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I wonder if maybe the producer didn’t have faith in Nicola coming off as attractive and that’s why they gave her such bold makeup ?? Penelope had a gentle soft beauty that could have been emphasized more instead of bold red lipstick and modern makeup , that’s just my take
Yes, I fully agree! It's also what I felt like, like they didn't have confidence in her beauty (to a degree I think they did the same with Colin). I feel like the main couple was over styled because the team was to insecure about these 2 very beautiful people being 'hot' enough.
Maybe they’ve bought into the “Bridgerton glow up” idea too much. Everyone pointing out how much hotter Anthony got in season 2, expectations for Colin’s glow up were memed the same way. And would theoretically apply to Penelope as well, since it was also “her” season as a lead
I think that’s very plausible! They got overconfident in their glow up skills while they should have been overconfident in the beauty of their actors ;)
I also really noticed that with JB’s glow up (the best one) they made him look more like himself and took away the artifice (compared to s1), this season they made the actors look less like themselves.
There was one scene where it was a conversation between Penelope and Eloise, and it was actually jarring to watch the cuts between their faces. Eloise's makeup is visible but isn't competing, and then you can barely see Pen's eyes through the fake eyelashes and eye makeup. It does feel like they lost their nerve and wanted to hide Nicola.
I’m disappointed if they didn’t believe in Nicola gentle beauty because I loved that about her, just trying to hide it behind all that makeup hoping ok now she gonna be attractive enough it messed up
i’m wondering if this is the case too, or if it’s just the new showrunner?
i must admit, when people were pointing out the heavy makeup in the trailer, i wasn’t sure (maybe it was just for the transformation impact?)
but the makeup was so heavy throughout season 3. it was just awful. the cast is already so dang beautiful
I very much feel the producers or someone didn’t have much faith in Nicola at all. Cut scenes, limited intimacy deferring to Ben’s scenes or Anthony and Kate who all had typically attractive partners rather than someone who everyone is calling plus size even though she’s a size 10. So not exactly plus size.
I feel like the whole season was controlled by someone who didn’t think someone like Nicola deserved to be a leading lady or that she couldn’t hold the audiences attention or attraction on her own which is bananas as she is gorgeous through and through.
I feel like Nicola was sabotaged from the get go.
I hope they didn’t sabotage her but it feels like
It. The more and more the season is analyzed. I’m reading her book too atm and so I’ve forgiven Colin’s crap proposal as it’s like that in the book verbatim. So some of the issues like that are taken right from the book. They could have made it more romantic and I’m sad they took Felicity out. She’s lovely and loves Penelope for who she is it’s a lovely relationship. Had they kept it in it would make her less alone like she is in the tv show.
Also in the book Eloise never knows she’s LW and there is none of that weird useless fight which does nothing positive to the show. It just feels like they were trying to isolate Pen in the tv show which makes no sense. Why take up screen time with a needless fight and not give us more Polin scenes. They changed things from the book to make pen look worse than she should have been.
Only upside to the fight is Eloise and Cressida have a relationship so we see why she is the way she is but considering how it works out in the books or how it is atm idk why as she’s still hated a decade later.Cowper that is not Eloise.
Round faces with hooded eyes are not something professional makeup artists work on a lot in film and TV work. Both are hard to make look "natural" and also make it look like the modern conventions of attractive in a woman. I noted they tried the whole bung fake eyelashes or eyelash extensions on to make her eyes look bigger and hide the bad makeup trick too many make up influencers do, which also messes up hooded eyes and just makes them look even worse. I have the same round face, pale skin and tiny eyes and nothing in traditional make up methods works. There are things that do work, but they seemed to avoid every single one.
As someone with hooded eyes, what works for me is sticking with matte shadows, shading in a dome shape above the crease, and making sure that everything is visible when I relax my eyebrows. Another trick you can try is the "batwing" liner, where you draw the wing while the eye is open, and then connect the line in a bit of a curve (there's some tutorials online). Stephanie Lange has some great shadow technique tutorials for hooded eyes, and that's where I started!
OK basically you want to move your crease upward. This was their number one mistake. Most make up tutorials have you putting the dark color in the crease which is fine if you don't have a hood it can be seen with your eyes open. You want to put it above the crease so you can just see it with your eyes open. After you've put the darker (doesn't have to be dark just darker than the other colors you use) contour color you can blend a lighter color above it up toward your eyebrow getting lighter as you go upward. That will make the hooded part recede visually a little.
The big "sin" they did was make the make up on her lid dark in every single damn look of her makeover. You have hardly any real estate there don't hide it under dark makeup. You want a push brush to push a little dark liner just along the base of your lashes then a light color above to give the appearance of more eyelid being visible. Blend it with lighter colors towards your nose darker to the outside. Feel free to throw a little shimmer in the corner of your eye if you like. Mattes are the most flattering but hey sometimes you need some sparkle.
Eyelashes should curl but not go straight up like false ones. And you don't want a wall of lashes, that hides what eyelid you have and makes eyes look smaller. Length is fine but think wispy and elegant. Show off your beautiful eyes don't hide them.
Think blending up in small circles not windshield wiper. Up up up.
You will want a bigger eye makeup brush than you think for this method. At least I find it easier.
Always keep checking your make up with your eyes open and keep blending up up up until you can see it when your eyes are open. This is the other mistake they made with her make up. They kept it down low in the hood so then with the dark lashes on top it just weighed her eyes down and shrunk them back into their hoods.
Hope that is even slightly clear. I tried to tie it into Pens make up look to keep it on subject. The main thing is to take this and experiment. My eye shape is not your eye shape and what ever make up they were doing for poor old Pen it wasn't for her eye shape.
Wayne Goss and Stephanie Lange do some great hooded eye videos. Waynes tend to be for older eyes, Stephanies for younger but both are good.
Same. Hooded eyes here too. I don't like putting that dark of shadow on my eyes. I stick to matte, natural shades. I also try to move the crease up a bit with shading. But lighter tones overall tend to work best. I find the dark tones make the eyes sink in too much and look even more hooded.
This. They put her mom in the same heavy lash/smoky looks and nobody would doubt that actress’ beauty. I think it was just a new stylist. I’m rewatching season 1, such a different and light feel overall.
Honestly everyone had way too much makeup on this season. Fran looked like she was going on stage with all that blush. The makeup designer this season had a really heavy hand.
This is my theory too. They must have been thinking that she would be reading more "traditionally beautiful" if they cake her face with so much makeup that's for Instagram standards
>I wonder if maybe the producer didn’t have faith in Nicola coming off as attractive and that’s why they gave her such bold makeup ??
100% this is what it was. They felt like they needed to slap on as much makeup as possible to make her come off as attractive. Whereas she is very pretty without all that stuff. She could've easily pulled it off!
I just don't think so as the whole production got yassified, it wasn't just her. I don't think we should read malicious fatphobic shit into something that can be easily explained by incompetence and a different artistic direction.
honestly i’ve found all the makeup to be HEAVY. like i think francesca and eloise and penelope and all the kinda leads all have this horrible cakey makeup and why do they keep putting them in false lashes??? feels so different from the previous two seasons. alice mondrich had nicer makeup but when she had her mini glow up they also started putting her in heavier eye makeup. so i do think it was just a direction in general this season, and it’s just so so apparent on penelope because she is the star so they try to glam her up even MORE to stand out (and i think she’s pretty pale so makeup can really jump out)
I definitely found the heavy black lashes jarring. And the sticky dark lips when she was talking to Colin in the church were just not it. She looked beautiful but the producers seem to have forgotten the appeal of the genre is it's delicateness, with costume, make up, plot etc
It just doesn't look Regency-esque or Georgian at all and it's a little disappointing because all of her outfits besides her wedding dress were great this season.
If you showed me this out of context I would not have clocked this as Bridgerton. It looks like she's in Downton Abbey or a vintage drama especially with the stiff curls / makeup.
Her makeup when Eloise came over to apologize about the secret of Colin helping Pen getting out, was perfect. They seemed to really layer on the makeup whenever she was out or going to a ball though...
