Traditionally, makeup is merely an outward expression of public care, with daily glamorizing standing as a form of personal ritual; as society has progressed, makeup has evolved into an escapist and transformative medium for expressing creativity where one can play a bold character for a night, eradicating all fear and transmuting it into play, celebration, and a liberation of life’s heavier burdens. The realm of drag has perpetually advanced the art of makeup using intricate methods of application that are acknowledged and celebrated with nightly drag performers propelling those limits, you can also turn on an episode of the multi-Emmy award-winning and revolutionary RuPaul’s Drag Race for inspiration on how to stay “Beat!”

The drag megastar Trixie Mattel was brought into the limelight on the cycle's 7th season, to return for the third “All Stars” season to fatefully snatch the crown. Since her ascension to drag royalty, the barrier-breaking and heavily glittered guardian of camp, pink, frivolous, and fabulous, has dug her heels into the ground, utilized her unique flair, and transfixed it in a way that only she can. With Billboard-topping music, record-breaking touring acts, disco DJ’ing all over, a book, podcasts, a YouTube channel, a 2019 documentary, a GOOPED newsletter, a doll, musical comedy, a discovery+ reality renovation show “Trixie Motel” and her very own Trixie Cosmetics line…the words Mattel and “Mogul” are now indivisible.

In conversation with AS IF Magazine, Madame Mattel emerges from her pitch to inform us about her latest makeup bag of tricks to add to her cosmetic brand called the GAY-Mer Collection, which is out now and features a convertible bag, brush set, mixing palette, and exclusive “Play Pigments” - a selection of liquid swatches covering a range of bold and blendable shades with uber clever names such as “Pac-Ma’am” and “Finish Her!” Organically inspired by the electric neon lights of arcades, the hues inspire childlike creativity to apply as one paints the face for performance or daily grocery store runs, yet always intended to make users feel like a star. Madame Mattel shares stories about her early experiences as a makeup sales girl, what makes her a science nerd of beauty consumerism, and a few of her tried and true operating rhythms that keep her sane among the classic American Dream that she has realized in her life, and therefore projects into the general public for others to aspire to - with a fierce final application of mascara to match!

“Some parts of being Trixie aren’t magical and fun, but I embrace even the shitty parts.” –Trixie Mattel–

AS IF: You’re a multi-hyphenate creative in the purest form of the word. Is there a specific thing that keeps you going?

TRIXIE MATTEL: I get bored easily, and I don’t like sitting still. My perfect day off is sitting around working on something Trixie-related that's not due at any time. I love to make stuff, and I worked for years in restaurants and bars, so it made sense to open a motel, because where do you put all those years of experience? I also worked for years behind makeup counters, so where do I put years of experience watching people shop for cosmetics? Most of my projects have been built around skills I have outside of drag—all my shitty jobs during my 20s have to go somewhere!

That’s so real.

I like doing all of it, but my skin doesn’t love it when I'm in drag multiple days in a row. Some parts of being Trixie aren't magical and fun, but I embrace even the shitty parts. If it’s a motel or a makeup product, a YouTube or TikTok video, my voice is consistent. I take pride in trying to make sure all my projects have my fingerprints and feel authentic.

So, tell me about your latest line of pigments, Gay-mer.

It’s a fascinating product, and I adore playing with pigments, I just love them. I always have products in my bag, like Show Pony Blush, and Junebug liquid lipstick. I have pigments in liquid form which I use on my eyes, cheeks, lips, and body paint, and I can even put them on my wigs. Every day I ask myself, what can I do that’s different than yesterday, especially since it’s my job to test products in my cosmetic line. It also makes me think, how will I try this in a way I haven’t tried? What does it look like as a lid color? How does it wear as a lip color? How sheer does it get? I worked at Macy's at the Mac counter for about four to five years, and loved trying new products; I had to touch them, smell them, open them, and read the ingredients. I was that know-it-all bitch who always had something to say when a product came out. I would comment on the way something smelled, I would want to rename it, etc., I just love trying products because I love knowing how they work. One of my favorite things about beauty is that we have to follow all these FDA rules and that made me literate on what certain ingredients do and key claims of products. Beauty is exciting because it’s always innovating. Beauty creates trends and regurgitates, so, if one product hits, you’ll see ten other brands launch something like it.

Beauty and the beauty industry are society’s time capsule. For example, when you talk about a certain decade, you think of faces, like thin 90s eyebrows to today’s full eyebrows. Makeup is archeological. I always find it so interesting to go, Oh, that’s why people wear their blush like that, because pearls became the thing. Or, like that blue garage door eye shadow look everyone had on was because that was the summer of monochrome.

When I invented the Trixie look, I did my ritual of lighting a candle with all my products sitting out like a little worship altar. With all these products sitting, and a candle going, it's like I have a private moment with myself and I look at my face for hours. And, of course, I don't go, “This is so spiritual and so powerful,” but there’s something in the ritual of it where I can be funny, hilarious, sexy, stupid, and confident. These new bright pigments will help you transform your look and really play with it. The black and white pigments allow you to control how dark or, how light, you want your colors to be.

“When I invented the Trixie look, I did my ritual of lighting a candle with all my products sitting out like a little worship altar.” –Trixie Mattel–

My makeup line was inspired by my early days in drag because I was working as a makeup artist and using a lot of Nars, Mac, and Makeup Forever. There was a lot of sleek black packaging and amazing formulas, but I loved makeup with fun packaging, and those were marketed to kids, so the formulas weren’t great. So, I was forced to use great formulas with boring packaging, or amazingly packaged makeup with bad formulations. Packaging matters, how I look matters, and the storytelling of a great formula, fun color, great name, and a great product description combined with good fun packaging was the motivation for creating my cosmetics line. I wanted the products to look like they could be in a toy aisle, but I the formulas had to perform like professional products.

We’re all storytellers; we dress up and show the world who we are through how we look, act, and treat others. I mean, I drink the RuPaul Kool-aid so fuckin fiercely, and her Buddha-isms about drag and the way it connects to life. Listen, we’re all born naked, the rest is drag. We all talk about her being a glamorous business mogul, and yes she has long legs, but spiritually that bitch is Yoda. Can I get an Amen?

Trixie Mattel Shows Her True Colors

“Some parts of being Trixie aren’t magical and fun, but I embrace even the shitty parts.” –Trixie Mattel–

“When I invented the Trixie look, I did my ritual of lighting a candle with all my products sitting out like a little worship altar.” –Trixie Mattel–

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