Tips I Learned From Drag Queens, Part II

Last week I gave you some of the best beauty advice I learned, not from my instructors in cosmetology school, but backstage from drag queens. Once I started making a list, I realized there was more information than I wanted to cram into a single post, so here are a couple more of my favorites!

Brow lift. Want bigger eyes? More real estate for that killer bright eyeshadow? Move your eyebrows up. Cover the bottom edges of your brows with concealer, as far up as you want them, draw/fill in the shape you want above, then use a brow highlighter on the covered bottom edge. If you really want the real deal, halfway up your forehead Divine style brows, the secret is to coat your natural brows with glue. Yes, glue. A lot of old school queens just use a plain ol’ Elmer’s glue stick, but I don’t recommend that as, even though it’s non-toxic, it was not designed to be applied to your skin, especially that close to your eyes. A medical grade adhesive like Pros Aide is your best bet. Apply the glue over the entire brow, smooth it down, and let it dry before applying foundation and concealer over it. What brows? Now just draw on the brows you want, exactly where you want them.

Lips lined with concealer. For a super sharp definition and/or to completely change the apparent size and shape of your lips, blend concealer all around the edges, set with powder, then just draw them where you want them with a pencil similar to your natural lip color and fill in with your lipstick of choice.

Fallout powder/eyeliner guide/highlight. After you’ve done your foundation/concealer, but before you start your eye makeup, press a whole bunch of powder over your whole under eye area and out in a line from the outer corner of your eye to the outer tip of your eyebrow. This serves three purposes: 1. if you drop a little eyeshadow dust under your eye, you will easily be able to brush it off onto a tissue without disrupting the rest of your makeup; 2. you can use the line as a guide for winged eyeliner; and 3. once you buff off the excess and blend it out, that outer line will leave a contouring highlight above your cheekbone. Win/win/win.