After a meteoric rise to global fame, the Spanish popstar lends her singular point of view to a special collaboration with MAC Cosmetics. In this exclusive interview with&nbsp;L'Officiel Philippines, Rosal&iacute;a lets us in on her process and how beauty plays a role in her storytelling.&nbsp;

The first thing you need to know about Rosal&iacute;a is that she is a lifelong student of flamenco. After discovering the genre in her teens, she immersed herself in the genre, making it the focus of her work at Escola Superior de M&uacute;sica de Catalunya. The second thing you need to know is that she knows how to flip everything about the artform on its head&mdash;staying true to centuries-old traditions but bending them towards her artistic vision.
The Spanish popstar&rsquo;s ascent to global fame began in 2018 with her sophomore album <a href="https://youtu.be/Rht7rBHuXW8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">El Mal Quere</a>r, where flamenco pop tracks narrated a toxic relationship through the lens of a 13th century Occitan novel. She is, in everything she does, a modern mythmaker&mdash;painting contemporary experiences of romance, betrayal, and grief with the grandeur of epic poetry from a bygone time.
Now Rosal&iacute;a brings that singular vision to Aute Cuture, a new collection co-created with MAC Cosmetics and named after her 2019 single. &ldquo;The name of that song is written wrong on purpose because at the end of the day, I love glam but I love it on my own terms,&rdquo; Rosal&iacute;a says in our interview.

&ldquo;I was really excited &lsquo;cause this is the first time for me having my own makeup collection, and also in collaboration with a brand I&rsquo;ve always loved,&rdquo; she says. Aside from a ten-shade eyeshadow palette, a four-shade highlighter palette and six shades of nail polish, she ended up co-creating four lipsticks in matte and amplified finishes and four shades of Retro Matte Liquid Lipcolour. Given Rosal&iacute;a&rsquo;s long-professed love for red, it&rsquo;s no surprise that these are some of the collection&rsquo;s most expressive pieces. &ldquo;Red is one of the most powerful colors for me and it&rsquo;s very present in this collection.&rdquo;

She makes her fondness for romance and high drama evident in the rich orange-red Spicy Piment&oacute;n or the summery pink Achiote. The deep plum Spicy Pimienta and the nude Jalea, on the other hand, come with some edge, reflecting the bolder end of her sonic palette. Rusi Woo, her deeper, bluer take on MAC&rsquo;s best-selling shade Ruby Woo is her personal favorite from the collection.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I used to do my makeup when I was 16 before every show &lsquo;cause at that moment, I couldn&rsquo;t afford at all any makeup artist to help me,&rdquo; she shares. &ldquo;I would do it every time before every show and honestly that&rsquo;s how I learned: by just doing it every night. And I used to use Ruby Woo all the time. I still do, you know! And now I have my own Rusi Woo. It blows my mind because of that, &lsquo;cause since I was a teenager I used to use it, so I feel really grateful for it.&rdquo;

"...I guess this should always be the goal, no? Like always trying to find how to become freer, become even freer, how to become even even even freer and never stop. As an artist, I think that&rsquo;s the goal.&rdquo;&nbsp;

Challenging our notions of beauty has always been a part of Rosal&iacute;a&rsquo;s work, especially in her music videos. From the luscious hair, makeup, and costuming in &ldquo;Pienso En Tu Mir&aacute;'' to the intricate glass nail art in &ldquo;Lo Vas Al Olvidar&rdquo; to a glam look in &ldquo;A Pal&eacute;&rdquo; whose centerpiece is a strong monobrow, she keeps pushing the boundary of what makeup can do, what beauty can be.
&ldquo;Makeup is a way of self-expression,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;and for me, it can add a layer to what I&rsquo;m narrating in every musical project I work on. I like to experiment as a musician and I try to do the same with my looks. I try to challenge aesthetic ideas, or I&rsquo;m always trying to challenge myself through shapes, textures, colors, et cetera. At the end of the day, in short, I&rsquo;m always trying to push in order to express.&rdquo;

TOP L-R: Maca, Rosa Peach BOTTOM L-R: Guindilla, Miel De Azhar

As we wind down our conversation, I ask what fans can expect from her next. &ldquo;Well, a lot of new music!&rdquo; Rosal&iacute;a says with a laugh. &ldquo;And I can&rsquo;t wait to share everything I&rsquo;ve been preparing.&rdquo;
It&rsquo;ll be exciting to hear what comes next from an artist so attuned to every facet of her work, whether it&rsquo;s picking the right percussion or the perfect shade of lipstick. &ldquo;I think I enjoy more of the process now,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;I know myself and my creative process better, I think, so I can let myself go more, creative-wise. I think freer as an artist, if that makes sense. I guess this should always be the goal, no? Like always trying to find how to become freer, become even freer, how to become even even even freer and never stop. As an artist, I think that&rsquo;s the goal.&rdquo;

Available this December 2021 at all MAC locations nationwide and online via their<a href="https://www.lazada.com.ph/shop/mac-cosmetics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Lazada Flagship store.&nbsp;</a>

Rosalía paints the town red with Aute Cuture, a new collection with MAC

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