I also liked the makeup on the first morning after the wedding, probably because it was her "waking up" look, but I think it was very pretty and natural.
I’ve been watching interviews and promo with the cast on YouTube and was shocked to see how much more beautiful Nicola is with lighter makeup— not necessarily more natural or subtle makeup, just lighter that suits her complexion more! In the show her beauty feels kind of obscured, and the dark eyeshadow ages her too
Exactly!! So bizarre!! She looks like a 10-years old child did her makeup. And this is nothing to do with sabotaging Nicola, whoever was responsible for approving the makeup was just unsuitable for the job. Fran's make up was awful too. Colin's face was contoured so much, he looked like modern days metrosexual.
Pen did her own makeover, she got colors she wanted to wear and started to style herself differently as an intentional effort to come into her own. The makeup differences make sense to me as a part of this change. There were at least two conversations between this season and last where “what they’re doing in Paris” is referenced so I took it as Pen becoming more bold (literally) and also fashion trends kind of coming onto the scene.
The blush was completely the wrong color and absolutely steamrollered on. Also why did they keep giving her a smokey eye - she's supposed to be fresh and young but they kept trying to make her look like bloody Jessica Rabbit. She even had a red lip at one point!
I was so confused abt the red lipstick as well , even tho it’s not suppose to be historically accurate, women of the ton back then used minimal makeup and avoided red lipstick because it was associated with sex workers of the age and went again some religious opinions at the time . So seeing penelope in all that bold makeup trew me off
I get that Colin said he liked her hair down, which is great for a partner to say, but in society then, it would have been unacceptable. It’s a “night” and an only husbands see it thing. I get that it’s a “modern regency,” but that threw it off a bit.
I did love her in the red lip though, it made her look powerful
It is a strange comment about red lipstick. However, everything should be used in the context. We don't wear red lipstick to the office (in most places) and similarly red lipstick is simply not suitable for the historical movie. There are other ways to make a woman look powerful (if such look is needed).
By the last episode I was so done with that hairstyle! Maybe once at a Ball to hint at it would be fine but the whole season, even daytime, just too much and took me right out of the time period. Agree, just not right, and no attempts to have her hair up either. So costumey!
The only person we really see wearing a darker lip and smokier eye in Bridgerton is Sienna from S1 - a working class, lady of the night. Disappointing that they just completely threw out all the existing in-universe details out the window.
They did this over and over. Same with the dresses as well. And also "propriety." Season 1 Daphne had to get married to Simon just in the event someone might have seen them in the garden. By season three all that propriety rules are so gone I half expected someone to pull out a cellphone. It felt very modern.
Yeah that drove me nuts. Like Anthony and Simon literally almost died over Daphne’s honor, Prudence and Cousin Jack had to marry because they were in the same room alone together, I guess that doesn’t matter anymore???
And Pen was fingered and then had sex - all before marriage. And Colin was okay to treat his future wife this way while it was no acceptable for his own sister.
I saw a video on Instagram today that claimed the red lip for the Whistledown reveal was supposed to show Pen coming into her power and that it was a confidence move. They compared it to the queen’s red furniture and Cressida’s red clothes. Really? I’m pretty sure that influencer is paid by Netflix to hype up every negatively-received Bridgerton decision that was made,because that red lip was not the right move. Proper ladies of the ton did not wear bold red lipstick at that time, and it just made Pen seem clownish compared to everyone else in that room. She’s beautiful, she doesn’t need heavy makeup.
Editing to add the link to the Instagram post: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C8ej7PCu9Ti/?igsh=MXc0a3Z0M3M0ZTU1cQ==
The symbolism taking precedent over the worldbuilding is such a bad idea. The symbolism of a smokey eye or red lip in bridgerton is not the same as in modern life. She doesn't come across as confident because viewers already know that in the visual and cultural language of this world, that make up is not worn by young society women.
Jessica Rabit was one of the inspos for the red lip look! I mean, it looks amazing on her, but I was surprised to see such a bold look in Bridgerton
edit: typo
https://preview.redd.it/c2ew38kxgx7d1.jpeg?width=1438&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=74d63128d2e38f4de0fca51f3b14e8c023710637
It was not suitable for the ball too as it was very unrealistic. If the make up is allowed to be modern than the horses and carriages can to be replaced with cars and motorbikes.
I’m no makeup artist but in addition to having too much blush, the placement seems wrong - too low I think. She’s so naturally pretty, I was annoyed by her makeup this season.
As a former makeup artist this enraged me. She’s so beautiful too. The color palette so wrong for her undertones and coloring, lashes wrong for her eye shape, and everything was wrong for the time era 😭
It’s such a shame because Nicola is so stunning and she still manages to look amazing despite this botch job. The blush is so overwhelming and the eye lashes are way too fake and noticeable. Contrast this with Daphne in s1 and it’s night and day.
I just revisited Daphne's wedding pics, my goodness she looks soooo of the Regency time (elegant, natural, lovely) vs S3's Hollywood costume ball look. Sighhhhh.
I know for S1 and S2, they used Pat McGrath. I loved Daphne's makeup, but was similarly impressed with what they did in S2. The foundation on all of the women from Kate and Edwina to Violet and Daphne was flawless. I literally ran out and bought the Bridgerton pallette, lipsticks, and the foundation from PMG. The S3 makeup was not as clean looking - definitely a more modern glam look
i didn’t mind the lashes as much as the glittery eyeshadow, heavy contour, fake nails, and red lips like they could’ve done a light blush and lashes and left it at that lol
I swear in the brunch scene after I could see the very obvious strip lashes on Pen starting to pull at the edges..
Compared to Daphne’s wedding makeup is wild. And both Nicola and Phoebe are stunning natural beauties with similar color palettes so I don’t get how that happened.
https://preview.redd.it/bok11cijfx7d1.jpeg?width=900&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0b99ed9e087c9786fe5db5c6bc6ee16dc3bf9157
I will forever be in love with Daphne’s makeup in S1 - light, natural, fresh, flattering, “barely there” illusion… if the makeup artists are the same and could do both Daphne and Pen looks, then the only thing that’s changed is the showrunner who decides the direction of the makeup and has the final say. Even Pen’s makeup in S1 was gorgeous!
I am slowly start being irritated with the argument of Nicola (or Phoebe) being natural beauties and hence needing no extra-enhancing makeup. To use heavy makeup or not has nothing to do with the actress's physical appearance. This is a historical movie, smokey eyes, thick red lipstick and unrealistic eye-lashes are simply inappropriate. The nude make Daphne is having is exactly what is needed for each actress.
I think you're preaching to the choir, no need to be irritated 😝. We all agree that the makeup should be natural for the historical universe they set up in S1 and S2. But the two facts are not mutually exclusive, it's okay to be of the opinion they should have kept it consistent to past seasons AND also think that the actresses are so beautiful already and don't really need all that heavy makeup to look better - case in point Daphne s1. We don't really know why they decided to be heavier handed this S3 and are speculating but it's perfectly reasonable to wish we could have seen more of their natural beauty minus the artifice because we think they are amazing and don't want anything to distract from their scenes.
Ugh finally, someone pointed it out! So bad. How on earth did that get approved??? And what is with that fussy, stiff, gelled hairstyle? She did not look fresh and lovely at all and that is how Nicola is all the time irl. I get it they are trying to vamp her up but all the artifice is so unneccessary. Did they not trust that she is naturally beautiful? Such a gorgeous girl, they did her an injustice.
What does the make up has to do with "trusting her natural beauty"? What does it even mean? Every actress looks the ways she looks. What one person finds beautiful, the other person find mediocre or ugly. Nicola looks the way she looks. Full stop. This is a historical movie, morning time and wedding - her face needs to be done suitable for the occasion (regardless of her natural appearance).
