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(He took home the bronze.)
Photographed by Michelle Watt. Gucci dress.
Gottmik, a makeup artist, arrived in the competition’s werkroom wearing clown-white foundation and villainously black lipstick.
“Time to crash the cis-tem!”
(Other tricks include: Turning Lil Nas X into a note-perfect Nicki Minaj.
Terrence Zhou dress. Manolo Blahnik shoes.
)Allurejoined the performer at a suburban stop on his victory tour across the United States.
By the time you’re reading this, he’ll be packing for the European leg.
I went to Catholic school, where you’re not allowed to wear makeup when you’re younger.
Terrence Zhou dress.
I was in that emo-kid phase and living for it.
When we got to high school, me and my then-best friend started a makeup YouTube channel.
We thought everyone wanted to see us on our bathroom floors and watch us do really bad makeup.
Terrence Zhou dress. Manolo Blahnik shoes.
Then when I moved out to L.A., I just fell in love withdrag queens.
I thought, “This is such a fun way to express yourself and how you feel.”
It was my dream.
My passion for drag amplified my makeup passion.
The first drag look I ever did, I was trying to recreateBianca Del Rio….
I always wanted to pick the biggest features ever.
I did not know how to cover my eyebrows, but I was trying.
The process of finding my drag makeup [aesthetic] helped me realize my gender identity.
I didn’t even have the language to knowI was transgender; I knew something was off.
I was testing the waters of what I was comfortable with.
So how do I make this drag?
It was very confusing.
And I was still able to make everything pretty in a way.
It was game over.
I never looked back with the white clown face.
Going onRuPaul’s Drag Race, my first thought was, “I’m a makeup queen.
I am not about to get read by Michelle Visage.”
I had grown so much as an artist without even realizing it.
Makeup opened me up on the show and I’m excited to explore that more in the future.
Everyone asks me what my favorite black lipstick is, and I always useHank & Henry’s.
I’m so lazy after I’ve finished.
The second I have to touch it up, I don’t want to use it again.
If I’m not feeling it, you will tell from my makeup.
If I’m angry that day, you will tell from my makeup.
I’m just so proud of that.
I need to keep pushing forward and pushing my limits to grow as a person and an artist.
In the next 10 years, hopefully, I’ll be something crazier than I’ve ever expected.
