The Art Of Expression

Hermēs beauty's new creative director Gregoris Pyrpylis doesn't like to impose. Especially when it comes to his craft in beauty. Instead, he'd rather propose – ways that will reveal the best and truest bits of a person

- Chelsea Tang

Talking to Gregoris Pyrpylis about beauty feels like a breeze. We are seated adjacent to each other on cushioned white foldable paper stools in the Hermès store at Liat Towers, with the whole suite of Hermès Beauty's latest Plein Air collection - a range of essential complexion balms and powders – displayed before us. Pyrpylis, the new creative director of the beauty metier for the French luxury house, picks up the Radiant Glow Powder and invites me to dip into the shimmery champagne pan.

So, you'll start by putting this powder on the smaller areas of the face to highlight, like the inner corners of the eyes, under the brow bone, and on the high points of the cheeks, he says, pointing his ring fingers to the various points of his face. Then, one day, it's going to appear on your entire face.

We both break out into hearty laughter. The creative director-makeup artist, who has model-fashion designer Alexa Chung and supermodel Laetitia Casta on his circuit for makeup gigs, speaks of Hermès Beauty like he is both its guardian and its friend. “That's the magic of the powder. It's shimmery, but it's not glittery on the face. You'll look radiant and healthy, he adds.

The Greek makeup artist joined the house in January this year. From the get-go, there seemed to be already a mutual connection between the man and the brand. Even the first meeting with Agnès de Villers, president of Hermès Parfum and Beauté, felt easy. It was very fluid, very innate, very organic, very smooth, Pyrpylis says. And that's because I felt like we were speaking the same language when it comes to beauty. We both believe in a sense of beauty that brings out what is natural, the inner nature of every woman and man to express the truth of an individual, different facets of various personalities.