Don’t just go straight in with the lip liner and top with the balm though; the application technique is key to mastering the Addams aesthetic. “Mix it together in a pot; you could also use your hand like me,” Quinn elaborated. “They would dab it on her lips to get this perfect ‘soft goth lip’.”
“The idea was for her to look like she had naturally dark lips,” McDonald (the show’s makeup designer) told Cosmopolitan. “I didn’t want it to look like she was wearing lipstick.” That’s where the balm comes in; it’s able to sheer out the liner colour to a point where it’s both highly blendable and incredibly believable.
Balm wise, we advise sampling the Dr. Pawpaw Original Balm ($6.45 at Discount Chemist), as it’s rumoured to be the brand used on-set.
The best bit about working with a balm? You can tailor the levels of colour and gloss you’re working with. For instance, the ‘shine’ factor was amped up when Addams got a little extra goth glam for The Rave’N dance. But besides that, she kept her colour depth and soft shine pretty consistent.
As for the application, we don’t doubt that Thing is as skilled with makeup as he is with dress-thieving; he’s got (or rather is) an incredibly steady hand, after all.