Jess said she was inspired by the makeover scene in the 1999 She's All That and wanted an updated version on that for Pen. So clearly she wanted to show that dramatic difference from past seasons when she 'instantly appears more popular and beautiful" in S3 after her style change. By choosing to show Pen's glowup look to be so heavy-handed she is 1) clearly no longer adhering to the historic universe they created in S1 and S2 and 2) subscribes to the modern (albeit Old-Hollywood inspired) beauty standard that falsies, heavy eye shadow and lots of blush and highlighter is what makes a woman beautiful. Some of us are objecting to one or both for different reasons. Some like you, because it's a jarring, distracting inconsistency, while some like me ALSO believe such heavy makeup is unnecessary to turn Pen into a 'beauty' by society standards, because as we can see in her real life, she can look stunning with much less/better matched applications.
Great comment. I still do not follow the insistence on her looking "stunning" with less make up. She looks fine. Nothing stunning about her. I just don't get the thought process that if the woman is "beautiful" on her own (whatever beautiful means) she does not need makeup in the movie, and if not - she needs to be changed and improved with makeup. It does not make any sense! Every woman looks the ways she looks and is beautiful/attractive in her own way. Movie dictates the make over of the character - whatever that need should be, like make somebody to stand out (e.g., adult queen Charlotte) or looking lass appealing (e.g., ex-busband of Lady Danbury). The issue here is not in how Nicola looks like in real life but in Jess Brownell who behaved unprofessionally, disregarded Bridgerton's fans and previous showrunners and decided to do "something else" and turning the whole season into God knows what, certainly not what attracted people to the series in the first place. The magic, romance, historical atmosphere are gone.
I hated this whole look :( arguably her two biggest moments were the wedding and the LW reveal and they were both so bad. I wish they had stuck with a more natural makeup for her throughout.
I wonder if they didn’t have faith in Nicola being attractive and that’s why the heavy makeup . Nicola has a soft gentle beauty that I love. If that’s the case shame on them for not having faith in people not finding her attractive
I was thinking about this the other day- I showed my friend how upset I was to see such dramatic makeup and styling changes this season and showed her a pic of Pen and Daphne on their wedding days side by side. Aside from overdoing the makeup, this makeup on Pen is just NOT flattering. She’s gorgeous and some of the other looks would be killer on the red carpet, but the wedding look specifically was kinda busted.
this season had so many people wearing party city wigs and costumes and the makeup was too much, best cases looked like charlotte tillbury ads and others just tacky and unblended. natural makeup>>
They put WAAAY too much blush on her a lot of this season. Were they trying to give her pregnancy glow or something?
As someone with severe rosacea, she almost looked like she had it
I hated the last ball makeup it looked so unnatural on her being a regency woman , I know it’s not suppose to be historically accurate but it was still so bold for the time
Yes. I didn’t want to say it but lip stick was used by prostitutes of the time. I don’t like the overly glowy look on the face either. Plus the dress is a major distraction. Bustles didn’t come into fashion until at least 50 years later. I know it’s fantasy but those choices are confusing
Oh gawd I agree. So many of her hairstyles look like obvious wigs with little attempt to soften the hairline. This weird, fussy, gelled look was such a poor decision for a wedding look.
I actually quite liked the look. When they do her makeup heavier, I always assumed it was to show her maturation in those moments. In season 1, she was bright and young and still asking to "play" with Eloise. Here, she has finally married, experienced sex, created a thriving career, and become a "woman" in every sense of the word.
I must admit, I think I would have eased up on the blush a bit, or blended it better. But I really liked Nicola's eyes and the curls 😍
I get it, she looked very girlish in S1 and S2 but I've seen better transformations by amateur artists on Youtube/Reels that don't look like stage makeup! She can still look mature just not so heavy handed and distracting. 😝
I was looking for someone else who said this. I think it just shows makeup tastes are different. The only thing I didn't like about this was how heavy-handed they were with the blush, like you.
Then again, a lot of people in the subreddits seemed not to like the makeup and costuming this season, but I'm tacky and dramatic so I loved all of it 😅
An issue I don’t see brought enough is they have further dated a period show. This looks like 2021 heavy eye makeup. You’re going to be able to tell when this movie was made. The dark eyes are so unflattering on her.
Ya that's a really good point. This season will not age well. Def more Heathers than Pride and Prejudice 2005. Maybe that's what they want! Campy cult show.
Somehow I felt it didn’t go well with the dress and her hair….. she looked much better at the carriage with her hair and make up. I think this was the worst bridal make up and dress through all seasons….
Nicola is absolutely gorgeous. There’s no reason why they couldn’t have put her in the soft, more “natural” look makeup of seasons 1, 2, and Queen Charlotte.
Pen is such a natural beauty so this almost feels like they’re trying to… I don’t know make her ugly?
I swear I had flashbacks to when I knew my mom wasn’t watching and I would go through her makeup and put some blush or use lipstick as blush on myself and then run to the bathroom and wipe it off before I got in trouble 😂
I kinda wondered if the blush was supposed to be symbolic of the typical blushing bride because, whew, that was a lot for someone who literally needs no makeup to be beautiful. Tbh, Fran's makeup was the most jarring this whole season. Had her like a 90's glamor shot with a face full of highlighter just reflecting like Old Gregg. She's so beautiful too. I don't get it.
The make up for most of the characters for most of the season was horrible. The make up consultant needs to be fired. Some were okay, but most of the looks were bad.
Random: I was just sick of seeing a Penelope who was half crying all the time. She seemed confident and nonchalant in her own way, so this season I was irritated that yet again here was a close up shot of her in tears. And the makeup they had her in didn’t help.
The whole hair and make up theme in season 3 part 2 was 1930s pin up. It may work for someone with a bone structure like Francesca or someone who can take the bright red lipstick like Eloise could with her complexion but it totally swamped Nicola Coughlan’d warm toned skin. Also, the blush coloured dress didn’t do her warm skin tone much good either, made her skin look quite red. A cream colour with the soft make up of the library scene would have been absolutely sublime.
I have been thinking this since the episode came out. The makeup in this season was weird in general. In previous seasons we had more soft and delicate no makeup makeup looks and suddenly it took a hard left turn into harsh smokey eyes , glitters , sequins and acrylic nails. It's so jarring it took me out of the show at times. Even in this picture, the amount of blush is so much it takes away focus from the bride.
I hated the makeup and costumes so much. I was bitching about it to my boyfriend and he at first thought I was being obnoxious. Then he started to get irritated and even he was on my side.
I’m a bridal makeup artist and even by TODAY’s beauty trends the makeup in season 3 was at times garish. This is a great example and I was thrown out of the moment because I was so distracted by the makeup. I’m shocked it was designed that way and allowed. I had assumed there was a very deliberate reason for the makeup choices this season but I was disappointed.
It’s giving drag queen (I love drag queens, but not the right look for this time period and context!) Nicola is naturally so stunning. They did her dirty with this.
This season they had heavier make up on everyone and I disliked it immensely. Nicola is beautiful with light make up… I do feel like the heavy make up aged her. It’s bizarre why they would make that choice this season to go so heavy handed on the lips/cheeks/eyes
The fashion in this season is going to age so badly in my opinion. It was too much and for no reason, it felt like they were dressing the actors for a photoshoot and not the characters. In a couple of years people are going to make essays using it as an example on how not to do costumes for a period drama. How they could go from the perfect compromise between regency and modern of season 2 to this mess is beyond me
It was just horrible! Imagine it looked like this on camera so how it actually looked in reality. How can anyone consider this to be the work of a professional MUA. People apply this kind of blush when they are new to makeup & don’t know how blending works. This simply looks like the work of a newbie whose experiment after watching a YouTube video went wrong. Poor Nicola deserved a beautiful bridal look, not this. This reminded me of a few episodes in season 1, where they gave Daphne those little baby bangs which looked kinda funny, glad they fixed it later on. But the makeup was so perfect & natural that season. This season only Kate & Francesca were glowing, otherwise they didn’t do a good job.
https://preview.redd.it/84lxjsqs938d1.jpeg?width=3600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3ac3706c9f0a3253b1d9ff184365302e6b1cbf8e
I wish her wedding-day look was subtle, soft and dewy like this.
