If you don’t already know, a new hockey smut fandom is assembling, and it could be even bigger than the last (looking at you “Heated Rivalry”).
Within just two weeks of its premiere on Amazon Prime Video, “Off Campus” — a new romance drama series based on the bestselling novels by Canadian author, Elle Kennedy — amassed over 36 million viewers, positioning it as the third most-watched debut TV show in the history of the streaming service, surpassing “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” according to Variety. And if you’ve scrolled on TikTok or listened in on the office conversation as of late, this isn’t all that surprising.
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Set in a Massachusetts college town, the storyline follows the classic trope of star-crossed lovers, campus edition. Hannah Wells, a classical music major, and Garrett Graham, captain of the Briar University hockey team and soon-to-be Boston Bruins rookie, devise a plan in which they pretend to date for the sake of getting a good grade and another guy’s attention. As the season progresses, their “faux” feelings — unsurprisingly — become real, and suddenly their relationship is no longer just for show.
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Wells, played by budding star Ella Bright, isn’t your stereotypical shy girl. She has a strong sense of self, with an old soul that shines far beyond her taste in music. Technically, she’s a Gen Z college student but she keeps a minimal — albeit outdated — wardrobe and a Millennial-coded makeup routine, comprised of arched brows, matte foundation, gold shimmer on her lids and rose-tinted lips — everything the modern-day algorithm-possessed beauty enthusiast tends to eschew. Think “clean girl” minus the glass skin and overly-contoured face.
When it comes to her hair, Wells takes cues from the older generation, donning a ’90s-inspired lob (aka a long bob) with flipped ends and face-framing layers. It’s a cut celebrity hairstylist Jacob Rozenberg likens to “The Rachel” from “Friends” — timeless with a contemporary edge. “There’s something liberating about cutting your hair shorter, especially for young women going into college,” Rozenberg said. “It feels very aligned with her character’s artistic personality and independence.”
In real life, Bright is differentiating herself with slightly longer hair. Yet, the styles she gravitates toward — most notably a sleek middle part and loosely waved ends — are equally as effortless as that of her character. “Ella’s look feels very much like Jessica Biel in ‘7th Heaven,’ and it works beautifully. It’s a soft, modern blowout that isn’t overly polished, with a subtle flip at the ends that feels intentional rather than over-styled,” Matt King, director of education at Bumble and bumble, told WWD.
Mika Abdalla — the actress who plays Allie Hayes, Wells’ best friend in the series — is the antithesis of low-maintenance; she’s the Gen Z poster girl for self-optimization. An aspiring, free-spirited actress, her character favors texture and artistry over hassle-free hair. “Her go-to look is a revival of early 2000s hippie chic, and it feels like a natural continuation of that aesthetic cycle,” said King. “What makes it so distinctive is the balance between air-dried texture and intentional refinement. There’s clearly some smoothing and curl enhancement involved, but it’s executed so seamlessly that you can’t easily identify where natural texture ends and styling begins.”
The same can be said of Hayes’ no-makeup makeup approach (another hyper-trendy technique), which consists of a baby shadow wing, full brows, freckles, spider lashes and Clinique Black Honey Balm-coated lips. The finished aesthetic leaves viewers wondering just how much product she’s actually wearing. “The makeup almost disappears on screen,” said makeup artist Jenepher Reynolds.
The two characters together, Reynolds continued, demonstrate a much larger movement. “They represent a generation that’s done with makeup that announces itself. No heavy filter, no sharp contour, nothing that gets between you and the person wearing it. Just their features, enhanced and allowed to shine.”
“It’s interesting to think about this as reflective of the younger generation,” added King. “What we’re seeing now absolutely reflects how younger generations are approaching beauty, which is very much an homage to what previous generations have already done. The difference this time is that we simply have better tools, products and techniques to interpret it. With media the way it is now, this generation has access to so many references all at once, and it’s exciting to watch how they pull inspiration from all of them, mixing and matching in a way that feels authentic to who they are.”