MAC RETEAMS WITH SELENA FOR LA REINA MAKEUP COLLECTION
Fans lined up for hours when MAC released its makeup line dedicated to Tejano star Selena in 2016. They waited overnight outside the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, stretching past several blocks, during the world premiere. And they congregated at local malls when the line went wide a week later.
It was the largest product launch in the company’s history, shattering sales records and crashing the MAC website multiple times. In a rare move, MAC restocked the 14-piece collection two months later.
Next month, MAC launches Selena La Reina, a second makeup line dedicated to the singer. It was again created in collaboration with her family, inspired by Selena’s “unique music style, distinctive global influence and undeniable beauty.”
The packaging was inspired by Selena’s signature rhinestone bras, which in turn led to the holographic feel for the makeup. It includes a variety of shades similar to what Selena had in her own makeup case that feel fresh and relevant today.
“Her fan base has crossed over into a new generation that are embracing her and learning about her from their mothers and fathers. She’s timeless,” says Selena’s sister Suzette Quintanilla. “And it’s also what she represents nowadays. There is not that Mexican-American representation out there. She definitely represents that for a lot of Latinas.”
Janet Moreno traveled from Houston to Corpus Christi in September 2016 for the worldwide launch of the first MAC collection. She bought it all and intends to do the same this time around.
“I think I’m pretty much the target audience, and I always do my part in keeping her legacy alive,” Moreno says. “Her ensembles and bold makeup set her apart. She was unique but relatable, especially to this MexicanAmerican Texas chica. Selena was very influential to girls that looked like me and showed us that we could grow up and be on those same stages everyone else that didn’t look like us were on.”
The MAC and Selena collaboration started as a digital dream. Almost 40,000 fans signed an online petition several years ago asking the cosmetics giant to commemorate Selena with a makeup line. It led directly to the creation of the collection.
Full details on the Selena La Reina line have yet to be released, but it will include the La Leyenda Extra Dimension Skinfinish, a gold on pearl liquid-powder highlighter in the shape of a rose. The Bidi Bidi Bom Bom Lipglass, a bubblegum pink with silver pearl lip gloss, will be reintroduced. It was one of the hardest pieces to find from the 2016 collection.
Edward Sanchez has been a celebrity makeup artists for more than 30 years and is a certified MAC Pro Artist. His Houstonbased Arched Beauty specializes in eyebrows, makeup, skin care and hair. But long before he glammed up A-listers, Sanchez made crystal rosaries and sold them at Selena’s boutique for extra money while attending the University of Texas at San Antonio
“Selena was and is a huge inspiration, not only for the woman of the ’90s but for the woman of today,” Sanchez says. “Makeup is the natural complement to fashion for any woman. MAC’s Selena La Reina Collection will celebrate ethnic women with colors for eyes, lips and cheeks in jewel tones, which flatter any warm undertone ethnicity. I’m looking forward to owning the collection and using it on my clientele.”
Beyond that, Sanchez says Selena showed him, as her oftmentioned quote says, that the impossible is indeed possible.
“Watching her create made me think I could do more as a minority,” he says.
SHOPPERS LINE UP TO BUY MAC’S SELENA COLLECTION AT THE GALLERIA IN 2016.