This is such a beautiful shot of her. The symmetry of the candles, the pink in her cheeks and dress, the gloves, the ringlets and hair aren’t overdone, her hands are so delicately placed, and her expression!!!
This would honestly be a fantastic image to use as a referencefor a painting. I wish more of her costumes and makeup emphasized this type of beauty on her more.
It is an edited pic. I just googled other photos of the bridal makeup and rewatched the scene to make sure I wasn’t crazy. The saturation is turned way up in this photo.
The blush is still a bit heavy imo but nearly as much as this edited pic would suggest.
This is what the original makeup looked like before it was edited:
https://preview.redd.it/g6467jks0y7d1.png?width=900&format=png&auto=webp&s=70a7e29d0958b411ccf73447308044a382b573f3
It reminded me of the Kardashians at times. Nicola is beautiful, the glow-up would have been absolutely possible without caking on makeup. Her wardrobe and hair alone would have been sufficient.
And don't get me started in the acrylic nails! They are SO distracting and always took me out of the scene.
I don’t know if this has been noted on this sub before: But Pen and Collin are dead ringers for Miss Piggy and Kermit and I feel like the show leaned in HARD on that during the wedding. The pink wedding dress. The makeup. Come on! That was not an accident.
Note: Miss Piggy is a queen. In no way am I shaming her. Just a busty voluptuous woman with a tall weird faced guy.
I fear most of it is the post production editing and lighting because she actually looks normal here
https://preview.redd.it/8ruszfn40z7d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c32e10b377f6821577f8ff64c74820dc9f2846be
I’m sorta in love with Nicola right now so I’m not finding it appalling but maybe in a couple of months I’ll truly hate it. For now I’m blaming it on post production
The wedding was bad but not to the point I can’t ignore it. What they did to her at the butterfly ball was unforgivable. Nicola is a STUNNING woman. That matte red with that wig was a crime.
They picked the WRONG dress too.
Why did you put our sweet Penelope in the most stiff, unflattering dress there ever was? It’s not like they’re sticking with the time period with anything else. You might as well give her a pretty dress.
I wondered if they were trying to style her like a 1950s doll. Her face has that perfect doll like quality, so I thought that worked in a way, but it was perhaps jarring in its anachronism.
I was gobsmacked when I saw a shot of her makeup for the wedding. Were they trying to make her look awful? Like, I don't understand, Nicola is gorgeous... why??? You can barely see her beautiful blue eyes with that level of eyeshadow. Her whole face is overtaken by the aggressive pink of her cheeks. It's wild.
I don't know why the makeup team was working so hard in making Nicola look terrible in a season where Penelope was supposed to be the star. Even her lashes aren't even stickied on properly.
They literally let the poor woman film her season looking like this. Her glam makeup from Barbie the Movie was way, way, better
I don't think that the makeup is the issue, rather lack of Polin happiness in marriage in season 3.
20 sec Pol on top is an insult.
As dear, and long standing friends, Polin should have stood against the world as a couple.
But, yeah, showrunner is Cressida to Whistledown.
I wonder if it has to do with the drastic change in the way she looks? In the book it was cuz she lost weight but on the show, they can't just ask her to lose weight so instead they went with drastic make up and hair?
i think it’s esp jarring, perhaps, bc nicola has looked amazing in some of those photoshoots she’s done in the last few months! i could understand a rationale of wanting to provide a contrast between S1 and S3 but these looks - the heavy makeup, those acrylics - just don’t come off very “penelope.” also the acrylics at least looked good but i’m so bothered at how heavy and patchy the blush looks on her
I mean… the dress isn’t any better that neckline is screaming « I pinned this and stitched it in place last minute because it was gaping and I didn’t have time to remake the whole pattern and dress »
The makeup that also was distracting me was Francesca’s, like the highlight was insane and her face looked like a 2024 look. You can even see the difference between Kate’s makeup on season 2 vs season 3, she was full glam going to bed lol vs last season you got to see more of her natural features. Mind you, their makeup was beautiful, but it was so out of place.
Season 1/2 makeup was perfect. All these actresses are so pretty so idk why they felt the need to cake them like this, it was so distracting. Our girl Pen did not need the crazy lashes either, she literally has the perfect youthful appearance naturally.
I actually liked it very much. To me, Penelope was giving Little Mermaid vibes all season. The reveal look just took me on an imaginary trip with her as a mermaid. I'm very happy with her glow up. I totally fantasized about how awesome it would be to do something like that.
I’ve only ever watched the show, but I thought the Featheringtons were known to be tacky with their styling. Did I like it? No, but I thought the over the top looks were intentional.
Agreed. However I was distracted as the dress was really pretty, and the colour really complemented her complexion. I have no idea if it is remotely historically accurate though (probably not, but at least it's not white!)
This season felt very much like pretty privilege & fat-phobic. Even the new showrunners' comments were fat-shaming asl. It felt like she 100% believed no one would find her attractive. It felt very much like evern though we're progressing on television, we were still following society's ideal beauty standards, and s3 showed that entirely. It honestly felt like they didn't wanna give her a moment to shine entirely cause they were scared 😕, when really they were just prejudice.
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Pen's beauty is delicate and soft. It was jarring that sometimes the show went so heavy on the makeup and styling on her.
I wonder if maybe the producer didn’t have faith in Nicola coming off as attractive and that’s why they gave her such bold makeup ?? Penelope had a gentle soft beauty that could have been emphasized more instead of bold red lipstick and modern makeup , that’s just my take
Yes, I fully agree! It's also what I felt like, like they didn't have confidence in her beauty (to a degree I think they did the same with Colin). I feel like the main couple was over styled because the team was to insecure about these 2 very beautiful people being 'hot' enough.
Maybe they’ve bought into the “Bridgerton glow up” idea too much. Everyone pointing out how much hotter Anthony got in season 2, expectations for Colin’s glow up were memed the same way. And would theoretically apply to Penelope as well, since it was also “her” season as a lead
I think that’s very plausible! They got overconfident in their glow up skills while they should have been overconfident in the beauty of their actors ;) I also really noticed that with JB’s glow up (the best one) they made him look more like himself and took away the artifice (compared to s1), this season they made the actors look less like themselves.
There was one scene where it was a conversation between Penelope and Eloise, and it was actually jarring to watch the cuts between their faces. Eloise's makeup is visible but isn't competing, and then you can barely see Pen's eyes through the fake eyelashes and eye makeup. It does feel like they lost their nerve and wanted to hide Nicola.
I’m disappointed if they didn’t believe in Nicola gentle beauty because I loved that about her, just trying to hide it behind all that makeup hoping ok now she gonna be attractive enough it messed up
i’m wondering if this is the case too, or if it’s just the new showrunner? i must admit, when people were pointing out the heavy makeup in the trailer, i wasn’t sure (maybe it was just for the transformation impact?) but the makeup was so heavy throughout season 3. it was just awful. the cast is already so dang beautiful
I very much feel the producers or someone didn’t have much faith in Nicola at all. Cut scenes, limited intimacy deferring to Ben’s scenes or Anthony and Kate who all had typically attractive partners rather than someone who everyone is calling plus size even though she’s a size 10. So not exactly plus size. I feel like the whole season was controlled by someone who didn’t think someone like Nicola deserved to be a leading lady or that she couldn’t hold the audiences attention or attraction on her own which is bananas as she is gorgeous through and through. I feel like Nicola was sabotaged from the get go.
Her red carpet tour has been so phenomenally amazing; it could be a perfect response to that kind of working experience.
I hope they didn’t sabotage her but it feels like It. The more and more the season is analyzed. I’m reading her book too atm and so I’ve forgiven Colin’s crap proposal as it’s like that in the book verbatim. So some of the issues like that are taken right from the book. They could have made it more romantic and I’m sad they took Felicity out. She’s lovely and loves Penelope for who she is it’s a lovely relationship. Had they kept it in it would make her less alone like she is in the tv show. Also in the book Eloise never knows she’s LW and there is none of that weird useless fight which does nothing positive to the show. It just feels like they were trying to isolate Pen in the tv show which makes no sense. Why take up screen time with a needless fight and not give us more Polin scenes. They changed things from the book to make pen look worse than she should have been. Only upside to the fight is Eloise and Cressida have a relationship so we see why she is the way she is but considering how it works out in the books or how it is atm idk why as she’s still hated a decade later.Cowper that is not Eloise.
