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About UsAdvertiseInvestor RelationsJobsNewslettersEditionUSUKAustraliaBrasilCanadaDeutschlandIndiaJapanLatamCalifornia residents can opt out of "sales" of personal data.Do Not Sell My Personal Information © 2022 BuzzFeed, Inc PressRSSPrivacyConsent PreferencesUser TermsAccessibility StatementAd ChoicesHelpContactSitemapBuzzFeed NewsReporting on what you care about. We hold major institutions accountable and expose wrongdoing.BuzzFeed TastySearch, watch, and cook every single Tasty recipe and video ever - all in one place!BuzzFeed GoodfulSelf care and ideas to help you live a healthier, happier life.BuzzFeed Bring MeObsessed with travel? Discover unique things to do, places to eat, and sights to see in the best destinations around the world with Bring Me!BuzzFeed As IsSomething for everyone interested in hair, makeup, style, and body positivity.Style·Posted 13 minutes agoFrom The Set Of “Do Revenge”: 10 Behind-The-Scenes Details About The Film's Styling, Hair Choices, And Perfect '90s Vibes
Because Maya Hawke was filming 'Stranger Things' at the same time, her character's hair and makeup had a very different approach.
by Fabiana BuontempoBuzzFeed Staff
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Netflix's dark comedy Do Revenge starring Maya Hawke and Camila Mendes premiered this month. The high school–centered movie has a lot of '90s rom-com references throughout — including the characters' costumes and the hair and beauty looks.
Netflix
IMO, it's as if Clueless and 10 Things I Hate About You had a baby and that baby was Do Revenge.
In regards to the '90s meets Y2K–inspired hairstyles seen in Do Revenge: Everything from Drea's flirty ponytail to Eleanor's blonde wavy bob was created by the movie's hair department head, Katie Ballard, and her team.
Netflix
We spoke to Katie about all things Do Revenge and behind-the-scenes hair — including how she incorporated hair trends from both the '90s and the 2000s and put a modern twist on them, how she kept the actors' hairstyles in place despite working in a hot and humid climate, her favorite looks from the movie, and more.
Katie Ballard
1. The film's director, costume designer, and actors all had an influence on each character's hair looks.
Katie Ballard
"So, my first [hair] conversations always happened with Jenn Kaytin Robinson [the movie’s director and writer], and she knew exactly what she wanted for these characters. She is also very knowledgeable in terms of elevated fashion, and that is not something that is very common with film directors," Katie told BuzzFeed.
"So, I was thrilled to work with her in that department. We had our normal character conversations, I also talked with each of the actors individually to pull in their vision for the character and that's when all the personality comes out."
"And then as we got into filming is when I started working more closely with our costume designer, Alana Morshead, and we had a very good flow where she would send me photos from their fittings, so I could get a head start," Katie said.
Katie Ballard
"Then, she would let me know as soon as [the costumes] were all approved so that I could pull the trigger on any ideas that I had. The key for this film was to just have a huge hair accessories stock on hand. So I came in prepared with that," she continued.
"That made it easy for me to just pull options as I saw their costumes. Then, often what I did for Cami [Mendes] and Maya [Hawke] is I would lay out all the options that would work with that costume, and I would let them choose from there what they wanted to do," Katie said.
Katie Ballard
2. Maya Hawke's character Eleanor had a hair transformation — which represented her character “coming into her power.”
Netflix, Katie Ballard
"The overall style [of her hair] was actually scripted as a blonde bob. As Jen and I began talking, it just seemed like that was the best option because it's such a big trendy look that it felt like it would really drive the point home in terms of what they were going for [with Eleanor's character transformation]," Katie said.
3. Katie made sure to handle Eleanor's wig with care, since it was chemically treated and they were filming in Miami — a very humid and hot climate.
Katie Ballard
"I colored her wig once I received it from the wig maker and then I roughed out the cut. I got with Maya, and her and I worked together to finish the little details in terms of how it laid out around her face, framed her face, and all of that," Katie said.
"We were using irons on this wig in particular. So that [care of the wig] was of high importance to me, especially because the hair had been previously chemically treated," Katie said.
Katie Ballard
"I would add Kevin Murphy Staying Alive spray every time I styled it to make sure that the hair stayed hydrated and protected from the heat," she said.
"Then I would blow dry it with a one-and-a-quarter-inch round brush. Then I would curl it using a one-and-a-quarter-inch curling iron."
4. To give Eleanor's hair that "cool, It girl" vibe, Katie developed a signature curl for her.
Katie Billard
"I would start the curl with the iron vertically. And then as I crawled up towards the root, I would turn the iron horizontally. That just gave us the right amount of movement but also a lot of volume," she explained.
"To finish, I would use Kevin Murphy Session Spray Flex to seal the curl in and seal out any humidity. Then I would finish with a little bit of Reverie Milk Anti-Frizz Leave-In Nourishing Treatment."
5. The character Russ (Rish Shah) — who was a nod to Heath Ledger's character in 10 Things I Hate About You — sported blue hair in the movie, which had to be retouched every 10 days.
