'Wicked' Fans Take To The Internet To Express Their Dismay With Ariana Grande's "Distracting" Lashes

"The lashes were more distracting than the toddlers running up and down in the cinema aisles!"

Stephanie

• Published in Film & TV
• December 7, 2024

'Wicked' has been dominating the box office and captivating fans since its release on November 22. However, there is one small detail that some fans have become fixated on.

Ariana Grande's eyelashes. Yes, the much-loved singer and actress who plays Glinda Upland in the film has become the topic of discussion on social media for what some fans are describing as a "makeup malfunction."

The issue in question was Ariana's untrimmed strip lashes, which many viewers found to be distracting and unsuited to the Oz-era of the film. Hair and makeup artist Janita Helova agreed with the overall consensus, saying, "I think the lashes are too harsh and too long for this character and distract from her character's ethereal vibe."

"Otherwise, her makeup was super soft and cute, so I would have opted for more brown color lashes and eyeliner and more natural-looking lashes. That would have been softer and warmer and made her more cute-looking and would have blended better with her skin, eyebrow, and hair color," she added.

"Ariana normally always wears cat eye shape lashes with black liner, but for this character, in my opinion, it would have been better to have a round shape strip or individual lashes that would have given her eyes a round shape rather than cat eye," Janita said. The award-winning makeup artist believes the choice of lashes for Ariana's character was more of a mistake rather than a creative decision.

"I think it's a misstep rather than the makeup artist's creative decision, or maybe Ariana [may] have insisted on having her signature look," she said. "Every talented makeup artist understands client vision but would also find some kind of compromise for the makeup."

'Wicked' has been dominating the box office and captivating fans since its release on November 22.

However, there is one small detail that some fans have become fixated on.

The issue in question? Ariana Grande's eyelashes!

Many viewers have found Ari's lashes to be distracting and unsuited to the Oz-era of the film.

So, what could have been done differently? "I would have curled the lashes profusely to get a really strong lift of the lash, coated with mascara and added in wispy individual lashes in varying lengths of 8mm – 12mm," Sarah said.

Eilish Gilligan from the Shameless Podcast also gave her thoughts on Ariana's lashes, calling out the stark contrast between her ethereal look and those outrageous lashes. "Why is she in a strip lash that has not been cut to her eye shape?" she asked.

Some have speculated that perhaps it was Ariana who didn't want to deviate away from her signature look.

"Glinda's makeup kinda made me transform my entire look and my entire relationship to makeup," Grande said.

Australian makeup artist Sarah Peart agreed that the lashes "were distracting as they were long, black, and in some shots appeared to be lifting in the inner corner of the eye." She added, "I feel this distracted from her character's ethereal aesthetic."

The hosts of the podcast agreed that perhaps it was Ariana herself who refused to deviate away from her iconic personal style. The star previously spoke about Glinda's style, saying, "Glinda's makeup kinda made me transform my entire look and my entire relationship to makeup."

"There's no, like, thick eyeliner. There's no, like, heavy crease," Ariana explained. "It's just, like, really warm and open and pretty, and, you know, the lashes are in, like, a cat shape, which still gives you the, like, cat eye lift that I usually love, but it's also just a more honest representation of what you look like. It's just like, oh, this is an eye."

Here's what some netizens had to say.

"I felt so strongly about this during the film."

"They were so bad!"

"I couldn't stop staring at them."

Cindy Lou, is that you?

Frances Hannon was the lead hair and makeup artist for the film, so what does she have to say about Ariana's look? "We wanted to [find] a timeless look so that in 20 years, when people are still watching this, it will look as beautiful as when [the film] comes out next week," she said.

"We kept Ari's look iridescent and opalescent, and it was in tone with her costumes most of the time," she explained. "For her body, face, and hair, we wanted that feathery, light, princess-like quality."

"It was never a heavy, dark lipstick or a dark eyeshadow," Frances said. "Once we did that with Ari, combined with the reflective base on Elphaba, it gave an amazing balance."

Stephanie