The name Neapolis – or ‘New City’ – reflects Naples’ origins as an ancient Greek colony as well as a city looked at afresh by Pica; free of clichés, the area’s ancient roots and modern incarnation collide in a surprising yet complementary palette of greens, yellows, golds, reds and blacks.

Central to the collection is the limited edition LES 9 OMBRES eyeshadow palette containing an enticing spectrum of brighter and more muted shades.

For added intensity, Lucia Pica looks to green: OMBRE PREMIÈRE Creme in Verderame is an exceptional dusty grey-green with a subtle metallic sheen, which looks beautiful worn alone or layered beneath the shadows in the eye palette.

Inspired by a door detail, MASCARA DIMENSIONS in Nero Metallo is a metal blue green while the STYLO YEUX WATERPROOF is either in Nero Vulcanico a deepest greenblue inspired by the ash black from Vulcano, or in Mare-Chiaro, a bright jade green.

For the face, inspired by the view of the mountains view at sunset, JOUES CONTRASTE blush in Foschia Rosa is a poetic dusting of pink that will instantly enliven the complexion.

For the lips, something special: POUDRE À LÈVRES, an entirely new and artisanal approach to lip color inspired by traditional tempera techniques used to create the ancient frescoes. In addition to the lip powders, there are no fewer than ten other choices of color for the lips, from the bright poppy and raspberry shades of the ROUGE ALLURE and ROUGE ALLURE VELVET lipsticks to the glisteningly ethereal shades of ROUGE COCO GLOSS, including Parthenope, a nude peachy caramel and Aphrodite, a watery baby blue that can be worn alone or layered over brightercolor. The ROUGE ALLURE INK shades, Entusiasta - a matte orange – or Eterea – a perfect peach pink complete the lip line-up.

Nails offer another chance to play: for Spring - Summer 2018. Lucia Pica offers her first pastel shades, including Nuvola Rosa, a ‘pastel pink cloud’ and Verde Pastello, a delicate mint green, but also a bright orange with Arancio Vibrante. Giallo Napoli – ‘bright Naples yellow’ refers to the affresco picture, the famous color used in paints.

Lucia Pica has some great tips for applying products. „I love the idea of layering the OMBRE PREMIÈRE Crčme in Verderame, a dusty grey-green cream eye color, beneath the brighter colors in the LES 9 OMBRES palette. It’s a way to give them depth and intensity. I would apply the OMBRE PREMIÈRE Creme with my fingertip, then use a brush to apply one of the satin or high-shine shades from the palette.

The two green shades in the palette look incredible together. In general if you want to use more than one shade together it’s good to pair one of the brighter shades with one of the more muted tones. I’ve arranged them in three ‘harmonies’ within the palette to offer some initial ideas, too.

To apply the POUDRE À LÈVRES, use your fingertip to apply the clear balm to your lips, just as you would a lip balm. Then use a different fingertip to dab the powder onto your lips, starting in the middle of your mouth and working outwards. Purse your lips together to create a ‘just kissed’ stain.