'Off Campus' Is a Masterclass in Gen Z Beauty

Beauty

Hair department head Debra Wiebe and makeup department head Leah Ehman break down how they created the refreshingly real hair and makeup looks of the addictive college drama.

There's a reason the cast of "Off Campus" looks so startlingly, almost unnervingly real. No Instagram-filter perfection, no caked-on contour, no hair that looks like it's never seen a humid day. Instead, there are visible freckles, lived-in curls, and a flush that looks like it actually came from somewhere. And that's largely down to two women: Debra Wiebe and Leah Ehman, the show's respective hair and makeup department heads. Their approach maps almost perfectly onto how young people actually think about beauty right now—as something expressive, character-driven, and refreshingly unfinished.

If you’ve somehow managed to miss the memo, “Off Campus” is based on Elle Kennedy’s bestselling book series of the same name and follows Garrett Graham (Belmont Cameli), a popular jock, and Hannah Wells (Ella Bright), a music student, who inadvertently cross paths and fall in love. The eight-episode first season (there’s a second already on the way) reached 36 million viewers in its first 12 days of streaming, making it Prime Video’s third-largest debut series ever.

Ehman, a mom to kids in their twenties—just like the cast—brought something more personal than technical expertise to the job. "I think I really poured that love into the characters and that understanding of what kids are going through, so I could bond," she says. She dove into each character's backstory before picking up a single brush: where they grew up, their traumas, how they were written in Kennedy's books. And rather than imposing a look, she let the actors have a say—an instinct that paid off in ways that ended up on screen. Mika Abdalla, who plays Allie Hayes, chose long, funky nails to connect with her character, while Garrett Latin's tattoo ribcage (which translates to "there is no free lunch") was all Cameli's own idea, and the tattoo sits exactly where his surname falls on his sports jersey.

Hannah (Ella Bright) in "Off Campus."
Prime Video

placeholder — Hannah (Ella Bright) in "Off Campus."
Prime Video

Hannah (Ella Bright) and Justin (Josh Heuston) in "Off Campus."
Prime Video

For Hannah, Ehman wanted her to look fresh-faced, rather than seductive, because “of what she went through." As she explains: "I wanted her to look like how I hope my children look at school: clean, scrubbed face, no contour, no powder, no lip liner, nothing like that. Hannah was a character that I cared so deeply about, like my own daughter.” As such, Hannah's face were left mostly bare—a slick of Saie Slip Tint, a dab of Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Liquid Blush in Happy, and a swipe of lip balm was her go-to look. It's essentially the no-makeup makeup approach that's all over Z's TikTok feeds right now: skin that looks like skin, not a surface. For her hair, Wiebe initially kept it smooth and controlled, blow-drying it the same way for every scene. Hannah wasn't the kind of girl who'd experiment—at least not when we first meet her.

On the other hand, Ehman wanted best friend Alle to look more "charismatic and excited about life." Her character is unapologetically in tune with her femininity and sexuality—closer to the maximalist, dopamine-dressing end of the Gen Z beauty dial. "I wanted her to be glowing and excited and flushed," explains Ehman. "You know, I wanted that beautiful sexual energy to be pouring out of her." Her freckles, nails, and lips were treated to stand out. Her makeup was a physical representation of her mood; as she became more sexually frustrated, her makeup got heavier and brighter. Her hair also added to her wild and free disposition—cut into a "disconnected shag," says Wiebe, and streaked with gold to add a touch of movement.

Allie Hayes (Mika Abdalla) in "Off Campus".
Prime Video

As Hannah falls in love with Garrett, she comes to life in the same way. Wiebe blow-dried more movement into her hair, her skin became more flushed, and she started wearing more makeup—eventually graduating from bare lashes to falsies. But even with more makeup on, Ehman wanted both girls to look vulnerable—never caked, especially during their intimate scenes. Close-up shots of eyes and lips left little room for anything heavy; the cleaner, the better. "That's how you look at somebody when you're falling in love with them," says Ehman. "I just really wanted to connect with that clean, vulnerable, respectful, approachable skin. I didn't want to see anything on the face."

Then there are the practical realities. "There's sex, and there's kissing, and there's sweating—all those things," says Ehman plainly. "You have to be really careful with your levels of application." The actors' natural skin needed to be in good shape, so Ehman sent them for regular facials and lymphatic drainage treatments at The SkinGirls in Vancouver, essentially to prep the skin so that less coverage was needed on set. However, it wasn’t about getting their skin perfect. "When you can see their freckles and their skin and their flesh and a hint of razor burn, I think that's beautiful."

Justin (Josh Heuston) in "Off Campus."
Prime Video

Garrett Graham (Belmont Cameli) in "Off Campus."
Prime Video

Dean Di Laurentis (Stephen Thomas Kalyn) in "Off Campus."
Prime Video

For the men of the series, Ehmen says she bronzed up a little for summer scenes and gave them a touch of blush for "excitement and youth." Hair, though, did the heavy lifting. "Fortunately," chuckled Wiebe, "most of the guys in the show had longer hair." Hockey players can opt for a more tousled look, and much of the cast arrived with dark, curly hair—so the challenge became differentiation. Garrett kept his natural look, styled simply with HASK Curl Care Curl Defining Cream and left to dry. John Logan (Antonio Cipriano) had his curls broken up with soft, sun-kissed highlights and some strategic straightening for a more feathered effect. John Tucker (Jalen Thomas Brooks) didn't know how to care for his curls, so Wiebe taught him—shaping them up and introducing him to curl-defining products. Dean Di Laurentis (Stephen Kalyn) got the most dramatic treatment: naturally brown curly hair dyed blonde (with roots left visible, to avoid a "Ken doll" effect), styled in curtains with a slick, piece-y texture. It was a deliberate nod to his character in the book—the player, the charmer, the one not concentrating on his studies.

Together, Wiebe and Ehman make a compelling case for something Gen Z has been championing for a while: that the most powerful beauty isn't about masking imperfections. The result is a real, layered, vulnerable-looking cast that looks like people you might actually know. Which, perhaps, is exactly why we can't look away. And as the actors fall for each other on screen, we fall for them too—undyed roots, razor burns, and all.