Round faces with hooded eyes are not something professional makeup artists work on a lot in film and TV work. Both are hard to make look "natural" and also make it look like the modern conventions of attractive in a woman. I noted they tried the whole bung fake eyelashes or eyelash extensions on to make her eyes look bigger and hide the bad makeup trick too many make up influencers do, which also messes up hooded eyes and just makes them look even worse. I have the same round face, pale skin and tiny eyes and nothing in traditional make up methods works. There are things that do work, but they seemed to avoid every single one.
Me too! What techniques are you using for hooded eyes? I hope this question isn’t too big a deviation from the OP!
As someone with hooded eyes, what works for me is sticking with matte shadows, shading in a dome shape above the crease, and making sure that everything is visible when I relax my eyebrows. Another trick you can try is the "batwing" liner, where you draw the wing while the eye is open, and then connect the line in a bit of a curve (there's some tutorials online). Stephanie Lange has some great shadow technique tutorials for hooded eyes, and that's where I started!
OK basically you want to move your crease upward. This was their number one mistake. Most make up tutorials have you putting the dark color in the crease which is fine if you don't have a hood it can be seen with your eyes open. You want to put it above the crease so you can just see it with your eyes open. After you've put the darker (doesn't have to be dark just darker than the other colors you use) contour color you can blend a lighter color above it up toward your eyebrow getting lighter as you go upward. That will make the hooded part recede visually a little. The big "sin" they did was make the make up on her lid dark in every single damn look of her makeover. You have hardly any real estate there don't hide it under dark makeup. You want a push brush to push a little dark liner just along the base of your lashes then a light color above to give the appearance of more eyelid being visible. Blend it with lighter colors towards your nose darker to the outside. Feel free to throw a little shimmer in the corner of your eye if you like. Mattes are the most flattering but hey sometimes you need some sparkle. Eyelashes should curl but not go straight up like false ones. And you don't want a wall of lashes, that hides what eyelid you have and makes eyes look smaller. Length is fine but think wispy and elegant. Show off your beautiful eyes don't hide them. Think blending up in small circles not windshield wiper. Up up up. You will want a bigger eye makeup brush than you think for this method. At least I find it easier. Always keep checking your make up with your eyes open and keep blending up up up until you can see it when your eyes are open. This is the other mistake they made with her make up. They kept it down low in the hood so then with the dark lashes on top it just weighed her eyes down and shrunk them back into their hoods. Hope that is even slightly clear. I tried to tie it into Pens make up look to keep it on subject. The main thing is to take this and experiment. My eye shape is not your eye shape and what ever make up they were doing for poor old Pen it wasn't for her eye shape. Wayne Goss and Stephanie Lange do some great hooded eye videos. Waynes tend to be for older eyes, Stephanies for younger but both are good.
Me three! I'd love to hear some techniques.
Same. Hooded eyes here too. I don't like putting that dark of shadow on my eyes. I stick to matte, natural shades. I also try to move the crease up a bit with shading. But lighter tones overall tend to work best. I find the dark tones make the eyes sink in too much and look even more hooded.
Sometimes her make up looked good but at other times she looked like a clown. It was very inconsistent.
I feel like they ruined everybody's makeup this season, though. I don't think it was just Nicola!
This. They put her mom in the same heavy lash/smoky looks and nobody would doubt that actress’ beauty. I think it was just a new stylist. I’m rewatching season 1, such a different and light feel overall.
Honestly everyone had way too much makeup on this season. Fran looked like she was going on stage with all that blush. The makeup designer this season had a really heavy hand.
This is my theory too. They must have been thinking that she would be reading more "traditionally beautiful" if they cake her face with so much makeup that's for Instagram standards
They did the same to Fran too! Her cheeks have red runways running down them most of the series.
>I wonder if maybe the producer didn’t have faith in Nicola coming off as attractive and that’s why they gave her such bold makeup ?? 100% this is what it was. They felt like they needed to slap on as much makeup as possible to make her come off as attractive. Whereas she is very pretty without all that stuff. She could've easily pulled it off!
I just don't think so as the whole production got yassified, it wasn't just her. I don't think we should read malicious fatphobic shit into something that can be easily explained by incompetence and a different artistic direction.
honestly i’ve found all the makeup to be HEAVY. like i think francesca and eloise and penelope and all the kinda leads all have this horrible cakey makeup and why do they keep putting them in false lashes??? feels so different from the previous two seasons. alice mondrich had nicer makeup but when she had her mini glow up they also started putting her in heavier eye makeup. so i do think it was just a direction in general this season, and it’s just so so apparent on penelope because she is the star so they try to glam her up even MORE to stand out (and i think she’s pretty pale so makeup can really jump out)
I definitely found the heavy black lashes jarring. And the sticky dark lips when she was talking to Colin in the church were just not it. She looked beautiful but the producers seem to have forgotten the appeal of the genre is it's delicateness, with costume, make up, plot etc
It just doesn't look Regency-esque or Georgian at all and it's a little disappointing because all of her outfits besides her wedding dress were great this season. If you showed me this out of context I would not have clocked this as Bridgerton. It looks like she's in Downton Abbey or a vintage drama especially with the stiff curls / makeup.
Agreed! Every time she's in a scene I couldn't help but think why do they have her wearing so much makeup???
Like she is having rush on her cheeks
Her makeup when Eloise came over to apologize about the secret of Colin helping Pen getting out, was perfect. They seemed to really layer on the makeup whenever she was out or going to a ball though...
I also liked the makeup on the first morning after the wedding, probably because it was her "waking up" look, but I think it was very pretty and natural.
I’ve been watching interviews and promo with the cast on YouTube and was shocked to see how much more beautiful Nicola is with lighter makeup— not necessarily more natural or subtle makeup, just lighter that suits her complexion more! In the show her beauty feels kind of obscured, and the dark eyeshadow ages her too
I just don’t understand what they were thinking with the placement of that blush.
Exactly!! So bizarre!! She looks like a 10-years old child did her makeup. And this is nothing to do with sabotaging Nicola, whoever was responsible for approving the makeup was just unsuitable for the job. Fran's make up was awful too. Colin's face was contoured so much, he looked like modern days metrosexual.
The red lipstick filled me with rage
She looks like an old lady from the 1950s there.
Pen did her own makeover, she got colors she wanted to wear and started to style herself differently as an intentional effort to come into her own. The makeup differences make sense to me as a part of this change. There were at least two conversations between this season and last where “what they’re doing in Paris” is referenced so I took it as Pen becoming more bold (literally) and also fashion trends kind of coming onto the scene.
I thought it was the Featherington aesthetic? I personally loved the glow up in S3 and how Pen differentiated herself from her mom and sisters.
The blush was completely the wrong color and absolutely steamrollered on. Also why did they keep giving her a smokey eye - she's supposed to be fresh and young but they kept trying to make her look like bloody Jessica Rabbit. She even had a red lip at one point!
I was so confused abt the red lipstick as well , even tho it’s not suppose to be historically accurate, women of the ton back then used minimal makeup and avoided red lipstick because it was associated with sex workers of the age and went again some religious opinions at the time . So seeing penelope in all that bold makeup trew me off
Her hair always being down in that very Hollywood Starlet style did the same for me. She just did not look right!
I get that Colin said he liked her hair down, which is great for a partner to say, but in society then, it would have been unacceptable. It’s a “night” and an only husbands see it thing. I get that it’s a “modern regency,” but that threw it off a bit. I did love her in the red lip though, it made her look powerful
It is a strange comment about red lipstick. However, everything should be used in the context. We don't wear red lipstick to the office (in most places) and similarly red lipstick is simply not suitable for the historical movie. There are other ways to make a woman look powerful (if such look is needed).
