In an email chat, Daisy Jones & The Six Makeup Head Rebecca Wachtel reveals how she depicted Daisy’s journey through makeup as well as aging the cast.
Makeup can be such an underrated storytelling tool, and with her work on Daisy Jones & The Six, makeup department head Rebecca Wachtel uses this craft to show audiences how Daisy Jones (Riley Keough) started as a fresh-faced wanna-be singer-songwriter only to become a full-fledged rock star.
I learned a lot about Daisy’s evolution in an email chat with Wachtel. See below what she had to say about the makeup on the series, including aging the actors and the celebrity inspirations behind some of the band members’ looks.
Awards Daily: Were you a fan of the book before you took on this series?
Rebecca Wachtel: I had heard of the book, but not yet read it. When I was hired on the show, the first thing I did was read the book. I absolutely loved it and devoured it in a day. I took notes on the characters all the while to be sure I stayed true to the book in creating their looks.
AD: How did you aim to capture the vibe of the 1970s? What kind of makeup trends did you hone in on?
RW: For me, capturing the vibe of the 1970s means many things. I wanted to be sure all walks of life were represented in some fashion. The show primarily delves into the Laurel Canyon rock scene, which has a specific down-to-earth, natural feel. But we also see a peek into the NYC underground LGBTQIA+ disco scene. I researched so many varying aesthetics, from early British and American punk, conservative, small-town Pennsylvania, hippies, and upscale artists to create a balanced feel with the cast and what the particular scenes required. With background actors, we would shape facial hair on the men and ensure the ladies’ nail shape and color, as well as their makeup looks, were appropriate for the particular year the scene took place in.
AD: How does Daisy’s makeup evolve over the course of the series? I love how when we last see her on stage, she’s like covered in eye makeup. It’s so much darker and more dramatic!
RW: Daisy had the biggest makeup journey of all the cast. I needed to show a progression of her starting out young, becoming famous and getting heavier into drugs, the drugs slowly taking their toll on her, to finally her overdose. She then becomes a clean slate and builds back slowly to being semi-healthy. I also had her age makeup and 1980s pops. To do the above, I created a glowy and rosy complexion for the first five episodes, giving her a healthy, natural beauty look. Her character wasn’t a “makeup wearing” person in her youth. She was rebelling from her wealthy family and embracing the natural vibe of the era. Her trip to Greece changes that. She is reimagining who she is, and at this time, I kept her glowy skin and started to add washes of color on her eyelids in warm copper tones to match her hair. This theme carries on when she travels back to the states. For
her show look, I kept a style that was in Daisy’s realm but that was a little bumped up. She was never an eyeliner-heavy makeup wearer, so I used washes of color on her lid shaped into a triangle “cat” shape that was of the era yet still original to Daisy. She is a rockstar and has a style unique to her. We decided on varying red lip tones for her performances.
As the drugs start to wear her down, her skin tone loses the rosy glow and becomes more washed out. At this time, I shift her eye shadows to cooler tones, blues, purples, and silver. Dark circles and redness around her eyes and nose start to appear and become heavier. She ultimately overdoses, and we see her skin tone broken down with smudged, leftover show makeup around her eyes. After this point, I kept her bare-skinned and raw to reflect her emotional state. She then returns to her known show makeup look for a few performances. The final “dark eye” show look has its own story. She is an emotional mess after the call with her mother; she’s taking drugs and having a breakdown. She messily paints her eyes with her fingers creating a “beautiful imperfect mess” of black. She adds gold glitter on top in ode to Disco Queen Simone, her best friend. Her blush is heavy, and her lip color is a deep red. This is true to actual styles of the time. It’s late ’70s when these heavier looks are becoming more popular. The glitter on her face transfers to Billy when they kiss before the show, which he then carries it through until he sees Camila later, with the underlying meaning that Daisy is still part of him.
For Daisy’s age makeup, it’s the late 1990s, so I kept her in a general tone and style of the era with warm brown/rust on her lips. Her eye makeup is heavier with black liner that she has adopted as her style in time. I still left the eye makeup a touch messy. I felt this is true to who Daisy is and always was: a little not-completely-pulled-together. I aged her with tones to highlight and shade her face, created deeper set eyes and added texture and fine lines to her skin. Riley also had eight tattoos that I covered daily, and then I applied body makeup to any visible skin to give her a ’70s LA tan.
AD: Did you do any kind of specific makeup for the aging of the actors in the interview sequences?
RW: Yes, we aged them by adding highlights and shadows to accentuate the natural aging process, as well as adding texture and wrinkles to the face. Each character aged differently, as we went with a personal style they would have evolved into. This meant facial hair changes on the men and makeup style shifts on the women.
AD: I know everyone always talks about the women’s makeup, but what kind of makeup did you use on the men, like Sam Claflin (Billy Dunne)?
RW: The men also had makeup. I wanted to be sure they still looked natural. With Sam, I prepped with Evanhealy Whipped Shea Butter and Olive Leaf moisturizer to give an under glow to his skin. I used two tones of tinted oils to build contour and warmth to the face. Cream bronzer was applied to his high points to give a sun kissed look. I shaped and maintained his facial hair and sideburns as well. Sam, along with much of the cast, had tattoos that we covered daily. Sebastian [Chacon] (Warren) specifically has nine tattoos on his arm, chest, and back that we covered, seeing as many of his costumes showed his bare chest and arms. Sebastian had a custom-made mustache. Josh and Tom also had custom-made sideburns that we applied.
AD: Were you inspired by any specific rock stars from the time period?
RW: I watched many documentaries on the music scene from the era. I took attributes from certain musicians that I felt would work for a specific character. Sebastian’s mustache was inspired by John Oates. Karen’s (Suki Waterhouse) early 1970s looks were inspired by Brigitte Bardot, and she shifts into a Debbie Harry feel for the late ’70s and documentary look.
AD: Since it’s not based on history, did you take any liberties with the makeup that were not true to the period?
RW: No, I thought it was important to stick with makeup styles from the time. I wanted it to
feel as authentic as possible.
Daisy Jones & The Six is streaming on Amazon Prime.