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Tara Reid brightens her look in 'Van Wilder'

Tara Reid's skirts get shorter during her transformation in "National Lampoon's Van Wilder."

(In Style) -- Gwen Pearson (Tara Reid), a college student in "National Lampoon's Van Wilder," is settling in for a drab life with her uptight frat boyfriend. Until ... she meets big man on campus Van Wilder (Ryan Reynolds). An undergrad in his seventh year, Van will be the subject of Gwen's school newspaper exposé.

But the real story will be her own transformation. "In the beginning she's super conservative, very preppy," says Reid of her character. "By the end the skirts get shorter, and the colors get brighter. She loosens up."

Face

As Gwen grows interested in Van Wilder, "we can see her excitement and her makeup gets more intense," says head makeup designer Martina Köhl. For a "flushed, excited, fresh look," Köhl started with Benefit Benetint, emphasizing the cheeks, where she finished with a dusting of MAC blush in Pink Glow. For lips, a coat of the dark pink MAC Lacquer in Veneer was applied then highlighted in the center by a topping of the paler, sparkling MAC Lipglass in Underage.

Eyes

For the base, Köhl glazed the lids with MAC Brulé eye shadow then added MAC Wedge to create a deep-set effect. On the outer corners, she swiped on MAC Bark "to make it really dark and made-up looking," then lined with black MAC Nehru, smearing the very edges for that smoky look.

Hair

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For color, hairdresser Kimberly Beaird simply maintained Reid's naturally golden locks by highlighting with Framesi hair color. For styling, Beaird added dime-sized applications of Rusk Str8 Anti-Frizz/Anti-Curl Lotion and Rusk Sheer Brilliance Polisher (for shine) to Reid's wet hair. After blow-drying, Beaird pressed the tresses with a flat iron then finished off with a spritz of Sebastian Shaper hairspray.

Clothes

Because Reid has a very West Coast look, costume designer Alexis Scott had to make her more conservative for her role as Gwen. "But I still kept her sexy and hip," says Scott. This was done by using preppy tops (mainly from Juicy Couture) and Miss Sixty jeans ("Tara really likes them—they're sort of the new Diesel"). Plus, adds Scott, "we did kind of a cool sixties girl with boots and a miniskirt. I didn't want to do something that was the fashion of the moment." The look pictured here is timeless indeed: An Esprit bikini and a white cotton Muslin sarong from Govinda's Imports in West Los Angeles, California. "I like her in this," says Reid. "I thought it was pretty and pure. There's an innocence about wearing white."