Tangling two worlds once believed to be opposite, STARLUST CO was envisioned in an attempt to bring together femininity within the often narrow view of esports merchandise. Sabrina Wong has traveled the lands of esports focused apparel, to now find herself stepping into the beauty industry.

The Shoujo Palette features nine different shades of eye shadow, with six pigmented matte shades and three iridescent shimmers. Shadow names vary from different anime expressions, like Daisuki (I love you), Nani? (What?), and Seifuku (School girl uniform).

In a conversation with Inven Culture, Sabrina “Sabby” Wong explained a little bit about her newest project, STARLUST CO.

I’d like to start by asking how the idea of Starlust came to mind.

So, to preface this I’m a casual makeup enthusiast at best. I love checking out looks and supporting those who use beauty and makeup as a way to express themselves and their artistic craft. However, the reason STARLUST really got started was that I was explaining to my close group of friends, all women in the space, how I felt like I was starting to feel lost about my “girly” side. In esports, I have always been surrounded by men, and the culture can get very “bro-y” quickly. They said they were feeling the same way — pressured to “be like the boys”.

This sparked an idea for a project in mind, that fell perfectly in line with another idea I wanted to do. I had already wanted to start a small project that was outside of the strict esports realm — something nerdy, gaming-adjacent, but lived on its own. And now, I wanted to spur up this idea about finding empowerment in femininity and still having fun. Thus, Starlust was born!

What was the creation process like? I know you’re familiar with creating fashion products, but I’m curious about stepping into the beauty industry.

Great question — makeup is a little bit of new territory for me as well, but going through the process it’s very similar to fashion. I was able to sample from many different manufacturers. in makeup, you are looking for the one with the best formula and payoff rather than in fashion, feel, and style. The parallels are there though. Ethically made makeup is also a high priority of mine when it came to this project — I made sure they were vegan, cruelty-free, and ethically made. After all the foundation was settled, there came the creative part — picking a color range that felt fun, loud, girly, and spunky, just like my vision. I had already sketched out my vision for the palette, (I can send you this artwork actually) and I knew I needed really poppy colors to reflect the kawaiicore-esc vibes I wanted for our first product: The Shoujo Palette.

Finally, I came to the finalized artwork by our artist,@meowslug.She was challenged by me to do something a little out of the box — her art is very cutesy, but I told her to go all out for these product pieces. She absolutely nailed each piece, which is featured in three different parts of the palette. And once we finished our sampling, we got our final product!

And what are your hopes with the brand?

As a project, we’re testing out different ways of experimental media to convey our message and brand voice. I hope we come out with some really interesting learnings, as well as a great experience for both our audience and our team (punsandbunsgg) on how to push the boundaries of classic marketing in our space! And lastly, to remind people that during a tough year to have fun and own being yourself :)

You can order the STARLUST CO Shoujo palette through their official website.