“Polished Model”

Who are Ethereal Dramatic Classics?

Some are supermodels:

Some are superstar actresses:

All have breathtaking, otherworldly, and balanced beauty.

Ethereal Dramatic Classic Celebrities

See the many EDC celebrities on Pinterest here and listed below:

Amandla Stenberg
Brit Marling
Chanel Iman
Chris Pine
Claudia Kim
Cobie Smulders
Creed Bratton
Doutzen Kroes
Emma D’Arcy
Emily DiDonato
Helena Houdova
Hilary Duff
Jaime King
Kate Bosworth
Kate Hudson
Lauren Graham (with Romantic as 4th essence)
Lindsay Ellingson
Liu Wen
Maggie Nelson
Melora Hardin
Paul Rudd
Patrick Schwarzenegger
Rosamund Pike
Rachel McAdams
Richard Madden
Sarah Chalke
Sasha Luss
Tilda Swinton
Victoria Pedretti

Ethereal Dramatic Classic Faces

The EDC vibe is simultaneously:

Unconventional (thanks to otherworldly Ethereal and Dramatic)
Conventional (thanks to balanced, down-to-earth Classic)

With their magical-feeling faces, EDCs fit perfectly in fantasy shows and movies:

EDC Tilda Swinton captivates in mystical films.

The fashion industry also values unique beauty, making EDCs desirable as models:

So in many ways, EDCs get the best of both worlds. They have:

Unique beauty traits (like narrow and elongated Ethereal Dramatic features) favored for fantasy films and high-fashion modeling
Mainstream beauty traits (like symmetrical and balanced Classic features) that tend to always be on trend

Ethereal Dramatic Classic Makeup

Like their faces, EDC’s best makeup is both conventional and unique.

Here’s how EDCs pull off makeup trends like false lashes, smoky eyes, and colorful eyeliner:

How EDCs do: false lashes

This is how Ethereals do sexy makeup, including falsies!

As EDC Chanel Iman demonstrates, sexy Ethereal makeup includes light glossy lips, glowy cheeks, shimmer all over the lids, and—if you really want to go all out—extra-long yet subtle fake lashes applied at the outer eye corners.
These are the perfect Ethereal falsies: their exaggerated length feels dreamy, fantastical, and delicate, without being heavy or overpowering.
Chanel Iman’s cheek contour adds the intensity that Dramatic needs, while her robe’s pinstripes add Classic.

While the Romantic essence may be most stereotypically associated with sexy styling, this look shows how Ethereal makeup can also feel conventionally sexy.

How EDCs do: smoky eyes

Ethereal beauty is dream-like, and Ethereal’s best makeup will have a dreamy, misty, even hazy quality.

So softly smoky eyeshadow is fantastic for Ethereal.
The key word is *soft.* For best results, choose two or three very light eyeshadow shades and apply gently all over the lids in a subtle ombre, as seen on EDC Melora Hardin.
Keeping the rest of the makeup relatively simple helps to not overwhelm Classic.

How EDCs do: colorful winged liner

Colorful makeup is often associated with the lively Gamine essence.

But as we see on EDC Amandla Stenberg, soft teal (an iconic Ethereal hue) elongated winged liner is awesome for Ethereal. Again, keeping the rest of the makeup simple suits Classic. And while it’s hard to see what’s going on with the shirt, the white and black contrast and avant-garde twist on a button-down looks Dramatic-friendly (oxymoron?).

Your Best Makeup as An EDC

To find your absolute best makeup, you’ll want to know whether you have more Ethereal or Dramatic (or Classic, although Classic isn’t most people’s primary essence).

EDC Hair

Can Ethereal Dramatic Classics completely change their vibe just by changing their hairstyle?

I think some can!

One example: actress Rachel McAdams. When she sports straight, ultra-long Dramatic hair (like in the movie Mean Girls), it really emphasizes her face’s intimidating Dramatic quality.

So does this highly Dramatic hair from the film The Vow:

This geometric hair highlights her striking Dramatic features.

In contrast, when Rachel McAdams wears wavy hair that emphasizes her Ethereal, her face suddenly transforms—she looks gentler and more approachable:

Rachel McAdams’s face feels softer and less intimidating when she has wavier hair—even paired with intense eye makeup and a highly Dramatic top.

If you’re an EDC, you might be able to change your whole vibe just with a hairstyle swap.

Best Hair for EDC

In general, EDC’s best cuts are:

Long, straight, sleek Dramatic hair
Long Ethereal mermaid waves
Simple, polished, shoulder-length Classic cuts

EDC Updos

Completely slicked-back hair is also a fantastic EDC look. It showcases your powerful Dramatic.

To add Ethereal to your updo, create a side braid that begins at your roots and frames your face:

To add Classic, try incorporating moderate-length (e.g., standard bang-length or chin-length) face-framing pieces in a smooth, controlled texture:

Ethereal Dramatic Classic Fashion

The theme of EDC is conventional meets unconventional.

So one way to do EDC style is to start with the “conventional” part and emphasize how Dramatic Classic fashion is perfect for professional contexts.

As an EDC, you can rock the simplest basics, like:

blazers
dress pants
button-downs
pencil skirts
simple cardigans
minimalist ballet flats

You can also find Classic basics that incorporate Dramatic:

To add Dramatic to Classic, choose formal basics that have notable elongation or edgy detail, like this blazer with leather sleeves.

