Wig Tricks from a Drag Diva

I’m starting to get my feet wet again and do some shoots. Over the past year I gave birth to my amazing daughter and finally finished school. I worked part-time for a bit in a salon. I teach every so often at the Academy of Glam and do some freelance makeup and hair here and there, but mostly have been a SAHM. (Which I recently learned means Stay At Home Mom.) But today, I was on a shoot and it felt good.

My friend Brian, a fabulous publicist and great friend, referred me to his client Red 1 Studios in Miami as they needed a makeup artist and hairstylist. The project is for a PETA photography exhibit and the models are local Miami celebrities. True to PETA style there’s a lot of skin and very little of anything else.

The first model was Tara Solomon. She is a fabulous woman, beautiful, with a great sense of humor. And a trooper too. Apparently Tara didn’t realize that she would be naked or nearly naked. Thankfully she found a way to bare some skin and feel comfortable. Tara looked amazing and I could tell that she felt amazing too. (That’s the best part about doing hair and makeup on “real” women.) I can’t wait to see the final product. Let’s just say some vintage Raquel Welch was being channeled. Being that her business at times crosses over with what I do, I certainly hope to see Tara again in the future.

The second model was the fantastic Elaine Lancaster. It turns out we had met before at a mutual friends’ birthday party a year and a half ago. Sometimes it’s a real small world in Miami. Being that who I met at that party was James Davis, Elaine’s creator, today was really the first time Elaine and I met. 

Anyway, James taught me some wig tricks today. While he was turning into she with makeup brushes in hand, I was working on the hair. I learned how to take five, yes FIVE, wigs and make one big fabulous head of hair. It was fun! It’s not often that big isn’t big enough when it comes to hair. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any taller or wider the massive mounds of tresses transformed James into Elaine and I saw it’s full effect. Wow! Now I love Dolly Parton, but Dolly’s wigs have nothing on Elaine Lancaster!