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No show has shaped beauty culture quite like Euphoria, whose 2019 debut cracked open the floodgates for glitter-heavy eyeshadow and rhinestoned liner. Now, with its third season underway, the series’ beauty looks show no signs of dulling. This time around, manicures have become a standout feature – and it is all thanks to Los Angeles-based nail artist Caroline Cotten.

Working alongside the show’s head make-up artist Donni Davy, Cotten helped develop beauty looks that reflected each character’s personality and emotional world. The dancers at The Silver Slipper often wear eye-catching, maximalist acrylics – like the dollar bill and scorpion-themed manicure which Rosalía’s Magick has in episode five – while Hunter Schafer’s Jules goes for abstract, painterly styles more fitting to her life as an artist. 

Long before working on Euphoria, Cotten was painting elaborate acrylic sets after school in Dallas, inspired by the older girls on her track team. “Every day after school, I would come home and paint a whole new set of nails I had planned out during my classes that day,” she says, recalling designs drawn while procrastinating from her homework. That obsession never really left. “I’m always creating to find that missing puzzle piece in a look,” Cotten explains. “Nails can express so much and hold so much energy at our fingertips, and I truly believe there’s a design for any mood, expression or occasion that fits just right. When you find it, nothing feels better!”

Below, Cotten tells us more about creating nail designs for the series.

What does beauty mean to you?

Caroline Cotten: Beauty feels like a cherry on top of being human. Like, what do you mean I can play in glitter and paint and colour and texture and communicate to the world who I am and what I like, and it can be super serious and the silliest thing all at the same time?

What’s your earliest beauty-related memory?

Caroline Cotten: I was probably about seven years old when I tried my mom’s mascara for the first time. We were on a trip, I was coming off a day at the beach with a fresh sunburn on my cheeks, sun-bleached hair, and a perfect pre-dinner shower when that first swipe of mascara really changed everything for me. At that moment, I fell in love with make-up and thought ‘wow, I love being a girl’.

Describe your beauty aesthetic in three words.

Caroline Cotten: Covered in paint.

What was on the moodboard for the Euphoria nails?

Caroline Cotten: Honestly, a little bit of everything. I have a Pinterest moodboard for every girl filled with fashion, art, objects, nature, interiors, colour palettes, make-up, and of course, so many nails. I had to do a lot of last-minute sets, and it was so helpful to have a fully fleshed-out vision board to help communicate my ideas at any given time.

What has been your favourite set you’ve done for the show?

Caroline Cotten: This is so hard to say, I’m really split between Maddy’s sheer blue floral nails from episode two, or one of Magick’s nails that haven’t been aired yet. But if you see some extremely long, multi-coloured, multi-textured, striped nails on Magick… know I’m on cloud nine seeing them get their screen time!

How different was your approach for each character?

Caroline Cotten: Each girl had different filming schedules, different levels of ‘fashionista’ and different levels of involvement! So the approach for each girl was completely tailored. Luckily, throughout the entire process, I always had Donni Davy, the head of make-up, to guide me and collaborate with. She would always brief me on the scene (since I wasn’t able to read the scripts) and the creative vision. 

I would also work with the girls to create a few look options that aligned with their characters, and we’d go from there. Some sets I worked on for weeks, and some sets were a 12-hour turnaround.

What’s a detail in the nail art that a viewer might not have picked up on when watching the show?

Caroline Cotten: There’s a set that Donni had the genius idea of wanting (that hasn’t come out yet) – it’s a floating rose set for Cassie that references the scene from season two where Cassie is in a surrealist dream surrounded by floating pink and white roses. Keep an eye out, and you’ll know the reference!

What’s been your career highlight so far?

Caroline Cotten: It would be hard to top doing Euphoria. This is definitely the longest and biggest project I’ve worked on, and it’s obviously such an iconic show for beauty! There aren’t many film or TV opportunities with as much creative freedom as Euphoria – to say I’m extremely grateful to Donni Davy for allowing me to be a part of her team would be an understatement.

What is the future of beauty?

Caroline Cotten: Individualism! Uniqueness!