Like many women, Natasha Moor loves makeup. But little did she know what started off as a hobby would eventually grow into a career.
Moor had initially joined the public relations and marketing industry after graduating from the London College of Fashion and returning to Hong Kong.
During her time at the start-up entertainment company, she was often getting praised for her makeup during events.
She started doing makeup as a side hustle and quickly realized that it was something she liked and was good at.
So she took the plunge to go full-time and started to build her own empire.
Her parents were supportive, even when Moor doubted herself sometimes. "If you love what you do, it will never feel like work. And the money will come," her father told her.
Heeding her father's advice, she flew to New York to attend a course and relaunched herself as a makeup artist on her return. Her first jobs were for shoots, films and TV shows, before she found her niche in bridal makeup.
"Bridal makeup was something I just loved because I can see that confidence boost in a situation where you're the most insecure you'll ever be in your life," she explained.
She knew the value of a confidence booster as she was bullied as a spotty teenager. In fact, her skills originated from then, when she used to cover her acne with heavy makeup.
In the course of her work, Moor found a lack of good makeup products for her clients.
So she created her own lipstick in 2016 and launched her brand in 2018.
"My brides need their makeup on at 10am, partying all the way till 4am the next day. So they need their makeup on point the whole time, they need their lipsticks not to come off," she said. "I needed something that was moisturizing, pigmented and also long-lasting, so I created my molten matte liquid lipsticks."
But when she set off to find someone who could manufacture the kind of lipsticks she had in mind (cruelty-, paraben- and sulfate-free), the then-23-year-old was not taken seriously. Luckily, a small factory in Turkey saw the potential in her small order.
Seeing how women lit up after she did their makeup, she wanted to test her theory further. "I wanted to see if I was being superficial, or did makeup really give someone confidence."
During a visit to a women's shelter, she did makeovers for trafficking victims - which yielded the same results.
Drawing from this experience, she chose to focus her brand on female empowerment by launching the #DoMoor initiative.
"I discovered what truly ignited a fire in my soul: using makeup as a transformational tool," she said. "It goes way beyond just making someone look beautiful, it's the way they feel that makes everything feel right."
A portion of her profits goes toward helping domestic abuse victims and education for orphans. She even gave her lipsticks inspiring and empowering names - such as "Game Changer," "Conquer" and "Boss."
She also kept diversity in mind, offering 18 shades for the Molten Matte and 15 for the Silk Suede lipsticks to ensure that all skin tones are catered for without offering too many choices.
"The range is limited to ensure that it isn't intimidating," she explained.
Her attention to detail paid off, and demand for her products began to pick up after photos of her clients gathered attention on social media - so much so that beauty chain Sephora and Macy's in the United States now carry her products.
Not one to rest on her laurels, Moor has just launched the MoorPower mascara, which she spent almost two years working on, and is now also formulating several more lipsticks.
But even good plans can go awry. Moor had caught Covid-19 in March during her business travels and was hospitalized for over a month. "It was really bad in the first two days," she said. "I thought I was going to die."
Making the best out of her situation, she started doing makeup tutorials on Instagram. "Creating the tutorials gave me the motivation to stay positive."
There were times, though, that she felt quite down. "I've taken all the medications that I'm supposed to, so why am I not better?"
Fortunately, after staying in hospital for 34 days, Moor recovered.
On the bright side, her brand's sales were not too negatively affected by the pandemic. In fact, women are buying even more lipsticks.
"The lipstick index, coined by Leonard Lauder, explains the principle that consumers see lipstick as an affordable luxury. So, even in times of struggle, sales tend to stay strong," she explained. "I believe in the sentiment that even if you rarely use makeup, one thing you probably have is lipstick."
