Euphoria Star Alexa Demie Talks MAC Makeup, Season 2, and Beauty Trends

The LA cool kid talks Euphoria Season 2 and her latest MAC collaboration.

Alexa Demie is the woman who launched a million rhinestone eyebrows. Demie, who plays Maddy Perez—a sort of 2020 Summer Roberts on HBO’s hit show Euphoria—could and should be held responsible for the influx of glitter and neon shadows that have infiltrated the runways, YouTube, holiday parties, and of course, Instagram.

While the Euphoria Effect should be partly credited to the hit show’s creator Sam Levinson and makeup artist Doniella Davy, Demie did have a heavy hand in creating some of the season’s most iconic looks. The actress said she brought references to set before season one that included the lead characters from Showgirls and the forever iconic Nina Simone.

a few of the beauty references i brought in for maddy💫 pic.twitter.com/gDK6Kbom8r

— alexa demie (@AlexaDemie) August 18, 2019

Demie, the daughter of a former MAC makeup artist, has been around beauty her entire life. “My mom used to work at MAC—I think that was her first job—and she would bring me there as a little girl all the time,” explains Demie. “I remember she had to do a 10-minute crazy editorial makeup look in front of the entire store to get the job and she used me as her model.”

Demie at M.A.C. with her mom

So like all great duos (Maddy and Cassie, Jules and Rue, and Kat and scamming money from rich dudes), the actress, singer, designer, and entrepreneur decided to team up with the beauty brand she unofficially modeled for as a kid. Demie’s first MAC makeup collaboration launched this December with a holiday collection of lip looks, but the OG beauty brand and rising star are back again with a new spring collection, “More Than Meets The Eye.” The collection will feature 36 revamped eye shadows, as well as a Dazzleshadow Extreme that features one-swipe molten metallic color and a new Eye Brows Big Boost Fibre Gel that gives a voluminous boost to brows, if you wanted to, say, embellish them with rhinestones.

Demie exclusively chatted with ELLE.com to discuss the collection, plus everything else that’s going on in her world.

You brought a lot of makeup ideas to Euphoria for Maddy’s makeup. Did you also bring creative concepts to MAC?

Yeah, that was one thing that really made me excited to work with MAC. From the beginning they were super open to all of my ideas. The creative director, Drew [Elliott], was extremely collaborative. They sent me concepts and I sent some images back and then we just blended the two worlds together.

I was also able to hire my own makeup artists, Raoul Alejandre. He’s been doing all of my makeup. When it’s collaborative like that it can be really special.

View this post on Instagram

@alexademie styled/painted/photographed by me hair @laurenpalmersmith

A post shared by RAOÚL (@raoulalejandre) on Jan 31, 2020 at 4:58pm PST

How has your mom influenced your take on beauty? Has she taught you one master trick that you cherish?

I mean she’s very picky and very specific, which I am too. We have that in common. Her thing is always always take care of your skin and prep your skin. Your skin is the most important. Then next she has taught me the importance of blending. She’s a queen blender. She would always emphasize that you need to blend your shadow. Her staple was pretty much a nude lip with lip liner and that’s kind of become my staple.

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Mother & Muse “That Face” #smokesignals#cameronmccool #alexademie #rock&roll#mua

A post shared by Rose Mendez (@colorbydreamrose) on May 24, 2018 at 4:04pm PDT

What’s on your mood board for 2020?

You know, it’s funny because I’ve been like, “What am I going to do for season two of Maddy? How are the looks going to evolve?” I think more color on the eyeshadows for sure. It’s going to be something that more people are going to be playing with a lot in 2020.

You’re from L.A.. How has the city influenced your beauty and personal style?

I grew up mostly on the East side but then I would visit my dad on the West side and it was a very different lifestyle. On the west side we were at the beach almost every day. I think lining up on the East side of LA, the influences were definitely there; I would wear a lot of winged eyeliner. I remember in middle school we would always just do a wing, not even no foundation or anything. Just clean skin, a winged liner and so much lip gloss, clear lip gloss. That was definitely a signature look for me growing up in LA.

Who are some of your beauty influences?

I look at a lot of old actresses and singers. I look at Maria Felix, who’s a Mexican actress, and Spanish singer Sara Montiel. I love to look at a lot of old editorials and films. I don’t ever look at what’s current because I think my whole life, even when I was in middle school and high school, I’ve always been attracted to older stuff. I think I’m just drawn to those worlds.

Maria Felix & Sara Montiel
Getty Images

What’s one beauty trend you want to see everywhere in 2020?

I want to see everybody taking care of their skin. I want to see everybody just really taking care of themselves and their skin. Drink a lot of water and take care of yourself.

What’s next for Alexa Demie? With new movies in 2020 and Season 2 of Euphoria, can you tell us anything?

They’re casting a couple of new characters, but I can’t tell you much. We will begin filming any minute now. I’m producing and starring in this film about my mom, set in the 80s in LA. I’m also in the middle of building a fashion brand. There’s that. And then my music, I do a lot of things, I like to keep busy. There’s a lot and I’m really excited.

Watch an exclusive look at Alexa Demie’s new campaign for MAC and shop the products below: