True colours

IT IS 10 YEARS since Laura Mercier makeup hit the shelves, and the woman responsible is about to take centre stage at a showcase at the Island Shangri-La Hotel.

As lithe models saunter through the crowd in Romanesque dresses (we're supposed to just admire their perfect skin), Mercier - clutching a white shawl around her shoulders - stands at the back of the crowd, temporarily lost as the MC belts out makeup application instructions in Cantonese.

The expectation with makeup artists-turned-global cosmetic moguls is that they'll be ultra-glamorous and a little superior. Mercier - while naturally attractive - is neither.

French-born and Manhattan-based, Mercier still makes sure she is responsible for every product's creation and development. But she avoids taking credit for the financial and management strengths of the company (her products are now sold in 390 stores in 17 countries and she's expanded into skincare, bath, body and fragrance lines). This is because, she says, the creative side of the industry is for her.

If she was in charge of the financial side, she'd be broke. 'I'm just a makeup artist, and that means I'm a technician,' she says. 'If no one had approached me, I wouldn't have done it. I'm totally on the creative side, and I'm happy with that. Nothing makes me happier than developing a concept.'

Mercier says her daily beauty routine is simple and she carries few beauty products around with her (she recommends having only a lip balm, concealer and cheek colour that doubles as a lipstick). 'I don't even blow dry my hair,' she says.