Napoleon was brought up in a Greek household in the western suburbs of Sydney, Australia. However, old traditions ended there for the makeup maestro.

Napoleon didn’t yield to his father’s demands to train for a “respectable” occupation (businessman, lawyer or doctor). In fact, he knew early on he was going to pursue a career in fashion and use any pressure or judgmental assessment to inspire his creativity and build himself into a vocation with potential to transform lives. Inspiring him all the more was the backdrop of Australia—a country with great cultural diversity and a modern outlook—that he found to be the ideal springboard to create a company with true global reach.

Upon discovering the extensive colour palettes and dramatic aesthetic transformations involved in makeup artistry, a self-taught Napoleon emerged with a life destination; he would be a makeup artist for the people, helping them bring out their inner celebrity and transform runway beauty to reality with the stroke of a brush.

Napoleon launched a small makeup studio in Leichhardt, Australia in 19him to experiment with his own cosmetics. In 1995, he debuted his first concept store in Sydney, boasting a full Napoleon Perdis line, which included foundation, eye shadows, lipsticks, lip liners and accessories. Throughout the development of the brand, colour emerged as the Napoleon Perdis trademark. He worked as the makeup artist for weddings and special events, beautifying women of different skin colours and skin types. He developed an immense appreciation for the uniqueness of every woman’s face. Napoleon’s reputation soon propelled him into editorial work, consequently spearheading and solidifying his campaign to bring runway to reality.

“Runway to reality is a translation service that I want every Napoleon Perdis environment to achieve. Makeup is all about the transfer of positive energy.” reflects Napoleon Perdis. It has now been over a decade since Napoleon Perdis has been “bringing out the celebrity in you” with the Australian launch in 1995. As Australia’s leading makeup artist,2. The studio enabledNapoleon Perdis’ trans-generational approach to beauty and dedication to translating runway, red carpet, and music video to reality has driven the brand into a category all its own. Featuring pro-tips on all packaging, the various capsule collections reflect such brand values as “The Oxford of Makeup,” “Runway to Reality,” and “Treasure Chest,” among others.

Hollywood’s elite have paid homage to Napoleon Perdis since the brand’s U.S.launch in 2005, praising it in the press and donning such core products as Lip Lacquer, Auto Pilot Pre-foundation Skin Primer and Camera Finish Powder Foundation on red carpets and highprofile events, including the Primetime Emmy Awards as the official Makeup Partner in 2007. Celebrity fans of the brand include Melissa George, Debra Messing, Kate Beckinsale, Evangeline Lilly, Winona Ryder, LeAnn Rimes, Teri Hatcher, Nicollette Sheridan, Kimberly Elise, Sasha Cohen, Leven Rambin, Kelly Hu, Gemma Ward and Raven Simone, among others.

In addition the brand has 59 concept stores and over 800 point-of-sale locations globally, which include four stores in the U.S., counters at the beauty retail chain Sephora and counters in The Bay stores in Canada. Future distribution markets include Hong Kong, Singapore, Brazil and Dubai.