In an interview for the March issue of Harper’s Bazaar UK, cover star Carey Mulligan shared her full skin-care routine, including how her minimalist regimen differs from her role in the new Golden Globe-nominated film Promising Young Woman. For the movie, Mulligan used hair and makeup to get into character, wearing bright wigs, heavy eyeliner, and a whimsical manicure.
Mulligan's character is dichotomous: By day, she's Cassie, a woman who lives at home with her parents while she works a barista job in a bubblegum-pink coffee shop. By night, she's catching self-proclaimed "nice guys" in a sinister trap by using the male gaze against them.
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"My character makes up different characters," Mulligan explains. "She goes out in totally different personas, and so makeup is a really important thing. We went from really vast extremes: sort of a proper body-con outfit and scraped-back hair, like a Kardashian look, which was so much fun. And then she plays the sort of young, vulnerable almost teenage girl."
Despite the flip-flopping roles, one teeny-tiny glam detail remains consistent throughout the movie: Cassie's colourful and mismatched manicure, which Mulligan said really helped her get into the character. "I had this amazing manicure in Promising Young Woman: Each finger was painted a different color of pastel. It was so pretty; something I could never maintain in my real life, but I really liked having for the film."
In another recent interview with InStyle, Mulligan revealed more about Cassie's psyche, as expressed through hair and makeup. "The nails and the hair is something that's a part of her defense — and isn’t it for all of us?" she asks. "Why do we wear makeup? Why do we dress the way we do? For me certainly, I feel like sometimes I’m doing it to protect myself, and I think that’s what she’s doing."