Looking Back at the Euphoric Glam that Defined Gen Z on Screen

Beauty

“Euphoria” may be over, but makeup artist Donni Davy is just getting started. After starting her own makeup line in 2022, Davy is making maximalist makeup mainstream with Half Magic Beauty.

In season three of “Euphoria,” some characters lost everything—their dignity, their lives, even a few fingers. But makeup artist Donniella Davy ensured that none of them lost their sparkle. Across the series’ seven years, much of the show's below-the-line talent—including photographer Petra Collins, musical mastermind Labrinth, and costume designer Heidi Bivens—reshuffled. But throughout it all, Davy stayed, dousing each and every memorable scene and viral TikTok audio with a healthy amount of glitter, impeccably applied. As one of the department heads to stay on the show across all three seasons, Davy’s work exists as an aesthetic anchor of the “Euphoria” universe, reminding us of the campy high school looks we knew and loved back in 2019, even as the show ventured into Western terrain.

Davy didn't just capture the aesthetic sensibility of the online generation; she helped define it. Gen Z is a hard, if not impossible, age group to distill into a single aesthetic. Growing up in tandem to the advent of social media, our inventory of cultural references is a kaleidoscope of cultural microcosms—constantly reiterating alongside our FYP algorithms. Yesterday was GLP-1s, today it’s dotcakes. When it came to depicting Gen Z on screen, Davy didn't try to streamline a cohesive aesthetic identity that didn't necessarily exist. Instead, she created something entirely her own.

placeholder — Zendaya in "Euphoria" season one.
HBO

“Euphoria” has since become synonymous with glitter tears, face gems, fierce winged eyeliner, and a rave-fairy approach to makeup, unlike anything we could fathom coming from Hailey Bieber and the dozens of other in-vogue celebrities with beauty brands. The makeup of season one was distractingly involved—neon green eyeshadow, gold foil, and eyebrow rhinestone—while simultaneously easy to recreate at home, especially using one of Davy’s many detailed Instagram infographics as a how-to.

Donni Davy on the set of "Euphoria".
@DONNI.DAVY

In 2022, Davy partnered with A24 to launch Half Magic Beauty, a maximalist makeup brand built around the glittery aesthetic that defined “Euphoria.” Coinciding with the release of season three, the brand now has an entire section of the site dedicated to its limited-edition “Euphoria” line, which replicates iconic on-screen moments using the MUA’s tried-and-true formulas. The collaboration’s standout products include a “Feel Something” glitter puck and holographic glitterpill, compressing intensely pigmented glitter into easy-to-use formulas.

Euphoria X Half Magic Beauty Glitterpill
Half Magic Beauty

Season three of “Euphoria” saw elevated, adult versions of the high school glam viewers know and love. As Jules (Hunter Schafer) navigates the freedom and restrictions of being a cosmopolitan sugarbaby, her once fantastical alien looks take a more feminine and conventional turn. But don't worry, she still shimmers in every scene, in part thanks to the abundance of Half Magic Beauty products filling Davy’s trailer. Meanwhile, Maddy (Alexa Demie) retains her signature, cutthroat eyeliner while shedding the more juvenile glitter accents, and Cassie (Sydney Sweeney) takes cues from bombshells Pamela Anderson and Sabrina Carpenter while pursuing her OnlyFans career. Magick (Rosalía), a new-to-the-scene stripper, rocks black lipliner and pencil-thin brows of a similar shade in one of this season’s most discernible looks. Some looks signal growth and maturity, others symbolize regression, but all of them stun with a heaping topcoat of glitter.