Has a TV show or character ever inspired you to create a makeup look? Share your favorite finds!
I’m sure something has, but I can’t remember anything in particular, so at the very least… nothing recently. I must admit, though, that I really don’t watch very much TV!
Thanks to Sadie for today’s question! Do you have a question idea? Submit yours here.
We're here to help you make better beauty purchases that you'll enjoy and love! We recommend signing up to take advantage of personalized features like tracking products you own, viewing dupes that you already have, and more!
Here are some useful resources for you:
Curious how two shades compare to each other? Type in the shades below to get instant side-by-side swatches!
Comments that do not adhere to our comment policy may be removed. Discussion and debate are highly encouraged but we expect community members to participate respectfully. Please keep discussion on-topic, and if you have general feedback, a product review request, an off-topic question, or need technical support, please contact us!
Please help us streamline the comments' section and be more efficient: double-check the post above for more basic information like pricing, availability, and so on to make sure your question wasn't answered already. Comments alerting us to typos or small errors in the post are appreciated (!) but will typically be removed after errors are fixed (unless a response is needed).
We appreciate enthusiasm for new releases but ask readers to please hold questions regarding if/when a review will be posted as we can't commit to or guarantee product reviews. We don't want to set expectations and then disappoint readers as even products that are swatched don't always end up being reviewed due to time constraints and changes in priorities! Thank you for understanding!
We try to approve comments within 24 hours (and reply to them within 72 hours) but can sometimes get behind and appreciate your patience! 🙂 If you have general feedback, product review requests, off-topic questions, or need technical support, please contact us directly. Thank you for your patience!
Gossip Girl (specifically Blair) inspired my look for a long time! I was all into glowy polished makeup, with the hair and wardrobe to match.
I’m not sure this counts, but when I was taking a stage makeup class in college, I realized I left my kit at home, and had to scrape something together from my regular makeup bag. I had a very pale PanStik, red lipstick & liner, matte, neutral & black eyeshadows, pearl white eyeshadow, and several black eyeliners (all types) & mascara. The end result was Morticia Addams.
Writing this out made me realize just how much my habits have changed in terms of how much makeup I used to carry on me. Nowadays, I’m lucky if I have a lip balm with me…
Definetly Emma Stone, her Make-up Artist ist the best!
Yes, character-wise. Allison Argent (Teen Wolf), Quinn Fabray (Glee), Amy Pond (Doctor Who), Spencer Hastings (Pretty Little Liars), and Lydia Martin (Teen Wolf) are huge inspirations for my makeup. But if we talk movie character-wise, my daily routine is normally Emma Stone’s Gwen Stacy look.
Emma Stone’s makeup is the best! Her makeup always suits her and there’s usually something new going on. I’ve never seen her makeup look bad. I’m guessing she also like makeup (it’s obvious not all the actresses do) and has some input, so that also plays some part in how great she looks. I do wish she’d kept the red hair though, she pulled it of really well.
Charmed. Back then, when I never really knew about makeup (was still a little young to wear much) but was interested in it, I always admired the makeup on the show. The looks always suited the actresses perfectly and even with the more dramatic looks, they were never overdone. Colour was used delicately. Every look focused on bringing the best of each of their featuers, rather than creating a mask.
Even with the reruns now, I still like to look at the makeup, none of it really dated. Sadly, the makeup artist for the show died late last year.
More recently, watching the occasional Mad Men episode, I can’t help admiring the makeup. It’s like a lesson in makeup history. I have tried recreating some of the eye looks. Quite nice and classic.
I tend to do a lot of character-inspired looks, so yes! (Movies and books, too.)
Not any character in particular but when you post the red carpet award pics the red lips with winged liner always inspire me to wear those looks more
Not really, though I used to find myself trying to figure out the makeup applied to Hermione Norris as “Ros” in the British spy series “Spooks” (or MI-5 in the US). She and I look nothing alike – she’s blonde and blue eyed and I’m a brown eyed brunette – but in one particular episode, she looked especially amazing, although she was quite bronzed (not my thing at all). But it was her subtle but appealing eye makeup that really grabbed me. That started me checking out her eye makeup in a whole lot of episodes (no wonder I had a hard time following the plots!).
Lydia Deets in Beetljuice and the dead showgirl and beauty queen as well. Additionally Joan on Mad Men.
That would be ” Beetlejuice” and poor sentence construction for $100, Alex!
Archie Panjabi’s makeup on The Good Wife is gorgeous, I love the colors they use on her, smoky and berry.
Pan Am and Once Upon A Time both have inspired looks for me.
The makeup on Michelle Pfeiffer and Helena Bonham Carter in the movie Dark Shadows is beautiful, especially the eyeshadow. Its so shimmery and iridescent, I’m guessing its something by MAC. The movie isn’t that great, but I loved the makeup!
