For the Chanel Neapolis Spring 2018 makeup collection, Lucia Pica heeds the siren’s call of home to return to the city of her birth.

Here, Naples’ ever-changing landscape, layered with history, meaning and metaphor, provides the inspiration for colors, moods and techniques that offer a warm, rich and unexpectedly Mediterranean approach for the house – at once antique and utterly contemporary.

“When I close my eyes and think of Naples, these are the colors I see,” says Pica. “All the elements of Naples are in here.”

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. Both the natural world – from the volcanic landscape of Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, to the waters of the Bay – and the manmade architectural and artistic legacy are explored and prove ripe for possibility in the colors and methods of the collection.

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 Crème in Verderame is an exceptional dusty grey-green with a subtle metallic sheen.

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.

Lucia Pica offers her first pastel shades of nail color, 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.

The collection will be available as of January 2018 at all Chanel beauty counters.