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FRANK

LET'S BEA

FRANK

LET'S BEA

FRANK

LET'S BEA

LARA WORTHINGTON RETURNS TO BEAUTY WITH OMMAGE

10 minutes ago
6 min read

More than a decade after launching The Base, Lara Worthington is back with OMMAGE, a beauty brand developed alongside some of the industry's most established creative names. This time, she's bringing her interests in art and design into the beauty industry.


Lara Worthington's return to beauty has been a long time coming. The Australian model first entered the industry as a founder in 2014 with The Base by Lara Bingle, a cosmetics and tanning label that became known for its LB Cream. The tinted complexion product developed a loyal following, and even after the business closed, customers continued asking for its return.


Now, twelve years after that first launch, Worthington has introduced OMMAGE. Developed over more than three years and launched in September 2026, the brand brings together her experience in cosmetics with her interest in contemporary art, architecture and product design.


The debut collection consists of just three products, a tinted complexion cream, lipstick and makeup brush. Worthington developed the brand alongside makeup artist Victoria Baron and graphic designer Brian Roettinger, whose work has helped establish an identity quite different from her first venture.


From The Base to OMMAGE


Worthington's relationship with the beauty industry began well before The Base. She moved to Milan to pursue modelling at fifteen, later becoming a familiar name in Australia following the 2006 Tourism Australia campaign. Years spent working with makeup artists, photographers and beauty brands eventually encouraged her to develop a product of her own.


The Base launched in 2014, focusing on easy complexion products and tanning. Its LB Cream became the brand's signature, offering lightweight coverage that reflected Worthington's preference for natural looking makeup.


In a September 2026 interview with RUSSH, Worthington explained that starting The Base had been exciting because modelling had always meant working for other people. Creating a beauty brand gave her the opportunity to own something herself. She also acknowledged that expanding the business beyond Australia had proved difficult.


After relocating to the United States and having children, Worthington began to feel disconnected from the business. Speaking to Into The Gloss, she recalled feeling overwhelmed by the number of new beauty brands entering the industry, particularly as she adjusted to motherhood. The Base later became Share The Base, a charitable initiative that directed its proceeds to three organisations.


By the time she began considering another beauty venture, both her personal interests and the industry itself had changed.


Worthington has credited her move to New York in 2021 with renewing her interest in building a business. Surrounded by the city's creative industries, she began developing the ideas that would eventually become OMMAGE. Rather than relaunch The Base under its original identity, she chose to create something new.


A Different Approach to Beauty


OMMAGE was developed in collaboration with Victoria Baron, a makeup artist and longtime friend of Worthington's. Their working relationship extends back more than a decade, giving Baron a close understanding of Worthington's approach to makeup and the products she prefers to use.


In their joint interview with RUSSH, Baron discussed how much Worthington's personal taste had developed since The Base. Although reviving the original brand was an option, she felt that it no longer represented the person Worthington had become.



The packaging is one of the first things you notice about OMMAGE. Worthington worked with Los Angeles based graphic designer Brian Roettinger, whose previous projects include SKIMS and Nécessaire. Together, they developed a collection of sculptural cases and tools inspired by contemporary art and industrial design.


Among their references were American artists John Chamberlain and Carol Bove, both known for working with metal and manipulating familiar materials into unconventional forms. Their influence can be seen in OMMAGE's curved surfaces, compressed shapes and irregular finishes.


The lipstick case is a good example. Finished in a deep oxblood colour, its asymmetrical shape is designed to sit comfortably in the hand, with a magnetic closure incorporated into the object. It's a practical consideration, but also gives the product a recognisable appearance.


The team also travelled to Seoul during development, researching the city's beauty industry and experimental retail spaces. Their interest extended beyond formulas and colour to the ways beauty products are displayed, handled and experienced.


Beauty packaging has become an important part of how new brands establish themselves, and OMMAGE has taken a different direction from the neutral palettes and simple cylindrical packaging familiar across much of the contemporary market. The products have unusual shapes and glossy finishes, but the design also considers how each object feels and functions when used.


The First Collection


OMMAGE launched on 22 September 2026 with three products, a relatively small introduction for a brand that had spent several years in development.


First Base is the collection's central product and its clearest connection to Worthington's previous business. Developed from the LB Cream formula, the tinted complexion cream provides buildable coverage somewhere between a tinted moisturiser and foundation. Its twelve shades expand on the original product's offering, introducing the formula to customers who may never have encountered The Base.


Lip Coat introduces colour to the collection through eight shades of lipstick. The formula has a soft, velvety satin finish, with the option to apply a full layer of pigment or blend it out with fingertips for a more diffused appearance. Made in Italy, it uses ingredients including kaolin clay and castor seed oil to balance colour with a comfortable finish.


Completing the range is the Buffer Brush, designed with a weighted aluminium handle and a curved brush head intended to make complexion products easier to apply.


The three products reflect Worthington's own approach to beauty. In her Into The Gloss interview, she described wearing makeup daily, even when it's minimal, and preferring complexion products that don't feel overly perfected. She also spoke about her preference for softly blurred lip colour rather than sharply defined finishes.


It's a small collection, but one that makes sense alongside the way Worthington has spoken about makeup throughout her career. First Base revisits a product her original customers loved, while Lip Coat and the Buffer Brush introduce new formulas and tools developed around her current preferences.


Building a Brand Beyond Its Founder


One of the differences between The Base and OMMAGE is the decision to leave Worthington's name out of the new brand's identity.


The Base by Lara Bingle was closely associated with its founder. OMMAGE, by comparison, has been developed with its own name, visual identity and creative collaborators, allowing it to be presented independently of Worthington's public profile.


The name itself is a variation of the word homage. In a September interview with S.P.A., Worthington explained that it refers to the people, images, objects and ideas that influence a person's taste.


The brand's initial retail partnerships also offer some insight into its direction.


Alongside its own website, OMMAGE launched through Dover Street Parfums Market in Paris and Climax Books in New York. Neither is a conventional department store beauty counter, and both operate within creative communities where fashion, publishing, art and design overlap.


It's an interesting choice for a new cosmetics label. Rather than relying entirely on traditional beauty retail, OMMAGE is introducing its products to customers who may already be interested in the artists, designers and creative references behind the brand. The packaging also makes sense in these spaces, where the presentation of an object can be just as important as its function.


For Worthington, whose personal style has long been associated with understated dressing and minimal makeup, OMMAGE introduces a more experimental side to her taste. The influence of contemporary art, the use of colour and the unconventional packaging offer a different expression of the beauty preferences she first built a business around in 2014.


OMMAGE is still a new business, and while its launch has attracted attention, its longer term success will depend on the products themselves and whether customers return to them. The brand has the advantage of Worthington's previous experience, along with an established creative team and a clear visual identity.


Twelve years after The Base, Worthington has returned to beauty with a product her original customers remember and a new brand that reflects how much her interests have changed since then.


With love (and frankness),

Bea x


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