- 17 hours ago
Get ready to serve some serious face as we highlight the fiercest and most talented makeup artists from RuPaul's Drag Race! From bold, grungy looks to flawless glam and innovative transformations, these queens know how to work magic with makeup. Featuring the skills and signature styles of Raven, Nina Bo’nina Brown, Kim Chi, Aquaria, Gottmik, and more—these artists aren’t just performers, they’re true visionaries behind the scenes.
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00:00My idea is a sad-looking French clown in a thin-city setting.
00:05Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the Drag Race queens with the fiercest mugs.
00:18Number 10, Layla McQueen.
00:20Talk about a glow-up.
00:22Layla McQueen may have been one of season 8's earliest casualties, but she clearly had bigger plans for her career
00:27afterwards.
00:28Layla is like a quasi-rock star. I don't want to say gothy, but like, gothy.
00:35Her drag face was distinctive from the jump.
00:38She always employs bold colors and has a certain grungy rock edge to her look.
00:42Layla has explained that she never really followed makeup trends.
00:46Instead, she studied her own face and figured out which shapes and angles worked for her.
00:50I started doing makeup because I've always done makeup on myself, but I've never worked at a matte counter, I've
00:55never worked at a Sephora,
00:56I've never, like, done anything of the sort.
00:58That instinct eventually translated into a career behind the scenes,
01:02including makeup work on RuPaul's Secret Celebrity Drag Race and HBO's We're Here,
01:07the latter of which earned her an Emmy.
01:09She has also worked as a makeup artist for other queens, including Bob the Drag Queen.
01:14When I auditioned for Drag Race, it wasn't like a, I need to win, I want to get famous.
01:18There wasn't any of that. I was just like, oh, I really like the show and I do drag, so
01:22it'll be fun, right? Why not?
01:24So how'd you feel when they called you?
01:26Gagged.
01:27Number 9. Plastique Tiara.
01:41You could probably spot a Plastique Tiara-inspired mug from three scrolls away.
01:46The luminous skin, sculpted features, enlarged-looking eyes, and feminine finish have become such a recognizable part of her brand.
01:54Plastique's soft, ethereal style may look like it doesn't take much know-how to achieve,
01:58but judging by her makeup tutorials, that certainly isn't the case.
02:02I don't contour much anymore, because I find that it makes my face very gaunt, almost.
02:09I like it to look pretty youthful nowadays, so I extend my highlight a little bit,
02:14and I make the cheeks very, very, very pink.
02:17She has also shown that she can transfer that signature mug to other faces.
02:21Her makeover of Bob the Drag Queen became a demonstration of her process,
02:25while her transformation of Bianca Del Rio sent the fandom into a frenzy.
02:29This is crazy!
02:33I look like Sofia Vergara's very attractive uncle.
02:39This is wild!
02:42That ability to preserve her aesthetic while completely changing someone else's face is a serious skill.
02:48Plastique makes beauty look effortless, which is usually a sign that it absolutely isn't.
03:05It's actually unfair the advantage Naomi Smalls has.
03:08So yes, I have huge lips already.
03:12Thank you, Dr. Zayes Moore.
03:15But, I like to really brass doll the f*** out of them.
03:20Her stunning face was practically designed for drag makeup.
03:23Those huge eyes, sky-high lashes, and beautifully sculpted cheekbones give her plenty to exaggerate,
03:29and she knows exactly how to do it.
03:31In 2021, Vogue documented her elaborate 70-step transformation,
03:36covering everything from brow shaping and facetapes to foundation, contour, faux creases, and lashes.
03:42Alright guys, you got the full look, you got the full glam.
03:46I hope you liked it.
03:48I am fully ready to go and steal your man.
03:53Between then and now, her makeup has gotten even better, which simply defies logic.
03:58Naomi has said that she wants her drag to feel almost like a mask,
04:01and the finished look is doll-like, heavily sculpted, and intentionally unattainable.
