Imagine going from your everyday beauty routine to being your own makeup artist for your appearances on national television. Oh, and the show isn't just any show. It's basically the Monday Night Football of reality TV. Women and men tune all over America tune in once a week to see whether you get a rose from the same charming and conventionally attractive dude that 20 other girls are vying for. It's safe to say the mascara you swipe on and foundation you apply are more important than ever. We chatted with six of our favorite ladies who have been there done that on past seasons of The Bachelor, Bachelor in Paradise and The Bachelorette to get behind-the-scenes Bachelor beauty secrets.

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Olivia Caridi

The Bachelor Season 20 (Ben Higgins)

How did you decide what to pack in your makeup bag for The Bachelor?

I've never been that great at doing makeup, so I had a professional makeup artist come to my house to teach me how to do everything and make me a list of everything I needed to buy. She taught me how to contour. I didn't even know what that was. She works with people on reality TV, so she knew that there wouldn't be a lot of sleeping, so she advised on buying a white or a nude eye liner to put on my eyes to make them look bigger, which I didn't even know was a thing. Then, a couple days before filming, I went to Sephora and bought foundation, eye shadow palettes, brow fillers, like every single thing you could ever imagine. That was fun and expensive, but it was worth it.

Did the makeup artist's tricks help you out?

I think I screwed up. Of course the first day, you're thinking, "Oh my god. This is so exciting. I'm going to wake up and put makeup on." Then, as the time goes on, I just kind of got lazier and lazier. Now, people recognize me more in public when I'm not wearing makeup than when I am. That's probably a sign that I should have tried a little bit harder the whole time when it came to doing my makeup every morning. But you get comfortable. The cameras are just there all the time, so you don't even think about looking pretty.



It wasn't a set amount of time. I just slapped on mascara and foundation and called it a day. But there were a lot of people who would take 30 minutes to and hour to do their hair and their makeup.

What beauty moments do we not see on TV?

We were so bored all day. There was so much downtime. We were always doing beauty routines because that was literally all we had time to do. There were so many days where we did a lot of mud masks and self-tanning sessions. We were painting our nails all the time because we were constantly changing outfits, and we wanted match the nails to the outfit. There was a lot of beauty and pampering for each other that never really gets aired.

Ashley Iaconetti

The Bachelor Season 19 (Chris Soules) and Bachelor in Paradise Seasons 2 and 3

How did you keep your makeup looking fresh, even in Paradise weather?

I hope that I kept it together [laughs]. In Paradise, we were basically camping for three weeks. It was 90-degree weather, and there was no escape. Everything was melting off, so the first week, when it was in the hundreds, I was such a slacker. But by week two, during the day I would do foundation and a little mascara, highlighter, and obviously lips. At night, I'd do eye makeup with contour.

How about hair?

I didn't touch my hair with an iron at all. Because of the humidity, the most I ever did was use texture spray. I went for the beachy look. I'm more of a makeup girl.

Take us through the process of getting ready.

The lighting in the mansion was really bad for makeup, so I did mine on the balcony every day. It was my moment to get away and be alone. There were maybe four mirrors in the house of 23 girls because mirrors make it hard for the camera guys. [For Paradise], I got an amazing makeup kit that has really good lighting.

Because you are so good at your own makeup, did you ever help any of the other girls?

I taught Mackenzie [Deonigi] how to fill in her eyebrows, and she's been obsessed ever since. I would also contour some of the girls' faces. If they wanted me to do their makeup, I was totally cool with that.


Was there any beauty-related drama that went down?

My lash extensions were falling out rather quickly on Paradise—faster than usual because I was in the ocean. I had the handlers get me individual lashes from Target, and I glued them into the little bald spots.

Did you have acrylic nails on the show?

On The Bachelor, I had tips, but they looked gross by week three. On television, they looked fine, though. In Paradise, I thought I'd do the same thing. I cry a lot, so my hands are on my face a lot, which means it's important that they look good. But on the second week, a few broke off, so I had to take them off completely. If you look very closely on Paradise, you'll notice one week where my nails are all different sizes.

What was your one hero makeup product during filming?

The Becca Cosmetics Ultimate Coverage Concealing Crème in Banana. In Paradise, Clare [Crawley] had a problem finding one that didn't crease or look cake-y, and I gave her this. It's amazing.

Catherine Giudici-Lowe

Winner of The Bachelor Season 17 (Sean Lowe)

Did you have hairstylists or makeup artists on The Bachelor?

Only on the first day and then the last day when there are two girls left for the engagement. For everything in between, we used our own stuff. Sometimes we did each other's hair.

Was that stressful, considering you knew you'd be on national television?

Kind of. I didn't know how to apply makeup very well, so I mostly cared about my skin. I didn't learn how to curl my hair until the day before I left for the show. I did a little mascara and eyeliner every day, and I wore lip gloss for the first time during rose ceremonies. The producers told me to put it on because it really does look better. I just wanted to look natural. I didn't want to mislead Sean on what I looked like or for him to think I was always made up.