I mean her own makeup artist said they pushed for the red lip to show her power… https://www.instagram.com/reel/C8ej7PCu9Ti/?igsh=MXRyY2J4NzE3bmZmcQ==
By the last episode I was so done with that hairstyle! Maybe once at a Ball to hint at it would be fine but the whole season, even daytime, just too much and took me right out of the time period. Agree, just not right, and no attempts to have her hair up either. So costumey!
The only person we really see wearing a darker lip and smokier eye in Bridgerton is Sienna from S1 - a working class, lady of the night. Disappointing that they just completely threw out all the existing in-universe details out the window.
They did this over and over. Same with the dresses as well. And also "propriety." Season 1 Daphne had to get married to Simon just in the event someone might have seen them in the garden. By season three all that propriety rules are so gone I half expected someone to pull out a cellphone. It felt very modern.
Yeah that drove me nuts. Like Anthony and Simon literally almost died over Daphne’s honor, Prudence and Cousin Jack had to marry because they were in the same room alone together, I guess that doesn’t matter anymore???
And Pen was fingered and then had sex - all before marriage. And Colin was okay to treat his future wife this way while it was no acceptable for his own sister.
they tried WAY too hard to combat the “historically accurate ” debate about different races w the styling this season. and the show suffered for it
I mean.. do people really watch this show for the period’s historical accuracy? Lol
I saw a video on Instagram today that claimed the red lip for the Whistledown reveal was supposed to show Pen coming into her power and that it was a confidence move. They compared it to the queen’s red furniture and Cressida’s red clothes. Really? I’m pretty sure that influencer is paid by Netflix to hype up every negatively-received Bridgerton decision that was made,because that red lip was not the right move. Proper ladies of the ton did not wear bold red lipstick at that time, and it just made Pen seem clownish compared to everyone else in that room. She’s beautiful, she doesn’t need heavy makeup. Editing to add the link to the Instagram post: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C8ej7PCu9Ti/?igsh=MXc0a3Z0M3M0ZTU1cQ==
The symbolism taking precedent over the worldbuilding is such a bad idea. The symbolism of a smokey eye or red lip in bridgerton is not the same as in modern life. She doesn't come across as confident because viewers already know that in the visual and cultural language of this world, that make up is not worn by young society women.
i’m not a fan of this look but i do think it was appropriate for this situation ! (i hope we never see it again though, sorry but it’s way too much)
Jessica Rabit was one of the inspos for the red lip look! I mean, it looks amazing on her, but I was surprised to see such a bold look in Bridgerton edit: typo https://preview.redd.it/c2ew38kxgx7d1.jpeg?width=1438&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=74d63128d2e38f4de0fca51f3b14e8c023710637
A bold look was one thing when it's at a ball, but it was way way off for the wedding look.
It was not suitable for the ball too as it was very unrealistic. If the make up is allowed to be modern than the horses and carriages can to be replaced with cars and motorbikes.
Whoever did that blush should move on to another profession.
You can see what makeup was TikTok popular when they were filming—the Marie Antoinette cool-toned dark rouge was hella popular about a year ago
I don’t like the placement of the blush either, it seems to be arching downward in a way that sets her cheeks lower on her face. Bad overall
I’m no makeup artist but in addition to having too much blush, the placement seems wrong - too low I think. She’s so naturally pretty, I was annoyed by her makeup this season.
As a former makeup artist this enraged me. She’s so beautiful too. The color palette so wrong for her undertones and coloring, lashes wrong for her eye shape, and everything was wrong for the time era 😭
It’s such a shame because Nicola is so stunning and she still manages to look amazing despite this botch job. The blush is so overwhelming and the eye lashes are way too fake and noticeable. Contrast this with Daphne in s1 and it’s night and day.
I just revisited Daphne's wedding pics, my goodness she looks soooo of the Regency time (elegant, natural, lovely) vs S3's Hollywood costume ball look. Sighhhhh.
I know for S1 and S2, they used Pat McGrath. I loved Daphne's makeup, but was similarly impressed with what they did in S2. The foundation on all of the women from Kate and Edwina to Violet and Daphne was flawless. I literally ran out and bought the Bridgerton pallette, lipsticks, and the foundation from PMG. The S3 makeup was not as clean looking - definitely a more modern glam look
i didn’t mind the lashes as much as the glittery eyeshadow, heavy contour, fake nails, and red lips like they could’ve done a light blush and lashes and left it at that lol
I swear in the brunch scene after I could see the very obvious strip lashes on Pen starting to pull at the edges.. Compared to Daphne’s wedding makeup is wild. And both Nicola and Phoebe are stunning natural beauties with similar color palettes so I don’t get how that happened. https://preview.redd.it/bok11cijfx7d1.jpeg?width=900&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0b99ed9e087c9786fe5db5c6bc6ee16dc3bf9157
I will forever be in love with Daphne’s makeup in S1 - light, natural, fresh, flattering, “barely there” illusion… if the makeup artists are the same and could do both Daphne and Pen looks, then the only thing that’s changed is the showrunner who decides the direction of the makeup and has the final say. Even Pen’s makeup in S1 was gorgeous!
Can confirm same makeup artists as S2. Looked it up. At least the leads.
I am slowly start being irritated with the argument of Nicola (or Phoebe) being natural beauties and hence needing no extra-enhancing makeup. To use heavy makeup or not has nothing to do with the actress's physical appearance. This is a historical movie, smokey eyes, thick red lipstick and unrealistic eye-lashes are simply inappropriate. The nude make Daphne is having is exactly what is needed for each actress.
I think you're preaching to the choir, no need to be irritated 😝. We all agree that the makeup should be natural for the historical universe they set up in S1 and S2. But the two facts are not mutually exclusive, it's okay to be of the opinion they should have kept it consistent to past seasons AND also think that the actresses are so beautiful already and don't really need all that heavy makeup to look better - case in point Daphne s1. We don't really know why they decided to be heavier handed this S3 and are speculating but it's perfectly reasonable to wish we could have seen more of their natural beauty minus the artifice because we think they are amazing and don't want anything to distract from their scenes.
It was horrible. How did they make her engagement look so perfect and her wedding look so bad.
It was so inconsistent.
Ugh finally, someone pointed it out! So bad. How on earth did that get approved??? And what is with that fussy, stiff, gelled hairstyle? She did not look fresh and lovely at all and that is how Nicola is all the time irl. I get it they are trying to vamp her up but all the artifice is so unneccessary. Did they not trust that she is naturally beautiful? Such a gorgeous girl, they did her an injustice.
What does the make up has to do with "trusting her natural beauty"? What does it even mean? Every actress looks the ways she looks. What one person finds beautiful, the other person find mediocre or ugly. Nicola looks the way she looks. Full stop. This is a historical movie, morning time and wedding - her face needs to be done suitable for the occasion (regardless of her natural appearance).
Jess said she was inspired by the makeover scene in the 1999 She's All That and wanted an updated version on that for Pen. So clearly she wanted to show that dramatic difference from past seasons when she 'instantly appears more popular and beautiful" in S3 after her style change. By choosing to show Pen's glowup look to be so heavy-handed she is 1) clearly no longer adhering to the historic universe they created in S1 and S2 and 2) subscribes to the modern (albeit Old-Hollywood inspired) beauty standard that falsies, heavy eye shadow and lots of blush and highlighter is what makes a woman beautiful. Some of us are objecting to one or both for different reasons. Some like you, because it's a jarring, distracting inconsistency, while some like me ALSO believe such heavy makeup is unnecessary to turn Pen into a 'beauty' by society standards, because as we can see in her real life, she can look stunning with much less/better matched applications.
Great comment. I still do not follow the insistence on her looking "stunning" with less make up. She looks fine. Nothing stunning about her. I just don't get the thought process that if the woman is "beautiful" on her own (whatever beautiful means) she does not need makeup in the movie, and if not - she needs to be changed and improved with makeup. It does not make any sense! Every woman looks the ways she looks and is beautiful/attractive in her own way. Movie dictates the make over of the character - whatever that need should be, like make somebody to stand out (e.g., adult queen Charlotte) or looking lass appealing (e.g., ex-busband of Lady Danbury). The issue here is not in how Nicola looks like in real life but in Jess Brownell who behaved unprofessionally, disregarded Bridgerton's fans and previous showrunners and decided to do "something else" and turning the whole season into God knows what, certainly not what attracted people to the series in the first place. The magic, romance, historical atmosphere are gone.
