38 • THEARTISAN SUMMER 2020
BY DONIELLA DAVY | DEPARTMENTHEADMAKEUP
MAKE-UP
GETTINGHIRED
Writer/director Sam Levinson already had a powerful vision for
the Euphoria make-up before I even came in for my interview, but I
didn't know that. I showed him a slideshow of gritty photographs
of teenagers by photographers Nan Goldin and Larry Clark, fi lm
stills of Christina Ricci's light-blue eyeshadow from Buffalo 66,
and images from various Gen Z Instagrams: girls with peach hair,
black lips, sharp-winged eyeliner, and colorful eyelids.
With enthusiastic hand gestures, Sam explained to me that
what he really wanted was innovative beauty looks that would not
only create a colorful map of the characters' emotional ups and
downs, but also usher the concept of make-up as self-expression
into the mainstream.
He gave me full permission and encouragement to go wildly
out of my comfort zone and create the kinds of looks that beauty
YouTubers "dream of." He said he wanted people to pause the
show just to look at the make-up. Sam wanted glitter, rhine-
stones, pastels and neons—and for me to expand on those medi-
ums in a way that fi lm and TV make-up doesn't often call for.
MYINITIALTHOUGHTS
The make-up needed to have a strong visual impact, but also
needed to show up in our story with a sense of ease and normalcy
so the audience would accept it as part of the "everyday" for these
Continued on page 40
EUPHORIA
