Cembellin conquers the world

Women rarely finish a tube of lipstick these days, says one of the world's top makeup artists, because changing styles beckon them on to the next one.

Victor Cembellin, head of the San Franciscobased Mac Pro team, has spent the last 13 years painting runway models across the globe, as well as celebrities, from Liza Minnelli and Pamela Anderson to Paris Hilton.

Women wear makeup not just to look facially pretty but to complete the full picture, matching their clothes, shoes and accessories.

Cembellin never finishes a lipstick either. When he started out, he says on a quick jaunt through Bangkok, Mac was only available in three countries.

"Now it's in over 56 countries. It's exciting to watch the brand taking over the world of cosmetics."

He loves the conquest as much as he loves the challenge that every fresh face offers him.

"The challenge is really in constantly trying to reinvent yourself," Cembellin says. "There are a lot of great makeup artists, but they only know how to do one style of makeup - maybe wedding makeup or just glamour makeup.

"The great thing about working for brand like MAC is that I get to travel all the way to New York to body paint and then the next week you're doing fantasy makeup, and then you're teaching people how to do sexy makeup."

Wait a second - he does Paris Hilton's makeup?

Yes, and so do a lot of other people, Cembellin says, most of them trying to show off and do crazy makeup to impress her.

"I'm kind of taking a bit more natural approach to beauty. I like to do a lot of makeup, and I like it to look glamorous. But I think the person should be noticed first, not the makeup.

"I do the makeup that makes them look beautiful, rather than, 'Look what I can do!' And that's important, because if celebrities are going to a movie premiere and be on the red carpet, you want them to feel relaxed. I'm trying to reinvent celebrities."

There's nothing relaxed about being backstage before a runway show, though, and yet that's where Cembellin feels most in his element.

"I always compare it to people who do bungee jumping or skydiving, the thrill seekers. It's like that backstage - craziness and madness."

He was in Paris once (the city, not the heiress), 10 minutes before a Chloe show began, and none of the models had shown up backstage.

"The girls came in from the Jean Paul Gaultier show with green eye glitter. We had five minutes to clean every last trace. Three people were doing the hair, two or three the outfits, two were doing the nails and there were more for the makeup. After all the craziness, the girls were just so beautiful. That's for me - I love it!"

Kupluthai Pungkanon

The Nation