What’s your favourite and most surprising part of collaborating together?
Isamaya: Ben and I have mutual friends in common, but we hadn’t met until he contacted me. We have this shared passion for the outdoors, and we have taken trips together since we met. Ben has seen me terrified at the top of a mountain in the pouring rain, so at this point, there isn’t much to hide. But, honestly, that’s just created an even closer friendship and a deeper connection towards the project. We have very free and open conversations about what we want to do, which ultimately leads to a better final product.
What was the most challenging and rewarding part of creating Byredo Makeup?
Ben: We wanted to ensure the products were mainly composed of clean, natural ingredients without compromising on their performance. From the inception of the project, there was quite an extensive blacklist of materials and ingredients that we didn’t want to use. This took some time to get right with the lab and technicians. One of the most rewarding parts of the journey was the first time Isamaya demonstrated the Colour Sticks for me in our studio in Stockholm. She might have done five or six different looks in what felt like 30 seconds – even for someone who doesn’t wear make-up, I thought it was amazing to see the transformation that was possible with just one product.
The packaging is amazing and unique – what was the inspiration behind this? Why the curves?
Ben: There is an alien quality to them, but there is also this idea of being completely timeless; they reference ancient artefacts and yet are modern at the same time. The ambition was to create objects that you want to pick up and use, so we considered the optimum weight, shape and even the satisfying click of the magnet fastenings. It’s a complex process with many variables, but I think, in the end, good design is really about something you feel, which is just as important as the product itself.