Whether it be a girl decked out in a scarlet-sashed emerald dress bending backwards over a sofa, or a swimsuit-clad body hanging in an empty turquoise pool, Guy Bourdin’s photographs of the 70s and early 80s are distinctive for their vibrant colors and stylized themes that have inspired generations of photographers. His painterly, renegade approach upended fashion editorial conventions and still resonates today. In advance of a forthcoming book on Bourdin from Steidldangin titled In Between, which takes up where A Message For You (2006) left off, NOWNESS asked Francelle Daly, a New Orleans native and lifelong painter who was recently taken on by NARS as national makeup artist, to create a contemporary palette inspired by the artist’s work. Here she talks us through the look.

“From a makeup standpoint, when you look at Guy Bourdin’s pictures, even though you see a lot of makeup, a lot of color, you never lose the essence of the girl. [My palette is meant] to almost look like a Guy Bourdin flower—very beautiful skin with small elements of color popping out: a fun blue lip and a fun green, and skin, for lack of a better reference, [made-up] to emulate dew on a flower. I want to take the essence of the girl into more of a character, creature-like. A beautiful eyelash, or a beautiful shimmer on the lid and very strong lips—it’s a modern approach, as opposed to a red mouth and very black eyes. I always like to say, 'Less is more.' To achieve this look, I say pick one or pick two—do a smoky eye or do a red lip, but bring it down a notch. You don’t have to wear all at once, and as it’s more of a modern approach you could wear it in the day or into the night-time. The great thing about makeup in today’s economy is that it's a very achievable thing––you can buy a tube of lipstick and it completely changes your whole personality and your whole outlook. That’s what I love about what we do.”