con..same source
You once worked at a makeup counter, so you’re a true beauty buff with field experience. What did you learn from that time in your life and how did you translate it into the book?
I definitely learned how to apply makeup. When I started, my first job was working in a lingerie store, and then I moved into makeup. It was at a time when I was playing with hair colors and wearing more makeup and getting more into false eyelashes. I had my hair cut into, like, a black China doll kind of bob, and I would go into work with no makeup on and by the time I had left, I looked like a Serge Lutens ad. I imitated what I saw in the ads…I remember when I was a little girl, I watched a makeover show with Phil Donahue. I remember he had these ladies [on the show]—and ever since I was little, I was obsessed with these ladies that had the same hair and makeup from the ’50s and ’60s…These ladies had been wearing their makeup and hair the same way for 30 years, and they had this coral lipstick and blue eyeshadow and bouffant hairstyles—I thought it was amazing and I still do. They took these ladies and stripped them of all that stuff and gave them normal ’80s mom haircuts and took off their colorful makeup, and you could see how miserable they were. That always stuck with me, and I feel like that’s part of the reason I am the way that I am now. I love makeup and how it makes me feel. I remember when I worked at the makeup counter, I used to use that [childhood experience]...I’d examine how women had their makeup done and take note of the things that they liked and just try to do it the same way but better, or use a slightly different color. Some people might think they want a major change, but they don’t really. I know I’m profoundly affected when someone takes away my cat-eye and red lips and my red nails. I can’t even deal with it.
I feel you.
I did an episode of CSI a few years ago and I had to play a few different characters. One of the characters was someone who was a schoolteacher, and they took off all my stuff. I did a scene with all the men of CSI and they said, “Wow, you’re such a good actress.” Suddenly, my posture changed, everything. I was so docile and nervous. I said, “I’m not a good actress. You guys took all my stuff away. My cleavage is gone, my red lipstick is gone, my nails.” I had been stripped of glamour and I was feeling it. I notice that when I’m stripped of my glamour, and I don’t let it happen that much anymore. You know, people try to do it to me all the time, and for acting purposes I didn’t mind it, it worked in my favor. But sometimes people try to do it on fashion shoots, and I just stopped doing it because it’s kind of an old idea and I can’t stand for it. It just makes me feel crappy.
I take it you’re not a believer in the make-under.
No, I’m not. Well, I do it every Halloween because it’s an interesting psychological experience and all of my friends think it’s hilarious. I’m totally unrecognizable. Every Halloween I do a quote-unquote “normal girl look.” I take off my red nails, do all beige and bronze [makeup], wear jeans and a blond or brown wig, and do a kind of Hollywood cool-girl look. No one recognizes me. But it’s hard, I can only take a couple hours of it. It’s funny for a little while, and then I’m like, “I’ve got to get this off.” I can’t wait until the next day to put my red lips back on.
I saw you apply lipstick at a dinner party a few years ago and it was magical. Are touch-ups in public not a faux pas?
I love lipstick. I always have red lipstick and a beautiful compact in my purse. I collect jeweled compacts and things that are usable and I feel it’s the only way you can really touch up your makeup at the dinner table. When you’re wearing red lipstick, you kind of do need to check it out. And I was always sort of like, “Well, you know, there are arguments for and against fixing your makeup at the dinner table.” But I have decided that, officially, it’s OK if you pull out a beautiful compact because people are fascinated by it every time. Just last night I was at a dinner, and I pulled out a jeweled compact. And I was sitting with two tastemaker friends, who also appear in the book, and they both stopped, and they were like, “What is that?” I had a jeweled, Swarovski-covered compact.
Are your compacts vintage?
No. You know what, they’re Estée Lauder compacts. Estée Lauder does special-edition compacts. I know they do it every year at Christmas, but I think you can always buy them. I collect those.
Is it true that you never go to sleep with makeup on even if you’ve been out all night or worked late?
Never, never. I mean, I feel like there might be remnants of it sometimes, but I’m really good at making sure that I always have my makeup off. Not only is it important for the health of the skin, but I also sleep better. You know, you really can’t sleep with your makeup on.
What kind of makeup remover do you use?
MAC has a great Cleanse Off Oil that I really like and it just melts everything away. My other favorite is by Éminence. I love their stuff. I use a lot of their products, and they have one called the Stone Crop Gel Wash. It has such an interesting, slick texture and it’s all-natural, so you can use it on your eyes and everything. I use the Cleanse Off Oil to get the real heavy stage makeup off, or waterproof mascara, and then I use the Stone Crop Gel Wash for everything else.
Say you’re newly dating someone, do you still take your makeup off before you go to bed, or do you keep it on?
I see it two ways: First of all, it’s a great motivator in making sure that your skin looks good, which I feel sometimes people neglect and they’re just busy buying beauty products to [cover it up]. You could take care of those skin dramas if you just ponied up a bit of money to see a dermatologist instead of buying $200 face creams and thinking that’s going to fix it, because it won’t...If I’m in bed with someone, I like to reveal myself. I’m not at all embarrassed of people seeing me without makeup, but I don’t think everyone has a right to it.
Right, a bare face is personal.
Everybody could see me strip down, but there are people that I love being intimate in that way with and I’m happy to reveal everything about myself. Even lipstick is a little bit like a striptease—nobody ever sees me without red lipstick except for a few people, and they appreciate it. It’s almost like what you hold back from the world becomes kind of precious. When people see me without any makeup, for whatever reason, they’re like, “Wow, you look so young without all the makeup.” And I say, “I know, but I’m not trying to look younger. I just love how my makeup makes me feel, and I like the power I get from it, the power I feel from beauty.”
Since your book is all about making your mark, how did you develop your look?
I watched a lot of old movies with my mother when I was little, and that had a huge impact on me. I had Technicolor musicals from World War II with Carmen Miranda and Betty Grable and Hedy Lamarr. I was very influenced by high glamour and I’ve always been fascinated by women like that. My best friend had a mom that was still wearing her hair in a blond bouffant hairdo with the spit curls, drawn-on beauty marks, cat-eye liner, and red lips. I’ve always been fascinated with those women for as long as I can remember. And I think that that had a big impact, and once I was old enough to start playing with makeup myself in high school, it started with the red lipstick. I remember so well that moment where I first put red lipstick on, and it was like, “Whoa, this is a life-altering experience. Why would I not have this splash of color on my face?”
How old were you at that point?
I found a Polaroid and I believe I was probably around 13 or 14. I had one summer where I kind of blossomed.
When did the blue-black hair come into play?
In the early ’90s, I guess—probably around ’92. Before I started dyeing my hair, I used to wear a black wig around. I was kind of known in the L.A. underground scene as being a go-go dancer and my boyfriend was the biggest rave promoter back then, so people knew me. And I used to wear my hair in a blond beehive. And then I started playing with a black wig, and I loved it. I used to love to wear this tuxedo and a black wig. And then one day I was like, “I really want to change my hair.” So I dyed it red first and wore it in a bright red flip, like a ’60s flip. And then I kept adding more red and more red, and then it was burgundy. And then one day I was like, “There’s nowhere to go but black.” So I dyed it blue-black and cut my hair so it looked like a black wig. And that’s how it started.
Did you know that black hair would become your signature, or did you think it was just another beauty phase?
I remember part of my thought process was: “I can wear so much more makeup with this black hair!” You know, it felt like it balanced it out, and I had this thing about the extreme contrast of red, black, and white—my pale skin, the black hair, and the red [lips]. Those three colors just seemed really graphic to me. I felt like, “Yeah, I can wear more makeup. I can go all the way with this.”
