In many ways, the fourth season of Bridgerton is unlike any other. Its new lead heroine Sophie Baek, played by Yerin Ha, is not a blushing debutante nor a diamond of the first water, but instead a humble maid who sneaks her way into a society masquerade ball. There, she meets Benedict Bridgerton, the free-spirited second son of the Bridgerton family, who falls head over heels in love with her.
What follows is a class-clash Cinderella story that gives audiences the first real look at the downstairs world of the ton. Working for her wicked stepmother Lady Araminta Gun, Sophie does not have the luxury of wearing beautiful gowns or ornate hairstyles. For Nic Collins, the show's makeup designer, the character was a welcome departure from the glitz and glamour of previous seasons.
“Sophie is very guarded and very neat, so she keeps herself immaculate so she can't be criticized," says Collins. “She's living in a household where she just wants to disappear all the time. So that [maid] look was something very simple, something she could achieve without drawing too much attention to herself.”
Since the makeup look was minimal, Collins put the focus on Ha's incredible skin with plenty of luminous skin care (more on that later). But it's not all work and no play for Sophie. As fans of the book know, Sophie is not only a maid but also the mysterious Lady in Silver, who enchants Benedict at his mother's masquerade ball.
Designing different looks for two sides of the same character came with its own unique challenges. “The Lady in Silver, the dream of who she really is underneath that guardedness, represents the society she feels she's missing a part of,” Collins says. “She wants to be in that world. We took some references from that period, the simple styles, but still very elegant. So that's how we separated the two styles from her work look to her secret masquerade look.”
Ahead, Nic Collins shares more about designing Sophie's makeup look for the hit Netflix show, the products she used for Ha's masquerade lip, and the subtle change to Benedict fans should keep an eye out for. Plus, the one on-set beauty hazard you would never expect.
Glamour: We first meet Sophie at the masquerade ball. Was it challenging designing a makeup look around a mask?
Nic Collins: Yes. Obviously, you lose the eyes behind a mask, so we had to think about how you're still going to have the light reflecting through the eyes. Even just putting the little rose to the balm on her lips…Yerin's got such beautiful lips. Just that little bit of makeup that pops, the flush of the cheek. We really focused on the lips so that they really popped out with this sparking mask.
Sophie's lips are very central to the storyline, since it’s the only part of her face that Benedict really sees. What products were used to create that masquerade lip look?
We used the Clinique Chubby Sticks because they are so sheer, but they have a really good color. The Chubby Stick in Super Strawberry with Roly Posy Rosy as the final coat. We layered up the tones to get that little punch at the end, and then used the Sleek MakeUp Locked Up Super Precise Lip Liner in Friend Zone very, very gently applied. It's kind of a no lip line, but it just really picks up. It's as close to the lip shades as possible. So you're really just punching up that edge shape to really show that pout in the middle, and then using a little bit of the base around the outside. We were trying to keep it all looking very natural.
We were always very mindful of her role, her position, of her character's role, and that it's something that she probably just pushed her finger into a pot and very quickly wiped her lips with them and pinched her cheeks.
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Sophie's eyes are also captivating, even though she's wearing a mask. What products did you use to give them a sparkle?
We used a Dior Beauty palette. It was as close a nude color to her natural skin tone with the base on. It's sheer rather than a shimmer. It's not metallic. And it just really elevates that eye on the top. It's a nude natural color, but it's got a punch to it, with the light glimpse against it, which is nice. You're still getting that kind of reflection on the makeup.
When she returns from the ball, she changes back to regular Sophie. Something that really struck me about the maid look was her glowy skin. How did you get that no-makeup makeup look?
We always use primers. A lot of the time we'll use an SPF because it naturally gives a glow. And if you mix it in with the base, you're kind of diluting the base on a 50/50 ratio. We also used a Becca powder that had tiny little sheer shimmer in there. Just on the cheekbone highlighted area.
And then we used the Armani Luminous Silk Foundation as a base. It works so good. Tried and tested. They've got real depth if you want. You can dilute them down if you want them to be sheer. But in areas you really need to build up, you can. The consistency of it is beautiful, and it does apply like silk. They really are beautiful bases.
And then, minimal powder where powder is needed, obviously using concealers and giving a little bit of sculpt to the face as well, just a little bit of definition, just a shade down from the skin tone. So you can't really see it. It's there, but it's not there. It looks like a natural tone throughout the face, and it is really minimal with her. She is so beautiful. The beauty of it is keeping her so natural to the bareness of the true skin. That was kind of the goal, to keep it as minimum as possible. We used Dr. Hauschka Lip Balm just to keep her lips hydrated.
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For the makeup, I imagine there's a degree of wanting to support the storyline: Benedict does not recognize the Lady in Silver in maid Sophie. Was that something you had to keep in mind, not making those two look too similar?
Absolutely. If the lips had been enhanced in any way, then that would not give us as much of a difference. So it was keeping them quite flat. We did use a balm, but it was just for hydration. The lips just kind of sink back a little bit. And then, when we did actually use the product, you really see the fullness of a lip shape, which is beautiful.
Did Yerin have any input in her look?
She's really character driven. She really wanted to have a minimal look. She was absolutely happy to sit in the chair and just watch the character evolve with her, but really wanted to make her as natural as possible. She's diligent about that.
How long did she spend in the chair each morning?
For her regular [maid look], she would be around 45 minutes to one hour. And then for the masquerade ball and higher-end looks, it would be around one hour and 30 minutes. You still take that time. You still do all the skin-care routine. You still use all the cleansers, the moisturizers. We used Embryolisse moisturizer to prep the skin. Also Tatcha, Caudalie. We use all different types of skin care, depending on what the skin was doing that day.
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In a recent interview, Yerin said her hair almost caught fire on a candle because she was wearing a lot of hairspray. But the hair looks very weightless and seamless. How do you make sure the look holds through the day, but on-screen it appears natural and effortless?
So, the hair is always clean from the start. If the hair's not clean, we'll use shampoo and conditioner to clean the hair. So every day is a fresh day, and then the hairspray will be applied or the product will be applied for that day. We have to use hairspray because of continuity. It's not optional. To be able to hold those looks, we choose the softer type of hairsprays. Once you brush the hair through, it will come out of the hair without leaving a residue or a powder.
What might surprise people about working on a Bridgerton set?
We're not allowed to use hairspray on the sets because there are flames. All the checks have to be off set, not on set. All the touch-ups with product, we have to do them off-set. Can you imagine if we were spraying our hairsprays? It would be like flame-throwing around the set. No, everybody's very diligent on the set and very aware.
Can you speak to Benedict [Luke Thompson] and his look this season? I mean, he doesn't really have much of a makeover.
No, he doesn’t. I mean, he's so handsome. We gave him maybe a slightly more relaxed style. It's the Season of Love, the Season of Romance. We wanted the hair to be slightly softer. Kind of swept, almost like you've just done it with your hands forward. We used product to just tease it forward rather than in previous seasons. It was much more natural. At the beginning of the season, he's a little unkempt, and then he kind of smarts up throughout.
What do you hope audiences take away from the beauty of this season?
Hair and makeup is for everybody. Whether you want to wear no makeup and just have prepped skin, or you just want a little something on your lips, you're as beautiful as if you're going on a red carpet. It's for everybody, and everybody looks amazing. The proof is there—you don't always have to have all this makeup to look absolutely radiant and stunning.
Ariana Yaptangco is the senior beauty editor at Glamour.
