It’s almost an understatement to say that “Euphoria” revolutionized the cosmetics industry — not just for the makeup and crafts departments in the TV landscape, but the entire billion-dollar consumer market as a whole.
“Euphoria” makeup department head Donni Davy got a glimmer of the glitter trend she single-handedly started during Season 1. Yet the fandom continued throughout the viral Season 2, pushing Davy to keep reinventing the looks of each character, whether it was Cassie (Sydney Sweeney) cosplaying in the high school halls while trying to keep Nate (Jacob Elordi) interested or Jules (Hunter Schaefer) making head-turning statements with her clubbing aesthetics.
The popularity of the hit HBO series, which has confirmed a Season 3, now has a certain standard of makeup to uphold.
In short, what trend will Davy start next?
“[With] Season 1, no, I did not think it would go viral. I didn’t think it would shift the beauty industry or that the beauty industry would react,” Davy told IndieWire during a recent interview. “I thought maybe people would think, ‘Hey, this is really cool for TV makeup. It’s different. Side note: “Euphoria” is great and the makeup’s cool, too.’ That’s what I thought would happen. I had no idea it would literally create a movement, which is crazy.”
Now, there is a certain pressure.
“Absolutely, it’s hard not to think about that,” Davy said. “When I’m designing Season 2 and then Season 3, I’m like, ‘OK, so there’s an audience that’s watching this show for the makeup.’ That is what I’ve been told hundreds and hundreds of times. So, it’s hard to ignore that.”
While plot details are scarce for Season 3, series creator Sam Levinson has previously said that the third installment will be a noir centered on Zendaya’s Rue, with a time jump taking all of the characters out of high school. Davy was hired for “Euphoria” after working on the 2018 neo-noir “Under the Silver Lake,” which starred Riley Keough and Andrew Garfield. “Under the Silver Lake” and “Euphoria” are both A24 productions.
“I was told in the beginning that a director of a new pilot for HBO about teenagers wanted to meet with me about this new HBO pilot, and that he liked my work on ‘Under the Silver Lake,’” Davy said. “It’s so weird and great and I loved the makeup on that. [‘Under the Silver Lake’] was like a true makeup artist’s dream. I guess it kind of was the precursor to the ‘Euphoria’ makeup. It’s anyone’s dream to just do one job and then that job is seen by other cool creatives who then want to bring you on to their cool show. It was a really nice moment in my career of the work speaking for itself.”
According to Davy, Levinson wanted the same glitter, sparkly look from “Under the Silver Lake” on “Euphoria.”
“It was really colorful and just really high texture, high visible makeup that totally went with the storyline because both were so intense on ‘Under the Silver Lake,’” Davy said. “I mean, Sam, he’s not afraid of makeup, which is really cool. As a first-time TV director, he didn’t have any pre-established feelings that makeup could or would be distracting because a lot of directors out there kind of feel that way about makeup. That’s why TV makeup is so boring most of the time. And I had always kind of not been interested in doing TV. When I read the ‘Euphoria’ scripts, and when Sam told me he wanted the makeup to really be visible and be expressive, I was like, ‘This could be a really cool chance to kind of redefine what TV makeup can do.‘ It was free rein to go hard and push boundaries.”
She added, “Although I would always kind of check with Sam. I might show him visuals or if I wasn’t sure about something, tell him that I’m thinking about this also. I always allow for that kind of collaboration. My job, at the end of the day, is not just to come in and do cool makeup: It’s really to deliver what the project needs, to really fulfill the vision that the director has, so I’m always like, ‘You can give me free rein and that’s amazing, but I’m still going to proceed cautiously because I really want to make sure it’s the right look that’s not going to be distracting and that is going to say enough about the character.’ I really try to focus totally just on the script, just on the world, and not what people are expecting to see.”
As is widely known about “Euphoria,” scripts change on set and the production itself is usually in flux as part of Levinson’s creative process. So, too, do the makeup looks.
