25 Years later, The Movie Jawbreaker Still Inspires My Makeup

It’s been over two decades—25 years, to be exact—since a popular clique of well-dressed teen girls (played by Rose McGowan, Rebecca Gayheart, and Julie Benz) accidentally murdered their BFF after stuffing her mouth with a candy jawbreaker. In the history of stylish, high school clique flicks, Jawbreaker is perfectly sandwiched between Heathers and Mean Girls, but the cult film, written and directed by Darren Stein, stands out so much on its own. Its dark comedic plot, cutting one-liners, incredible performances, and candy-colored fashion and beauty looks still inspire me, and so many others, all these years later. 

From the moment we first meet the girls, strutting down the hallway in impeccably cool outfits, it is clear these aren’t ordinary teens. “I didn’t want them to look like girls you would find in any high school,” Stein tells me. “I went to an all-boys school, so I was like, this is gonna be my fantasy school. I wanted them to be runway models. It was all very much about fashion and editorial.”

Hair department head Alex Dizon helped give the film that editorial look Stein craved; he had previously styled McGowan on a shoot and was known for his magazine and celebrity work. “Darren gave me a lot of creative freedom with the hair, which, for me as an artist, helped me excel. I could do whatever I felt was suited for the scene or the character,” says Dizon. “The only thing Darren told me was that these girls are the It girls in school. The kids look up to them to see what they’re going to look like or what they’re going to wear, so I had to make sure that they had that It factor when it came to their looks.”