Quotes from Francois Nars

Working on fashion shows, you work with the designer and try to read his brain - what was in the creative process, what images did he have in his head?

I'll keep creating modern, deep, rich and adventurous colors and products that inspire creative expression every day.

When it comes to beauty whatever makes you look good and feel good is right.

There is a tendency to feature more actresses on covers, but I'm a big model lover. I grew up watching these models, and they gave me the wish, the need, to work in the fashion industry. I loved watching them - their beauty, the way they worked in front of the camera and that power of transformation, especially in the Seventies.

Transparency is more sexy than a full, pancake finish.

My vision was to create makeup that was more transparent but with formulas that last. I follow my instincts - it's all very spontaneous!

I think less is more when it comes to make-up; this really helps achieve a lighter complexion. Heavy make-up creates a canvas and can dull the skin.

I think if you take good care of your skin, you can achieve better make-up.

You can look glamorous even if you're a housewife, any job you have.

In America, when I first came here, they were used to wearing more make-up - thicker foundation, more Max Factor, that sort of thing. But you have to know who you are and what you look like: if you know yourself a little bit, you don't need to follow trends.

I'm always scared of trends. The runways are always so trend-oriented, but I always feel for the women. The real women that buy cosmetics want to see the trends, but they don't necessarily go for them. And I always encourage women to find what looks best on them.

Was I a businessman to start with? I'm not sure. I mean, that comes slowly, when you start having the products out. But at the same time, I was very determined. I knew that I had to make it work. I had no choice.

Some people put a lot of fuss around them. I'm not an entertainer. Let's not get things confused.

I love the architecture magazines and all of the French magazines for decoration or whatever. I end up enjoying them more sometimes than the fashion magazines.

Kate Moss makes you dream. She has such a passion for art and the creative process.

I like beauty to be a bit edgy, not typical. For me, the only rule is looking good.

My interpretation of the word 'ugly'... I like ugly beauty. That can happen. In France, we have phrase 'jolie laide.' We like certain women who are not pretty or cute - it's the opposite in France of pretty. It's more strange and interesting.

I'm always looking to the lightweight superproduct that you apply and almost don't see. That's the ultimate, at least for me.

I was spoiled growing up in the 1970s because magazines were publishing the photographs of Helmut Newton and Guy Bourdin without compromise. You really felt that sense of freedom through their images.

I had no connections, and the fashion world was a closed elite. So my mother made appointments for herself with three top Parisian makeup artists and spoke highly about me... she was my first publicist!

My mother never wore much make-up, and she was a kind of natural beauty; she knew just how to enhance what she had.

True icons are larger than life, unforgettable with an elegance that's mesmerizingly timeless.

I never stop thinking about names of products. It's a process that happens 24 hours a day.

From the start, I used a different kind of girl in Nars campaign images. My choice to use models of colour such as Alek Wek, Naomi Campbell and Karen Park Goude was absolutely a deliberate one. I felt that makeup was universal and should apply to everybody.