POPSTAR Cosmetics was conceived by fashion and beauty photographer Donald Chiu, a Singapore-born visual artist, whose towering talent for visual styling propelled him from an impactful debut as one of the region’s most well-regarded make-up artists, into exponential success as a fashion and beauty photographer of great repute across Asia. Donald is lauded and embraced for his technical mastery and versatility by clients representing the spectrum of fashion, luxury, beauty and cosmetic brands, in Asia and beyond. Through his nuanced use of lighting and composition, a studied mastery of mood and an impeccable eye for detail, he has created lustrous and stunning visual imagery that has graced the covers of publications such as Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire and Madame Figaro. His work has also featured in the advertising campaigns of marquee brands such as CK Platinum, Diesel, Evisu, Van Cleef & Arples, Audemars Piguet, Swarovski and KTZ. His storied past as a make-up artist, and his diverse pedigree behind the camera, interplay resonantly in his creative collaborations with international and Asian cosmetic brands such as Shiseido, Shu Uemura, Makeup Forever, Olay, Lux and Za Cosmetics.

 

POPSTAR Cosmetics is the vision of a man who knows the limits of traditional cosmetic products when it comes to recreating the glamour and spectacle of the looks in advertisements and photoshoots. “I often have clients come to me telling me that they want to look like a certain advertisement, or a certain magazine cover, or page, “ Donald recounts, “Yet inevitably, it is not possible to do so with just the product that is advertised. To recreate the richness of the colours and textures of cosmetic print advertisements in real life, I’d often need to improvise. For example, I once had to use cream eyeshadow on lips because the colour was more vivid and more durable on the lips.” Drawing from his deep experience with ingredients and cosmetic looks, Donald devoted himself to developing innovative cosmetic products that could deliver the visual results of professional photoshoots.

 

“Why should the glamour of fashion ads elude those they sell products to? Why be the aspirational consumer targeted by those glossy ads, when you can become their subject: not the envious groupie, but the popstar? That was my vision for POPSTAR Cosmetics: what glows onscreen, should likewise on your skin,” with Donald’s mission statement, POPSTAR Cosmetics – products that make you the glamorous star you were promised to be – was born.