The name is Mickey. Mickey Contractor. He’s a leading Bollywood makeup artist who was once Director of Makeup Artistry for MAC Cosmetics in India. Now, the makeup giant is strengthening their collaboration with Mickey Contractor by launching a special collection this month. The move is part of MAC’s increasing emphasis on India, a market the brand entered in June 2005.

MAC + Mickey Contractor collection adds an additional layer to MAC’s long-term strategy in India, as well as addresses the needs of those with Indian and Middle Eastern skin tones, noted Karen Buglisi, global brand president for MAC. She added that the rapid growth of the market has made India a strong focus for MAC, which is in 14 doors there.

“The prestige color market in India is growing at approximately 35 percent yearly,” said Buglisi. “MAC grew 40 percent in India in the last fiscal year and we are projected to grow faster than the market. We are also the leading prestige makeup brand in India, with 54 percent of market share, according to Euromonitor 2010 data.”

This will be the very first time MAC has singled out a particular makeup artist to headline a collection.

The Contractor collection is broken down into two components: Face, intended to create a light-handed, luminous complexion, and Colour, intended for a single jolt of color. Contractor began formulating foundations for MAC three years ago, creating four foundation shades for the Middle East and India.

“For foundations to work on Indian skin, they need to have enough yellow undertones so as not to appear gray and dull,” explained Contractor. “Many women wanted to wear MAC, but couldn’t find the exact shade and tone they needed.”

Pigmentation around the mouth and under the eyes is also prevalent in India, noted Gavrelis, leading to the development of the Double-Ended Colour Corrector, which offers banana yellow and off-coral shades intended to be mixed with existing concealers for a custom-blended solution. Too-dark shades get a hit of yellow to make shades lighter and counteract blue tones, while too-light shades get a few dots of coral to neutralize dark brown and red undertones common in Indian skin.

The 31 stockkeeping-unit lineup includes foundations, eye shadows, lipsticks, lip glosses, blushes, concealers, eyeliners and brushes, ranging in price from $14.50 to $36.

I think this is a great collaboration and is a clear reflection of MAC “All Ages, All Races, All Sexes” credo. I personally would love to try the dual-sided concealer because I heard you can mix it with your existing concealers to make them lighter or darker to get the perfect shade for your skin! I also spotted two Fluidlines, Ivy & Siahi, shades which look interesting! Unfortunately they’re all sold out. Boo.

The collection is now available on maccosmetics.com so click away if you want to check it out!

Source: wwd.com and maccosmetics.com