money From The Set Of “Amsterdam”: The “Hidden Hair” Hack Used On Taylor Swift, How Anya Taylor-Joy’s Foundation Was Different Than Everyone Else’s, And More Insider Beauty Secrets
The film Amsterdam hit theaters last week — featuring a star-studded cast that includes Margot Robbie, Anya Taylor-Joy, Christian Bale, John David Washington, Zoe Saldaña, Taylor Swift, and more.
The film's hair department heads, Lori McCoy-Bell and Adruitha Lee, and makeup department head, Nana Fischer, are the ones responsible for transporting some of Hollywood's biggest names back to the 1930s in this film. Everything from using makeup techniques from the '30s, to re-creating finger waves, to overly plucking some of the actors' brows to stay true to the time period was done by this talented team.
We spoke to Lori, Adruitha (Dru), and Nana about all things Amsterdam and behind-the-scenes beauty — including how they prepped the actors' skin for a long day of filming, what specific foundation was used on set, the challenges they faced, and more.
Note: BuzzFeed is aware of the allegations against Amsterdam director David O. Russell. This post highlights the hardworking creative team who achieved the film's hair and makeup looks behind the scenes.
1.Everything from vintage photos of Katharine Hepburn and Myrna Loy to century-old yearbooks were used as inspiration for the movie's hair looks.
"I also shopped for old photo albums from families. So we had real-life photos of real-life people from the time — and that really tells a great story," Lori told BuzzFeed.
"We used yearbooks — I think the first yearbook that I have in my collection is [from the] 1900s. Dru had this book called 100 Years of Mugshots that we also took inspiration from," Lori said.
2.Some characters wore wigs throughout the film, while others did not — and between most of the lead women, no two hair colors were alike.
![<div><p>"<b>We took it individually on each person if their hair was able to do what we needed it to do for the film</b>," Lori said. "If [the actors] had hair that we could mold and make into a '30s feel, or the color was correct, we would use their own hair."</p></div><span> © Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures / Via Everett Collection</span>](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/b9VmZPTYAhEKSpnqUp4aTQ--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTcwNg--/https://media.zenfs.com/en/buzzfeed_articles_778/3daee0669ffbefaa4c93ec112320ed22)
"We took it individually on each person if their hair was able to do what we needed it to do for the film," Lori said. "If [the actors] had hair that we could mold and make into a '30s feel, or the color was correct, we would use their own hair."
"Dru and I had decided early in the game that we didn't want anyone to be in the same color. So if you notice, most of our women cast have different colored hair," she said.
"There's bright red on Andrea, there's dark brown on Margot, black on Zoe [Saldaña], and you have Taylor Swift with her blonde hair. I think it kind of tells a great story because they're all such great individual personas, it was important to make everyone different," she said.
3.Taylor Swift wore her natural hair in the film — but a specific trick was used to hide much of the length.
"Taylor’s hair was a little too long for the '30s, so I had to hide some of her length by forming three separate ponytails that were each low on the nape of her neck and I intertwined them with one other," Lori said. "This created a beautiful Chignon look. I knew she was going to wear a hat, so I wanted to be able to see hair peeking out around the edges of the hat without overpowering her whole look."
4.Margot Robbie's character wore three wigs throughout the film — and a combination of different rollers were used to set some of the waves.
![<div><p>"[I used]<b> a combination of rag rollers and old-fashioned marcel irons that are heated in an oven</b>," Adruitha told BuzzFeed.</p><p>Using a marcel iron is a <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=74679X1524629&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.buzzfeed.com%2Ffabianabuontempo%2Famsterdam-beauty-secrets&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.allure.com%2Fstory%2Fharry-josh-marcel-curling-iron&xcust=6329257%7CBF-VERIZON&xs=1" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:styling technique;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">styling technique</a> in which hot curling tongs are used to wave the hair — creating a style similar to a finger wave.</p></div><span> Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures / Via Everett Collection</span>](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/50PBGLWpyHzOm5MsZyOHgA--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU5MQ--/https://media.zenfs.com/en/buzzfeed_articles_778/8424d8993836bf1edda5d76c98d08dda)
"[I used] a combination of rag rollers and old-fashioned marcel irons that are heated in an oven," Adruitha told BuzzFeed.
Using a marcel iron is a styling technique in which hot curling tongs are used to wave the hair — creating a style similar to a finger wave.
5.To keep Margot's straight-haired looks in place, Adruitha used a hair oil that's been around for a century.
"The oil I used on the straight bob wig was called Tres Flores (Three Flower Brilliantine). This product has been around for 100 years, and it's what was used during the period and works really well for darker hair. I also used the Tres Flower brilliantine pomade. I used both of these products because I needed something a little heavier to keep the shape and the straighter edge," she said.
6.Making sure the hairstyles stayed true to the 1930s — instead of the decades before or after it — was a challenge.
"[On Zoe], we incorporated a roll — not a Victory roll — but a roll that we had seen some nurses wear in that timeframe. To find a side roll that fits into the '30s but doesn't go into the '40s was challenging. We had to spend a little bit of time [perfecting] that," Lori said.
7.At times, due to filming during the pandemic, the team was forced to get creative with the types of hair tools they used.
"One of the things that we all laughed about is that I made rollers out of paper towels to roll the hair, and I did it on [Mike Myers'] wig to get some wave in it because back in the day, women would use rag rollers," Adruitha said. "Because of COVID and everything that goes along with that, I figured out a way to make the rollers with paper towels so that we could use them and then throw them away and make more."
