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The Beauty Transformations in Freeform's Cruel Summer

Cruel Summer's Hairstylist on What Really Went Into Those '90s Beauty Transformations

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Freeform's Cruel Summer is the latest psychological thriller everybody is talking about right now. Taking place over the course of three years — 1993, 1994, and 1995 — the series follows the lives of a group of teenagers, and it's just as filled with drama as it is great '90s hair and makeup moments.

The main characters on the show Kate Wallis (played by Olivia Holt), Jeanette Turner (Chiara Aurelia), Mallory Higgins (Harley Quinn Smith), and Vince Fuller (Allius Barnes) get to change looks not once, not twice, but three times throughout the series thanks to the evolving plot. The hair and makeup teams responsible for orchestrating these changes were able to pull from the best mood board of all for the looks: their own personal experiences.

"I had friends that wore the styles the girls wear in the show and there were styles that the men wear that I, of course, wore during the '90s," Dugg Kirkpatrick, head of the show's hair department, told POPSUGAR. Meanwhile, makeup department head Sheila Trujillo pulled from pop culture, as well as the beginning of her career in the '90s, too. "All the fun television shows that I used to watch back in the day are pretty much what I pulled from," said Trujillo. "Melrose Place was a big one, Friends, of course, Beverly Hills 90210, and Clueless was huge."

Ahead, learn more about the inspiration for the characters and behind-the-scenes secrets from set from Kirkpatrick and Trujillo.

Image Source: Freeform

Jeanette Turner's "Geeky" Beauty Look on Cruel Summer

The person who goes through arguably the biggest evolution in Cruel Summer is Jeanette. As an outcast turned new "it" girl turned public enemy number-one, Jeanette drastically changes her hair and makeup to fit in with her social status every year. When we're first introduced to her, her hair is in long, crimped waves. The goal was to make it look like Jeanette brushed out her natural curls. "It's prior to her awakening, so to speak — before her braces came off, her glasses came off, her skin clears up, and she learns to style her hair in '94," said Kirkpatrick. "She's just a geeky girl."

Because she's not really interested in beauty yet, her makeup was similarly subtle with slightly rosy cheeks, bushy eyebrows, and hardly anything on the skin. "That's her real innocent look," said Trujillo. "But you wonder, how innocent is she really?"

Image Source: Freeform

Jeanette Turner's "Popular" Beauty Look on Cruel Summer

The slight frizziness of Jeanette's hair and modest makeup in '93 make her second phase in '94 with the pin-straight hair all the more impactful. "She wanted to be that beautiful, popular, blond girl in school," said Kirkpatrick. Kate's disappearance felt like the perfect time to do just that.

"When she's the hot girl, Jeanette's colour palette was lots of browns — these were the colours that were popular back then," said Trujillo. She used brown lipstick and brown eyeshadow to establish Jeanette's look, and contoured her face to fake the progression of age.

Image Source: Freeform

Jeanette Turner's Disheveled Beauty Look on Cruel Summer

But as we know from the trailer, Jeannete's time at the top was short-lived. Her life quickly becomes completely derailed and her outward appearance follows. That choppy bob haircut that looks like she did it in her bathroom with a pair of kitchen scissors? It was masterfully created by Kirkpatrick in a scenario that wasn't too far off.

"I actually put the wig on myself and chopped it myself in the mirror to create that look of 'I've done this myself,'" he said. "I don't know about you, but there've been times in my life where I feel like, I really hate what's happening to me right now. I think I'll cut my hair off. I've done that before so I put myself in her shoes to create that look."

Image Source: Freeform

Kate Wallis's "Popular" Beauty Look on Cruel Summer

If Kate reminded you a bit of Rachel Greene and Cher Horowitz blended together, that's the intention. "Her colour palette is very pinks, which was also very popular in the '90s, so I kept everything really fresh and bright," said Trujillo. She used all MAC Cosmetics products in Kate's look because that's what "everybody chic used at the time."

But Kate wouldn't be complete without her bright blond blowout. "In '93, I wanted her to be the stereotypical American blond girl," said Kirkpatrick. He wanted to make her highlights look intentionally unnatural, that way you knew she frequented a hair salon. "It showed she paid attention to how she looked and tried to improve herself," he said.

Image Source: Freeform

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Kate Wallis's Beauty Look After She Was Kidnapped on Cruel Summer

We see that perfect blond fade away, quite literally, after Kate is kidnapped. "In that time, she wouldn't go to a salon — her highlights and her bleaching would grow out — so, that's where we showed the passage of time with darker, new growth in her hair," said Kirkpatrick.

