September 4, 2025 |
I’ve been a collector of masks for years. They fill every shelf in my home, collected over years of travel, each one a fragment of culture and expression. For me, as a make-up artist, they provide such great inspiration for the way I approach the face as architecture and as a vehicle for emotions. In many cultures, the exaggerated expressions those masks depict would be described in our Western vocabulary as grotesque, over the top or unflattering. Elsewhere, they are revered as symbols of strength and spirit, each one resonating a specific energy.
Finding beauty in what isn’t traditionally thought of as beautiful is something that has always informed my work. When 10 invited me to create images for this Transformation issue, I started thinking about all of these masks that have inspired me throughout my life and I decided that I wanted to use the faces of our models as canvases in order to alter their features and amplify archetypes of expressions using pigments only. No prosthetics, no light tricks, no retouching. An unfiltered exploration of the emotional spectrum and a way to reconnect with the pure artistry of make-up and what it can do to a face.
10 Magazine’s 25 anniversary issue is out on newsstands September 15. Pre-order your copy here.
BEAUTY: ECHOES OF THE UNSEEN
Photographer NICOLA DELORME
Creative Director and Text ISAMAYA FFRENCH
Fashion Editor LILY PETTITT READ
Models CASPER GREY, AMBER JEAN, JULIETTE BONNETTI, SPHIA, MIMI DREW and SAM MACGREGOR
Art direction FRANCOIS BRESMAL
Photographer’s assistant ERIKA DENIS FEBLES
Make-up assistants TASH SULTANA and ROO GEHRING
Special thanks to VIVIENNE WESTWOOD, DAVID KOMA, BEN JEANS HOUGHTON and SHOREDITCH STUDIOS
On the cover MIMI wears ISAMAYA BEAUTY
