Everything you need to know about Soula-Marie Perdis, the woman behind Napoleon Perdis.

When Soula-Marie Perdis was studying finance and actuarial studies at Sydney’s Macquarie University, she never dreamed of having a career in cosmetics.

But when the Greek-Australian met her now-husband and business partner Napoleon Perdis, her life took a dramatic turn.

“I met Napoleon at Macquarie University,” Soula-Marie told the Sydney Morning Herald back in 2014.

“He had long, straight hair, went barefoot, and was doing arts/law,” she added.

“We were total opposites, but he rocked my world.”

From an early age, both Soula-Marie and Napoleon had a particular interest in makeup.

At age 13, Soula-Marie dreamed of one day having her very own bag filled to the brim with makeup products.

Napoleon was no different. At the same age, Napoleon discovered a love for makeup when he began helping his mother get ready to go out.

After finishing up at university, Soula-Marie and Napoleon both entered the corporate world.

While Soula-Marie got stuck into her career working for a finance firm, Napoleon had a series of corporate jobs.

Although it wasn't quite socially acceptable at the time for men to be interested in makeup, Napoleon began doing bridal makeup on the weekends and it was soon clear that his true passion lay in makeup.

While Napoleon was running the bridal makeup business outside of his day job, Soula-Marie handled the numbers side of things in her spare time - until the business was succeeding enough for the pair to quit their day jobs and put all their energy into their growing brand.

In 1995, four years after the pair wed in 1991, the very first Napoleon Perdis cosmetics store was opened in inner-Sydney's Paddington.

"Those first few years were extremely hard work," Soula-Marie told the Sydney Morning Herald.

"I don't know how we survived."

From there, the business boomed, leading to the creation of dozens of stores across Australia as Soula-Marie took on the role of Chief Operations Officer.

Although Napoleon was the public face of the brand, it was Soula-Marie who was instrumental in growing the company from a well-loved Australian brand to a global name.

"She has always been the greatest supporter of mine, but she would also be the handbrake who made sure I wasn't going from gear one to gear five," Napoleon told the Sydney Morning Herald.

"She will bust my chops over the components and plastics in our mascara products and getting it right. She reigns in the business side of things."

Besides running the cosmetics empire together, Napoleon and Soula-Marie have also raised four daughters – 18-year-old Lianna and 16-year-old triplets Angelene, Alexia and Anthina.

The family moved to the US when the girls were all under the age of five, where they lived for over a decade before they relocated to Europe.

Now that the girls are older, Soula-Marie divides her time between her family, business and charity work.

Speaking to the Northern Star about the reality of raising four daughters while juggling work, Soula-Marie said she just "makes it work".

"It was hard work, but we made sure that the girls were always our priority – Napoleon and I are very supportive of one another, as well as our families," she said.

"It was organised chaos, but they're always the best moments."

It was announced this morning that cosmetics brand Napoleon Perdis is in liquidation.

It's believed the rapid expansion of Sephora across Australia may have impacted the company's sales.