8.Perfecting the movie's hair looks required a lot of testing and photo taking so the hair team could be prepared for any last-minute changes.
"On our test day, we put as many looks as we can on there — we put it up, take pictures, put it on a poster board, we look at it all, we look from all different angles, and see how they look from every angle," Lori said.
9.When it came to the film's makeup looks, specific of-the-era techniques were used to stay true to the 1930s time period.
"I tried to do it like how they did it at that time instead of using [modern] brushes. For example, I used my fingers to do the smudging on the top of the eyelid on Margot. Then to make [the lid] dewy, I added a bit of paw paw cream — it’s a little like Vaseline or oil, similar to what they would have used back then — and smudged it in so it wouldn't look too perfect," she said.
"So it was just going back to basics — or going back in time — and trying to re-create the look without all the modern tools, sponges, and brushes we have today," Nana added.
10.But one thing that was decidedly modern was the use of oxygen facials, which the team says helped plump and prep the actors' skin, which could sometimes be dehydrated or acne-prone, thanks to the combination of heavy, time-period makeup — and having to wear masks over it while not shooting.
![<div><p>"<b>I always have a conversation [with the actors] way before asking what they react to, what kind of skincare do they want to use, or what their skin regimens are</b>. With time-period makeup, it's definitely heavier on the bases, so the skincare prior was very important," Nana said.</p><p>"I work with a company that has these big oxygen machines that you can do oxygen facials with. <b>It penetrates pure oxygen with serum into the skin, so the skin is really plumped."</b></p></div><span> © Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures / Via Everett Collection</span>](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/aaV1Kd1yRjy5naIsaqZ0hw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU0Mg--/https://media.zenfs.com/en/buzzfeed_articles_778/f1eaced055d6d9b64cfbbb03d7dba6eb)
"I always have a conversation [with the actors] way before asking what they react to, what kind of skincare do they want to use, or what their skin regimens are. With time-period makeup, it's definitely heavier on the bases, so the skincare prior was very important," Nana said.
"I work with a company that has these big oxygen machines that you can do oxygen facials with. It penetrates pure oxygen with serum into the skin, so the skin is really plumped."
"Because the skin is so plumped, any base you put on just goes on very smoothly and flawlessly, and it keeps the skin moisturized, especially because we were shooting at the height of COVID," Nana said.
"All of us were wearing masks and shields, including the actors in between shooting. So the skin was dehydrated and [especially] around people's mouths, sometimes there was acne or pimples. So it was very important to keep the skin very hydrated." she added.
11.Andrea Riseborough told the film's team she was open to having her eyebrows plucked way down — just like women did in the 1930s.
"Andrea was really committed to the time period, and she was like 'Look, if you want to pluck my eyebrows into this really thin line, I'm very up for it.' She's amazing. And also, she has a very period-adjustable face," Nana told BuzzFeed. "So she let us really pluck her eyebrows and then I used a really nice soft brown eyeshadow just to create that half-thin, half-moon eyebrow shape with a very fine-angled brush."
12.The type of lighting that was going to be used on set played a big part in how Nana created the 1930s makeup looks — which was sometimes a challenge.
![<div><p>"<b>I really wanted to re-create that kind of matte finish you see in old Hollywood portraits or in some black-and-white photos</b>. But I had to consider what faces would look like when the light hits, because our director of photography wanted everything to be quite dark on set — and [for] the face to illuminate to create those shadows," Nana said. </p><p>"And the challenge was, 'How do I create that matte look — and contouring in the modern times — on all those beautiful ladies? <b>So it was really about studying the lighting and talking to the DP to find out how they were going to light the actors, how they wanted to see the shadows, and so on.</b>"</p></div><span> Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures / Via Everett Collection</span>](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/UX_paYF22c3cb4KbNuS2Xw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTQyNg--/https://media.zenfs.com/en/buzzfeed_articles_778/68fb26fed5e7d0ddd2f5fef2b3e6cff4)
"I really wanted to re-create that kind of matte finish you see in old Hollywood portraits or in some black-and-white photos. But I had to consider what faces would look like when the light hits, because our director of photography wanted everything to be quite dark on set — and [for] the face to illuminate to create those shadows," Nana said.
"And the challenge was, 'How do I create that matte look — and contouring in the modern times — on all those beautiful ladies? So it was really about studying the lighting and talking to the DP to find out how they were going to light the actors, how they wanted to see the shadows, and so on."
13.Nana favored Chanel to create some of the simple eye makeup looks from the 1930s.
"For Margot, I was using Chanel quite a lot and I'm a big fan of Chanel. They have all these true matte-colored eyeshadows. I used probably three sets of those on Margot depending on what stage she was in the movie. She has five different looks in the film," Nana said. "We started off with her in Belgium, where the skin tone was quite warm, so I used a Pat McGrath foundation for more of a warmer tone. Then I painted on some freckles."
14.Nana used a lighter shade of foundation on a lot of the actors to stay accurate with the time period — except for Anya Taylor-Joy's character.
"Anya has beautiful fair skin. With all the other girls, we went a few shades lighter, to keep it into the period, but we didn't have to on Anya," Nana said. The foundation Nana used on Anya was the Chantecaille Future Skin Gel Foundation in the shade alabaster to complement her skin tone.
