‘It’s Stephen! It’s Stephen. And here they all come to chat a load of bollocks.” So said Jessie Roux all the way back in episode four, spewing truth bombs while wearing sweetcorn-yellow eyeshadow. Yet here we are – as I write this, on the day of the final – with Stephen Libby still masquerading as a Faithful, looking th’innocent flower but being the serpent under’t, as per Lady Macbeth’s advice.
But it hasn’t been for want of Jessie trying – the 28-year-old has been a fan favourite on the latest season of The Traitors for smarts like these, but also for her bright and mismatched makeup. Often yellow and red, like Rupert the Bear’s outfit or the Lego logo, the shades are what Little Greene paint company calls exclamatory things such as Trumpet and Heat.
Seen through the prism of received makeup wisdom – au naturel, barely there, “no-makeup makeup” inspired by a bare-faced Pamela Anderson – it doesn’t sound appealing, but that just shows what we know. Because it looks brilliant: quirky, offbeat, resplendent, lively. An antidote to the idea that makeup should be discreet, it grabs the attention like a shield in a task. It’s been a joyful shot of warmth during the past few weeks – like a dram of whisky – amid all the backstabbing and drizzle on our screens. Not to mention emboldening for anyone stuck in a smoky-eye rut.
Could Jessie’s makeup have played a role in her wisdom being ignored, via the unconscious bias of the other players? Standing out isn’t always the best tactic on The Traitors, after all. She says she “did wonder if I should tone it down” for her time on screen: “I didn’t know if people would question whether I was being genuine or if it was an act to try to look more ‘trustworthy’. But I felt it was important to stay true to myself, and I love expressing myself through makeup.”
Plus, she says, “because of my stammer, it can sometimes be hard to express myself, so it’s a comfort to have my bright makeup and clothes to show who I really am.”
Jessie has, she says, always liked to wear bright makeup, “but it probably became more of an everyday thing around lockdown because I was at home every day and could experiment more”. Her inspiration? She namechecks America’s Next Top Model, which she watched growing up, “and I was always inspired by the different makeup for different photoshoots” – as well as the musician La Roux and the hairdresser Sophia Hilton.
On TikTok, users have been applying shades of marigold orange and canary yellow to their eyes in her honour, using metallics in prosecco shades on eyelids and under-eyes in videos about how to get the Jessie look, and “channelling their inner Jessie” with mismatched eyeshadow.
“I noticed Jessie’s makeup immediately. I think it’s hard not to,” says makeup artist Aoife Cullen, who describes her own makeup style as “futuristic, kind of alien-esque and kind of retro”. “To the knowing eye, Jessie is obviously someone who really enjoys beauty; isn’t afraid to subvert beauty standards and wear something that people would typically deem to be unattractive or not flattering,” says Cullen.
Jessie isn’t alone in wearing noteworthy makeup in the castle’s wings. Traitors host Claudia Winkleman has made an icon of herself via operatic amounts of kohl (and her omnipotent fringe, of course).
“It’s certainly something of an antidote to the ‘clean girl’ look that’s prevalent at the moment,” says Lucy Gibson, Winkleman’s makeup artist on the show. “But that’s never been deliberate. Makeup trends come and go, but when someone finds their own style and commits to it, it becomes timeless and noticeable in a way that trends aren’t.”
Cullen – and, in her own way, Jessie – are part of a movement on TikTok that has been reclaiming so-called “ugly make-up”. Cullen namechecks makeup artist Sean Brady, whose work she describes as “kind of drag inspired, but in a really unique way”. Garance Murru is another – showing off her shimmery pink, chartreuse and lilac lids on TikTok to her nearly 200,000 followers. Emily Wood (sister of White Lotus actor Aimee Lou Wood) describes herself as a “face decorator” on Instagram and is admired not only for her neons but her ability to apply them on the bus, on the train or on foot.
If we’ve been living through an era of dewy, glassy, glossy, fresh makeup, more meadow than Matisse, this is a vivid rejoinder. Take Cullen’s work. In a series titled Weird Lip Combos she decorates lips with combinations more typically found on a bird of paradise than a human mouth: in one a classic pillar-box red is upended by a sky blue; in another a candyfloss pink with a sickly lime green.
Generally, says Gibson, she’s starting to see “a real swing back towards colour, character and individuality in makeup”. It has, she says, “been a dialogue among makeup artists on social media recently, and that’s exciting to see!”
So, for those of us religiously applying black mascara (if any at all), how do we start pushing the needle?
“The best way to start is change the colour of your mascara,” says Cullen. “If you wear black or brown, maybe pivot to a plum. Then you could go to maybe a dark green … it’s not a complete jump to something really alien to you, it’s still pretty safe and comfortable.” Before you know it, she says, “you don’t care any more and you’re ready for blue eyeliner”.
On the lid, “stick with the traditional shape of a smoky eye or the kind of colour that you’re comfortable with,” she says, “and then move into adding shimmer or sparkle or, like, a little bit of something that is a different colour, just to wash a colour over the eye as opposed to going straight to one block colour.” Adding a little bit at a time is an ideal way to be more comfortable with it.
Then, “once you find what colour looks great on you, you can go to the most extreme version of it”.
Naturally, a lot of it is more about the ’tude than the actual eyeliner or lipgloss. Winkleman is a great example. “When it comes to her look, Claudia simply doesn’t take other people’s opinions too seriously,” says Gibson. “She knows what she likes, she owns it, and she’s not swayed by external noise.”
Jessie is on board: “If you love colour, then go for it,” she says. “It’s always better to be yourself than to follow the crowd.”