There’s a common thread among all characters in Tell Me Lies: toxicity. The Hulu drama, which had its Season 2 finale on Oct. 16, is rife with college teens making a slew of unhealthy choices, be it a grueling tit-for-tat with a manipulative ex-boyfriend or a scandalous relationship with a professor’s husband.
For Jenny Lin, the show’s lead makeup artist, it’s all about translating the toll that these choices take on the characters in a visual way.
Tell Me Lies revolves around Lucy (Grace Van Patten) and her decades-spanning relationship with narcissistic upperclassman Stephen (Jackson White), who she first meets in her freshman year at the fictional Baird College in 2007.
Lin, who was in college in the early 2000s, cites MTV reality series The Hills, which catapulted its star, Lauren Conrad, into the spotlight, as her “main” source of beauty inspiration. Britney Spears is a big reference, too.
“Grace and I would be like, ‘Oh, that’s iconic Lucy right there,’” Lin told Yahoo Entertainment of the Conrad’s and Spears’s looks that inspired the show.
More than just a nostalgic, mid-aughts period piece, Tell Me Lies showcases the evolving relationship that girls have with makeup as they continue to come of age. Every shade of eyeshadow, lip gloss or blush is chosen with purpose and intentionality. It’s meant to tell a story, nuanced or otherwise.
“Her makeup has always stayed similar because she needs to look put together,” Lin explained. “She’s starting to realize what kind of person [Stephen] is, but she’s protecting herself … She’s still going to make [him] feel like everything’s OK.”
For Lin, makeup mirrors the chaos and complexity of these emotions and relationships.
“It’s a way for girls to express themselves,” she said. “I think that’s why so many people connect with the show.”
Tell Me Lies is available to stream on Hulu.