I like seeing neutral and slightly smokey eye looks on people with brown eyes and sometimes I’ll try to find out what they used/how their makeup was applied (the brown eyes thing is important, imo it’s easy to make light colored eyes look pretty).
Not gonna lie, while the movie wasn’t great, I loved Kirsten Stewart’s neutral eye makeup look in New Moon. I tried in vain to figure out what they used in that movie but all I found were articles about how they did her make up in the first movie. But clearly they changed it up, because her makeup looks far nicer in the second movie over the first.
I am often inspired thinking – oh I will do a plum smokey eye like that – then I never get around to it… But I once created the makeup look of a judge on X Factor 🙂
BONES. Yes, this show has the best makeup artist ever, their creases are always so perfectly blended and the eyeliner is so not obvious and smoothed out. Beautiful and natural makeup really enhancing every female character beauty
I used to be obsessed with Effie from Skins and her smokey eye look, lots of time was spent scouring the internet for tutorials haha.
Mad Men. I worked up the courage to get some liquid eyeliner and really practice my winged liner/cat eye.
Game of Thrones because the ladies all have this flawless natural makeup look that really makes it look like nothing is on their faces. (Well Cersei might have a bolder eyeliner but Lannisters aren’t known to be shy about their good looks.) Even when they get dirty or messy (see Arya) they still look amazing.
Not gonna lie; I’m always trying to get Kim Kardashian’s look which is quite difficult since I’m a totally different type. But I also tried Kristen Stewart’s wedding make up in Breaking Dawn as well as Christina Aguilera’s make up in her video of Your Body.
For some reason, I always pay attention to judge’s makeup! I always loved J Lo’s makeup when I used to watch her as a judge on Idol. Sometimes I really like Mel B’s makeup looks from America’s Got Talent, when it’s bold. Christina Aguilera on The Voice is also capable of some killer makeup looks, although often it’s a little over the top for my taste.
Both Cassie and Effy from Skins! I love their makeup.. and I know there are loads of Effy tutorials out there on YouTube.
They always do. Jane Bingum from Drop Dead Diva, Sofia Vergara in Modern Family and sometimes Julie Bowen come to mind.
Plus another for Joan Holloway. Not only do I try to emulate that lit-from-within face + winged eyeliner with makeup, but she inspires me to take better care of my skin because that look is impossible without great skin.
Kes from Star Trek: Voyager! her makeup always looked fabulous and I’ve been watching it with my fiance so it’s fresh in my mind.
Oh yes, I loved her makeup. Michael Westmore is a genius! I tend to recreate Captain Janeway’s makeup (seasons 1 and 2) ’cause it’s very natural and flattering. What I do most of the time is using a white liner (MAC’s Fascinating – cool name BTW) on my water line. It’s one of Star Trek’s makeup trademarks.
I’ve got to go with Kristen Stewart. Great makeup; suits her perfectly. I don’t really think I could pull it off, but I love it.
The film Inglourious Basterds. I loved the makeup look Mélanie Laurent wore during the film viewing at the theatre.
Absolutely all the time! I’ve only ever recreated looks like Mad Men ladies but I’ve been inspired to create or recreate many times. In fact, I was watching Pitch Perfect and loved the look on the Asian girl from Bardon Bellas so I wanted to pull out my makeup, lol.
I’ll admit I watch a lot of tv and I am constantly inspired. A couple of things that jump out at me from over the years is Catherine Zeta Jones in Chicago, which is basically how I learned about how great navy goes with brown eyes, and the awesome eyemakeup in that Runaways movie with Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning. But honestly I find it anywhere. I think I was inspired about a lipstick color from a sitcom a few weeks ago.
Even though I hated the American version of Skins I did love Michelle’s makeup. She had on peachy eyeshadow and blue eyeshadow for liner and in the outer v. I did that look alot after I saw it 😛
I used to love Dark Angel’s eye makeup (Dark Angel TV series, played by Jessica Alba). There was this greyish-lavender matte eyeshadow that I loved and I’m still looking for the perfect shade! Every time I see a lavender matte eyeshadow I cross my fingers… but nope, haven’t found the right shade yet in order to recreate the look I’ve in mind 🙁
I really learned to love the make-up of Cold Case’s det. Lily Rush – nice, natural, but visible flush on the cheeks, reddish-tinted, slightly wet/juicy lips, subtle eyes with some really precise blending. I’m not saying it was the only inspiration, but I used to do really color or darkness-heavy eyes with almost no blush and nude lips. Or, if I used a reddish-tinted lip, I mostly used nothing on my eyes or just concealer… and mascara.
Oh, and talent searcher shows. It’s usually a hit or miss for me… sometimes the make-up looks done in the shows in my country are atrocious, but sometimes they are beautiful and wearable, even if they use color or colors in weird or unique combinations.
Magical Girls mostly, especially those from Puella Magi Madoka Magica