By combining Dramatic and Classic, you’ll embody the business-like “power dressing” aesthetic, which you can then soften by adding Ethereal in shoes, jewelry, or accessories:

Classic blazer and pinstripe pencil skirt; slicked-back Dramatic hair; Ethereal transparent heels.

Classic simple top and updo; Dramatic extra-long blazer; Ethereal narrow chain necklace and bracelet.

If you’re highly Ethereal, one of your wardrobe staples is a narrow, flowy dress, especially one with an empire waist and long, swirling lace detail:

A straight plunge-neck adds Dramatic, while a knee-length silhouette suits Classic.

With its narrow chain straps, moderate rectangular shape, and bold color, the purse works for EDC, too.

EDCs are Hard to Type!

EDCs can be style type chameleons.

Many of them will appear, at first glance, to have Romantic:

EDC Hilary Duff is amazing in this Dramatic leather jacket and what appears to be an Ethereal top with narrow, long swathes of tulle. The face-framing updo with narrow waves suits Ethereal and Classic.

EDC really appears to be Hilary’s best styling. But with her curving features and passionate-seeming vibe, it can be hard to fathom how she doesn’t have Romantic.

Here’s Hilary in highly Romantic styling:

She’s still breathtaking here. But compared to the leather-and-tulle outfit, this highly glam Romantic dress doesn’t connect as much to her face.

Part of the issue is that EDCs are so beautiful, it’s hard for them to really look bad in anything—especially formal Romantic fashion, which does connect to the formality of their faces.

Hilary’s beauty is accentuated with this dreamy makeup. Does her face connect with the highly Romantic ruched dress? Not entirely… I don’t think this image was photoshopped, but it kind of has a photoshopped quality—her gorgeous face looks a bit out-of-sync with the dress (again, especially compared to the leather jacket look—it’s hard for her to look “bad” in anything!).

Why EDCs look like Romantics

EDCs can be easily mistaken for Romantic, because:

Just like EDC beauty, the Romantic essence tends to feel very formal
Ethereal and Romantic have a lot of literal similarity (notably curvy facial features) and are easily conflated
- For example, many people think Isla Fischer and Amy Adams are doppelgangers. But Isla is a dominant Romantic (with Natural and Classic), whereas Amy is a dominant Ethereal (with Natural and Classic). This suggests that in a literal sense, many people find Ethereal and Romantic highly similar looking
Ethereal’s curves + Dramatic’s intensity + Classic’s more moderate shapes can also mimic the look of curvy, intensely passionate, moderate-length Romantic features

Confused for Other Essences

Ethereal Dramatic Classics can really be mistaken for all the essences:

With their often long features and strong bone structure, they can camouflage as Natural (the trick to distinguishing them is that Naturals can wear the most casual fashion styles possible, where EDCs are overwhelmingly more flattered by formal fashion)
EDCs with a lot of Dramatic and Classic can be mistaken for having Gamine, since Dramatic angularity + Classic moderation can mimic the look of short, pointy Gamine
EDCs with a lot of Ethereal and Classic can be mistaken for having Ingenue, since Ethereal and Ingenue are the most gentle essences, and Classic moderation can sometimes make Ethereal features appear shorter

Cool Beauty?

Another reason it could be hard to recognize yourself as an EDC: your color season.

While any color season can absolutely be harmonious with any style type, here are the seasons that are stereotypically associated with EDC:

Ethereal—Summer; Ethereal’s vibe is dreamy, just like hazy Summer colors. Cool-toned colors also tend to feel more head-in-the-clouds and less down-to-earth compared to warmer earth-tones
Dramatic—Winter; Dramatic’s vibe is intense, formal, and powerful, just like the Winter season
Classic—Summer (and Winter); Classic’s vibe is polished and understated, suiting muted Summer color. Classic also has conceptual overlap with the Winter season, because of its dignity and formality

This means that the EDC vibe is stereotypically associated with cool colors.

So, it might be harder to recognize very warm-toned people as EDC.

This could be part of why Hilary Duff easily passes for Romantic. I need to verify her, but based on an initial draping, she’s a True Spring.

And with its vibrant hues, the Spring family has a lot of conceptual overlap with passionate Romantic.

I suspect that many instances of mistyping a celebrity’s style essences or color season happen because the vibe of a person’s season is being mistaken for the vibe of their essences, or vice versa.

(For example, gentle, highly Ethereal faces are probably more likely to be mistyped as Summers; and people with gentle, low-contrast Summer coloring are probably more likely to be mistyped as Ethereals; etc.)

Unconventionally Conventional Beauty

EDCs clearly seem popular in mainstream media. They have the kind of otherworldly (Ethereal Dramatic) yet balanced and photogenic (Classic) beauty that makes them ideal fantasy movies stars.

For similar reasons, EDC faces are popular in the fashion industry, which tends to favor unique beauty. The fashion world may also be biased to prefer Classic faces, especially because of their photogenic nature.

With their combination of more unconventional and conventional beauty, EDCs can be effective shapeshifters, embodying a variety of vibes.

If you’re an EDC, there are endless possibilities for using fashion, hair, and makeup to find and transform your visual self, all while still exuding your signature amazingly unique beauty.

Ethereal Dramatic Classic