The Hidden Meanings Behind Hannah & Allie’s Off Campus Makeup

Thanks to Prime Video’s Off Campus, Hannah Wells and Allie Hayes have quickly become the internet’s buzziest TV besties. They're fiercely loyal, deeply supportive, and constantly showing up for each other — but when it comes to relationships and self-expression, they're on very different sides of the spectrum.

Allie is a sexually liberated theater girl with a penchant for the dramatic and go-with-the-flow vibes. Though she starts the season in a long-term relationship with Sean), she spends much of it trying to spice up their sex life — even if he’s perfectly content sticking to the basics. Hannah, meanwhile, is on a completely different emotional journey, moving at a slower, more protective pace to process past sexual trauma.

These differences aren’t just reflected in their storylines. According to the show’s makeup department head, Leah Ehman, they’re subtly woven into every blush placement and skin finish — details so subtle, you probably missed them on your first watch.

Allie Vs. Hannah’s Makeup

If you take a closer look, you’ll see the tiniest difference between Allie’s and Hannah’s complexions. This subtle shift was entirely intentional. “I wanted there to be a contrast in the skin finish, especially because they’re side-by-side,” Ehman tells Bustle.

To reflect Allie’s more adventurous, sexually confident personality, Ehman leaned into glow, flush, and luminosity. “She’s having more sex, and obviously it’s not something she’s shy about,” she explains. “So her look is more flushed and a little bit more sheeny.”

Hannah’s makeup, on the other hand, was designed to be much more understated. “With the past traumas and the things that she’s been through, I didn’t want to paint that kind of sexually active skin finish on Hannah,” says Ehman. “I wanted her to be just way more innocent — just softer, more restrained.”

Creating The Looks

For the most part, Ehman kept the cast looking naturally fresh-faced. “We just had a little shimmer or a little dew or something to catch their face,” says Ehman. To maintain continuity while letting skin shine through, she used Saie’s Glowy Super Skin Tint Foundation, a lightweight formula with a luminous finish.

When it came to Allie, however, Ehman dialed up the radiance. “With Allie, I really pumped up that glow and that flush and that alive, sexual-kind of skin and makeup,” she says. One of her go-to products was Saie's Glowy Super Gel Illuminator, which created what she describes as a natural-looking glow rather than something overly polished. "I really tried to stay away from powders, just so that the skin looked like it was naturally glowing," she says. "It's nice to see awake, alive skin that's very sheer, with freckles showing through."

To enhance this effect, Ehman layered Fenty Cream Cheeks Out in Petal Poppin underneath Charlotte Tilbury’s Sun-Kissed Glow bronzer for more warmth and dimension.

Hannah’s no-makeup makeup look was more pared-back. “My goal was to make sure there was no foundation visible,” says Ehman. For a soft wash of color, she used Rare Beauty’s Soft Pinch Liquid Blush in the shade Happy, a cool pink that became the character’s signature flush throughout the season.

In the end, a little extra glow — or a deliberate lack thereof — helped tell two very different stories.