Celebrity Makeup Artist Interview: Billy B. Talks RuPaul's Drag Race, Regrets and Lauryn Hill

On October 30, 2009, I had an idea to interview celebrity makeup artists. After all, beauty journalism is what I love for! I compiled a list of 30 people to interview, and naturally, Billy B. was at the top of the list. I shot him an email that day, and I felt optimistic. He wrote back and obliged, but told me he was busy, so we'd have to schedule it at another time. A few minutes later, he sent me an email with a single image in it. The shot was going to hit the newstands of a new client that he'd been working with for awhile.

Fast forward to May of 2011. I posted part one of our Skype interview on Youtube. This is a twenty minute portion of our interview. Billy was so real, so much fun, so awesome. His show Hometown Renovation debuts tomorrow, Friday May 20th at 5pm EST. We travel with him to his hometown and watch as he restores the beautiful homes of Mississippi. Can't wait!

In the video, we discuss the famous RuPaul's Drag Race [which you know I adore], and someone I've been dying to ask him about for years: Lauryn Hill. Not only is Ex-Factor one of my favorite songs ever, the video has been etched into my mind for delivering such remarkable imagery. I saw the video long before I ever had my first broken heart, and during that first heartbreak, this video [along with many others, plus drinks, sappy movies and all the other typical sad crap] got me through it. Ugh, the hair, the cream outfit, the dark club, intense shades of blues, this video gives me life!

For more information on Billy, here's [most of his] portfolio, twitter, facebook and youtube pages. Add him and learn from him. I'm almost positive you'll grow!

Edited: The Makeup Show 2011: A Brief Photo Recap

What a day, what a day. The ups and downs, the doubts, the pain. It was a very long, but very fulfilling day!

I went to the show with Meagan Shea, friend, co-worker and makeup artist. She's a contributor for Afrobella, so check out her posts on Mondays!

I got to see some of my favorite girls from Youtube, including Marsha, Lesley, Cindy and Reena.

I also finally got to meet two of my favorite people on YT, RenRen and Ateeya!!! They were SO cool. RenRen was working at the Graftobian booth.  They are known for their fabulous palettes [foundation, lipstick and powder, to name a few], if you're a makeup artist, you need them, trust!

Glamcor totally got me excited.  I got to see my darling Kevin Bennett, and he literally pulled me over to their booth. Yo. I need those lights! They were selling a duo sided light kit that are cool to the touch and easily transportable.  They were $195, and sold out by the time I got there. Grr. And those roller kits back there? Super durable, large, and weigh nothing. Zuca who?

At the Face Atelier booth, Lisa showed me a new silicone based cream blush. They go on really sheer, so the color looks like it comes from within. I wanted to try one on, but I got sidetracked. Oh Erin.

The sole reason for going to The Makeup Show was to hear the seminars from Sam Fine and Billy B.  Numerous folks told me that the Sam Fine seminar had a line outside almost 2 hours before it started.  Here are spectators crowding around the monitor on the main floor. Crazy. You really need to get his DVD via Amazon.com, it's jam packed with tips and well done tutorials. Seriously, I live for it. By the way, I did a video on Sam last year, feel free to check it out!

Billy B. There are seriously no words that can explain how much I respect this man.  I mean really, his words of wisdom had everyone in awe. He told us why having an ego doesn't do anything for you, he explained his own insecurities, how hard he has to hustle and why hard work really does pay off. It was an earful of bliss. He even mentioned me in the seminar. Picture this: I floated out of myself, and then looked down at myself and said "Scandalous Beauty? Do you know her? Wait...Is that You? Did you even hear that? Are you seriously comprehending what just happened? You study his portfolio like a calculus textbook, and your name came out of his mouth." After my heart rate went down and I stopped playing his words over and over in my head, I sopped up the rest of the info that he willingly shared.

It is my advice to you, to get to The Makeup Show. Fly/drive/rail/ in from wherever you live. Save your money a year in advance, because you'll need it to purchase the vast amount of beauty products available to you. Seriously, it's two days of fantastic fun!!! Don't miss out!

Just my Beauty Thoughts

I am by far the biggest procrastinator. I should be studying for my finals right now. But what am I doing? I washed and deep conditioned my makeup brushes, while wearing my Aveda Deep Cleansing Herbal Clay Masque and stalking ScottBarnes.com.

I don't mean to brag, but I made the absolute best salad (tomato, cucumber, gourmet mozzerella and greek salad dressing). Try it! Not only that, after I wash my face, I am on my way to my crackhouse a.k.a. Starbucks to get a Venti Black Tea with 10-pump sweetner. Delicious. And then after that, it's time to get down to oceanography, African American history and Spanish 2. *cringe*

Face atelier Ultra Foundation caught my eye a few months ago. It's a Canadian line dedicated to making you feel like a beauty icon. Why am I so interested?

-Billy B., my imaginary makeup artist boyfriend, wrote some good things about it.

-They offer samples for $1.

-They have a good range of colors for Black women.

-The most SUPER EXCITING part is that they make seperate foundations called Zero Plus and Zero Minus. Let me explain:Zero Plus will darken your foundation, Zero minus will lighten it.

Genius.

Lip Lock,is another super smart product that we have all been waiting for! The site describes it as "A clear shellac that locks in lasting lip colour." The directions say "After applying your fave FACE lipstick, blot lips and brush on a thin layer of Lip Lock."

The best part about this line is that you can be curious and buy a sample of almost anything!! I love it!!

Well...my obsession continues....

I'm officially a Scott Barnes groupie. What a crazy life I lead.

Lip Slick is nothing short of fabulous. It is shiny and sheer, and gave me the straight-out-of-a-magazine pout, literally. The gloss is super soft and creamy. I used my finger to apply it the first time around, but I'll probably use a lip from now on, to conserve the product. It comes in 6 sexy shades. Yep, I will have the entire collection of them as well. The packaging is so chic! I am a sucker for a cute makeup outfit! I'll let these bad boys sit in a cute bowl or basket and let my bedroom dresser bling with packaging sex appeal.

Falettos Lash Extensionmade me squeal when I saw them. I love false lashes, and these come in short, medium and long. There is plenty of adhesive included. If you've never worn false lashes, just practice! I'm still not the best at getting them on, but I am getting better with time! Since these are individual lashes, you can just put a few on the outside of the eye, layer them all over, or whatever combination you want.

Wish me luck, I am off to go make those A's! (I hope!)

Stay Scandalous!