04:06She's tried stamping that mug on other queens like Monet X Change,
04:09but nothing compares to the original.
04:11What do you think?
04:12I love.
04:13I love it too.
04:14I love. You definitely look like you got Naomi-fied.
04:17Yeah, I'm into it.
04:19And a little basketball.
04:20The hair turned out so good too.
04:23Going through something fierce yourself,
04:25in need of even more drag race magic,
04:27then scan the QR code on your screen to join the Mizmojo 24-7 live stream.
04:31You're surprised, but then you're not surprised.
04:34You're not even not surprised.
04:35You knew all along, but you don't want to give it all away.
04:39There you go!
04:40Number 7. Got Mick.
04:41The biggest misconception about me is that I'm just a makeup artist.
04:44I do so much more, and I cannot wait to show these bitches.
04:48There's a pretty good reason Got Mick's makeup always looks so damn polished on season 13.
04:53This wasn't a queen learning the ropes while the cameras rolled.
04:56Got Mick already had a professional makeup career,
04:59with clients including Cindy Crawford,
05:01Paris Hilton,
05:02Heidi Klum,
05:03Tinashe,
05:03and Lil Nas X.
05:04And I remember how excited I was to do your makeup,
05:07and how excited I was being there every day with you,
05:10and seeing you,
05:11and then Heidi's just a person that genuinely wants to help people.
05:15That experience gave the drag persona an unusually strong technical foundation.
05:19Got Mick can manipulate the face with graphic liner,
05:22exaggerated shapes,
05:23dramatic color,
05:24and her signature white foundation.
05:26Moving from glamorous to surreal without losing control.
05:29I shaved my head for this runway.
05:32I have a custom Got Mick Pandora box.
05:35Pinhead comes out of the box to seal your soul.
05:37Well, I'm coming out of the box to seal the crown.
05:39The makeup also plays beautifully with the fashion,
05:42as she seems to have mastered the art of blending her makeup into her wigs and outfits.
05:46That kind of professional level precision is hard to fake.
05:50Your drag imitates art piece.
05:52I feel changed.
05:53Seeing that piece of work on your body,
05:56it was absolutely stunning.
05:59Number 6.
06:00Aquaria
06:00Season 10 winner Aquaria has never been afraid to get weird with makeup,
06:04and we are all so grateful for that.
06:06I am projecting complete agony and melodrama.
06:10Some people kill two birds with one stone.
06:12I decided to kill one bird with two arrows.
06:15Her strongest looks combine fashion,
06:17vibrant pops of color,
06:18and a fantastical concept,
06:19while keeping the application remarkably polished.
06:22That oil spill mermaid look is a great example,
06:25as she rejected the usual sparkly mermaid fantasy
06:28and opted for an iridescent,
06:29almost polluted looking palette
06:30to create something strange and editorial.
06:32This is my final completed look for my oil spill mermaid.
06:37I've got my webbed fingers,
06:38I'm crying the tears of the ocean,
06:41and I'm feeling absolutely beautiful.
06:43She has also taken her beauty expertise beyond the show,
06:46including a makeup collaboration with NYX.
06:48What makes Aquaria stand out is the thinking behind the face.
06:52The makeup is rarely there just to make her prettier.
06:55It helps tell you what character,
06:57creature, or fashion fantasy she wants to sell.
06:59You look so phenomenal because it's a classic silhouette,
07:03but you do it this Aquaria way with the cutouts
07:05and with the jewelry on the face.
07:06It's just like the next level of gorge.
07:09Number five, Miss Fame.
07:11By the time she walked into season seven,
07:14Miss Fame had already spent years figuring out
07:16exactly what a flawless drag face should look like.
07:19My brand is classic, chic, fashion model.
07:22I think I might choose a center spot,
07:24center stage, it feels appropriate.
07:26I'm ready to show everybody what I'm meant to do,
07:28which is leave a beauty mark on the face of the planet.