What if you forgot or ran out of a beauty product?

You could request it and give the handlers cash. Handlers would go out and buy lotion or something simple. If you wanted something specific, you could order it, but you might not be in the same place the week after because you're always traveling.


There are a lot of group dates where you're active or on the beach in the morning and more formal at night. What does the in-between process of getting ready look like?

You're brought to a location for 45 minutes to get dressed and do makeup but with minimal time and access. There could be two hotel rooms with four or five girls in each room. For example, on my season, we did a roller-derby group date. Then, the second portion was on a rooftop in L.A. We could take showers, but we had to be resourceful because there was not enough time to dry our hair. Most of what you saw was pretty natural or girls who were really good at doing their own makeup.

Any funny beauty stories you can tell us about?

Kristy [Kaminski] was a model who left early in my season. Sock buns weren't a thing yet, but we kind of knew about them. Before one of the rose ceremonies, Kristy said she wanted a sock bun, so this one producer, who was so sweet and helped us with makeup and braids, gave her a sock bun. It was big and bulky, and she got cut. No one wanted to do a sock bun after that because it was like a curse. Unless you had a rose, you weren't going into a rose ceremony with a sock bun.

Sarah Herron

The Bachelor Season 17 (Sean Lowe) and Bachelor in Paradise Season 2

Take us through night one of The Bachelor. How were you feeling?

I'm the girliest of my friends, but when I joined The Bachelor, I was like, "I don't even compare to these girls." I met Michelle Money in Paradise, and when she arrived, she showed up with three suitcases full of makeup and accessories alone. It was all categorized and labeled in Tupperware. I was like, "What am I getting myself into?" I had a breakdown because the girls put so much effort into their appearance, and I do not. It's not my thing.

That's intimidating!

Yeah, I remember feeling really overwhelmed because I literally showed up with my travel-size makeup bag with one compact of bronzer, a blush, mascara, and eye shadow. I didn't put makeup on every morning before going to the beach. At the beginning, when I wasn't hitting it off with any of the guys, I got insecure, thinking I wasn't wearing enough makeup, but I'm not that kind of girl. I wish the show could embrace more natural girls who are not so afraid of being themselves.


Did you have everything you needed? What happened if you wanted to buy a lip gloss, for instance?

In Paradise, you're far from any convenient store, so you have to share. I got stingy about sharing my hair spray because that stuff is expensive and everyone in the house started using it. But then I got so tan that my makeup didn't match my face anymore, so the girls let me borrow their darker foundation and bronzer. The producers always had sunscreen and aloe for us, though.

What did you do with your hair?

This was the biggest problem in Paradise. It's so humid and hot and sticky. I never wear my hair up, so I just embraced it and went with natural waves. I'm a huge Moroccanoil girl. Now when I smell it, it reminds me of being there.

Apart from the weather, how was Bachelor in Paradise different from The Bachelor?

When it's your first time on The Bachelor, you have full makeup to-the-nines on all hours of the day. Like in Chris's season, Britt [Nilsson] wore makeup all through the night. But in Paradise, you are more comfortable. With that being said, when you get a date card in Paradise, you have 30 minutes to an hour to get ready, so if you're out in the ocean, you book it to your room as soon as possible.

Were there any funny makeup mishaps that went down?

I don't fill my eyebrows, and one day, Michelle [Money] was like, "Will you let me work on your eyebrows?" So she did one and not the other. The one was on fleek, as they say, and so I went to get a producer's opinion, and he liked the non-filled brow better [laughs].

Jillian Harris

The Bachelor Season 13 (Jason Mesnick) and The Bachelorette Season 5

What was it like doing your own makeup for television?

I didn't know the tips and tricks back then. After taping, I saw myself on the show and was like, "What the hell is wrong with my face?" I never knew about mattifying powder, eyebrows, false eyelashes, primer, or contouring. I looked like such a grease ball. I think that back then, they liked that it was reality, but I wish I knew what I was doing. Beauty has evolved in the last five years.


Did you have to do anything to prep for the show?

Right before you start filming, there are three weeks where you do fittings and meetings. They allowed me to get my own Pilates trainer, order whatever food I wanted, and do Crest Whitestrips. Apparently, they didn't like my Canadian accent, so they had me go to speech therapy. After three or four classes, the producers realized I was losing my quirkiness, so they cancelled the classes. I wasn't offended because I was the show's first out-of-country person. They were just afraid Americans wouldn't be able to connect.

Did you learn any Bachelor beauty secrets from the producers?

Well, Chris Harrison, who became a good friend, taught me this one: Midol with caffeine. I'd take one on days that I was tired and bloated. It's a diuretic. If my face was puffy, it would debloat me, and it has a painkiller, so it made my feet feel better in heels. Now, before I go out at night, I'll take one an hour before. It's really no different from taking Advil.

—additional reporting by Kristie Dash

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