It can be difficult in such an oversaturated market to found a beauty brand that not only fills an untouched niche, but does so in an entirely authentic and approachable way. But makeup artist Donni Davy's brand Half Magic, now stocked at MECCA boutiques across Australia and New Zealand, is one such brand filling the brief.
Having cut her teeth on film and TV sets as a fledgling makeup artist, to the booming popularity of her bold makeup looks on the first and second seasons of A24's Euphoria, Davy has carved out prime real estate for herself in the makeup game over the last decade. It comes as little surprise, then, given her contributions to the beauty zeitgeist, that A24 would approach her to start a makeup brand tailored to bridging the gap between the cult beauty looks audiences have loved in A24 films and shows on screen, and consumers' desire to repeat them on their own complexions.
Of course Half Magic has already achieved cult status for the glitters and artistry-forward products in its core product range that either mirror those used on Euphoria sets, or which were used directly on the faces of stars like Hunter Schafer, Zendaya and Sydney Sweeney in season two. But the brand has also now branched out to work with MUAs on other A24 films – like the in-cinemas MaXXXine, the last in Ti West's X horror trilogy starring Mia Goth – to create limited-edition capsule collections that give fans the ability to recreate exact looks on their own watch.
To mark the brand's arrival on Australian and Kiwi shores at MECCA stores this week, I trekked over to Sydney's Ace Hotel to sit down with Donni Davy to talk all things Half Magic, A24, Chappell Roan and season three of Euphoria.
You’ve worked within the A24 universe for a while now, on sets and through Half Magic. Is there an A24 film you would have loved to be in the makeup department for, or wish you could have collaborated with when it was released?
Lady Bird! Also, it would have been epic to work on MaXXXine – the whole trilogy – but I love, love, love what Sarah Rubano did and was so stoked to collaborate with her for that limited-edition makeup kit. I felt like that partnership was so authentic because she actually picked the shades. She was like "No! Deeper! More saturated! More cool toned! More! More! More!" – so it was very artistry-driven collab that felt authentic because of that. It wasn't just slapping a name on something.... oh! Spring Breakers – an original A24! That would have been amazing.
I feel like that one kind of had a Euphoria essence even before Euphoria!
100 per cent!
So, where are you pulling inspiration from these days? Do you have any favourite artists or references in the makeup world or otherwise?
It's just all over my Instagram feed! Everything from exact recreations of Euphoria looks to like, really interesting, highly artistic, niche looks that people are doing on themselves. I'm just so inspired by, not even makeup artists, but by the looks people are doing on themselves. And they sort of become these makeup stars online, even if they only do work on themselves. I feel like I don't have to look very far for inspiration these days, I just have to open my phone and start scrolling.
Instagram is endless inspiration.
And being inspired is one thing – like, there could be a thousand little images in my head – and then, what I really love to do with makeup designs is to understand the backstory. Whether it's something for film and TV, or it's something editorial, or something for Chappell Roan on stage, I like to know the context. What's the vibe? Who do you want to come off as? What kind of presence do you want to have? And then, once I get started on the look, whether it's a subtle look or a really in-depth look, making it look like it belongs on their face. And I think that's about having some areas more undone, or like, less makeup and seeing real skin coming through; playing with negative space, rather than putting makeup on the entire face.
In a lot of your behind-the-scenes content, you seem to use face charts to map out looks. How does your process normally work from ideation through to execution?
It's kind of different each time. I've tried to hone in my creative process, to make it easier for myself, but I don't always follow the face chart trajectory. But lately I have been into the face charts – especially if I haven't met the person. I had met Chappell Roan, but I'd never done her makeup before, so I had to print out all of these pictures of her face and just sketch on top of them just to prepare myself. I also love using little grid collages or screenshotting different things, or trying something out really quickly on my eye, taking a photo and putting it together in a little collage. Yeah, just anything kind of visual.
What were some of the products in your personal beauty bag that you felt really attached to when you were younger?
