In the vibrant world of beauty and pop culture, few stars shine as brightly or authentically as Alexa Demie. Known for her captivating role as Maddy Perez in HBO’s hit series Euphoria, Demie’s personal style and approach to beauty have become a source of endless fascination. In the video above, she gracefully pulls back the curtain on her signature ’90s nude glam tutorial, offering a candid glimpse into the techniques and philosophies that shape her iconic look. It’s more than just a makeup routine; it’s a journey through her personal history, cultural influences, and a testament to the power of self-expression through beauty.
For Alexa, beauty isn’t merely about applying products; it begins with a deep respect for the skin itself. Raised by a makeup artist mother and influenced by a great-grandmother devoted to skincare, Alexa has always understood that a radiant complexion is the ultimate canvas for any makeup look. Her routine emphasizes a clean, hydrated base, ensuring that every layer of product sits beautifully and lasts throughout the day. This foundational approach to skin health, passed down through generations, is the secret weapon behind her consistently luminous appearance.
Building the Perfect Canvas: Alexa Demie’s Skincare & Foundation Secrets
A flawless makeup look starts long before any color is applied; it’s rooted in meticulous skincare. Alexa Demie meticulously prepares her skin, treating it as the most crucial step in her entire routine. She begins by thoroughly cleansing her face, removing any lingering oils or impurities that might have accumulated. This initial purification is like sweeping the floor before laying down a rug—it ensures everything that follows has a clean, smooth surface to adhere to.
Following a deep cleanse, Alexa loves to refresh her skin with a hydrating mist, specifically praising Eminence for its organic, botanical-rich formula. She views this mist as a drink for her skin, providing an instant boost of moisture and preparing it for subsequent products. Serums come next, acting as concentrated elixirs that penetrate deeper to nourish and protect. Her mother’s lifelong mantra of “wash your face, wash your face, wash your face” instilled in Alexa an unwavering commitment to skin health, proving that consistency is the truest form of beauty care.
Once the skin is primed with hydration, the physical makeup application begins with the Dior Backstage Primer, a product chosen to create an even texture and extend makeup wear. A good primer acts like double-sided tape, gripping both your skin and your foundation for a long-lasting finish. For foundation, Alexa prefers a fluffy brush over a sponge, allowing her to work the product into her skin for a natural, non-heavy finish. This technique creates a veil-like coverage that enhances her natural complexion rather than masking it entirely, making it ideal for a soft ’90s nude glam look.
Eye-Catching Beauty: Concealing, Baking & the Iconic Wing
Alexa’s eye makeup routine is a masterful blend of technique and personal flair, designed to brighten, define, and add a touch of sparkle. She applies NARS concealer not just under her eyes but also around the entire eye area and along her nose, creating a bright, uniform base. This widespread application acts like a spotlight, drawing attention to her eyes and making them appear more open and awake. It’s a strategic move to ensure her eye makeup has a vibrant, consistent backdrop.
A distinctive step in her process is “baking” under her eyes, a technique she employs before moving on to eyeshadow. Using a flat-ended sponge, she presses a generous amount of translucent powder beneath her eyes, allowing it to sit and absorb any oils. This method is particularly beneficial for those with hollow eyes, as it significantly brightens the area and sets the concealer flawlessly. It also acts as a safety net, catching any eyeshadow fallout and making cleanup incredibly easy; simply dust it away for a pristine finish.
For eyeshadow, Alexa opts for a creamy nude base, gently tapping it onto her lids to build a soft, subtle color. She then delves into her crease with a slightly darker shade, using a fluffy brush to add depth and dimension. Blending is paramount here, a lesson directly from her makeup artist mother who preached “blend, blend, blend” to avoid any harsh lines. This meticulous blending ensures a seamless transition of colors, giving the eyes a professional and polished appearance, much like an artist softly graduating colors on a canvas.
Adding a Modern Sparkle to ’90s Nudes
While classic ’90s glam often leaned towards matte finishes, Alexa infuses her look with a contemporary twist by incorporating a touch of glitter. She applies a Pat McGrath glittery eyeshadow, a blend of brown and gold, over her Dior eyeshadow base. This addition creates a captivating interplay of textures, catching the light and adding a subtle sparkle that elevates the traditional nude eye. It’s a nod to the era’s understated elegance but with a modern, editorial edge, making her look unique.
The iconic winged eyeliner is Alexa’s signature, a personal touch she has perfected since middle school and even applied herself for her character Maddy in Euphoria. She uses a Pat McGrath liquid liner pen, starting from the outer corner and drawing a sharp, upward line that follows her natural eye shape. Her preference is for a “really pointy” wing, which she often refines with a Q-tip to achieve maximum precision. To amplify the intensity, she extends the liner into the inner corner of her eye, creating what she describes as a “fierce jaguar look”—a bold, feline flick that commands attention.
To complete the eye area, Alexa adds a subtle highlight directly under her brow bone. This strategic placement lifts and brightens the entire eye, making the brow appear more defined and the eyes more open. This small detail works wonders in framing the eye makeup, much like a beautiful frame enhances a painting. Finally, after all the blending and detailing, she revisits her lid with a final pop of Pat McGrath glitter, ensuring maximum sparkle and impact, truly bringing the ’90s nude glam to life.
Sculpting & Illuminating: Contour, Blush & Highlight
Beyond the eyes, Alexa Demie meticulously sculpts and illuminates her face, adding dimension and warmth that ties the entire look together. Despite her past aversion to blush (thanks to her mom’s enthusiastic application in her youth), Alexa now embraces it, applying a healthy sweep of color high on her cheekbones and slightly into her hairline. This technique gives a natural, lifted appearance, mimicking the flush of a healthy glow rather than just adding a dot of color. It’s like adding a rosy glow to a winter’s cheek, instantly making the face appear more vibrant.