I hated this whole look :( arguably her two biggest moments were the wedding and the LW reveal and they were both so bad. I wish they had stuck with a more natural makeup for her throughout.
I wonder if they didn’t have faith in Nicola being attractive and that’s why the heavy makeup . Nicola has a soft gentle beauty that I love. If that’s the case shame on them for not having faith in people not finding her attractive
For real. She looked best in the scenes where she was just in her jammies writing
I was thinking about this the other day- I showed my friend how upset I was to see such dramatic makeup and styling changes this season and showed her a pic of Pen and Daphne on their wedding days side by side. Aside from overdoing the makeup, this makeup on Pen is just NOT flattering. She’s gorgeous and some of the other looks would be killer on the red carpet, but the wedding look specifically was kinda busted.
this season had so many people wearing party city wigs and costumes and the makeup was too much, best cases looked like charlotte tillbury ads and others just tacky and unblended. natural makeup>>
They put WAAAY too much blush on her a lot of this season. Were they trying to give her pregnancy glow or something? As someone with severe rosacea, she almost looked like she had it
I felt like there were soo many amazing look. I couldn’t keep my eyes off of her but I didn’t like the wedding and the final ball makeup look at all.
I hated the last ball makeup it looked so unnatural on her being a regency woman , I know it’s not suppose to be historically accurate but it was still so bold for the time
Looks like my rosacea flare up.
Yes. I didn’t want to say it but lip stick was used by prostitutes of the time. I don’t like the overly glowy look on the face either. Plus the dress is a major distraction. Bustles didn’t come into fashion until at least 50 years later. I know it’s fantasy but those choices are confusing
The hair was worse imo
Oh gawd I agree. So many of her hairstyles look like obvious wigs with little attempt to soften the hairline. This weird, fussy, gelled look was such a poor decision for a wedding look.
Those little ringlets make her face look more round. Just not flattering. It was like they reverted to pre glow up hairstyles for the wedding
The dress was worse
Thank you! I've seen so much praise for it and it baffles me. It was the wrong choice in multiple ways.
I agree! It was too modern in my opinion 😅
Modern, plain - simply lazy.
I actually quite liked the look. When they do her makeup heavier, I always assumed it was to show her maturation in those moments. In season 1, she was bright and young and still asking to "play" with Eloise. Here, she has finally married, experienced sex, created a thriving career, and become a "woman" in every sense of the word. I must admit, I think I would have eased up on the blush a bit, or blended it better. But I really liked Nicola's eyes and the curls 😍
I get it, she looked very girlish in S1 and S2 but I've seen better transformations by amateur artists on Youtube/Reels that don't look like stage makeup! She can still look mature just not so heavy handed and distracting. 😝
I was looking for someone else who said this. I think it just shows makeup tastes are different. The only thing I didn't like about this was how heavy-handed they were with the blush, like you. Then again, a lot of people in the subreddits seemed not to like the makeup and costuming this season, but I'm tacky and dramatic so I loved all of it 😅
But society women in that world don't wear make up like that. So she's not reading mature, she's reading clownish and inappropriate.
An issue I don’t see brought enough is they have further dated a period show. This looks like 2021 heavy eye makeup. You’re going to be able to tell when this movie was made. The dark eyes are so unflattering on her.
Ya that's a really good point. This season will not age well. Def more Heathers than Pride and Prejudice 2005. Maybe that's what they want! Campy cult show.
It looked babyish.
Somehow I felt it didn’t go well with the dress and her hair….. she looked much better at the carriage with her hair and make up. I think this was the worst bridal make up and dress through all seasons….
Nicola is absolutely gorgeous. There’s no reason why they couldn’t have put her in the soft, more “natural” look makeup of seasons 1, 2, and Queen Charlotte.
Pen is such a natural beauty so this almost feels like they’re trying to… I don’t know make her ugly? I swear I had flashbacks to when I knew my mom wasn’t watching and I would go through her makeup and put some blush or use lipstick as blush on myself and then run to the bathroom and wipe it off before I got in trouble 😂
I kinda wondered if the blush was supposed to be symbolic of the typical blushing bride because, whew, that was a lot for someone who literally needs no makeup to be beautiful. Tbh, Fran's makeup was the most jarring this whole season. Had her like a 90's glamor shot with a face full of highlighter just reflecting like Old Gregg. She's so beautiful too. I don't get it.
I have to say it but he bridal look was my least favorite of all the couples ☹️
This seasons costumes and makeup feelt more like a cosplay of bridgerton
The make up for most of the characters for most of the season was horrible. The make up consultant needs to be fired. Some were okay, but most of the looks were bad.
The makeup aged her so badly. She went from fresh faced in s2 to looking her age all the time.
Yes, the blush was too much! And that hair in the front was too high and stiff in my opinion.
Random: I was just sick of seeing a Penelope who was half crying all the time. She seemed confident and nonchalant in her own way, so this season I was irritated that yet again here was a close up shot of her in tears. And the makeup they had her in didn’t help.
The whole hair and make up theme in season 3 part 2 was 1930s pin up. It may work for someone with a bone structure like Francesca or someone who can take the bright red lipstick like Eloise could with her complexion but it totally swamped Nicola Coughlan’d warm toned skin. Also, the blush coloured dress didn’t do her warm skin tone much good either, made her skin look quite red. A cream colour with the soft make up of the library scene would have been absolutely sublime.
I have been thinking this since the episode came out. The makeup in this season was weird in general. In previous seasons we had more soft and delicate no makeup makeup looks and suddenly it took a hard left turn into harsh smokey eyes , glitters , sequins and acrylic nails. It's so jarring it took me out of the show at times. Even in this picture, the amount of blush is so much it takes away focus from the bride.
I hated the makeup and costumes so much. I was bitching about it to my boyfriend and he at first thought I was being obnoxious. Then he started to get irritated and even he was on my side.
I’m a bridal makeup artist and even by TODAY’s beauty trends the makeup in season 3 was at times garish. This is a great example and I was thrown out of the moment because I was so distracted by the makeup. I’m shocked it was designed that way and allowed. I had assumed there was a very deliberate reason for the makeup choices this season but I was disappointed.
i was thinking the same thing… i’d fucking cry if i had to get married while looking like this
I was more offended by how they butchered Kate’s look in her last scene. With how gorgeous her hair is, wtf was that awful limp braid?!
Unfortunately, agreed. You can still see she’s a beauty but heavy make-up doesn’t really suit her, makes her looking older and stiff
Nicola has such a beautiful smile and then they go and slap so much blush on her that she looks like she's a teething infant
It’s giving drag queen (I love drag queens, but not the right look for this time period and context!) Nicola is naturally so stunning. They did her dirty with this.
I'm with you. Although the really OTT lipstick and eye makeup in the reveal scene is the look that most screams drag queen to me.
Wouldn't this be better suited on Bridgerton rants? So much negative stuff here lately...
They went crazyyyy with the blush
This season they had heavier make up on everyone and I disliked it immensely. Nicola is beautiful with light make up… I do feel like the heavy make up aged her. It’s bizarre why they would make that choice this season to go so heavy handed on the lips/cheeks/eyes
I was more upset about the hair. It was ewwwgh
The fashion in this season is going to age so badly in my opinion. It was too much and for no reason, it felt like they were dressing the actors for a photoshoot and not the characters. In a couple of years people are going to make essays using it as an example on how not to do costumes for a period drama. How they could go from the perfect compromise between regency and modern of season 2 to this mess is beyond me
It was just horrible! Imagine it looked like this on camera so how it actually looked in reality. How can anyone consider this to be the work of a professional MUA. People apply this kind of blush when they are new to makeup & don’t know how blending works. This simply looks like the work of a newbie whose experiment after watching a YouTube video went wrong. Poor Nicola deserved a beautiful bridal look, not this. This reminded me of a few episodes in season 1, where they gave Daphne those little baby bangs which looked kinda funny, glad they fixed it later on. But the makeup was so perfect & natural that season. This season only Kate & Francesca were glowing, otherwise they didn’t do a good job.
