Hair and Makeup Breathes New Life Into "The Color Purple"

The second film adaption of "The Color Purple" is much different from the original 1985 project that we know and love. Starring industry greats like Fantasia Barrino, Taraji P. Henson, and Danielle Brooks, the film will premiere in theaters nationwide on Christmas Day, Dec. 25, 2023. For those who are unfamiliar, "The Color Purple" is based on a novel of the same name, written by Alice Walker. While fictional, the story chronicles the coming-of-age experiences that young African-American women dealt with in the early 20th century and explores themes of rape, abuse, incest, and, ultimately, independence.

Where the 2023 iteration of the film differs from the original most is that it's a musical, which throws some inherent twists in the hair and makeup we see. "My vision for the hair was to pay homage to the original 'The Color Purple' and to combine that with the hairstyles that we see with Broadway musicals," Lawrence Davis, the hair department lead for the movie, tells POPSUGAR. "While we had to be authentic to the period in time that the movie was filmed, we got to be a bit more glamorous because of Celie's new daydreams and her visions that they were tapping into."

Read ahead for more details on how Davis, key hairstylist Andrea Bowman, and makeup department head Carol Rasheed used the beauty moments from the show to fortify the story's plotline and give the classic a fresh, updated feel.

The hairstyles in "The Color Purple" needed to be "period appropriate" for the early 1900s, during which the story is set, but they also showed a story of maturation, especially for the main character, Celie. "You'll see her start to come out of her plaits, which was a major part of her youth," Davis says. As you watch the movie, you will notice that she even wears the hairstyle into young adulthood, as she takes care of her children and home, turning them into a symbol of her hardship and adversity. "It's not until she became free of Mister that her hairstyle gradually changed," Davis says. "She became more independent and opinionated, which led to her hairstyles evolving into more fashionable, creative, and appropriate looks for that time." Those hairstyles included tighter curls that almost simulated a pixie cut, coifs, and more, but they were always appropriate for each character's natural hair texture.

For Rasheed, the inspiration for the makeup looks in the film came from understanding the time in which the film took place. "I would look at dailies, which is the unedited footage shot during the day, and I would notice the tiny details that are important to driving the story home," she says. "I would make sure to pay attention to things like how skin texture and coloring were coming across on camera and tweak them as needed to make sure that they showed how Celie was coping with each life experience."

The makeup was important for conveying emotion on screen. From the age lines on young Celie's face, showing her exhaustion and repression, to Shug's penchant for red lipstick and glamour, every detail was carefully crafted to help the viewer further get into each character's psyche and understand their choices a bit more.

When it comes to movie hair and makeup, sometimes what you don't see is just as important as what you do. "We had hundreds of tattoos in this movie to cover," Rasheed says. "Back in the early 1900s, there weren't many designs, if any, so we had to portray ink-free skin for numerous people." Thanks to a special airbrushing technique, Rasheed was able to cover each piece quickly, simultaneously making them waterproof and heat-resistant. "There were also numerous piercings on set that we had to plug using flesh-toned products to make them less noticeable."

Filming and the daily hair and makeup prep that goes with it can be hard on your hair and skin; this is something that many pros are cognizant of. "I always wanted to make sure that each client's natural hair was well taken care of under the wigs and extensions we used, so my non-negotiables were the Mielle Pomegranate and Honey Leave-In Conditioner ($13), the Pomegranate & Honey Curl Refreshing Spray ($12), and the As I Am Double Butter ($10)," Bowman says. Davis's hair-care must-have was the Kalixto B Wave Defining Foam ($13).

Mielle Pomegranate and Honey Leave-In Conditioner

From

$13

$13 at Amazon

As I Am Double Butter

From

$10

$10 at Amazon

Kalixto B Wave Defining Foam

From

$13

$13 at kalixtobhairwellness.com

Something that was a top priority for Rasheed was ensuring each character had properly moisturized skin prior to makeup application. "We use a lot of Dermalogica's Active Moist Moisturizer ($74) on set," she says. "It added hydration and glow to each person's skin without making them look oily."

The beauty of "The Color Purple" is that it was a true collaborative effort. From the different hair and makeup teams to the director, each person understood just how important this body of work was and approached their roles with the utmost care, something that Davis says viewers will be able to "feel" in this film.