‘I never felt beautiful’: Lady Gaga talks about the transformative power of makeup
Lady Gaga is gearing up to launch her very own beauty line called Haus Laboratories where she plans to deliver the best lip liners and glosses to beauty lovers all over the world. But with the upcoming release, the singer and actress is not just aiming to make people feel beautiful. Instead, she wants them to be transformed.
“I never felt beautiful, and I still have days that I don’t feel beautiful,” Gaga told Allure. “All of the insecurities that I’ve dealt with my whole life from being bullied when I was younger, they come right back up to bite me. Then I put makeup on, and before I know it I feel this superhero within. It gives me those wings to fly.”
The 33-year-old, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta, appeared on the cover of the magazine’s October 2019 issue where she talked about her passion for cosmetics and a deeper connection to them. For her, it all started somewhat stereotypically as she watched her own mom apply makeup. However, it quickly took on a different meaning for Gaga.
“I grew up with this understanding that you can be brave in many different ways,” she explained, “and one of those ways is makeup.”
Even as she’s evolved into a performer under the stage name Lady Gaga, makeup has been the way that she transforms into that powerful personality, despite whatever else is going on in her life. She even recalled a difficult and busy time when she was on tour, preparing for two of her biggest shows and filming A Star is Born, when the makeup chair was her solace.
“Sarah [Tanno, Lady Gaga’s makeup artist] would pick me up off the floor, sit me in a chair, dry my tears, and say, ‘I’m going to put on your face now,’” Gaga said. “If I cried while she was putting on my makeup, I would apologize, and she would say, ‘It’s okay. I’ve got you.’”
Now, Gaga hopes that young people who get a hold of her product will be able to feel that same way when using her eyeshadows and lip glosses, and even learn something about themselves in the process.
“I would like all gender identities to know very clearly that they are included, and never exploited, ever,” she said. “I want that little boy at home that might like to be called a girl to say, ‘Mommy, I want to wear Dynasty. It’s a Glam Attack.’ And then Mommy goes, ‘Oh, my son wants to be called a girl, and he wants the Glam Attack.’ And then she goes and she gets it for him. And he uses it. And then there’s a bond.”
She continued: “It’s kind of like when kids used to come to my shows with their parents, and they’d lean over and they’d say, ‘Mommy and Daddy, I’m gay.’ Or, ‘I’m not a boy; I’m a girl.’ Or, ‘I’m not a girl; I’m a boy.’ I have heard those stories so many times, over and over, for all of the years that I have been in this business. And I want the same thing that I’ve had in my concerts to happen with this company.”
“It’s like just being excited that there’s a party going on down the street where everybody’s invited,” Gaga said. “If I’m not changing people’s lives, what are we doing here?”
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