Words by Natasha Djanogly
Makeup is in the midst of a revolution, and British makeup artist Isamaya Ffrench — with her avant-garde runway looks, space-age products, and sex-themed casing — is at the forefront.
Pretty and conventional makeup smeared over teenage acne and pale lips is a thing of the past. Whether it’s extravagant drag show looks, graphic eyeliner TikTok tutorials, or any Ffrench design, makeup is increasingly normalized as a liberated and subversive creative tool for bold storytelling and self-expression.
Ffrench’s desire to tell radical visual stories took root early. At just 8, the Cambridge-born artist was introduced to makeup through the likes of Kevyn Aucoin’s Making Faces and the film Cabaret, which she delved into as a way to escape a difficult living situation — her dad was a hoarder.
“The power of whatever I saw, even though I don’t think of it anymore in that way, has always carried me from that horrible dark space into something transformative.”
After studying Product and Industrial Design at Saint Martins and a stint as a face painter at children’s parties, the now 36-year-old has become, alongside icons like Pat McGrath and Bobbi Brown, one of the decade’s most groundbreaking makeup artists.
Ffrench has since worked with brands like Vivienne Westwood, YSL, Kenzo, celebrities like Bella Hadid, Kim Kardashian, photographers like Tim Walker and David Sims, and magazines including British Vogue and Dazed. Of course, this is not including her roles as Creative Director of Dazed Beauty and Byredo, Beauty Curator of Off-White, and Burberry’s Global Beauty Director.
From her curious animal prosthetics at the Collina Strada AW2024 show featuring dog headpieces and pig snouts to her bird-inspired fluttery eyelashes for the Thom Browne AW2025 runway and Kylie Jenner’s AI “melted” makeup look on Dazed Beauty Cover, Ffrench’s looks are enigmatic and undefinable — both strange and shocking yet alluring and ethereally beautiful. What’s always certain, however, is some serious rule-breaking and a lot of makeup remover.
This otherworldly and unbounded spirit translates to her own makeup company, Isamaya, based in East London — a space naturally ruled by her three Oriental Shorthair cats: Goya, Salome, and Trinity. Founded in 2022, the company remarkably made a seven-figure revenue in its first year.
“I think, in a way, my brand has never been just about the makeup. It’s more about engaging with a concept or an idea or a dream or fantasy in the same way I suppose that fashion’s always allowed you to do that world-building. And in the same way that maybe BDSM or a subculture does that. And so, what I’ve always tried to do with my makeup and the storytelling is to go beyond ‘This is something that you can put on your face to make yourself look better and feel nicer about yourself if you’re having a bad day.’ I’ve never really cared about that myself. I mean, I love covering up my spots with concealer when I can, and I think I look better with eyeliner on, but it’s more about the makeup being an opportunity to explore a bigger concept and a bigger world and a bigger idea.”
While Isamaya is not just about makeup, the company does prioritize quality makeup that embraces the body’s well-being as well as its dynamic and expressive nature. Rather than selling another skin-irritating pink blush that will send customers back to the dermatologist, Isamaya commits to futuristic technology, science, and skincare-based makeup that is fun, experimental, and, as she explains, “run(s) with the zeitgeist” — that is, the spirit and cultural mood of our time — transporting us to a “whole new world” with each collection.
The vision perfectly aligns with the wild, spontaneous, and busy nature of modern humans, whether one wishes to bat their eyelashes at their club night crush with some non-smudging RUBBERLASH Latex Lift Mascara, skip grueling Tuesday cardio for a face workout to promote lymphatic drainage with the SCULPT 01 tool, or save money on the plastic surgeon with a £35 syringe-inspired 5-point-lift pen for a needleless sculpt and lift.
Isamaya also embodies our increasing desire for social disruption with her crown jewel 2023 lipstick collection entitled “Lips.” But it’s not just the luscious shimmering texture or the botanical extracts making waves; it’s the viral phallic-shaped metallic casing that comes with four special vibrant shades.
Though it was a brilliant marketing ploy — well-accompanied by a treasure hunt conducted by Ffrench, who hid gold phallic-shaped lipsticks around London — the collection was more than that.
“People called it a risk, but I really believed that we were at the right time culturally, societally to do a product like that. Now more than ever, with gender politics at the forefront of a lot of conversations in fashion and beauty, and abortion laws in America and nudity on TV, sexuality and gender are big topics because, ultimately, they relate to your personal identity. And I think, more than ever, people are trying to really take ownership of that. So, it just felt like the right time to do a d*ck.”
Isamaya, however, isn’t all talk. The company actively takes social matters into its own hands by working with an array of charities, including the LGBTQIA+ community shelter The Outside Project, Planned Parenthood, and the American Wild Horse Campaign.
With such socially relevant, exciting, and innovative products, it’s no wonder that Isamaya has 216k followers on Instagram and that its products are sold everywhere, from Selfridges to Dover Street Parfums Market. For Comme des Garçons’s chief executive and Dover Street Market co-founder Adrian Joffe, what makes Isamaya different is that “it’s so creative and iconoclastic as well as being a very good product.”
Despite Ffrench’s success, she has not gone without backlash. Her work on Mowalola’s SS24 show, featuring cosmetic faux bruising of models’ eyes, came under fire for what human rights activist Aisha Ali-Khan called a “reprehensible” glamorization of domestic violence. And then, of course, there’s the expected uproar that came with the phallic-shaped lipstick considered inappropriately oversexualized.
Yet whether it’s awe or controversy, Ffrench continues to be fearless and utilize makeup as a way to challenge outdated social norms surrounding beauty, identity, and sexuality. Just in December, the designer did something completely unheard of for a makeup artist — she collaborated with Nike and female athletes to design the Nike x Isamaya Ffrench Air Max DN, forcing a much-needed reconciliation between beauty and sports.
The makeup revolution has already started, but with her cutting-edge designs, skyrocketing client base, and commitment to social change, it’s Ffrench hitting the acceleration and mainstreaming the change — guiding us to a charismatic, liberated world released from the prison of conformism. This is the story we all want makeup to tell.
