In his latest book, Makeup Your Mind: Express Yourself, the legendary François Nars demonstrates his amazing makeup and photography skills on real women and men for stunning before & after portraits. This modern makeup manual allows the reader access to his techniques—to achieve gorgeous results, with dynamic instructional sketches and beautiful photographs. Here, François Nars gives us insight behind the Makeup Your Mind sequel and offers advice for today’s real woman!
Q: Why did you decide to create a sequel to Makeup Your Mind?
A: We originally planned Makeup Your Mind as a three-part book set. The first book featured models, the second showcases real people, and the third will feature notables, tastemakers and celebrities. This felt like the perfect moment to come out with a book focused on real women and men wearing NARS. It was nice to have the opportunity to showcase NARS on every-day beauties—to make NARS feel more accessible.
Q: How is this book different from the original book?
A: While Makeup Your Mind: Express Yourself is a continuation of the first book, it features more inspiring and complex looks. The difference lies in the people featured: they’re everyday beauties hand-picked from the streets of New York City. They represent a range of ethnicities and ages, as one of my main goals this time was to capture as many different people as possible.
Q: How did you come up with the looks for each subject?
A: Instead of crafting each look based on what suited the individual’s personality, I focused on bringing out her or his natural beauty rather than concealing it. Ideally, you want someone to say to you, ‘You look great!’ rather than, ‘Your makeup looks great.’ You should always see the person first and the makeup second.
Q: What’s your advice for real women reading this book?
A: Regardless of what look you are trying to achieve, less is more. Always go for transparency no matter what—even with very intense colors.
Visit makeupyourmind.com to upload your own photo to the NARS global gallery for a chance to win a trip backstage with NARS at New York Fashion Week!
