How “Euphoria” Changed the Way We See Makeup on TV

Zendaya in HBO's "Euphoria"

Euphoria gave us more breakout stars than we can count, but one of them doesn’t even appear on the screen. Doniella Davy is the makeup artists behind the incredible looks that added an entirely new level of complexity to our favorite characters.

Davy’s beauty looks are unlike anything we’ve seen on TV, but they’re actually rooted in reality. While discussing her process with Interview Magazine, makeup maestro behind HBO’s hit teen show explained that she drew inspiration from Instagram, and described her looks as an “ode to what Gen Z is doing right now”.

Paying tribute to Gen Z was extremely important to this makeup visionary, but she always put characters first. Instead of creating a single everyday look for each character, she embraced a completely different approach and used makeup as a way to express their emotional turmoil.

“This was completely different because [showrunner] Sam [Levinson] wanted the makeup to be its own full expression of what was going on with the characters. If they’re experiencing different emotions and circumstances in all these scenes, then the makeup had to be different,” Doniella Davy told Allure.