Is ‘Wednesday' a Threat to the ‘Clean Girl' Aesthetic? How Jenna Ortega's Viral ‘Tired Girl' Makeup Is Changing Trends

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4 days ago

With a stalker out for unknown vengeance and her boarding school in rubble, Wednesday Addams doesn't have time to do her makeup. She, instead, boasts draconian eye bags and a face void of color, not to mention pigtails braids, front fringe and short fingernails coated in black nail polish.
Played by Jenna Ortega in the namesake Netflix original series, which first released in November 2022 and is set to return with the second season on Aug. 6, Wednesday is the epitome of gothic glamor. More than that, though, she's the archetypal anti-'clean girl,' the opposite of Hailey Bieber and Kendall Jenner, the two A-listers credited as the founders of the faux natural aesthetic that went viral around the same time the show first released.
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'Clean girl is about hydration, glow, slicked-back hair and perfection,' makeup artist Alexa Persico told WWD. Wednesday's countenance, created by artist Tara McDonald, is anything but; It's undone, worn-in and dulled. It's not cosplaying as effortlessly with bronzy contour and blushed cheeks like the 'clean girl' look is; it's actually effortless. 'This is known as the 'tired girl,'' Persico said of Wednesday's aesthetic. 'It's darker and edgier. It's all about energy, and right now on social media, people are connecting with these looks that feel more real, not filtered or overdone.'
After years of the clean girl reign over the beauty mecca, the pendulum is swinging back, normalizing the visage of hardworking women who don't always look or feel put together. 'The whole look leans into what some might call imperfections, and that's exactly the point,' celebrity makeup artist Tonya Riner told WWD. 'It's not about perfection. It's about letting individuality take the lead.'
Persico agreed with Riner's sentiment about the tired girl beauty trend. 'It flips the script on what we've been told is 'pretty,'' Persico added. 'For so long, it's been all about brightness, flawlessness, faking awake. This look embraces the dark circles, the smudged liner, the sleepy vibe, and that's what makes it beautiful in its own way. It's makeup that matches your mood, not just your outfit.'
Paris-based fashion and beauty influencer Lara Violetta declared a 'tired girl summer' in one of her most recent videos on TikTok, which saw her messily smudge charcoal shadow under her eyes in a bid to embrace her exhaustion. 'Eye bags are so chic because you actually have to work for them,' she said in her video.
Violetta juxtaposed her grunge-inspired eyes with a touch of pink shimmer on her lids and a nude-beige blush on her cheeks. She also kept her lips bare; embellishing them only with a translucent sparkle gloss. 'Nothing really happens in summer. So, I feel like tired girl summer is also the beginning of a new era, but just like right before it, kind of waiting for it to happen, so it paralyzes you. The perfect look to do nothing but overthinking,' she continued. In a subsequent video, Violetta continued her tired girl streak, drawing cool-toned contour under her cheekbones, dusted shadow in a circle around her eyes and a gray liner around her mouth.
The hollowed eyes and sunken cheeks belonging to Wednesday and the tired girl visage is one that requires the cool-toned products Violetta reached for in her videos, according to makeup artist Lauren Wolborsky. 'Contour products are commonly used by Ortega's makeup artists to accentuate her character's facial features,' Wolborsky told WWD. 'Using a pencil eyeliner is also key to creating a tired girl aesthetic. A pencil eyeliner allows you to smudge it and remove opacity. Applying a black or brown pencil to the top and bottom waterline and smudging it out with your fingers or your favorite brushes will accentuate the eyes perfectly enough to make you appear like you haven't had enough sleep, in a cool way, of course.'
Riner suggested ditching concealer to, instead, 'let the eyeshadow come down a bit further to really play up the tired-but-cool effect.' She added, 'Keep the skin bare where you can. Opt for sheer, hydrating formulas with SPF that let your real texture show through. For blush, reach for a red or berry undertone to mimic that natural, just-ran-to-class flush.' The lips should be blushed in a lifeless plum matte shade, but not so much as to bring too much color to the face.
McDonald's work in 'Wednesday,' hair and makeup included, scored her an Emmy for Outstanding Contemporary Makeup (Non-Prosthetic), specifically for her work on the season one episode called 'Woe What a Night.'
'Wednesday' on Netflix: All the Costumes on Jenna Ortega, Catherine Zeta-Jones and More
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Launch Gallery: 'Wednesday' on Netflix: All the Costumes on Jenna Ortega, Catherine Zeta-Jones and More
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