HBO released Euphoria on June 16th, 2019. And the internet, nay the world, completely lost its mind. The show, which features veteran star Zendaya and breakout performers like Barbie Ferreira, Hunter Schafer, Jacob Elordi, Alexa Demie, and Maude Apatow (yes, that Apatow) isn’t all rainbows and sunshine. You might now expect that from Zendaya, a former Disney Channel child star. In fact, the only bright and colorful aspects of the show are the cast members’ makeup looks.
And we have Doniella Davy to thank for that.
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Before taking her immense talents to Euphoria, makeup artist and general color enthusiast Davy worked on projects like Moonlight and If Beale Street Could Talk. In this raw new show, though, the artist had the chance to really dive deep into each character’s psyche. And, seriously, in the overtly angsty teen world that makes us wonder what’s really happening in modern high schools, there’s a lot of material to serve as Davy’s inspiration. Substance abuse, physical abuse, and mental manipulation are just some of the topics that Euphoria creator Sam Levinson explores. Believe us, things get way deep in the first season’s eight-episode arc.
And how did the show’s lead makeup artist address it all?
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She used makeup to fully express Maddy (Alexa Demie) and her performative nature, for example. All those rhinestones and dramatic liner looks? Yeah, they demonstrate the character’s boldness and impeccable mask.
We can’t forget about the dramatic Kat (Barbie Ferreira) style evolution either.
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She went from unobtrusively sarcastic to in-your-face and attention-grabbing. And of course, Davy used bold makeup to mirror the transition. A full-lid green eye with a glossy nude lip? Somehow, Kat makes it work.
Jules (Hunter Schafer) does quite a bit of scene-stealing with her makeup, too.
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Her looks are wild but, somehow, still sweet. They’re endearing, whimsical, and imprecise, much like the character. According to Davy, the character and the actress both resist stereotypes. During an interview with Allure, Davy shared:
“Even though the character of Jules is transfeminine, I wanted to make sure that her makeup looks had a not-too-polished rawness to them that was more experimental and had an artistry to it that wasn’t labeling itself as something.”
Even Rue (Zendaya), who usually just wears baggy sweats and (SPOILER ALERT) her deceased dad’s old hoodie, dabbles a bit with makeup.
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One might assume that she’d completely forego decorating her face because she’s balancing addiction in addition to all the other woes of teen life. But no. Rue throws on glitter like the best of them. Of course, her glitter looks like it’s coming from her eyes (like pretty, albeit depressing, tears), but we’ll take what we can get.
To commemorate all of our favorite Euphoria characters and all of Doniella Davy’s stunning work, we decided to emulate some of the most memorable beats from the show.
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Instead of just redoing one character’s look from any one scene, though, we combined a few of our faves. We grabbed Maddy’s eye gems, Jules’s vibrant color combos, and even borrowed inspo from one of Kat’s nude lips. And if we do say so ourselves, the finished product is pretty fire.