Kate's makeup look changed, too, from light and bright pink tones to grunge, another popular makeup trend in the '90s. "That's when she was going through her rebellious phase," said Trujillo. "It was so great to be able to use makeup to convey to the audience where she was in her mind."

Eyeliner was Trujillo's secret weapon for pulling off Kate's grunge look, but not just any eyeliner. "Pencil eyeliner was something I had to get used to again, because I haven't done a pencil eyeliner in 10 years — now we use powders, gel liner — but pencil liners were everything in the 90s."

Image Source: Freeform

Mallory Higgins's and Vince Fuller's Beauty Transformations on Cruel Summer

Kate and Jeanette weren't the only ones to undergo big changes in their appearance over the course of the three years. Mallory, who started out with "bottle-blond colour hair" with a few pink highlights mixed in, trades it for a sleeker, edgier look by the end. "In '95, she breaks out, cuts her hair into some bangs, she uses a flat iron," said Kirkpatrick. His inspiration was Courtney Love, who he used to do hair for. "I had a hair piece of Courtney's in my kit that I used on her years ago, a toupee, and put it on Mallory and turned it into her grunge look."

Vince, the other best friend of Jeanette and Mallory, got to try three looks over the course of the show as well. In the first year, he started with his natural afro, the second year he wore his hair in twists, and the third year, he had locs.

"Those were masterfully created by Mia Atkins, who is one of my hairstylists," said Kirkpatrick. "I asked her to make hair locs for him and it took her about a week and a half to do." Those hair pieces allowed us to transition Vince between the three hairstyles for filming in less than an hour. "He also felt like he looked older with the locs, which was exactly what we wanted."

Image Source: Freeform

The Makeup and Skin-Care Products In Jeanette Turner's Look

Before makeup, Trujillo prepped Aurelia using the Drunk Elephant Lala Retro Whipped Moisturiser ($60) because she has very sensitive skin. "Then, instead of using a ton of powder, I used blotting papers [to get rid of shine]," she said. "So she still had kind of a dewy look."

For both Aurelia and Holt, Trujillo used Koh Gen Do Maifanshi Moisture Foundation ($79). Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush in Blushing Bride ($29) was used for Jeanette's rosy cheeks and Clé De Peau Beuté Radiant Corrector for Eyes Liquid Concealer ($65) under her eyes. "Good, old L'Oréal Paris Voluminous Mascara ($9) was a staple — it's inexpensive it's appropriate for the time, and it's appropriate for the age."

Image Source: Neiman Marcus
Drunk Elephant Lala Retro Whipped Moisturiser
$60
from sephora.com
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Koh Gen Do Maifanshi Moisture Foundation
$79
from neimanmarcus.com
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Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush in Blushing Bride
$29
from sephora.com
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Clé De Peau Beuté Radiant Corrector for Eyes Liquid Concealer
$65
from nordstrom.com
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L'Oréal Paris Voluminous Mascara
$9
from ulta.com
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The Makeup and Skin-Care Products In Kate Wallis's Look

To prep Holt for makeup, Trujillo used a five-step routine comprised of the Innisfree Green Tea Seed Essence-in-Lotion ($84), Fresh Black Tea Firming Eye Serum ($72), Danessa Myricks Beauty Oil ($30), and Tatcha Silken Pore Perfecting Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 35 PA+++ ($65).

Because Kate was supposed to look like a '90s MAC girl through and through Trujillo used primarily the brand's products on her. "I used Eyeshadow in Haux ($18) on her eyelid, primed the lid with the Longwear Paint Pot Cream Eyeshadow in Groundwork ($23), and used the Powerpoint Eye Pencil ($19)," she said. Kate's lip colour started out as a matte lipstick in the shade Mehr ($19) in '93, a mid-tone mauve pink, and change to a grey-brown in '95 called Coffee and Cigarettes ($21).

Image Source: Courtesy of Sheila Trujillo
Innisfree Green Tea Seed Essence-in-Lotion
$84
from innisfree.com
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Fresh Black Tea Firming Eye Serum
$72
from fresh.com
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Danessa Myricks Beauty Oil
$30
from danessamyricksbeauty.com
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Tatcha Silken Pore Perfecting Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 35 PA+++
$65
from sephora.com
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Eyeshadow in Haux
$18
from maccosmetics.com
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Longwear Paint Pot Cream Eyeshadow in Groundwork
$23
from nordstrom.com
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Powerpoint Eye Pencil
$19
from maccosmetics.com
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Mehr
$19
from maccosmetics.com
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Coffee and Cigarettes
$21
from maccosmetics.com
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