In Euphoria Season 3, the Glam Tells the Clearest Story

Euphoria’s third and final season has officially come to a close. The finale, which aired on HBO Sunday night, brought the series’ unforgettable characters and crime-racked world to a rollicking end only Sam Levinson could create. Season three has been quite a ride—between the surprise deaths, biblical references, unexpected character arcs, and dubious fetish portrayals, this round of the controversial show has produced more questions for loyal fans than it has answered.

But one aspect has remained steadfast—the beauty direction. Ending Euphoria, which first premiered in 2019, meant the makeup, hair, and skincare had to be the clearest and most powerful vehicle for storytelling.

In the first two seasons of the hit show, the characters’ aimlessness, grief, experimentation, angst, and yearning were displayed directly on their faces: glitter tears, electric eyeliner, and rhinestones galore made Euphoria beauty a mainstay (and a source of inspiration for other makeup artists). This season, meanwhile, the looks—while nowhere near dull in comparison—are precise, dark, intense, and dramatic, leaving much of the glitz behind. Head makeup artist and lead makeup designer for the show, Donni Davy, refers to the style as “feral glam”—the best way to sum up the season’s mood as characters claw their ways out of their adolescence and into an even more unforgiving world. “I understood immediately upon reading [the scripts] that this season was not going to be about whimsical self-expression or finding different versions of themselves,” Davy tells W. “The motive is not self-discovery, it’s not dreamy, it’s not like anything we’ve done before.” With high aspirations and higher stakes, the only elements at the center of the characters’ minds are money, success, and fame. They will use any means necessary to arrive at those goals, including how they choose to paint their faces.

Sex work is a central theme of the final season—played out in the storylines of Silver Slipper dancers, Cassie’s OnlyFans career pursuits, and high-end escorts like Jules. As such, Davy explains that the male gaze drives the aesthetics of Cassie (Sydney Sweeney), Jules (Hunter Schafer), and Maddy (Alexa Demie). Any sense of creative expression and innocence is long gone—now, there is an aggressive sense of hustle within these characters that’s reflected in their glam.

“It’s not all about money,” Davy clarifies. “It’s also about notoriety, recognition, and survival. And all of those things are so tied together now, in modern times. Cassie wants fame, Maddy wants status and also definitely money, and Jules wants this elevated life.” Lexi sports a full beat to work, particularly with a bold red lip as she steps into an exciting industry, attempting to prove her worth as a writer. Davy refers to Maddy’s makeup as a “grown-up, professional version of herself: striking, old Hollywood, and classic with almost no color.” Cassie is striving for straight-up sex appeal, while Jules is stifled by her own escort work and therefore takes on a “vacant” look.

Cassie’s attempts to capture male attention and a life of fame at any cost reveals a clear political affiliation, Davy says. “I thought, ‘oh my god, she’s a Republican,’” the makeup artist says. “I didn’t lean into that part too much, because it’s boring.” Instead, she drew inspiration from an issue of Hustler Magazine given to her by Levinson. Davy crafted looks for Cassie that were hypersexual (think: ultra juicy lip gloss and shimmery eyes). When it came to Jules, it was clear to Davy that the character was wrestling with her choices; as a result, her beauty routines displayed a level of moody discretion. She’s feminine and sexy, but “not in the traditional TV way, with the super smoky eye and red lip,” Davy explains.

Across all the show’s characters, Davy believes Jules takes the greatest departure from her first-season self, and therefore so does her glam. But the difference in the whimsical, sparkling looks from previous seasons lies in this round’s dark materials. “Everyone in the beginning was like, ‘What happened to the glitter?’” Davy says of the concluding Euphoria season’s makeup. “There is still glitter! Kitty (Anna Van Patten) and Magick (Rosalía) have rhinestones.” There is, of course, also a heavy dose of special effects for all those gory bits.