Isamaya Ffrench, the celebrated MUA and beauty director, has made a surprise announcement that she will be launching her own cosmetics line.
Taking time off from launching other brands’ make-up ranges, the British MUA will go live with her brand next month.
Isamaya, as the new cosmetics line will be known, is genderless and speaks to a new generation of beauty creators, Ffrench told Vogue.
“This isn’t another off-the-shelf competitive red lip,” the Burberry Global Beauty Director told the publication.
“There are people out there who don’t just want ‘glamorous and pretty’, but something more edgy and exciting.
“I want my brand to talk to those people. Something honest and uninhibited – that’s how I see it.”
In her short and enviable career, which predominantly spans her twenties, Ffrench has made an impact that could only be dreamt of by most beauty artists.
After her big break on the beauty scene in 2015 as a Makeup Ambassador for YSL Beauty, she has gone on to claim visionary status with some of the most influential people on the fashion and beauty circuit – Rihanna being one.
With her avant-garde and outlandish beauty looks, Ffrench was tapped by Christian Louboutin to be its Global Make-up Artist in 2019, and joined Burberry Beauty as its Global Beauty Director the year after.
Most notably, Ffrench was the driving force behind the launch of Byredo’s colour cosmetics line, which came to market in September 2020.
The ‘game-changing’ line was spearheaded by the 33-year-old, alongside founder Ben Gorham, who acted as the face of its launches and was behind product development.
Since her exit in March, she has joined the luxury fashion and beauty retailer Farfetch as a spokesperson, alongside Violet Grey and Michelle Wong, among others.
She was also Tom Ford’s right-hand woman in the launch of its colour line.
Isamaya’s world
The line she has now created is said to be an embodiment of her personal values.
“Make-up was always meant to make you transform temporarily before you washed it off,” said Ffrench.“I want this make-up to be weapons for truth. I want people to feel like they can be themselves or they can join something or try something.”
Isamaya’s eyeshadow palette, for example, encased in a black compact, with a torso pressed through the lid, contains “industrial” colours in putty textures, according to Vogue.
Moody and inky shades sit alongside bright greens and oranges.
Complete with a Rubberlash mascara, she has also created a pomade that laminates eyebrows and a foundation.
Hitting the market as a capsule collection for now, more products are expected to follow.