Brenda Song Opened Up About Her Suite Life Era Beauty Mistake: ‘It Haunts Me in My Sleep’

Brenda Song is having a major career resurgence thanks to roles in The Last Showgirl and Netflix’s Running Point, and she’s taking a moment to reflect on her transition from Disney darling to grown-up actor…while doing her makeup.

In a cute video for Merit, the former The Suite Life of Zack and Cody star reflected on her approach to cosmetics then and now, joking that the 2003 version of her “only liked to wear a smokey eye, a red lip, block brow and a full contour.” For one red carpet in 2006 she recalls a face full of magenta blush—a look she says still “haunts me in my sleep.”

Brenda Song in 2006.Mark Mainz/Getty Images

Thanks to the advice of a makeup artist, her new strategy is to “Pick one focal point of my makeup and stick with that,” and for this look, Song chose “enhancing skin.”

Unlike some former child stars who cringe at their past work, Brenda Song had nothing but positive things to say about the Suite Life era, calling her “Disney days…just so much fun.” As hotel heiress London Tipton, she wore outrageous maximalist fashions that were the “dream closet” of the time.