Katie Billard, Kim Simms / Via Netflix
"As we began filming, we just had to stay on top of retouching his color to ensure that continuity matches throughout the film. Because as most people know, we don't film in order, we jump all over the place. So we had to make sure that his hair always looked the same," Katie said.
"So we touched up his color about every 10 days and then just had to stay on top of touching up that fade he has every day."
6. Katie used specific products and techniques to combat the Miami heat and humidity.
Netflix
"I had different tricks for both Cami and Maya because their styles were so different. So my main plan of attack for Maya was to just add as much moisture to the hair before I styled it as I could so that when she got out into the humid air, her hair wouldn't soak up quite as much moisture," she said.
"Then I would just stay close by to her with the Reverie Milk Anti-Frizz Leave-In Nourishing Treatment to keep it smooth, because her hair was never supposed to look overly polished. It was just supposed to be soft and natural."
"With Cami, it was a little bit easier because her looks are so polished," Katie said.
Katie Ballard
"From when we start and end the film, the character Drea is in a little bit softer look. I did stick with essentially what I did with Maya where I used the Reverie Milk Anti-Frizz Leave-In Nourishing Treatment on her right before [Cami] went to set," she said.
"But as her styles get more snatched and polished throughout the film, I was able to use Fatboy Tough Guy Water Wax and Kevin Murphy Session Spray in tandem to really polish and seal her hair," Katie continued.
Katie Ballard
"The Kevin Murphy Session Spray would kind of create a shield around her hair where it would not move and it completely sealed out all the humidity."
7. Some of Katie's favorite hair looks from the film included the spiky bun — which is super popular right now on TikTok.
Netflix
"I had a few favorites for Drea [Cami Mendes' character], but my top would definitely be her ring ceremony look because hair, makeup, and costume all came together to create such a unique and beautiful look that I was just floored when I saw her," Katie said.
"The spiky bun is one of my favorite '90s styles that is making a comeback. So I really would love to support people doing their own version of that and I can't wait to see what everyone continues to do with it in this modern-day resurgence of the style."
"Then, the other two that I love for her were her look at tennis camp and her scene with Sophie Turner. I loved her two little braided pigtails with the face-framing pieces," Katie said.
Netflix
"And then also for her opening scene — again, where it's just half up but with little braids. And we had put little colored bands on there so that it's not super obvious in the film, but that little touch was just something that I really liked."
8. To create Eleanor's sleek "wet" hair look for the admissions party scene, a specific type of wig was made to replicate real face-framing baby hairs.
Katie Ballard
"My favorite look for Eleanor was her admissions party look. We planned to do this wet, slicked-back look, and I had asked her wig maker Robert to do a really nice angora trim on her wig — angora is a really fine animal fiber that can replicate baby hairs," Katie said.
"So, I just wanted to add that little detail so that we could accomplish this slicked-back look, even though she was wearing a wig. And that's something that's usually pretty tricky to do."
Katie Ballard
"But he [the wigmaker] did such beautiful work that we were able to pull that off. And then I topped it off with the Lelet Large Scales headband. And I've been calling that look my love letter to Lelet because I had been so excited to try to use that piece. And I'm so glad that it worked out with her costume and all of that."
9. Eleanor's hair looks had to be done quickly and efficiently because Maya Hawke was filming Stranger Things at the same time she was working on Do Revenge, causing her hair and makeup time to be very limited.
Katie Ballard
"We had very different approaches for both Cami and Maya mostly because Maya was also filming Stranger Things at the same time. So our entire schedule was built around Maya," Katie said.
"On most days, she was having to bounce back and forth between sets. And at times, she would only have a few hours for a turnaround to go home and sleep and then come back in."
"So we didn't have a typical shooting day with her, which meant that our times in the morning had to be very quick. She was only with me for 30 minutes," Katie said.
Katie Ballard
"And then we had a really nice setup with a mobile station that I have on set so that I could actually take her wig off and clean her up on set and she could just leave from there."
"For Cami, we were able to take more time since we had her fully available and her looks are so polished and so detailed. So we luckily had two hours with her — I had her for an hour and then makeup had her for an hour," Katie said.
Katie Ballard
10. Katie said her key to creating slicked-back hairstyles is layering products.
Netflix
"I recommend starting off with a smoothing cream — I've mentioned that Reverie Milk Anti-Frizz Leave-In Nourishing Treatment was my product of choice," she said.
"Pulling that through your mid-lengths and ends first and then using whatever is left on your hands to smooth out the baby hairs around your face will really smooth your part out. It's a really good way to start to just give yourself a good canvas to work with."
"From there, Mason Pearson or a similar boar bristle brush is really good for smoothing your hair into these really sleek styles. Make sure you're wrapping your hair band really tight."
Katie suggested using a wax similar to Fat Boy Water Wax to get those really nice, tiny spiky ends, specifically for a spiky bun. Then spray hairspray all over to make sure the hair is nicely slicked back, there aren't any flyaways, and nothing will move.
"So layering products in that way and making sure it's properly prepped, I would say is the best way to ensure success for your styled slicked back look," she concluded.
For more from Katie Ballard, follow her on Instagram.
