Babylon: Behind-the-Scenes Hair and Makeup Secrets
"Babylon" Takes Beauty Inspiration From 1920s Mugshots
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Robbie's character, Nellie, moves to Hollywood with a dream of becoming a big film star. She doesn't come from money or prestige, and she's not up to date on the latest trends. "She's young, she's free, she's wild, and she likes to party," McIntosh says. "We wanted that to show in her hair styling." To give her those messy, tousled waves, they used the Ouai Wave Spray ($28) on Robbie's wigs, followed by the Tresemmé Extra Firm Control Unscented Tres Two Hair Spray ($8) to set the look in place and the René Furterer Style Shine Mist ($33) for shine.
They wanted it to be believable that Nellie was doing her own makeup and grooming, so it was intentionally imperfect. One of the ways Thorisdottir communicated that was by not plucking Robbie's eyebrows while filming. "[Nellie] wouldn't have a tweezer," she says. She instructed Robbie to not "clean anything up" and to "just have them grow wild."
The Sunnies Face Matte Lipstick in Fluffmate ($16) was Thorisdottir's go-to for Nellie's everyday look. To give Nellie's skin a dewy finish, she mixed the Iconolab Renewal Face Oil ($98) with Robbie's foundation and used the Kosas Colour & Light Palette Powder in "Longitude Zero" ($34) on her cheeks. For her eyes, Thorisdottir kept it simple with the Chanel Le Volume de Chanel Mascara ($35) and Dark Swan of Denmark Silk Lashes ($30).
"Lots of Embryolisse Body Oil ($30)," according to Thorisdottir, was also a must.