“For me, make-up is an extension of your authentic self,” says Isamaya Ffrench. “It’s a method to assist express that intrinsic, internal feeling in a more obvious way.” It’s this spirit of self-expression and individuality that’s at the center of her debut make-up and skincare brand ISAMAYA.

As a make-up artist Ffrench has built her fame on her wild, unrestrained creativity and imaginative transformations – it was Ffrench who was chargeable for Rihanna’s divisive razor-thin brows and turning Vivienne Westwood models into Pinocchio. Some of the vital creatives and image-makers within the industry right away, her work is subversive, gorgeous, terrifying, and awe-inspiring. Nevertheless it wasn’t the metamorphosis she has turn into synonymous with that she was aiming for when she launched into creating ISAMAYA, her most personal project yet.  

Describing her make-up as “weapons for truth”, Ffrench sees her brand as providing tools for people to precise themselves and find their authenticity, offering a non-conformist alternative to the message often fed to us by the industry. “This brand is about make-up that you simply wear for yourself, it’s a private journey,” she says. “That, for me, is the proper message – make-up is a weapon for truth, it’s a method to aid you turn into more of who you might be.”   

Weapons of truth also incidentally describes the sweetness products themselves quite well. Somewhat than launch with a everlasting range of products, ISAMAYA might be made up of limited edition collections, each centring around a unique concept and visual aesthetic, that may drop roughly 4 times a 12 months. The primary collection is a five-piece range, comprising a mascara, eyeshadow palette, lip lacquer, brow laminator and glow serum, that takes its visual and spiritual cues from the lexicon of BDSM culture. Named the Industrial collection, the drop is all in regards to the extreme and the hardcore, concepts that stretch across each the products and their packaging – the lids of the 2 serums and mascara come pierced with wearable metal rings and a certain, rubbery figure protrudes from the 14 pan eyeshadow palette. 

“[Industrial] was probably essentially the most relevant statement for me to launch with, it was something that felt a bit anti-industry,” Ffrench says. “BDSM has connotations of self-possession and empowerment which tied in naturally, and it just felt really vital to hit hard with this primary launch.” Acknowledging that the “S&M thing” may not be for everybody, Ffrench says perhaps the following collection may have a more universal appeal (or, also, it may not). “My approach hasn’t been to cater for an audience, particularly,” she says, “it’s more about offering an area for people to perceive ideas of beauty in alternative ways.” 

Until now, Ffrench says, most industrial beauty brands haven’t represented or appealed to her community of creatives who use make-up to precise and explore their identities. That is something she is hoping to vary with ISAMAYA. “I believe by having a brand that’s in a position to always evolve and alter, and have every collection touch on something different, it should offer more to individuals who haven’t found their thing yet,” she says. “It’s vital to create an area and create products which are more far-reaching than simply the industrial ones that we all know.”     

The fantastic thing about having a collection-based brand that may offer something different each time (and Ffrench guarantees to surprise us with each recent drop) is that it also keeps it interesting for her. With eclectic inspirations that range from Arnold Schwarzenegger to Heston Blumenthal to Yung Lean, having to stick to one aesthetic didn’t appeal and conceptualising collections months upfront posed a recent challenge. “I don’t wish to should take into consideration what a product might appear like on a shelf in 10 years; to do the identical product for five years,” she says. “It’s too restrictive, it doesn’t feel modern, it doesn’t feel progressive.”   

These limited, small-batch drops also be sure that at the tip of the day, there won’t be plenty of unused stock sitting in warehouses wasting away. After years of lending her talents to developing products for brands including Tom Ford, Byredo, Christian Louboutin and Burberry, ISAMAYA is the primary time Ffrench has had total control to execute her vision on her own terms, to make the alternatives on every part from products to packaging that she desires to make with none industrial shackles. And, for her, this meant ensuring the brand was actively engaging with environmental responsibility.

“I work with Vivienne Westwood, and have done for a very long time, and her philosophy of doing more with less just is sensible to me,” she says. From the start of conception, the brand hired a sustainability consultant who has advised on every part from carbon footprinting to material decisions for packaging. The method, Ffrench says, was a learning curve. “It’s opened my eyes, it’s much harder than you think that, much, much, much harder,” she says. “In order that’s been an actual education for me.” 

Because the brand grows and we see the several drops, she hopes that every collection will live to tell the tale after we finish with them – whether that’s the repurposable jewellery within the Industrial packaging, or the palettes which turn into jewellery boxes that the following collection will offer. For every collection, ISAMAYA will even be partnering with a charity, one other detail that was vital to Ffrench (she remains to be finalising who that might be for the primary release).    

“A part of this project is absolutely to give you the option to precise who I’m as an individual, and to give you the option to point out people who there are other ways of engaging with beauty,” she says. Because, for Ffrench, it’s not only the way you wear a product, it’s about what a brand represents – from the way in which they do packaging and promoting, to the people they collaborate with. “It’s a much bigger conversation to open up cosmetics in a far more creative way, and an inspiring way, I hope.” 

So what’s in the longer term for ISAMAYA? Alongside the upcoming collections, Ffrench is absolutely looking forward to responding to feedback directly from her audience and checking out what they need. “I’m not a giant multi-person-in-suits brand. I’m a individual that can reply to what my audience likes, and I’m excited by that,” she says. Ultimately, what she is seeking to do is create things which are timeless. “I try not to fret an excessive amount of about what may be popular in 2024. I believe it’s vital to only be guided by your creative instinct and at all times take a look at the larger picture relatively than lipstick. You recognize what I mean? That’s how I’m doing it for now.”

ISAMAYA Industrial collection launches later this month. Below Ffrench talks us through each product within the drop.