Staying Close to the Magic: Inside the Creative World of Louise Bruun
The acclaimed Hair and Make-up Designer on trusting her instincts and remaining a student of her craft
By: The Lace Ledger Staff
Louise Bruun was 19 when Nicolas Winding Refn asked her to work on his first feature, Pusher. She had never done it before, but agreed anyway, kicking off her creative career. One of the actors in her chair was another newcomer: Mads Mikkelsen.
Decades later, Bruun is still saying yes to the creative unknown. Only now, she brings a formidable career’s worth of experience with her.
Her work has moved between the immediacy of fashion and the permanence of film, teaching her to trust an instinct while continually sharpening it. On a major production, she keeps herself close to the lens, where creative decisions can evolve alongside the scene in “reel” time. When a project changes course, she changes with it. After decades spent creating extraordinary aesthetics, she still considers herself a student of her craft.
That willingness to adapt is central to Bruun’s process. She arrives with an informed point of view but remains open to what other artists bring to it, allowing the project to take shape through collaboration.
Her latest film with Refn, Her Private Hell, offers a spectacular canvas for that philosophy. The film draws Bruun back into the horror that first captivated her as a teenager, now with a wealth of experience across fashion and film to draw from.
We spoke with Bruun about trusting her creative instincts and the creative possibilities that emerge when artists inspire one another.
Drop Dead Gorgeous: 9 Iconic Gothic Beauty Looks from the Screen
The cinematic hair and makeup moments still haunting our beauty routines
By: The Lace Ledger Staff
Smudge it. Sharpen it. Tease it sky-high. Some of cinema’s most memorable beauty looks reached far beyond the screen, awakening something in generations of spooky girls who finally saw a version of beautiful that felt like home.
For those of us who grew up surrounded by Baywatch bombshell perfection, trying on those versions of femininity could feel a little like playing dress-up in somebody else’s closet. Then we met Morticia Addams. Nancy Downs rimmed her eyes in black. Akasha appeared dripping in gold. Suddenly, beauty could be strange. It could be severe or even a little frightening, and still leave us completely mesmerized.
These characters gave us something to recognize ourselves in and, perhaps more importantly, something to experiment with. Their influence stepped out of the screen and landed directly in our vanity cases, where we smudged the liner darker and discovered just how good it felt when the reflection finally looked a little more like us.
These nine iconic looks helped set our spooky souls—and beauty routines—ablaze.
The Gothic Beauty Arsenal: The Products We Keep Close
A collection of everyday essentials curated with care
By: The Lace Ledger Staff
There comes a point in every makeup journey where the experimentation slows down.
The drawer full of impulse purchases remains, of course, but a smaller collection begins to emerge; the products that consistently make you feel like yourself. The foundation repurchased before it runs out. The eyeliner that never lets you down. The lipstick that somehow ends up in every purse, coat pocket and desk drawer. These are ours favourites to achieve an everyday soft goth look.
The Afterparty Era: Why Euphoria’s Season Three Aesthetic Feels Off
As the characters step into adulthood, the show’s iconic makeup evolves alongside the uncomfortable realities of growing up after the glitter loses its gleam
By: The Lace Ledger Staff
When Euphoria first arrived, it detonated the rules of television makeup. Eyes glittered under convenience-store lighting. Rhinestones traced the edges of eyeliner. Teenage bedrooms became laboratories for gloss and gossip, colour and catastrophe.
The beauty language of the early seasons thrived on experimentation with characters treating makeup as emotional shorthand. A handful of crystals beneath the eye could communicate heartbreak with depth beyond dialogue.
For many viewers, the appeal was immediate. The show captured the sensation of youth, at full volume. Makeup functioned like an extension of the diary, amplifying what was already written across each character’s face.
Season three has been evolving that language. The characters are older now; the audience is too. What once read as youthful chaos begins to register as the early formation of personal style.
The afterparty era has arrived, and, honestly, at times, it’s hard to watch.
The Dark Directory: 27 Gothic Brands We Love for World Goth Day
The exceptionally-talented designers shaping the subculture from within
By: The Lace Ledger Staff
Iykyk. The gothic pieces that hit the mark tend to come from the same place we do, made in small runs by designers who already share our references, so subtle nods (or devoted homages) land on the first pass. They’re not studying the subculture by hovering above it; they’re inside it, responding as it shifts, letting that proximity shape what comes next.
It’s evident in their work. Whether we're stepping inside haunted legend with Cursed, proudly sporting etymology from Shoppe of Stuff, shimmering in Rituel de Fille Formulations or haunting hallways in Blackwood Castle, we love these brands because they build pieces that feel unmistakably ours.
Summer Skin Survival Guide: 7 Colour Correctors That Hold Up to Redness
From light touch to full coverage, cooling formulas to easy blends—these are the ones that actually work
By: The Lace Ledger Staff
After a long, dark winter, the return of sunlight is something to celebrate. It also marks the annual goth girlie battle with direct light on carefully cultivated complexions *goth hiss*.
So, how do you win the war against unwanted redness in the unrelenting gleam of summer sun? We can help.
We tested seven colour correctors to stay one step ahead. Here’s what we found.
Beyond Black: Hilli’s Gothic Nail Guide
Hilli, your gothic nail tech, on seductive Dracula inspiration, jewel-toned classics and the future of dark nails
By: The Lace Ledger Staff
In a beauty landscape that churns through micro-trends at the speed of a scroll, Hilli moves differently. Her work does not chase relevance, it cultivates atmosphere. Each set is shaped by an instinct for contrast and a reverence for gothic detail that refuses to be rushed.
She approaches each nail set as an artist approaches a canvas, building miniature worlds where ombrés gleams against velvet shadow and milky white meets deliberate linework with surgical clarity. Spending in cosmetics refined her understanding of texture and balance long before she ever lifted a brush toward acrylic. What emerges now is not trend-driven gothic, but something steadier — a visual language that understands the dark aesthetic at its core.
The Cold Kiss: A Gothic Guide to Winter Beauty From the Inside Out
FW25 rituals of softness and survival to see you through the dark season
By: The Lace Ledger Staff
Winter arrives without tenderness. The air turns brittle and the body begins to forget its own warmth.
For the gothic woman, beauty becomes a negotiation with the elements. Hydration replaces indulgence. Every stoke of eyeliner and brush of mascara is a small defiance.
Here are the tools you need to arm yourself for the battle at hand.
Inherit the Night: Discover Your Gothic Archetype
What does “gothic style” mean? If you ask the average person, they’ll likely describe the trad goths (or mall goths) of our youth – head-to-toe black, piercings, heavy makeup, perceived love of horror movies and heavy metal.
While that archetype does hold space, it’s only one shade in a much richer palette of gothic expression. Some of us are perpetually pensive, some are mischievous, some find joy in seduction, some haunt the board room while others convene with nature and the constellations – and we all have different aesthetics.
We invite you to explore the many facets of dark femininity through archetypal discovery, uncovering which persona resonates with your inner darkness. None of us are only one thing, but each has a dominant current (or two) running through her marrow.