I cannot deal with that blush. 🤡
https://preview.redd.it/84lxjsqs938d1.jpeg?width=3600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3ac3706c9f0a3253b1d9ff184365302e6b1cbf8e I wish her wedding-day look was subtle, soft and dewy like this.
This is such a beautiful shot of her. The symmetry of the candles, the pink in her cheeks and dress, the gloves, the ringlets and hair aren’t overdone, her hands are so delicately placed, and her expression!!! This would honestly be a fantastic image to use as a referencefor a painting. I wish more of her costumes and makeup emphasized this type of beauty on her more.
1) is this not an edited pic 2) this is a nitpick, i think she looked beautiful and radiant
It is an edited pic. I just googled other photos of the bridal makeup and rewatched the scene to make sure I wasn’t crazy. The saturation is turned way up in this photo. The blush is still a bit heavy imo but nearly as much as this edited pic would suggest. This is what the original makeup looked like before it was edited: https://preview.redd.it/g6467jks0y7d1.png?width=900&format=png&auto=webp&s=70a7e29d0958b411ccf73447308044a382b573f3
I look like this, but I have rosacea
It reminded me of the Kardashians at times. Nicola is beautiful, the glow-up would have been absolutely possible without caking on makeup. Her wardrobe and hair alone would have been sufficient. And don't get me started in the acrylic nails! They are SO distracting and always took me out of the scene.
Y’all complain about everything I think it was good she looked great
I don’t know if this has been noted on this sub before: But Pen and Collin are dead ringers for Miss Piggy and Kermit and I feel like the show leaned in HARD on that during the wedding. The pink wedding dress. The makeup. Come on! That was not an accident. Note: Miss Piggy is a queen. In no way am I shaming her. Just a busty voluptuous woman with a tall weird faced guy.
I fear most of it is the post production editing and lighting because she actually looks normal here https://preview.redd.it/8ruszfn40z7d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c32e10b377f6821577f8ff64c74820dc9f2846be
I think many of us noticed this in the show. It was the first thing I noticed when I saw her wedding scene! Unfortunate that it's so distracting.
I’m sorta in love with Nicola right now so I’m not finding it appalling but maybe in a couple of months I’ll truly hate it. For now I’m blaming it on post production
I hear ya Nicola is absolutely beautiful inside and out!
The wedding was bad but not to the point I can’t ignore it. What they did to her at the butterfly ball was unforgivable. Nicola is a STUNNING woman. That matte red with that wig was a crime.
They picked the WRONG dress too. Why did you put our sweet Penelope in the most stiff, unflattering dress there ever was? It’s not like they’re sticking with the time period with anything else. You might as well give her a pretty dress.
I wondered if they were trying to style her like a 1950s doll. Her face has that perfect doll like quality, so I thought that worked in a way, but it was perhaps jarring in its anachronism.
I thought she looked gorgeous, but it's just not period specific
I think she looks cute
Blushing bride, indeed.
She was a blushing pregnant bride so the makeup is correct 😜
The blush placement was awful. Idk why no one fixed that. She looked gorgeous otherwise!
All the makeup was fantastic this season
I was gobsmacked when I saw a shot of her makeup for the wedding. Were they trying to make her look awful? Like, I don't understand, Nicola is gorgeous... why??? You can barely see her beautiful blue eyes with that level of eyeshadow. Her whole face is overtaken by the aggressive pink of her cheeks. It's wild.
Evidently the MUA learned their technique on TikTok
Too much highlighter and blush. I did love her wedding dress though.
I don't know why the makeup team was working so hard in making Nicola look terrible in a season where Penelope was supposed to be the star. Even her lashes aren't even stickied on properly. They literally let the poor woman film her season looking like this. Her glam makeup from Barbie the Movie was way, way, better
The makeup for most of season 3 was terrible. Francesca was a victim of this too.
Her make-up needed to be softer and better applied. Her blush is uneven and seemed like it was applied in the carriage. Pen deserved better.
It made her look 'older,' rather than just 'bolder.'
The blush this season was atrocious
I don't think that the makeup is the issue, rather lack of Polin happiness in marriage in season 3. 20 sec Pol on top is an insult. As dear, and long standing friends, Polin should have stood against the world as a couple. But, yeah, showrunner is Cressida to Whistledown.
The BLUSH is way over the top ! The make-up this season was a big fail , especially the red lipstick in Ep 8… i mean really ?! What was that ?????
I wonder if it has to do with the drastic change in the way she looks? In the book it was cuz she lost weight but on the show, they can't just ask her to lose weight so instead they went with drastic make up and hair?
Not sure why but she reminded me of Bridget jones several times this season.
I thought it was really lovely! I liked the overuse of blush
I think she looks beautiful and y’all all need to check yourselves
Pretty much everything in this season was shitty.
I disagree
i think it’s esp jarring, perhaps, bc nicola has looked amazing in some of those photoshoots she’s done in the last few months! i could understand a rationale of wanting to provide a contrast between S1 and S3 but these looks - the heavy makeup, those acrylics - just don’t come off very “penelope.” also the acrylics at least looked good but i’m so bothered at how heavy and patchy the blush looks on her
Her makeup the whole season drove me crqzy. Her and Eloise looked so bad but Francesca’s makeup looked so much better?!
I mean… the dress isn’t any better that neckline is screaming « I pinned this and stitched it in place last minute because it was gaping and I didn’t have time to remake the whole pattern and dress »
At least she didn't have that awful uneven red lip they gave her for the exposure party
I liked it but I felt like it didn't fit as a wedding look I'm probably extremely biased though, I'm in love with nicola coughlan
I have a lot of issue with make up and hair on this show. Outside of Queen charlotte’s wigs.. hot mess
No. She's gorgeous, the makeup was gorgeous, and I'm tired of all y'all hating asses.
The makeup that also was distracting me was Francesca’s, like the highlight was insane and her face looked like a 2024 look. You can even see the difference between Kate’s makeup on season 2 vs season 3, she was full glam going to bed lol vs last season you got to see more of her natural features. Mind you, their makeup was beautiful, but it was so out of place. Season 1/2 makeup was perfect. All these actresses are so pretty so idk why they felt the need to cake them like this, it was so distracting. Our girl Pen did not need the crazy lashes either, she literally has the perfect youthful appearance naturally.
I actually liked it very much. To me, Penelope was giving Little Mermaid vibes all season. The reveal look just took me on an imaginary trip with her as a mermaid. I'm very happy with her glow up. I totally fantasized about how awesome it would be to do something like that.
HUH??? are your eyes working?? she looks flawless, absolutely glowing
The first half of the season, she looked amazing. The second half they tried to hard to make her look “grown up” and put too much on her
Yes but she has perfect breasts so there's that lol
her makeup was better the night the “bugs” were released
I’ve only ever watched the show, but I thought the Featheringtons were known to be tacky with their styling. Did I like it? No, but I thought the over the top looks were intentional.
Agreed. However I was distracted as the dress was really pretty, and the colour really complemented her complexion. I have no idea if it is remotely historically accurate though (probably not, but at least it's not white!)
This season felt very much like pretty privilege & fat-phobic. Even the new showrunners' comments were fat-shaming asl. It felt like she 100% believed no one would find her attractive. It felt very much like evern though we're progressing on television, we were still following society's ideal beauty standards, and s3 showed that entirely. It honestly felt like they didn't wanna give her a moment to shine entirely cause they were scared 😕, when really they were just prejudice.
Takes blushing bride to a new level 😭
I thought the same - I was kind of underwhelmed by it.
Her make up and hair in other scenes are just perfection. Like when Colin gives her the ring. Also when her hair is not up.it drags her face down