“Things get changed on the fly all the time,” said Davy, who has three core team members in her department. “And then when they do, that’s really part of how I work. It’s very much on the fly. It’s kind of fluid. It’s just like feelings change, the vibe on set changes, or maybe something in the dialogue might change, and I’m like, ‘This scene is a lot more tender than I thought. OK, let’s tone down the lip a little bit so it’s not like distracting during this moment when it’s really kind of important for the audience to lock in with the character’s eyes,’ for example. Or if the outfit completely changes, and I’m like, ‘OK. Instead of wearing pajamas, she’s coming home from being out.’ Or vice versa, now she’s not going out, she’s just in bed, so wipe the makeup off. Lots of things like that happen on the fly all the time, and I like working like that. I’m not married to or locked into any of the looks that I design and prep my team on. I always prep them on the fact that things might totally change last minute. So, be prepared for anything.”
That includes being prepared to work for months during production. Davy was quick to note, though, that a long shoot is not uncommon for the show: Seasons 1 and 2 were each eight months to film. “It’s a long show,” Davy said. “And I am in it for the long haul.”
Season 3, too, will be the first season with a “more toned down” aesthetic. The characters are no longer teenagers, and the new makeup choices for each actor could point to plot details — so bye-bye to the signature sparkles.
“Certain things are more toned down, but then because of the storyline, there’s moments when certain things get even more toned up,” Davy hinted. “It’ll be different from Season 2, but it won’t be minimal across the board. The storylines dictate the makeup, and each of the characters will have certain moments that are more minimal and certain moments that are more maximal. But what I can say is that you’re not going to see a lot of neons and Season 1 era sparkle. It’s going to be more refined.”
As the show moves into a more adult, noir style, Davy also reflected on her favorite looks in the series thus far.
“I really, really loved Jules’ New Year’s Eve party look in Season 2 with the double inner eye spike. That was one of my favorites,” Davy said. “I thought Cassie’s look with the white eyeliner that has rhinestones on it when she comes to school and she looks like Maddy was really funny because I feel it looked like a Maddy look on her. It just shows the power of makeup.”
Of course, there’s also the infamous Shelley Duvall-esque “never, ever been happier” scene with Sweeney’s Cassie, too. The oft-memed sequence has Sweeney in big lashes and a Robert Altman’s “Nashville” style gingham dress.
“We were going for a very specific look for that one. I wanted her to look really good and really cute, but obviously totally too much,” Davy said. “It had to come off comical a little, but not with her looking like a clown. So, we were just trying to keep it right in riding that fine line, because if we had gone more clownish or used a super-saturated blue eyeshadow, I think the whole thing would have just felt a little gimmicky. Instead it looked kind of delicate. Cassie was thoughtful about it, which kind of makes the whole thing a little bit more like heartbreaking when everyone’s telling her she looks like shit.”
Do any of the “Euphoria” actors ever have feedback or ideas about their makeup?
“I mean, the actors are totally invited to collaborate as much as they want. It’s kind of inconsistent sometimes, whatever they feel like doing. One day an actor could come in and just be totally just whatever, do what you want, cool, that sounds good. And then another day it could be this whole, long in-depth conversation. I’m down and prepared for either one,” Davy said. “My designs do not need collaboration from the cast. I’m not relying on them to make decisions. But if they want to participate, I love that. That’s kind of my favorite way to do it because then the looks just come together in a really thoughtful way and they feel really authentic to the character.”
That series authenticity can now be bought by viewers, too. Season 3 will usher in the official inclusion of Davy’s own cosmetics line Half Magic Beauty, which will be available to buy at retailers.
“Half Magic Beauty is going to be all over the show this year, which is very exciting,” Davy said. “It was actually in Season 2 quite a bit, but we were using lab samples and stuff, and now we get to fully stock the trailer with Half Magic, which is so exciting. And we might get to do some product placement as well, which would be really great.”
Half Magic Beauty is co-founded by “Euphoria” creator Sam Levinson, executive producer Ashley Levinson, and studio A24, with Davy citing that A24 is her “primary founder.”
It’ll take more than half a year for Half Magic Beauty to be in “Euphoria” Season 3, but with what Davy can share, it seems the beauty looks are once again about to disrupt makeup as we know it.
