Off Camera with the Beauty Disruptor: Isamaya Ffrench
Meet the makeup maverick and brand founder who talks life off camera and
the beauty that continues to inspire her.
First and foremost, is Isamaya Ffrench your real name? We’ve always wondered.
It is, check my passport! Isamaya is a medieval English name meaning Iron Strength, and Ffrench is has two lower case 'ff's'.
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Talk to us about makeup as play and power. Do you remember your first memory with the brush? Tell us about it and how the relationship has evolved.
My first makeup memory is not so much about playing as it was absorbing what makeup can do. I was in a bookshop with my mum and I asked her to buy me the Kevyn Aucoin book “Making Faces”. I read it cover to cover until it tore apart. The book is essentially about the transformations makeup can achieve - Kevyn took everyone from filmstars to family members and turned them into iconic fantasy royalty. As a 7 year old girl growing up in a house of engineers, it was nothing short of magical. Of course, the makeup was gorgeous and the technique was brilliant, but the women looked so glamorous, confident, so empowered. The transformation is probably what fascinated me the most. I didn’t start using makeup until much later, and it was more in a world of bright body painting, clay and legos. Not your typical red carpet glam.
What film, campaign, or character (hero or villain?!) remains an evergreen source of inspiration? Tell us about the look that still sparks the magic for you.
I am more inspired by a whole vision than by individual characters. Serge Lutens, for example, will always be a source of admiration. He was one of the first to seamlessly inhabit both the roles of photographer and makeup artist, creating a world that felt utterly singular. His work is so painterly, ethereal yet slightly haunting. It doesn’t belong anywhere, it’s timeless.
When it comes to your own creative process, how do you lock into a model or character's frequency to land upon the look that resonates?
I’m not interested in makeup that exists purely for aesthetic value. I want it to function as part of a larger narrative. When I understand the emotional and conceptual framework of a project, it naturally informs how a character moves, behaves, and exists — and the makeup follows from that. It’s a quite instinctive process for me, I respond to the story and the energy, which means the looks always come together on the job. I don’t do much makeup prep beforehand apart from buying materials. When I do plan a look, it always ends up being something entirely different anyway.
Off set, you’ve got characters of your own at home. Tell us about your
magnificent, mad cats. Names, personalities, the story! Instagram has kept us on our toes.
Salomé and Goya are siblings and Trinity the partially sighted Siamese oddball that joined the family a year after the others. They have classic feline personalities: entirely disinterested when you seek affection, but suddenly deeply invested when you’re in the middle of something important, like a finance zoom call.
You recently brought your mother to The Pink Ball – which we adored. What did she think of it all? She seemed incredibly sweet; we want the unfiltered review.
My mum lived in India for 4 years and our extended family is Indian so it was a pretty spectacular event to take her to - She is a knitwear artisan and loves fabrics so the British Museum was an epic backdrop for the event and as I mentioned, most of my family are engineers so i'm not the only one who appreciates a boujie cocktail.
ISAMAYA has become synonymous with disruption. What's your own secret to nailing an unforgettable look?
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