What The Ladies Of Severance Look Like Without Makeup

The atmosphere in AppleTV+'s "Severance" is anything but colorful. Endless white walls consume the basement of Lumon's office building, located in the mysterious town of Kier. Aside from the surreal and ever so weird discotheque moment from the "music dance experience," only the romantic paintings in Lumon's bleak, endless hallways offer a semblance of a vibrant hue to the severed floor — except, of course, for the workers themselves.

Thanks to the show's hair and makeup departments, the cast brings a bit of contrast to the sterile space. From subtle eyeshadow to a plum lip color, makeup is an essential part of the "Severance" design, if not all television — even if the makeup fails on-screen. The ladies of Lumon display a bit of individuality in this aspect, with Cobel's silver hair and Helly's defined eyebrows, just to name a few examples. But those subtle accents to each character aren't carried through the actor's everyday life. In fact, many look quite different without makeup.

Harmony Cobel might be the ice queen on the severed floor, but in real life, actor Patricia Arquette is a bright light. Her character's dark lipstick and silver hair add to Cobel's chilling essence, which dominates Lumon and its employees. However, Arquette is normally rocking blonde locks and her natural face — which she passed down to her gorgeous daughter — is much less intimidating.

Arquette has never molded herself to fit into any cultural expectations. As fellow actor and "Severance" executive producer Ben Stiller told Vanity Fair in 2019, "There is something about Patricia that is very genuine and unconflicted." He added that although "she is extremely beautiful ... as an actor she's always been very much not about that, just really about the work."

Arquette grew up in a Virginian commune surrounded by hippies in the 1970s, which may have been where she grew confident in her natural beauty. However, it probably helps that she has healthy skin. The actor revealed in a 2022 issue of InStyle that she makes her own concoction of chickpea flour, honey, and yogurt that she lathers on her face to use as a mask. "Once it has dried, you rub it in circles to flake it all off," Arquette explained (via People). "Your skin feels like a baby's afterward."

Ms. Casey's calming voice isn't the only attractive feature about her. The Lumon wellness counselor's stunning features are a captivating on-screen detail. Part of her allure comes from her subtle eye shadow and the always-popular nude lipstick, which contrasts her black bob and corresponding dark-colored clothes. But if you follow Dichen Lachman — the actor behind Ms. Casey — on social media, you would see that her natural appearance is far from her character's.

In one Instagram post from 2022, Lachman sported her usual blonde, ombre hair tied up in a messy bun as she posed for a gym selfie. The high point of the photo was her flawless all-natural face, which glowed in the overhead lighting. Given that skincare is a part of her routine, it's no wonder that she's a bare-face beauty.

In an interview with The Bare Magazine, Lachman said that she grew up in Nepal, where makeup was a heavy part of their cultural identity. For herself, however, the actor opts for less foundation and more face masks. "I don't wear a lot of makeup unless I need to do a work thing — I'm more interested in taking care of my skin than painting it," Lachman said. In terms of taking care of her skin, she added, "I use witch hazel to clean my skin, and there are a few different products from different lines that I'll mix and match. It's kind of a journey finding the right product as a woman, and as you get older, your skin changes."

One of the biggest pops of color that Lumon's severed floor has to offer is Helly R.'s glorious red hair. It's a vibrant color contrast to the drab cubicles where she and the rest of the macrodata refinement team work. Britt Lower, the actor who portrays Helly, has been rocking the copper locks for years — including as a statement in her 2022 Emmys best-dressed look — but the color isn't natural. While Lower hasn't said anything about dying her hair, she seemingly jumped to red at some point between 2017 and 2018, based on her Instagram.

In an Instagram highlight titled "Ball," Lower shared a few photos of her younger days as a basketball player. One photo clearly showed that the actor had naturally brown hair as a kid, and she's totally unrecognizable from her current look. Lower sported the darker brunette look in the earlier part of her career, in projects like the 2017 series "Future Man" and 2015's "The Shells."

It's not the only time she's dyed her hair — maybe on her head, anyway. In 2022, Lower revealed on "The Drew Barrymore Show" that she once dyed her armpit hair blue. "You know, it's just like a little bit of subtle anarchy," she explained, adding, "Yeah I was going through a breakup."

As the board's liaison to the rest of the severed floor, Natalie constantly has to maintain appearances — and that soulless smile no doubt keeps the office in check. Her professional mien is meticulously controlled with a structured 'do and clean-cut makeup looks. Actor Sydney Cole Alexander is seemingly the opposite of her character. Alexander lets her hair loose on social media and looks flawless without the corporate facepaint. Her bare-faced Instagram post at the end of 2022 definitely had the board speechless on the other line.

But her makeup looks from "Severance" did not go unappreciated. In February 2025, Alexander shared an Instagram appreciation post for the hair and makeup team with whom she worked on the show. "Hair, makeup and costume are hugely impactful to me as an actor and make me feel like an entirely different person," she wrote in the caption. "Not only are these creatives so passionate and thoughtful, but are truly a wonderful support team at the top of the day when we hop into the chair."

Sydney Cole Alexander wasn't the only one to give fans a behind-the-scenes look at the "Severance" production. Jen Tullock, who plays Mark Scout's zany sister, Devon, shared a moment in the makeup trailer, listening to The Sundays as she sat in the makeup chair. In the same carousel of photos and videos that she posted on Instagram, Tullock added a mostly bare-faced photo, with particularly manicured brows. "Episode 6 BTS feat. Devon's meticulously shaped eyebrows," she wrote. Even without her long, mascaraed lashes and lipstick, Tullock is indistinguishable — partly because of her piercing blue eyes.

The actor's face is just as flawless as her eyebrows, which might have something to do with her skincare. She told The Bare Magazine that her number one bare essential is tinted sunscreen. However, even as someone with perfect skin, Tullock has experienced a few beauty insecurities — like everyone else. In an essay she wrote for her SubStack "SureFineOkay," while analyzing societal beauty ideals and her own coming to terms with aging, Tullock described one instance where her mother told her, "You've gotta suffer to be beautiful." Luckily for the actor, she let go of that belief a long time ago.