Stevie Nicks, Fan Art, and Drugs: What Inspired the Beauty Looks in "Daisy Jones & The Six"

"When I read the script, I just thought of Jones as Stevie Nicks," Hennings says. The main difference between the fictional rockstar Jones and very-real rockstar Nicks is the former's red hair colour. Within the first few pages of the book we're introduced to Jones and her recognisable colour. It's an integral part of the character, which Hennings prioritised for the show. Even Riley Keough, who plays the show's titular character, felt strongly about Jones's look. According to Vanity Fair, the actress looked at fan art to inspire her vision of the character.

In addition to the colour, Hemmings also cut Keough's fringe. Although the curtain bang hairstyle was popular during that time period, the look wasn't what flattered Keough's face shape, so she opted for a straight fringe instead.

When we first meet Jones, she's a young woman finding her way in the world. She isn't a rockstar yet, so Hennings didn't want her to look like one. Thanks to Keough's "insane amount of hair," she focussed more on taming her look until Jones's rockstar phase commenced. By the time Daisy Jones & The Six toured for their hit album "Aurora," Hemmings enhanced her curls with an iron — her favourite hot tool to use on set was the Dyson Corrale™ Hair Straightener (£400).

Wachtel used both Nicks and German model and actress Ursula "Uschi" Obermaier as inspiration for Jones's makeup. "I liked how [Obermaier's] skin tone and the kind of deconstructed makeup looked," she says. One particular look of Jones's in the show was inspired by a vintage advertisement, which featured a soft winged-out eyeshadow look that took up the whole lid; she knew that it had to be one of Jones's show looks.

The show was supposed to begin filming before the pandemic, but as COVID-19 worsened, everything came to a halt. The cast took that time off to sharpen their musical skills — and to grow out their hair. Hennings says that, whenever she can, she prefers to use an actor's natural hair, so that long break worked in the hair team's favour. A wig was considered for Jones, but Hemmings tossed the idea. "[Keough] is so petite and soft that the wig just didn't work," she says.

Sam Claflin and Will Harrison, who play Billy and Graham Dunne respectively, didn't need wigs. After having the two actors grow out their short hair, Hennings shaped their looks to resemble each other's — they are brothers after all. Band member Karen Sirko, played by Suki Waterhouse, did have a few extensions added to her look. Hennings used Debbie Harry and Brigitte Bardot as inspiration for the edgy keyboardist, so the additional volume and length in which extensions could offer made sense. "[Sirko] is a little more early punk mixed with rock and roll," she says. "She's created her own thing." While no one character had a signature look, Wachtel did give Sirko a defining feature: a thick cat-eye (one Waterhouse often teased on TikTok).

Simone Jackson (Nabiyah Be), best friend to Jones and rising disco star, did wear wigs. Since the show starts in the early '70s, the character begins with a traditional Afro. She's more established than Jones, but as a Black singer in a predominantly white industry she faces adversities the other characters do not. As she becomes more successful, her Afro gets bigger. "Diana Ross was my inspiration," Hennings says. "When you think disco, it is Diana Ross."

Although there are a lot of side plots in the fictional oral history, the main story revolves around Jones and Billy Dunne's creative and personal relationship. Their contentious connection becomes a problem for not only the band, but for Dunne's wife Camila Dunne (Camila Morrone). It was important for Hennings to show a visual contrast between the two characters.

"I wanted people to fall in love with both of them," Hennings says. While Jones's hair is usually based on her mood — and sobriety — Camila's hair reflects her earthy, Californian aesthetic. "Camila just reminds me of a flower child and everything's soft and dreamy," she says. "My inspiration for her was Ali MacGraw." Hennings confirmed that Priscilla Presley was in her research for Camila's look, too.

Although their makeup didn't drastically differ — Wachtel used a lot of the same base products on both actresses — Camila's usual lip colour was the Charlotte Tilbury Lip Cheat Lip Liner ($25) in Pillow Talk.

Before becoming a household name, Jones was a fresh-faced, glowy, and rosy-cheeked L.A. teen. Wachtel focussed on creating a creamy natural, sun-kissed base for Keough using products like the Chantecaille Future Skin Foundation, Koh Gen Do Aqua Foundation, SOL Bronzing Balm, and Evan Healy Luna Glow Balm. She also used the Julie Hewett Cheekie in Rosie on the bridge of her nose and cheeks for added warmth. And while it may be a relatively new brand, the Kosasport LipFuel Hyaluronic Acid Lip Balm in Rush made for Jones's perfect your-lips-but-better colour in the early '70s.

"[Jones] is supposed to be this free spirit. Even when she became famous I didn't think she'd be wearing a lot of makeup," Wachtel says. "We kept that same kind of style and just changed the colours up." One particular moment in the show when Wachtel had to intensify the character's makeup is during the band's final show in Chicago. Wachtel created the soon-to-be-iconic look by covering Keough's lids with the Inglot AMC Eyeliner Gel #77 and smudging the gel liner into a cat-eye shape. She topped off the darker look with the Lemonhead Spacepaste in Gildebeest. For a couple onstage performances, Wachtel swapped out Jones's go-to pink lip for the MAC Cosmetics Lip Pencil in Brick. The rockstar glow (i.e. lots of sweat) was recreated using the Jones Road Miracle Balm and, for even sweatier moments, the Josie Maran Argan Infinity Cream Intensive Creamy Oil.

Even before she becomes a rockstar, Jones parties like one. Her substance use disorder becomes even more apparent in her hair and makeup. "I always tried being ahead of her character, like if this were me what would I do if I woke up in the morning. I'm hungover, I did too many drugs last night, what would I do with my hair? Would I do anything?" Hennings says, adding that she also had to think practically about certain scenes portraying this part of Jones's life. For example, if there would be a scene where Jones would be using cocaine, Hennings might've added little braids into the character's hair so it wouldn't interfere with the camera shot.

Wachtel also changed Keough's skin tone to reflect the character's progressive addiction to drugs. As Jones becomes less stable, her bright healthy complexion becomes washed out. Wachtel began swapping out warm tones for cooler ones to emphasise this drastic change in Jones's appearance. The worse she feels, the heavier her makeup looks, too. It's at her lowest point that Wachtel uses a heavier lip and darker eye on Jones. She also added redness around her nose as a result of the drug use.

For example, Wachtel and Keough always knew they wanted to use a blue eyeshadow on Jones, they just needed the right scene and costume to use it for. Eventually, that time came during one performance on the "Aurora" tour. You might recognise the look from the trailer: Jones is falling back into the crowd of fans, her "marinated" makeup on full display. Her eyes are covered in blue eyeshadow and her red lipstick is intentionally melted and smudged. "She looks a little crazy because she's supposed to look a little crazy," Wachtel says. "She's becoming unhinged."

Tattoo coverage took up a lot of time in the makeup trailer. Keough's eight tattoos had to be covered every day. The actress was getting a regular spray tan, but it was more difficult to maintain than expected. Instead, Wachtel used body makeup on Keough from head to toe. "Her costumes are barely anything for most of [the show]. We got real close," she says.

"Almost all of the cast had tattoos, especially Sebastian [Chacon], who is the drummer and wears no shirt and a vest," she says. In general, Chacon, who plays Warren Rhodes, took the longest in the trailer because of this. In fact, he had two artists working on him every day — they had it down to a science.