Zendaya’s Barely-There Makeup at ‘The Odyssey’ Premiere Is Going Viral, and the Reason Behind It Is Surprisingly Simple
Zendaya has spent the past several weeks turning red carpets into full sensory experiences, using fashion, hair, and makeup to tell a cohesive story tied to whatever film she is promoting. Her ongoing press run for ‘The Odyssey’ has been no exception, with each stop offering a slightly different interpretation of her character, Athena.
The New York premiere pushed that concept even further, but not in the way most red carpet moments tend to unfold. Rather than leaning into bold glam, Zendaya and her longtime makeup artist took the opposite approach entirely, and the result has quickly become one of the most talked-about beauty moments of the entire tour.
At the premiere, Zendaya appeared in a sculptural winged gown paired with what her team described as one of the most minimal beauty looks of the press tour. Her eyes were left almost completely untouched, with no mascara and no visible eyeshadow, just naturally fluffed brows and what Casillas referred to as bare, so-called ghost lashes.
Makeup artist Ernesto Casillas explained the thinking behind the stripped-back approach directly. “For the premiere, we wanted the skin to look fresh, luminous, and naturally sun-kissed,” Casillas wrote in an Instagram post, adding that the look was intentionally minimal, with glowing skin sitting at the center of the entire concept.
That sun-kissed effect was not accidental or left to chance. Casillas focused heavily on placing warmth across the specific points of the face the sun would naturally hit, including the temples, cheeks, nose, and chin, using layered blush shades to build dimension without looking overdone.
The product breakdown behind the look leaned almost entirely on Prada Beauty. Casillas prepped Zendaya’s skin using the brand’s Augmented Skin Cream and Eye Cream before mixing the Augmented Skin Essence directly into the Reveal Skin Optimizing Foundation, creating a lightweight, glowing base rather than a heavier full coverage finish.
For color, he applied two shades of the brand’s Touch Blush, a warm mocha brown called Caffe and a true red called Cherry, brushing both strategically across the cheeks, forehead and chin to mimic natural sun exposure. A soft pink lip gloss finished the look, adding just enough life to the lips without pulling focus from the skin itself.
This latest beauty moment continues a broader theme that has defined Zendaya’s entire ‘Odyssey’ press run. Styled by longtime collaborator Law Roach, she has consistently used both fashion and makeup throughout the tour to reference her role as the goddess Athena, with each city offering a slightly different angle on that same mythological inspiration.
The minimal approach also marked a noticeable departure from some of her earlier tour stops, where bolder eye looks and more dramatic styling choices had defined her red carpet appearances. Trading that drama for bare skin and soft warmth gave the New York premiere a distinctly different, almost ethereal energy compared to previous cities on the circuit.
Fans and beauty writers have responded enthusiastically to the shift, with many pointing to the look as proof that skin prep and subtle placement can carry a red carpet moment just as effectively as bold color or dramatic technique. The no mascara approach in particular has sparked plenty of conversation about whether the trend could catch on more broadly.
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With ‘The Odyssey’ now in theaters and the press tour winding toward its final stops, this New York look has already cemented itself as one of the standout beauty moments of the entire campaign. Between the styling choices and Casillas’s clear intention behind every product placement, it is a reminder that sometimes the most talked about looks are the ones that do the least.
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