If you’ve ever wondered how to glow like you’re both the bane of someone’s existence and the object of all their desires, you’re in luck. Bridgerton Season 2 lead makeup artist Erika Ökvist tells Tudum her secrets to creating a lusty, love-kissed glow — no matter whose heart is doing the burning and/or yearning.
“The one thing we use on absolutely everybody is the Pat McGrath Labs Skin Fetish: Highlighter + Balm Duo,” Ökvist explains. “It’s got a balm on one side that looks like the natural sebum of the skin... We put it on all the highlights, like the cheekbones or whatever you want to enhance or create interest with. On the other side, it’s got an iridescent, shimmery little bit of color that goes all the way into the golds. I call it the glow stick.”
Ökvist and her team used Pat McGrath Labs exclusively on set; McGrath even released an exclusive collection to go along with the second season. According to Ökvist, McGrath’s products made perfect sense for the show, as glowing, ethereal skin is what the makeup is most known for — and now that specific shimmery glow is what the show’s stars are known for. Ökvist says she and her team achieved this singular effect by applying it everywhere: the cheekbones, the high points of the face, the décolleté, the bustline and more.
“All of these actors have to look flawless from 8 to 14 hours a day, and sometimes longer,” Ökvist explains. “Sometimes we shoot during the night, starting at 11 o’clock in the evening and going up to like 5 o’clock in the morning — and they still need to look super glowing from the inside, while being super romantic and super in love.”
Of course, the key to glowing like you’ve just received true love’s kiss doesn’t lie exclusively in the hands of one product. Ökvist says that it’s also important to prime the skin via massage and skin care, then use products that won’t detract from the skin’s natural moisture levels.
“I always also do different types of facial massaging to wake up the skin and get all the blood vessels helping out with reducing swelling,” she says. “Or sometimes I’ll do a little bit of lymphatic drainage massage to reduce swelling around eyes and jawlines. Once the face is woken up and has been hydrated and awakened, then we always use the Pat McGrath primer. It’s also got hyaluronic acid in it, and it will make sure that all of this hard work that we just spent moisturizing the skin and waking it up stays within the skin.”
After primer, makeup artist and Pat McGrath Labs lead educator Kecia Littman says that a hydrating foundation and concealer are key. Both Ökvist and Littman, though, agree that when it comes to the color elements of glow creation, application of eyeshadow and blusher is all about technique, as well as understanding what works with each actor’s natural skin tone and costumes.
“We find the star colors for that character,” Ökvist says. “But then every time you’re applying the makeup, it has to cohere with what they’re wearing. The Bridgertons have a lot of pale blues. Then you’ve got the Sharmas, who’ve got a lot of really rich, warm colors. So, for someone like Kate Sharma (Simone Ashley), we would use the Mothership V: Bronze Seduction palette. It’s got loads of really lovely, warm ochers and apricots... colors that will naturally be in Simone’s skin. So we’re spinning [our colors] together with what she’s got in her skin, but then marrying that together with what she’s wearing.”
So, if you’re following along at home: Skin massage and moisturizer? Check. Finger application of a glow-y shadow or blush to the eye and cheek? Check. Nutrient-rich foundation and concealer? Check. But if you want to re-create the flushed, flustered and perhaps even postcoital glow of Bridgerton, it’s all about the balm.
“It just lifts the cheekbones up to God,” Ökvist says — right where “we want them to be.”
