Napoleon Perdis picked up his first brush at the age of 13 to help his glamorous mother primp for a soiree. Since then the self-taught makeup artist has long dreamed of spreading his glamour gospel. A native of Sydney, Australia, and now based in Los Angeles, Perdis has always sought to democratize the art of makeup, transforming runway and red carpet trends to reality and colour-matching for women of all ages and skin tones.

Napoleon launched a small makeup studio in the Sydney suburb of Leichhardt in 1992. Three years later he debuted his first concept store on Sydney’s Oxford Street, boasting a full cosmetics collection, including foundations, eye shadows, lipsticks and accessories. Today Napoleon Perdis Cosmetics has 57 stand-alone concept stores and over 4,500 point-of-sale locations in Australia and New Zealand. In the United States, the brand has three Napoleon Perdis concept stores, including the vibrant flagship on Hollywood Boulevard, and is represented at over 300 Ulta stores across the country, as well as at select independent retailers, including Planet Beauty and Dermstore.com.

The Napoleon Perdis philosophy is not dictated by fashion: it’s about elevating your natural beauty with confidence-building products. In 2008, in addition to taking his company global, Perdis launched a line exclusively for Target, NP Set. Since its unveiling in the U.S., the Napoleon Perdis brand has attracted celebrity fans including Jessica Szohr, AnnaLynne McCord, Lindsay Lohan, Leighton Meester, Evangeline Lilly, Debra Messing, Jessica Lowndes, Shenae Grimes, Catt Sadler, Melissa George, Nicollette Sheridan and Amanda Bynes among others.