Atilia’s a singer, an actress, a Facebook addict and a Friend of Lancome. SYIDA LIZTA AMIRUL IHSAN talks to this multi-faceted artiste.

SINGER Atilia Haron is happily addicted to Facebook, spending more time on this online communication portal than any other websites.

In fact, she recently purchased a BlackBerry so that she could Facebook more, “especially when I’m on the go”.

She has more than 3,700 friends — the limit is 5,000 — and never rejects anyone because they are “either her friends or fans”.

“It’s my marketing platform and I get to make new friends. I started logging in to Facebook about two years ago, said the 34-year-old, who still retains her MySpace and Friendster accounts.
“Facebook is a good place to meet people, I could reach my fans in Singapore and Indonesia and those whom I would not meet otherwise. My music is not exactly mainstream so Facebook offers that avenue of meeting people who are really interested in my music.”

Atilia has been singing since she was nine and has done jingles and voice-overs.

Last year, Roslan Aziz produced her contemporary jazz album, Sangkar, which she described as “doing okay here, but much better in Jakarta.”

She also acted in P.Ramlee The Musical as Junaidah, his first wife, an experience which she found enriching.

“I used to be so nervous on stage, and the experience of doing a play teaches me to be calm. While singing and dancing at the same time can be quite difficult, I like the feelings and emotions stirred in me while in the play.”

Once rehearsals for the production began, Atilia stopped accepting invitations for corporate shows even though she could have made more money from them.

“But it was worth it. Also, I prefer the second run of the musical because I think the story was told faster and actors got that second chance to do better.”

The play was staged for a week in Esplanade, Singapore, and ran for 18 shows in Kuala Lumpur.

In a scene when Junaidah breaks up with P.Ramlee, Atilia cried for real.

“Musly (Ramlee), who played P.Ramlee, cried. I did too. I was overwhelmed with emotions. But crying every night makes my eyes puffy,” she said.

Her solution for puffy eyes? The Lancome Hydra Zen eye gel.

Lucky for Atilia, she was just signed as Friend of Lancome (roughly the equivalent of a national ambassador).

“I’m not new to the brand. My mom used it. I use its makeup line but now, I like its Blanc Expert range.

“I use a lot of makeup and sometimes I keep the makeup on for two shows (afternoon and evening). It taxes my skin. And being under the harsh spotlights is just as bad as being under the sun,” she said.

“But for the amount of make-up it handles, my skin looks all right. Every night after I cleanse my face, I’ll look in the mirror and say, “Not bad”. It could be better but I definitely like the direction it’s heading,” she said.

Atilia doesn’t have a top model’s perfect skin. She will tell you that like many women, she too fought the bad skin battle and didn’t emerge victorious.

“I have problematic skin. I used to see a dermatologist and even used specially formulated products for my skin. They were expensive and they did not work. I tried more products, spent more money but my skin was still erratic.”

“After I used Lancome Blanc Expert, I saw an improvement. Finally! Something that has a perfect balance of cleansing and moisturising to keep my skin stable.”

In her role as Friend of Lancome, Atilia will be involved in marketing the brand.

She has the advantage of having Lancome head make-up artist Zamri Zainol to do her makeup for shows, even music videos.

Zamri has this to say: “If Lancome is music, it would not be rock or hip-hop. It would be jazz, And Atilia symbolises that elegant, refined image.”

Atilia will be launching her music video in Jakarta soon. She is also busy completing her second album which is slated for release next year.

She will also be starring in two movies but will not divulge any details yet.

In-between acting and singing, Atilia will be busy with her BlackBerry, updating her Facebook page. But of course.