I've never been great at makeup. If I put on concealer and mascara, it's a good day. Eyeliner? Get outta town.
So, when I had the chance to get my makeup done by one of my favorite drag queens, I leapt at the opportunity.
Femma Nazi, otherwise known as Joey Falcon, is one of the reigning queens of The House of THC, a group of drag queens in Auburn who perform at Mama Mocha's.
Falcon is also thinking of doing makeup professionally. He said he loves doing other people's makeup, so I think we were both excited about this project.
Falcon welcomed me into his home Sunday. The makeup studio was actually an art studio, where paintings done by his roommate hung. Two cats prowled around the house while Joey painted his own artwork - my face.
For any makeup question I had, Falcon had an answer. I think I learned more in an hour in his chair than in nine years of wearing makeup.
He told me about some of his upcoming makeup looks, such as his plan to start wearing bright eyeliner colors.
"I don't know if this is actually a thing," Falcon said. "I just feel it in my soul. I'm just going to start doing crazy-color eyeliners every day of the week. Bright purple, magenta, blue, electric green..."
For eyeliner, he favors gel, brandishing a pot of black MAC gel eyeliner for my eyes.
"I just find that it has that better sharp matte-ness to it that doesn't fade away during the day," Falcon said. "I've tried the pencil ones and the liquid ones, and it's just never as black as I want it to be."
The eyeshadow accent underneath is made with a stiff brush and boldly pigmented black eye shadow.
The inspiration for the lips came from Joey experimenting with different lip colors, applying different powders on top to create a new dimension.
"I was like, 'I need to do something fresh for this. What am I going to do?'" Falcon said. "I was just sitting in the bathroom, putting on different lipsticks with powders on top, and I loved this."
The lipstick is Rebel by MAC. Joey said it's perfect for when you're feeling lazy and want to do a dramatic lip.
"It's this really deep purple, and I love it," Falcon said. "It's ridiculously sexy, but also so perfect for fall."
Joey's love of makeup is addictive, spreading out of his pores and infecting everyone involved.
"All the parts of makeup are my favorite," Falcon said. "It's just so fun to me to be like, 'I'm just going to be a different person right now.'"
It's true. I walked in, bare faced and as boring as beige wallpaper. When I left, I was transformed. After all, it's difficult to be boring when you have gold spilling from your lips. I walked into the cool October night a queen.
Rachel Davis is a community writer for The Plainsman. She can be reached via email at community@theplainsman.com.
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