I really didn't wear a lot of makeup when I was younger, which is why it really doesn't make a lot of sense that I'm a makeup artist now. I don't have a cool answer for that. I was so not a beauty girl.
What moved you into the beauty space then?
When I first became a film and TV makeup artist, it was at the suggestion of my friends' Mum. She was like "You know, you always did the painting and drawing growing up..." – because I was very much into the visual arts as a shy, art kid – "...makeup is kind of like painting and drawing". And I was like "I see that". I didn't even know about this job of being a film and TV makeup artist and it kind of started to make sense to me, and I was like "This is actually really cool". Reading the scripts, and the storytelling, was really interesting to me. I had studied photography at Pratt Institute, so I loved the storytelling aspect of photography. And it turns out it wasn't that different from drawing and painting, I took a crash course in makeup artistry, and even throughout my first 5-8 years being a makeup artist, I really wasn't using my own face as a canvas ever.
I feel like so many people I know who work within fashion or beauty, they're either living and breathing it themselves, or it's completely an external thing.
Yeah, they can appreciate the artistry! It was really during the pandemic that that changed for me. It was post-Euphoria, when I wasn't doing anything, that I started to use makeup like that on my own face.
You mentioned doing Chappell Roan's makeup a couple of times – for her Coachella performances earlier this year, and for some editorials. Is there a favourite look you’ve created on her?
My favourite look that I created on her was the butterfly look – so, weekend two of Coachella. I loved the neon brows, I loved the punk, pink, bulbous lower lash-line liner and how it felt like a butterfly wing pattern but wasn't traditional butterfly wing makeup. She was the butterfly, so it didn't make sense to go make the whole wing. I just wanted her to have an insect vibe. Seeing it on stage was super cool. I'm not used to going so crazy with makeup all over the face and doing drag...
I was going to ask if you approach it differently, stage makeup as opposed to film and TV?
Oh my god! A big difference! You just go so hard. Harder than you've ever gone. But also, I really don't like when it looks crazy up close. I want it to look beautiful up close, but also really insane from far away. So it was a really cool exercise in just going bonkers with it and going bigger. And seeing it immediately on stage was such instant gratification, unlike in film and TV where you see it months and months later. So it was really exciting. I'm really drawn to stage makeup right now.
Whose makeup would you love to do, and what kind of look would you choose for them?
I'm doing her for Lollapalooza – Reneé Rapp! It will be different. It obviously won't be like, a Chappell Roan butterfly drag [laughs]. This will be my first time working with her. I met her at the afterparty at the MaXXXine premiere. I just plopped down next to her and was like, "Hi Renee! I'd like to do your makeup!" [Laughs.]. I can be forward when I need to!
You've got to go out and chase your dreams that way sometimes! I also wanted to talk a bit about Euphoria. We’ve been told that the third season will be going into production in January next year. Are you going to be back on set creating looks for season 3?
Yeah! Definitely! I don't know if it's actually going to happen in January, but... it looks like it's happening some time next year. And yes, of course I'll be there.
Now that the looks in that show have become so iconic, and a mainstream part of the beauty zeitgeist, does it feel more difficult to push boundaries and do something original on set?
Yeah totally! I felt that way on season two. Like, I wanted it to be different than season one, but that didn't mean louder or more sparkly. The mood of season two was different. The way it was shot was different. I just wanted to really explore. What can bold makeup be like if it's not super, super bright and sparkly colours all the time? How to play with more minimalism? Sometimes a really interesting, bold makeup look is not the one that's visible from across the room. It's like, a cool detail that you notice when you get up close. It's like, "Woah, that's interesting and different". I don't know, it's been so long since we filmed, season three could be anything. It all depends on what the scripts are, but there's definitely pressure, because many people are watching the show for the makeup. So how do I keep it interesting and real for you guys?
Are you going to be using some Half Magic?
Obviously! Yeah.
