How François Nars changed the face of make-up

François Nars: Yes, of course. We were six makeup artists asked to create a spring look for the Bazaar feature “Face Off.” I wanted to do something different and fresh. I picked up a burnt-orange lipstick from my line (in shade Tangier), and used it on Carolyn Murphy – her eyes, cheeks, and lips. It was very fast, very instinctive; it took only ten minutes. Her skin still showed through – you could see her freckles, her tan, and her green eyes popped. Everything came together in a simple but beautiful way. Only later I thought: “Why not create one product that could do exactly what the lipstick did on set that day?” That idea became The Multiple.

Not at all. I just thought it was a cool idea because women are busy—they have kids, they’re rushing out the door in the morning, catching a train or getting into the car, and they need to do their makeup in five minutes to look polished enough for the office. For me, it was simply a practical idea.

The “revolution” label came much later, from the way women adopted it and made it part of their lives. With the new Multiple the spirit is the same, but the technology is not. The original Multiple was already ahead of its time. For 2025, we’ve taken it even further: perfecting the formula, refining the texture, intensifying the pigments, and expanding the shade range.

Today everyone talks about “multi-use” and “five-minute faces.” That was the philosophy of The Multiple back in the ‘90s. I think it helped people realize that makeup doesn’t need strict rules; one color can travel across the face.

For the original Multiple, I wanted shades that were neutral enough to catch the light: soft bronzes, shell pinks, and ivory tones. Texture was always key: a transparency that let the skin show through. For the new Multiple, we kept this DNA and expanded it. There are now 12 shades, ranging from very luminous, almost highlighting tones to deeper sculpting and bronzing colors. The new formula gives a soft-focus effect with more pigment, while the finish remains beautiful and weightless.

For me, successful makeup is when you still see the woman before you see the makeup. It should bring out her best features—not erase the face or build a new one on top.

It was very instinctive. The names are inspired by the world I live in and the things I love. Makeup, to me, is meant to be fun, expressive, and a little mischievous—never boring. It has always been about fantasy and a sense of play, and the names had to carry that same energy. I wanted them to make people dream when they used NARS, or at the very least, bring a smile. The names are an invitation to play.

I didn’t wake up and think: “Let me shock the world today.” When I created Orgasm Blush, the name actually came to me before the color. With NARS blushes, I wanted names that evoked emotion – something you could feel, maybe even something that made you blush a little. Not just a description of color. “Orgasm” was one of those words. It made you look twice. But for me, Orgasm was never just about sex, it was about life. Loving life. Enjoying it fully. So, the impression should be: “I feel something,” not “I put on a lot of blush.”

Yes, unfortunately a few. One that comes to mind immediately is “Orient Express.” I loved the romance of it—trains crossing Europe, glamorous men and women in the dining car. Maybe one day it will come back in another way; I never forget a good name.

It’s always a mix of things. Sometimes it’s the person, sometimes it’s a place or a color. But I never know in advance if something will become iconic. You feel that a shade is beautiful, you believe in it, but the final word always belongs to the women who wear it. Orgasm, Laguna, The Multiple—they became universal because women decided they were.

I would probably still start with lipstick. Lipstick is a very direct way to express character; one shade can change a face, a mood, a day.

Everything and nothing. Textures are much more sophisticated now; we can create formulas that didn’t exist when I started. There is also the influence of social media—people learn from tutorials, they experiment more, they share instantly. But in the end, they still want the same thing—to look and feel beautiful.

My mother was my first introduction to the world of beauty. On a deeper level, she gave me curiosity and discipline. She took my obsession seriously and helped me get my first assistant jobs in Paris. As a man and makeup artist, she taught me to look at women with admiration—not to dominate them with makeup, but to celebrate their beauty and individuality.

I grew up on black-and-white films. I love the way old Hollywood lit a face—very sculpted, yet very soft. Film noir is also a big influence: shadows, smoke, a red lip you can almost feel even in grayscale. One film that has stayed with me since I was very young is Shanghai Express by Josef von Sternberg with Marlene Dietrich. I can watch it again anytime, and I love it.

For me, beauty is a way of discovering life itself.

I do not spend as much time there as I wish I did. But having that opportunity is truly a gift. Beauty in many places across French Polynesia is still raw and untouched – it comes from the ocean, the mountains, the sky, the way the light shifts with every hour. Silence teaches me to see details I might have missed in the noise of the world. And the time there reminds me that beauty is not only something that we create—it is also something we receive.

For me, beauty was the vehicle and the destination. As a child in the south of France, I escaped into magazines and movies. New York gave me the freedom to create the images I had dreamed about—to work with the great photographers, the supermodels, to build the NARS brand. The island gave me perspective and calm; it allowed me to look at all of that from a distance and understand what truly matters.

* * The book Persona – François Nars, reveals an extraordinary production of cinematic, avant-garde portraits of an exclusive list of contemporary creative icons, celebrities, artists, designers, musicians, and actors.