It was after “Euphoria” Season One finished airing in 2019 that the show’s makeup artist, Donni Davy, received a call from A24 — which coproduced the show alongside HBO Max — about starting a beauty brand.
“I was like, if I’m going to do it, I’m doing it all the way,” said Davy at WWD’s L.A. Beauty Forum. “The brand needed to not be a ‘Euphoria’ makeup brand — I wanted to do it the way A24 does an indie film. Full of creative authority; blue-sky innovation coming to the table, and building an artistry-forward brand from the ground-up.”
So launched Half Magic in 2022, a cosmetics line that took cues from the glittery, expressive looks that enraptured “Euphoria” audiences and sought to make them accessible for all. Today, the brand is best known for products like its shimmering Glitterpuck eye shadows and winged-liner helper tool, and is sold at Ulta Beauty in the U.S.; Mecca in Australia and Sephora in the U.K.
“My special sauce as a beauty founder is that I’m actually a working makeup artist. I’m on set following people with towels to wipe the sweat from their face,” said Davy, who studied photography in college and worked as a makeup artist for various indie films before landing “Euphoria.”
“Yeah, I’m doing sick looks on people — but I’m also a working girl in a makeup trailer. And because I work on so many different people, under all these different lights, I’m always looking at how the makeup is moving, and how the texture looks; I’m always dreaming up products,” she continued.
Above all, Davy aims to create high-performance products that are easy and intuitive to use.
“I was an art kid, so my approach to artistry is that it should be easy; it should be fun. It should be colorful and sparkly and not have this air of ‘you need to have these skills,’ or ‘you can’t contour that way — you need to contour this way,’” she said.
Next up, Half Magic is looking to tackle the complexion category from a products point of view, while Davy is also looking to double down on education.
“It’s been a whirlwind becoming a founder — from being behind the scenes to then being in front of everything and being a businessperson. I’m like, ‘what, me? I don’t know,’ but now I’m five years in, and so I actually do kind of know now, and that’s been an exciting transition. I’m really in the nitty gritty with my brand right now.”
As for what she’s most excited about, beauty-wise, for “Euphoria” Season Three?
“There’s a new character played by Rosalía — her glam is probably my favorite this season.”
