If you haven't watched the hotly anticipated finale episode of The Summer I Turned Pretty on Prime yet and you're passionately averse to spoilers, bookmark this article for later. Having watched it twice already, all I want to do is talk about it. And I'm kicking off with Belly's beauty looks - it's my remit and I read the key hair and make-up moments of the finale like a book. There are plenty of beauty lessons to be had in The Summer I Turned Pretty as a whole, take a tour of them here, but they became a key part of the visual narrative in the season's final episode.
As fans of the series have come to learn, nothing about the show happens by accident and that's all down to Jenny Han, who wrote the three-book series in 2010 and 2011. Not only is Han the show's executive producer, she's credited as a co-show runner and creator - her input into Prime's offering cannot be underestimated. It's evident everywhere, from her close friendships with the cast to the easter eggs in the show. Take the soundtrack, for example - it's an ode to Taylor Swift with a dash of Chappell Roan, Ariana Grande and Sabrina Carpenter - and the songs chosen for each scene have real significance. Take Swift's 'False God', a track that was first used to amp up the tension of Belly's nearly-kiss with Conrad during 4th July celebrations in season 1. Han brought it back to build anticipation in the now iconic bathroom scene of season 3, where Belly (now engaged to Conrad's brother Jeremiah) comes close to a clinch with Conrad while tending to his surf injury at the brothers' Cousins beach house.
It comes as no surprise to fans then, that Belly's beauty looks became a key component in Han's storytelling during the finale. Riding pillion on Vespas in her own Parisian paradise, Belly has immersed herself in her newfound sanctuary. We left her at a turning point in episode 10, taking a seat in a hair salon, eyeing herself in the mirror and asking for 'something new'. In the first scenes of episode 11 we see her through Conrad's eyes, shaking a new bouncy bob out from a Vespa helmet, sporting a deep berry stained lip, a far cry from the high-gloss balm she slicked on in season 1.
The makeover tells a story. First, the hair. It's nothing new to signal a 'found herself' moment with a dramatic haircut on screen. The show takes a lot of its cues from Sabrina, originally a 1953 Broadway play called Sabrina Fair by Samuel A. Taylor that was made into a blockbuster Audrey Hepburn movie in 1954 and later given the '90s treatment by director Sydney Pollack with a cast including Harrison Ford in 1995. The plot centres around a love triangle between Sabrina and two privileged brothers, who only begin to notice her when she shakes off their hold during a life-changing trip to Paris and cuts all her hair off. It's a a cinematic trope that plays its part in TSITP's will-they-won't-they drama - Belly's new bob screams new woman, does it mean she has moved on from Conrad? Does the boy from Cousins who has travelled half way across the world to declare his love to this woman even stand a chance now?
And then there's the lip look. It's easy to dismiss this chic, blotted on stain as part of Belly's French girl costume, but consider how she interacts with it. Confounded by Conrad's unannounced arrival in Paris she leaves him outside to take his bag up to her apartment, taking a moment to gather herself in the process. In the seconds she has to pace and puff, she strides to her vanity and reapplies her lipstick. It's easy to read this as a 'I need to look good for him', moment, but I'd make a case for something deeper. This lipstick isn't anything she's associated with Conrad before, it's part of her Paris life armour. It's a look that says 'I'm different', 'you don't know me anymore', 'check yourself'. In layering up her lip look she's doubling down on her evolution, attempting to hold him at arm's length. Once again we're left wondering, are Conrad and Belly going to get their happy ending?
Flash forward a few scenes and we're back in Belly's bedroom. She's taken the bob, the lip look at Conrad across Paris, to the tourist spots, to her own favourite spots - he's survived her gaggle of exuberant French friends, ascertained the Vespa guy is an ex, and after a romantic dance by the Seine, one thing lead to another. Conrad thinks he's found his happy ever after, meanwhile Belly's mind is whirring. Does this mean she's weak? Has she succumbed to everything she has thus far succeeded in blocking out with baguettes and the la vie est belle life? Rein it in, Belly, she tells herself. And she goes cold. 'Bonrad' devotees despair as Conrad's heart breaks and he makes for the 5AM train back to Brussels.
And then Belly's alone again. She picks up Junior Mint, the stuffed polar bear Codrad won for her on the boardwalk in their teens. She pulls at the silver infinity necklace he gave to her in season 1 and then it hits her. 'I have brown hair and brown eyes and I love Conrad Fisher'. Her internal monologue says it all, the love she has for this guy is as natural as her features and that's it. She's back in a white vest top and jeans - beach house uniform. The tailored shorts are gone, the lip stain is now a barely-there flush of pink and the bob is mussed up. The Belly we see racing towards Conrad's train is a hybrid of Boston Belly and Parisian Isabel, a cocktail of life experience made manifest in though-out beauty and fashion looks that represents someone grown-up, complete and determined. She's found herself and she's on a mission. Belly makes it to Conrad's train, finds his seat and declares 'I choose you.'
The next scenes skip forwards, it's unclear how far, and Belly and Conrad are driving to the Cousins beach house. Belly is all sleek Belly bun and a cinched in butter yellow dress, a vision of grown-up, polished contentedness, still playfully waiving her hands through the sea air through the window as the paid drive up the coast. They walk through the house and that's it - we're left happy they're together and craving more information. Which is exactly what the studio intended - the show's Instagram account teased a The Summer I Turned Pretty movie the day the final episode dropped. It will reportedly wrap up any loose ends and give the fans a happy dose of closure (an answer to the 'will there be a season 4?' question viewers have been asking for weeks). And the beauty looks? To be continued.