of lip colour, but now has a much larger selection including eye mousses, concealer, liners and more. We love the matte lip colours that last for hours and come in beautifully bright shades.
Read our full story on Popstar Cosmetics here.
Shop Popstar Cosmetics online
4. Coconut Matter
Now you may know all about Coconut Matter’s natural deodorant sticks, but did you know that they also make a fantastic range of lipsticks? Infused with avocado oil, WILD virgin coconut oil and Jojoba oil, expect a super hydrating lipstick in a selection of gorgeous colours. We love the fact that these are much bigger than the average lipstick too, so they last longer and are better for the environment.
Read our full story on Coconut Matter.
Shop Coconut Matter online
