How Verity’s Red Lips and Hair Design Foreshadow the Film’s Dark Twist

The Mystery in Beauty

The film Verity, directed by Michael Showalter and based on Colleen Hoover’s novel, opens with two women at opposite ends of the publishing world. Verity Crawford (Anne Hathaway) commands national television discussing her wildly popular romantic-suspense series, Noble Virtues, while Lowen (Dakota Johnson) stumbles through a reading of her newly published novel to three disinterested attendees at a Brooklyn bookshop. Beneath their vastly different circumstances lies a shared characteristic: neither woman is quite who she appears to be. This duality permeates the film’s visual language, particularly through their meticulously crafted hair and makeup.

The filmmaking team intentionally used beauty as a storytelling device. According to Andrea Miller, the makeup department head who worked closely with hair department head Robert Lugo, the approach mirrors classic suspense cinema. “The story reminds me of a Hitchcock movie where it’s this mystery you can’t figure out, but you’re just so involved in these gorgeous people,” she explains.

Verity’s Signature Look

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The Red Lip as Armor

From her opening appearance, Verity embodies immaculate polish. She sits in a pristine white suit, her matte red lips commanding attention against the pale fabric. This crimson tone becomes a signature throughout the film, chosen specifically to convey power and authority.

Hathaway’s personal makeup artist, Kyra Panchenko, applied MAC Cosmetics MACx-imal Silky Matte 12HR Wear Lipstick in Russian Red using the Kylie Cosmetics Lip Sculpt & Diffuse Brush 10, then sharpened the edges with Jones Road The Lip Pencil in Tawny Nude. According to Miller, “Reds are very important in this movie.” The color threads throughout the narrative via costume designer Jacqueline Demeterio’s use of the pristine white suit and pivotal red dresses later in the film. The makeup team drew inspiration from Old Hollywood aesthetic to reinforce Verity’s carefully curated image of perfection.

The Classic Hollywood Wave

Accompanying the red lip is Verity’s signature hairstyle: a side-parted, voluminous lob that evokes Golden Age cinema. Created as a wig by Hathaway’s personal hairstylist Fríða Aradóttir and matching the actor’s natural color, the style marks Verity’s visual identity throughout. According to hair department head Lugo, the approach meant “keeping the hair simple, but still showing a transition in time.” He notes the look conveys Verity as “feeling like her sexy self, gorgeous, and powerful,” the public persona she projects. Notably, this diverges from the source material, where Verity is described as blonde, a change Hathaway has discussed during the film’s press tour.

Lowen’s Initial Appearance

The Smoky Eye

When Lowen attends an impromptu meeting at Verity’s publishing house, following her agent’s instruction to “dress nice,” her makeup tells a different story. Johnson’s personal makeup artist Emma Strachman created a smoky eye featuring tightly lined top and bottom lashes paired with over-lined mauve lips. To achieve this, Strachman combined the sold-out Makeup by Mario Ultra Suede Sculpting Lip Pencil in Smokey Pink with MAC Cosmetics Lip Pencil in Sweet Talk.

For the eye, she began with the Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Perversion, softening it with Armani Beauty Eye Tint Long-Lasting Liquid Eyeshadow in a shimmery champagne tone. Several coats of Westman Atelier Eye Want You Lengthening + Volumizing Clean Mascara completed the look. According to Miller, this choice served a narrative purpose: “The smoky eye makes you question who Lowen is because she looks very sharp. It’s not a sweet, innocent look, so you’re wondering and waiting for your other shoe to drop. You look at her and you’re like, ‘Hmm, what’s this about?’ You’re not quite sure. The entire movie, that’s what you’re doing.”

Hair That Mirrors and Contrasts

Lowen’s dark brown hair extends near her waist, styled with golden-red highlights and thick bangs that subtly echo Verity’s appearance. According to Lugo, there are intentional similarities between the two leads’ hair. Lowen’s dark color realistically honors the script, supporting her desire to remain unobtrusive, yet her glossy hair ensures she reads as a co-lead cinematically.

Joshua First, Johnson’s personal hairstylist, relied on Le Labo Hinoki shampoo as a foundation to create Lowen’s looks throughout the film. To achieve the smooth waves shared by both characters, First incorporated Reverie Milk Anti-Frizz Leave-in Treatment, a serum by Kevin Murphy, and Rōz Milk Hydrating Leave-In Conditioning Serum into the styling routine.

The Transformation at the Crawford Home

Softening the Look

As Lowen travels to the Crawford home in Vermont and becomes immersed in Verity’s world, her beauty aesthetic transforms. Her bold smoky eyes soften into ethereal browns, while her mauve lip shifts to a matte taupe. Strachman used Westman Atelier Lip Suede in Piqué and Victoria Beckham Beauty Lip Definer liner in number 2 to achieve this subtle change.

Miller explains the significance of this shift: “It has to be soft because we want you, the audience, to fall in love with her. Because she’s sweet. Pretty, but not screaming. You see her vulnerable.”

Flashbacks and the Gala

Minimal Makeup Strategy

When the film reveals Verity’s backstory through flashbacks, beginning with her encounter with her future husband Jeremy (Josh Hartnett), the makeup strategy shifts again. At a black-tie gala where Verity wears a draped crimson Versace gown, Panchenko deliberately stripped away product. “We wanted the red lip to feel like armor, the version of Verity she presents to the world and the version Lowen can’t shake,” Panchenko says. “Early in the relationship and before she became a best-selling author, I took almost everything away. Fresh skin, barely any makeup. I liked that the audience has to sit with both and decide for themselves which one is real.”

Movement in the Hair

The hair at this moment received equal attention. Lugo crafted a bouncier version of Verity’s voluminous lob, creating visible movement. “When Hathaway walked on set for the gala scene, everyone was just like, ‘Wow,’” Lugo recalls. “Her hair had that sexy, Hollywood texture where it was moving around. In Lowen’s eyes, when she imagines Verity in that red dress, she’s just like, ‘This is gorgeous and perfect. She can do nothing wrong.’”

The Dinner Date

Mirroring Verity’s Power

Later, when Lowen dresses for dinner at a local fine-dining restaurant, she selects a slinky red Versace safety-pin slip dress reminiscent of Verity’s earlier gown. Her long dark brown hair and bangs are styled sleeker and more sultry. Returning to her smoky eyes and a dark lip created with Dior Addict Lip Glow Balms in Mahogany and Blackberry, Lowen appears to channel Verity.

According to Lugo, “She put in effort for that. She’s going there with intention. She’s going there with dignity. She has to impress him somehow.” When asked if Lowen had also borrowed Verity’s makeup products alongside her monogrammed silk robe and perfume, Miller leaves the answer deliberately ambiguous: “That could have been. We don’t know what went on in that head.”

This uncertainty mirrors the film’s central mystery. As Miller concludes, “You’re supposed to not quite understand what’s happening. We pull you all the way through it and at the end, it’s like, ‘Oh, didn’t see that coming.’”

Source: Allure