Using a Dior Contour Palette, she defines her features with precision. She applies contour to the hollows of her cheeks, blending it upwards slightly into the cheekbone area. This sculpting creates shadows that enhance bone structure, giving the face more definition without appearing harsh. It’s akin to an artist sketching lines to give depth to a drawing. Following contour, a light dusting of bronzer adds warmth, making the skin look sun-kissed and healthy, blending seamlessly into her complexion.
To finalize the face, Alexa applies a Dior highlighter, blending it gently with the bronzer and contour. Highlighter is strategically placed on the high points of her face—like the tops of her cheekbones—to catch the light and create a luminous glow. This reflective quality gives the skin a radiant, almost ethereal finish, making her skin look dewy and fresh. The combination of blush, contour, and highlight works harmoniously, creating a multi-dimensional look that is both sculpted and naturally glowing.
The Iconic Nude Lip & Finishing Touches
No ’90s nude glam look would be complete without the signature lip, and Alexa Demie takes this step seriously. She is a firm believer in lipliner, declaring she “never not wear[s] lipliner.” Her go-to is a Dior lipliner, which she often layers with other shades to create depth and dimension. This technique is inspired by legendary makeup artists, who reportedly layered up to seven different red lipsticks on Marilyn Monroe to achieve her iconic pout. For Alexa, layering lipliners is about crafting a perfectly defined, long-lasting base for her nude lipstick.
After defining her lips, she applies a light nude lipstick, creating a soft, warm base. This is followed by a brown gloss, which adds further depth and dimension, echoing the ’90s trend of slightly darker liner with a lighter center. Her mom’s mastery of the ’90s look, always sporting her lipliner and nude lip, deeply influenced Alexa’s personal style, making it a beloved signature. To top it all off, she adds a final layer of Dior Lip Maximizer in the center of her lips, creating a plump, juicy effect that makes the lips appear fuller and more luscious.
For her brows, Alexa, who has recently started shaping them, relies solely on brow gel. She meticulously brushes her brow hairs up and out, enhancing their natural shape and adding a touch of polish without any filling. This technique gives a feathered, lifted look, which complements her fierce eye makeup. Although she has eyelash extensions, Alexa admits her addiction to mascara, applying it carefully to fan out her lashes and add extra volume. This commitment to every detail, from brows to lashes, ensures her overall look is cohesive and strikingly beautiful.
Beyond the Glam: Influences & Impact
Alexa Demie’s ’90s nude glam tutorial is deeply rooted in her personal history and cultural experiences. Her mother, a professional makeup artist, served as her earliest and most significant beauty mentor, instilling in Alexa the importance of skincare and the art of blending. Growing up surrounded by fashion magazines, Alexa absorbed aesthetics from a young age, developing a keen eye for style. The advice to “blend, blend, blend” echoes through her routine, a fundamental principle passed down through generations of beauty enthusiasts.
Her inspiration extends beyond her family, drawing heavily from ’90s, ’60s, and ’70s editorials and icons like Cher. Alexa doesn’t merely recreate these looks; she reinterprets them, taking “pieces from each of those pictures” to forge her unique style. Living in Los Angeles further shaped her aesthetic, particularly during her middle and high school years when she embraced slicked-back hair, baby hairs, and gold jewelry—elements deeply ingrained in her culture. This fusion of personal, familial, and cultural influences creates a beauty aesthetic that is both nostalgic and distinctly modern.
The character of Maddy Perez in Euphoria also played a pivotal role in Alexa’s makeup journey, pushing her creative boundaries. Maddy’s bold, experimental looks, often an “elevated version of [Alexa’s] high school makeup,” allowed for extensive collaboration with the show’s makeup artists. Alexa was deeply involved in crafting Maddy’s elaborate looks, even doing her own winged eyeliner. Playing Maddy has been a transformative experience, pulling Alexa out of her comfort zone and allowing her to explore makeup as a powerful tool for storytelling and character development, proving that beauty can be both personal and a reflection of a role. Her ’90s nude glam is a testament to embracing one’s roots while confidently carving a path for individual expression.
Unlocking Your ’90s Glam & Euphoria Beauty Questions
Who is Alexa Demie, and what is her ’90s glam tutorial known for?
Alexa Demie is an actress famous for her role as Maddy Perez in HBO’s Euphoria. Her ’90s nude glam tutorial showcases her iconic personal style and beauty techniques.
What is the most important first step in Alexa Demie’s beauty routine?
The most important first step for Alexa Demie is meticulous skincare. She emphasizes starting with a clean, hydrated base to create a radiant canvas for makeup application.
What is Alexa Demie’s signature eye makeup look?
Alexa Demie’s signature eye makeup is her iconic winged eyeliner, which she perfects for a sharp, ‘fierce jaguar look.’ She even applied it herself for her character Maddy in Euphoria.
What is a key product Alexa Demie uses for her ’90s nude lip?
A key product for Alexa Demie’s ’90s nude lip is lipliner, which she always uses. She layers it with nude lipstick and gloss to create definition and depth.
Where does Alexa Demie find inspiration for her beauty style?
Alexa Demie’s beauty style is heavily influenced by her makeup artist mother and ’90s fashion editorials. Her character Maddy Perez in Euphoria also pushed her creative boundaries.
