Yennefer's Hair & Makeup Transformation

[bardoftheunknown]

Of anyone in The Witcher, Yennefer goes through the most drastic change that would have been impossible without the work of the hair and makeup team on set. When we first meet her she’s a dissabled teenager being abused by everyone around her, to afterwards becoming a non-disabled woman who is cut throat and doing everything she can to get everything out of her life.

Before I talk about Yennefer’s change and how the story leads to this, it’s important I mention the effects of this storyline on real dissabled people. Losing her disability is understandably debated by the disabled community on how it affects their representation, a great article of which can be found here, with some more debate happening in the comment section. On one hand, yes people with disabilities deserve to have representation that doesn’t require them needing to be “fixed,” which is an unfortunately common trope. On the other hand, many disabled people have felt like Yennefer and would have also chosen to not have their disability and so relate to her in that way. Like so many marginalized people, representation for dissabled people is few and far between. So it’s especially harmful to their community when representation is done sloppily, which in the case of The Witcher, it is.

So, what story does Yennefer’s hair and makeup tell?

When we first meet her she’s at her lowest point. Her hair is matted and full of grime from pig slop and hay from being pushed down by a couple assaulting her. Her eyes are constantly red and puffy from near constant crying.

After spending a couple of days away from her father and the rest of her neighborhood that mistreats her we see her hair look smoother, more healthier. Her eyes also loose the redness that have been around them.

After being chosen to continue with her witchcraft studies we see a time skip, made obvious by her hair growing long and her face growing thinner (loosing baby fat). By this time she’s also lost her eye bags entirely. Her hair looks full and healthy, a very stark contrast compared to when we see her at the beginning. Soon after we see her choosing to go through a major physical change in order to be more appealing to get a court position.

Yennefer’s hair and makeup show her gaining confidence & control of her life. She grows more powerful and also more in control of her emotions. However, through everything she isn’t in as much as control as her mentor who has the same hairstyle throughout these episodes with a tight bun that is always completely in place.

Where when Yennefer go through her transformation her hair is in loose curls, in a sort of “effortless” style. She is also wearing makeup that wonderfully compliments her skin tone and her violet eyes.

Another thing I found interesting about Yennefer’s transformation is that she is considerably paler pre-transformation as compared to her post-transformation. She goes from almost sickly looking to much more lively, which I found to be a wonderful choice that really celebrates the Yennefer’s actress (Anya Chalotra)’s skin tone.

For further reading on Yennefer’s makeup transformation: I would also suggest this interview that talks about Anya Chalotra’s headspace while playing Yennefer and how the HMU team helped in her own acting transformation.