07:31Before becoming a drag race contestant,
07:33she worked as a makeup artist in New York,
07:35including work under legendary artist Pat McGrath.
07:38That editorial background became part of her drag identity.
07:41Her hyper-precise high-fashion aesthetic
07:43gives her an old Hollywood-inspired look
07:45that many have tried and failed woefully to achieve.
07:48All right, so I've got my gorgeous,
07:51very Chanel runway, Linda, a bit of Patsy Stone,
07:55and it's very, very cool.
07:57Miss Fame's face still feels remarkably current
07:59several years later.
08:01If she walked into season 18 with her season seven face,
08:04she would have one of the most beautiful mugs.
08:06It is no wonder she remains such a reference point
08:09in the drag world.
08:10So I'm wearing this cosmic alien galactic green gown.
08:13I've got my face painted for the gods,
08:15and I'm living for the fantasy.
08:17Number four, Nina Flowers.
08:19Watching Nina Flowers back on the very first season
08:22of Drag Race feels a little like watching the franchise
08:24discover what drag makeup could be.
08:27You were just painted, painted out of your mind.
08:29I started like around five o'clock in the morning.
08:31Did you really?
08:32Yes, girl.
08:33Her looks weren't confined to conventional glamour.
08:36She embraced bold colors and an almost futuristic quality
08:39that made her face part of the costume.
08:41Nina finished the season as runner-up
08:43and became the franchise's first Miss Congeniality
08:45before returning for All-Stars 1
08:47with that same unconventional approach.
08:49I'm just gonna serve some fierceness.
08:52Drama, the severe in here.
08:54She has also worked as a professional makeup artist
08:57outside the competition.
08:58Without Nina Flowers,
08:59we wouldn't have the plethora of alternative drag queens
09:02who have flourished on the show since.
09:04She proved early on that a drag face could be artistic,
09:07strange, and glamorous all at once.
09:10If I like what I see,
09:11it doesn't matter what anybody else has to say.
09:15It doesn't matter if the judges don't like it.
09:18It doesn't matter because I feel good about myself
09:21and I love what I see.
09:23Number three, Kim Chi.
09:25Speaking of alternative queens who flourished on Drag Race,
09:28this season eight runner-up is in a league of her own.
09:31Kim Chi's makeup on that season
09:32pushed drag beauty toward illustration
09:34with oversized shapes, vivid colors,
09:37intricate eye work, and exaggerated proportions.
09:40Her mother had to release her seed in the wind
09:42for Kim to be the botanical sensation
09:44she always wanted to become.
09:46The looks could be doll-like,
09:48fantastical, or downright bizarre,
09:50yet they were almost always unmistakably her.
09:53That artistry eventually became Kim Chi Chic Beauty,
09:56which took that love of color and experimentation
09:58and made it accessible to everyone.
10:07She's collaborated with several queens,
10:09including Trixie Mattel, on makeup collections.
10:12Kim's greatest strength may be
10:14how completely she commits to an idea.
10:16Once she starts painting,
10:18there are no limitations on what she can bring to life.
10:21When you came on, you didn't break,
10:23you did the whole mind thing,
10:24but the best part was your makeup.
10:26Absolutely stunning.
10:27Number two, Nina Bonina Brown.
10:29My drag consists of fantasy.
10:32One minute, I may be a zombie.
10:33The next, I may be a nun.
10:35I'm not cosplay.
10:37Nobody does what I do.
10:38Nina Bonina Brown could make you forget
10:40what Nina Bonina Brown actually looks like.
10:42That is probably the highest compliment
10:44you can give any makeup artist.
10:46Her strength has always been transformation,
10:48whether she's creating glamorous beauty,
10:50animals, cartoons, monsters,
10:53or something that seems to have escaped
10:54from another dimension.
10:55She was always the wild one of the bunch,
10:58wanting to be with the human race.
11:00I'm here to teach her to love who she is.
