StyleBlazer Exclusive: MUA Jessica Smalls Talks Uzo Aduba’s Perfect Purple Lips & Sexy Summer Makeup Trends

Photo: MPNC/AKM-GSI

When “Orange Is the New Black” star Uzo Aduba, aka “Crazy Eyes,” hit the red carpet at the White House Correspondent dinner, EVERYONE took notice. The actress looked COMPLETELY different from her character. Not only did she look absolutely stunning in her Bariano gown with her hair in a sleek bob, but her makeup? Flawless. She looked so different from her character yet not overly made up—a major beauty moment from someone we’re so used to seeing as her crazy character. So we just had to have a chat with her makeup artist Jessica Smalls (she’s also responsible for many of Janelle Monae’s hit makeup looks) to get the scoop on how she came up with the look plus some awesome tips for us non-red carpet walking folks.

StyleBlazer: How did you get your start?

Jessica Smalls: This is going to sound weird, but I started getting into makeup when I was diagnosed with a skin cancer called Mycosis fungoides. I was 18 and in my freshman year in college at Morris Brown College when I noticed the changes in my skin and after several doctor visits I was given the news. I always thought makeup was for “ugly girls” or “fake girls” but it wasn’t until I had this issue with my skin that I looked at it differently. I wasn’t trying to be someone else, I just wanted to look in the mirror and see “me” again.

I started off buying concealer, foundation and powder to even out my skin tone. And since I really didn’t know what I was doing, I bought any magazine that had an article on how to wear/apply your makeup. After a while I started to get the hang of it and I ventured off into lipstick, eyeshadows etc. My friends would ask me to do their makeup before we went to parties and I would always get compliments on how well I did makeup. I realized this was something I was actually good at. Due to insurance issues I moved back to NYC. I got a job as an office manager in a charter school and one day a parent came to enroll her daughter. She complimented me on my eyeliner and we started talking about makeup. She told me that she was a celebrity makeup artist. I asked if I could assist her, she said yes and that was the catalyst that jump started my career as a celebrity makeup artist.

SB:  Uzo plays a very distinct character on “Orange is the New Black” and everyone was stunned by the makeup look you created for her attendance at the White House Correspondent Dinner. Walk us through how you created that look for her? What was your inspiration? Which key products did you use?

JS: I’ll start off by saying Uzo is an absolute sweetheart with a beautiful spirit. And that’s exactly how I wanted the world to see her—beautiful. So my inspiration was basically showing off Uzo, not the character “Crazy Eyes.”

I wanted her skin to glow soI mixed primer and liquid bronzer and applied it all over her skin. I groomed her brows with MAC Cosmetics Brow Pencil in Spiked and used MAC Cosmetics Pearlglide Pencil in Lord it Up (a dark brown color with flecks of gold) as her eye shadow for a soft statement that wouldn’t compete with the lip color. I used Black Opal True Color Stick Foundation in Black Walnut to even out her complexion and dabbed a bit of Laura Mercier Secret Concealer #6 (a deep shade with rich warm undertone) under her eyes to brighten.

Uzo’s bone structure can come across harsh if she’s contoured too heavy, so I skip the creams to sculpt her. I used Cargo Cosmetics HD Picture Perfect Pressed Powder #40 to highlight under her eyes, down her nose, center of her forehead, and of course on top of her cheekbones. To contour I used Covergirl Queen Collection Bronzer in Ebony Bronze on her temples, on the sides of her nose, jawline and under her cheek bone. This technique gives a soft contoured look, verses being a “snatched to the gawds” look.

The lips—well that actually wasn’t the color I initially put on. The color was darker. But right before she was leaving I looked at her and said “wait a minute.” I lined her lips with MAC Cosmetics Lip Pencil in Nightmoth and applied MAC Candy Yum Yum Lipstick [on top]. I made her rub her lips together until it was blended and applied a hot pink gloss. When I looked at her again, I knew that was a lip meant for the carpet.

The post StyleBlazer Exclusive: MUA Jessica Smalls Talks Uzo Aduba’s Perfect Purple Lips & Sexy Summer Makeup Trends appeared first on StyleBlazer.