(Binge-Worthy)
Lily Collins’ Makeup In Emily in Paris Season 5 Is Inspired By A ‘90s Icon
The show’s lead makeup artist shares her secrets.
Ever since Emily in Paris debuted in 2020, the titular character has become a bona fide beauty and style icon, embodying a distinctly American optimism filtered through a Parisian lens. In the beginning, Emily Cooper’s (Lily Collins) look was defined by pinkish-nude or red lipstick, flushed cheeks, and wide-eyed enthusiasm. Her makeup was pretty and romantic, while her style was unapologetically bold. It was the perfect look for an ambitious young marketing executive from Chicago who was finding herself in the City of Lights.
Fast forward to Season 5, and Emily is no longer just finding her footing (she's even finally speaking French!). As the new manager of Agence Grateau’s Rome office, she's officially stepped into a trusted leadership role, all while navigating a new Italian romance. Along with the shift in setting comes a transformation in her beauty look. She's got a new beau, a new bob, and makeup that's sharper, more structured, and much more sophisticated. One could even say she went from ringarde to…refined!
"It's kind of a puzzle for me each year to see how I want to make the character evolve, and particularly for this season," the show's Emmy-nominated makeup department head, Aurélie Payen, tells TZR. "It's more control, more definition, more shape, and it's really precise." Payen describes Emily as more sophisticated, in a way, and assumes herself more than she ever was before. "Even if she’s in a new country, she owns the space. She owns her own femininity, and she's very strong. I wanted to make it look like that on screen."
Lips Are The Thorough Line
From the very first season, Emily’s lips served as a kind of visual punctuation mark. Her lipstick was specifically meant to mirror the character who needed to be heard before she was understood. "In Season 1, she wanted to find her voice in a foreign country," Payen explains. "She was very vocal because she was speaking for herself, and wanted to be present, so my thinking was to always have her lips done."
That emphasis hasn’t disappeared — Payen calls it "the link between the seasons" — but it's been given a twist. Instead of traditional lipstick, Payen made the unexpected decision to abandon it entirely, opting to sculpt Emily’s lips exclusively with lip pencils, like Nars Precision Lip Liner. The technique allows for greater control and precision, reinforcing the overarching theme of structure. Depending on the scene, the look shifts between softly contoured nudes, deep burgundies, "'80s vibes with gloss inside," and even a bold purple moment. "She’s still that girl," Payen says of Emily’s signature lip moment. "But she's evolved."
Payen also says there’s one episode that breaks the mold entirely. "I really love the Pride look we did on Emily," she says. “It’s so different — I don't want to spoil it for you, but we’ve never done that before.”
Posh Spice Energy
Emily’s beauty evolution also has some fun reference points. One of them is all about ’90s style, sophistication, and girl power — Posh Spice. "There’s definitely a nod to Posh and Victoria Beckham on one of the episodes in Rome," Payen says. "Emily has on this little black dress when she's walking with Sylvie, and she really looks like Posh, actually." The reference goes beyond a single look. Collins's new blunt bob haircut reminded Payen of '90s Posh, inspiring her to play with more nudes and browns reminiscent of the era for Emily's lip palette. She opted for soft nude browns for daytime scenes, while deeper brown tones, sometimes edged with purple, add more intensity.
Aside from Posh, Italian screen legends like Sophia Loren and Monica Vitti served as quiet inspirations for Payen's work this season.
Emily’s Smoky Eye Era
Season 5 also marks Emily’s most confident relationship with eye makeup so far. Where she used to balance a bold lip with a pared-back eye, Payen felt compelled to feature both this time, leaning into smoky eyes that feel modern, textured, and deliberately shaped. "These aren’t the natural smoky eyes we’re used to seeing everywhere," Payen explains. Instead of a single signature look, she played with some variation, using black, brown, and sometimes gray shadows from the Dior Backstage Eye Palette. It’s subtle, but the smoky eyes represent how Emily has lived a little and learned a lot, ever since setting foot in the Place de l'Estrapade four seasons ago.
Structure Starts With Skin
Before contour, color, or anything else, Payen, like most makeup artists, begins with skin care. "Probably the most important thing," she says. "Having very hydrating skin care is the key." Because the cast was shooting nearly every day for an extended period of time, Payen prioritized formulas that could support long wear without breaking down under lights, heat, or repeated touch-ups. She turned to Keren Bartov Advanced Skin Serum, which Collins introduced to Payen and quickly became her favorite, too. "I've noticed with that product, the makeup doesn't move," she points out.
Payen also turns to the CurrentBody LED Red Light Therapy Mask, the Yon-Ka Lotion Dry Skin Toner, and Sothys Paris Express Patches. "I love to use those patches, and also Le Rouge Français Lip Scrub," she says. With the right skin care in place, Payen is able to build the structure and definition she needed, keeping Emily’s look fresh and polished.
Ultimately, Emily’s Season 5 beauty evolution mirrors her personal one. The character hasn’t abandoned what made her stand out in the first place. Instead, she’s refined it. The bold lips are still there, the optimism (and romance!) remains intact, but everything feels sharper, more deliberate, and more assured, just like Emily. "There’s a maturity in the character that really represents, for me, the woman of today," says Payen. "The woman who doesn't fear anything, the woman who has a voice, her own work, and makes her own decisions — even if it's not the best one sometimes. But she's empowered, she’s strong, and she’s beautiful because she knows what she wants."