11:04You are from the planet Bad Bitch Uranium,
11:08so you have to represent for the bad bitches.
11:10Before Drag Race,
11:12Nina was already uploading makeup tutorials online.
11:14She also worked as a makeup artist
11:16on some of Fifi O'Hara's 365 Days of Drag looks.
11:20Then, season nine gave audiences
11:22a front row seat to her brilliant mind.
11:24When Nina Bonina Banana Osama Bin Laden Brown
11:27hits the runway, child, I'm a bad bitch.
11:29The breadth of what she can do with a face is staggering.
11:33Conventional beauty is a skill,
11:35but the ability to completely reinvent a person
11:37into something unrecognizable is an incredibly rare gift.
11:41I like to give sex appeal.
11:43I like to give face.
11:44Girl, I'm giving you this cat.
11:46Before we unveil our top pick,
11:47here are some honorable mentions.
11:49Acid Betty.
11:50Brooklyn's queen of avant-garde makeup
11:52turns her face into a living piece of pop art.
11:55I am telling a little story about the patriarchy.
11:58The front of me is beautiful,
11:59and everything is getting along great,
12:01because the patriarchy is in control,
12:03and in reality, it's no, fight the power.
12:06Georgias.
12:07Her nostrils might be MIA,
12:08but you can't deny the mug is stamped.
12:11I will be honest.
12:12I think it was too many stars,
12:14but that mug is sitting on me.
12:17So muggy.
12:19Morphine loved Dionne.
12:20The only thing drawing attention away from the BBL
12:23is that fierce mug.
12:24My drag is all about the mug.
12:26The makeup always has to be 100 mug,
12:30Iyana Dupree.
12:31And also showing off my ass as much as I possibly can.
12:35Trixie Mattel.
12:36Her cartoon Barbie face became so iconic
12:39that Trixie turned it into a cosmetics empire.
12:41Golden Hour Luminous Blush is $14.
12:43I cannot tell you how badly I need you all to get this.
12:45This is like my favorite blush we ever made.
12:47I know I say that a lot.
12:48I think I said that at holiday.
12:50I'm fickle.
12:51Valentina.
12:52She's perfect.
12:52She's beautiful.
12:54She looks like Linda Evangelista.
12:55Need we say more?
12:57I'm giving you a Mexican in Paris.
13:00You know in your heart
13:01that there's not a flaw in sight.
13:04Number one.
13:05Raven.
13:06Losing.
13:11There obviously is no competition for the top spot.
13:15Most other queens would be thrilled
13:16to have their mug called Legendary.
13:18But Raven has an actual Emmy to back that claim up.
13:22Give a big round of applause
13:23for Emmy Award winning makeup artist Raven.
13:28And Dolly and the Foundation
13:30hit you on the way out, please.
13:31After competing on season two and all-stars one,
13:34she became RuPaul's makeup artist beginning in season nine
13:37and has helped create the televised face
13:40of the queen of drag.
13:41Her technique is built around precise contouring,
13:44highlighting, blending, and facial sculpting.
13:46So every feature reads beautifully on camera.
13:49Give yourself a very fierce brow.
13:52Yeah.
13:52Which I love.
13:53But you don't fill in the space.
13:57She's got about an acre
13:59between her eyeliner and her eyebrow.
14:02Even before then,
14:03Raven's mug on her original season
14:05served as an inspiration
14:06for many of the queens who came after her.
14:08Her work earned Emmy recognition in 2020
14:11with a win for Outstanding Contemporary Makeup
14:13for a Variety, Nonfiction, or Reality program.
14:16I never thought it was going to become something
14:19that I would have other makeup artists
14:21or other people look at and go,
14:23that's what I want to look like.
14:24That's what I want to create.
14:25So it's really become a whole lot of eyeliner,
14:30a lot of lip pencil, and a lot of contour.
14:32Think we missed someone who deserved a spot?
14:35Let us know in the comments.