Nobody in 'Euphoria' season 2 is wearing a full face of foundation

We’re not the type to spill spoilers (especially for a season of television as intensely anticipated as Euphoria’s sophomore one), but we have no qualms stating this: everyone’s skin looks genuinely phenomenal.

Not ‘TV perfect’ phenomenal, though. The faces of the show’s stars (from Zendaya and Hunter Schafer to Barbie Ferreira, Sydney Sweeney and Alexa Demie) look glossy, polished and yet beautifully natural all at once. The glitter tears may be gone (with sparkle now being used more sparingly and specifically), but the gloss-factor has taken centre stage as the new covetable aesthetic to copy.

In fact, according to Allure (who secured every beauty/TV lover’s dream gig: an exclusive trip to the Euphoria makeup trailer), director Sam Levison asked for a pared back base aesthetic to reflect the raw feel of the season.

“SAM SAYS NO FOUNDATION (YOUR SKIN WILL LOOK AMAZING TRUST ME),” signs hung by the show’s Makeup Designer, Doniella Davy in said trailer read. For the record, we’re considering hanging similar ones by our own makeup mirrors, just to remind us that we also probably look pretty damn great sans foundation anyway.

“My department learned how to make the skin look really, really polished and fresh [without wearing a full face of foundation] by using illuminating liquid skin products,” Davy explained to Us. “[Instead, we’d use [things] like a drop of foundation [or] concealer to spot-treat."

“I love using the Glossier Stretch Concealer ($25 at Glossier if you’re able to get to the U.S.), because it looks so dewy and is really pretty on camera,” Davy told ET Online in another interview. If you’re after a dupe that's available in Australia, the RMS Beauty “Un” Cover-Up ($51 at MECCA) offers a lightweight, radiant finish of the same seamless style.

"With the minimal-to-no foundation style for season two, I have gotten really into relying on tinted glowy sunscreens and then mixing like a liquid illuminator with a sheer foundation to just make the natural skin glow,” she added. “There's this Color Science SPF that has this super slight tint to it; it's got a glowy, pearlescent thing going on that makes the skin look so healthy.” Our guess? Colorescience Total Protection Face Shield Glow SPF50 ($137.79 at Amazon).

Another skin prep step Davy relied upon was Indeed Labs Nanoblur Instant Skin Finisher ($31.34 at Look Fantastic) applied with a sponge to reduce shine and blur the complexion before action was called, she told Allure. As for the sheen we see on Zendaya’s (glorious) face, it’s actually (get this) Vaseline ($5.99 at Chemist Warehouse). Puberty Blues chic, people. And as you may have assumed by now, glow is everything in Euphoria-land, so for the record, powder is a big no.

Vaseline isn't the only cheap-as-chips skin care product applied to the cast's complexions; Chloe Cherry (who plays the phenomenal Faye) revealed another bargain buy that the makeup team tends to rely on. "I discovered this product because my makeup artist on Euphoria would put this on my skin everyday; Alex French, she's very talented," Cherry shared in a recent chat with Dazed Beauty. "She used to always say that it was the best thing to make your skin really dewy. It's the Weleda Skin Food ($16.95 at Adore Beauty), oh my god, it's so, so, so good."

But just in case you felt like calling someone’s base bluff (as scenes in later episodes may show skin with a little more product-enhanced polish), Davy also revealed some of her picks for when certain settings call for “very moist-looking skin”. Even then, though, the base was kept super sheer, with Davy and her team concocting their own glossy tinted moisturiser-type mixes by blending lightweight bases with a heavy concentration of moisturiser or illuminator. The goal was to ever so slightly perfect the skin while still allowing natural skin texture, freckles, etc. to shine through.

Her fave formulas? M.A.C Studio Face and Body Foundation ($70 at M.A.C), a cult-status super sheer option suggested by Zendaya herself, Chantecaille Future Skin ($113 at MECCA) and Face Atelier Ultra Foundation Pro ($44 at PM Studio).

We're extremely into this whole 'spot correcting only/highlighter or hydrator hybrid' approach. To paraphrase our queen Jules, we're considering burning our full coverage foundation stacks to the f*cking ground...

Main image credit: @barbieferreira

Want to try a natural-looking tinted moisturiser yourself? Here are some of our fave formulas...