Project Runway Season 8 Premieres Tonight and I'm officially In!

Today is the day!

Project Runway Season 8 premieres on Lifetime tonight at 9/8c! The first time I worked with Project Runway was when Joanna Coles, Editor-in-Chief of Marie Claire magazine, asked me to do her makeup for her appearance as a guest judge last season. (Watch it again here: Project Runway: Season 7 Episode 5 Videos | myLifetime.com). I was thrilled when Key Makeup Artist, Scott Patric, later asked me to be part of the team that prepped the models for the finale at Fashion Week, and bonkers when he asked me to join the crew for Season 8.

Season 7 Episode 5 - Makeup for Joanna Coles by Andrew Sotomayor, Nina Garcia's makeup by Danilo Omo)

My longtime friend Nick and I used to meet at my apartment every Thursday to watch the very first season of Project Runway back in college. I will never forget how personally we took every comment, good or bad, about our favorite designers, among them Austin Scarlett. My buddy, celebrity makeup artist Daniel Martin, introduced me to Austin (they go way back) almost two years ago for a photo shoot where I got to create makeup to go with some of his most delectable creations. Also premiering tonight is a new show featuring Austin teamed up with season 2 veteran Santino Rice for On the Road with Austin & Santino.

  Designs by Austin Scarlett, Makeup by Andrew Sotomayor

Santino Rice and Austin Scarlett in "On the Road with Austin & Santino" 

I'm seriously sworn to secrecy, so for now all I can say is that Heidi Klum and Nina Garcia are even more beautiful in real life, (with a little help from their personal makeup artists Linda Hay and Danilo Omo), Michael Kors's wit is sharp as a tack, and all three are very pleasant. Besides that, most of my time was spent with crew and the models. This diverse group of girls, were nothing short of animated backstage. I'm looking forward to the fabulous premiere party tonight, for which they're playing hostesses.

All in all, I can best compare this experience to playing pinball at Peter Piper Pizza out west while on summer vacation as a child. For me,  I can say that each day on set was colorful, fast-paced, exciting, challenging, sometimes noisy, filled with new friends, unexpected turns of events, surprising outcomes, and ultimately something I'd been anticipating for what seems like a very long time.


Throughout Season 8, look for lots of color courtesy of the makeup team who are Scott Patric (he's the one with the goatee and Key Makeup Artist), Hope Choman, Masako Kizuki, Albee Franson, Kristen Arnett, Jorge Luis Buenavad, Deborah Altizio, Gabrielle Padilla and myself.

Scott Patric appearing in Marie Claire magazine

Watch Project Runway on Lifetime 9/8c or online at Lifetime.com 

Andrew Sotomayor is a celebrity makeup artist in New York who's worked with Juliette Binoche, Kerry Washington, Saffron Burrows, Rose Byrne, Justin Kirk, Jonathan Groff and champion boxer Andre Berto. His clients have appeared on Project Runway, The Today Show, The CBS Early Show, Good Day New York, and CNN. He's created the makeup for Victoria Beckham's denim and eyewear look books, and assisted on fashion shows for Dior, Diesel, Marchesa, and Project Runway. Magazines like Marie Claire, Shape, InStyle, Glamour, People, numerous blogs have interviewed him, and he's appeared on television for Access Hollywood. Andrew leads makeup artistry workshops for the students at The High School of Fashion Industries. See his work at DramaFreeMakeup.com

"Rupaul's Drag U" Serves Up Real Female Fierceness

While LOGO TV's hit show Rupaul's Drag Race is on summer vacation, for Rupaul's Drag U, school is now in session.

In this new series, everyday women are teamed up with a former contestant from Rupaul's Drag Race in a competition that's less about huge hair and more about living large. The first episode features three self-described tomboys who's self-confidence (and femininity) goes from zero to six-hundred in three point five.

A good friend once said, "Some people have baggage...well, I have luggage." Unfortunately, these women have baggage, and lack a good wardrobe. One contestant hadn't worn a dress in twenty-five years, and another was afraid to because of a past history with assault. Fortunately, Rupaul and his  "falculty" of drag-professors are ready to school these real women in the art of big hair, big lashes, big shoes, and a take-no-prisoners attitude that would have Helen Reddy singing.

As always, music, fashion, and television icon, Rupaul Charles, who's lived enough for nine lifetimes, does what he does best presenting something unexpected, outrageously entertaining, and almost always classy. Some reality television features fake tans, fake breasts, gaunt figures, too much awful makeup, trashy clothes and fake personalities that inspire higher viewership for diet drug commercials. Oddly, the real women contestants on RuPaul's Drag U show off fake hair, full figures, lots of delicious makeup and of course trashy clothes, but instead hyperbolic alter egos that inspire a sense of humor, better posture, and the chance to shatter your status quo.

Surely these women won't return home start to wearing floor length sequin gowns and teased wigs, and of course extreme makeovers never last. That said, for one contestant, lipsyncing and dancing to Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" was her chance to feel ecstatic and find the boost of confidence she needed to reinvigorate her marriage.

While not everyone will be ready to accept the idea that real women dressing in female impersonation garb is a metaphor for spiritual awakening, Rupaul's Drag U reminds us that no matter where our lives have gone, each morning in your makeup mirror offers the chance to put your best face forward.

Click here to watch full episodes and bonus clips of Rupaul's Drag U.

Andrew Sotomayor is a celebrity makeup artist in New York who's worked with Juliette Binoche, Kerry Washington, Saffron Burrows, Rose Byrne, Justin Kirk, Jonathan Groff and champion boxer Andre Berto. His clients have appeared on Project Runway, The Today Show, The CBS Early Show, Good Day New York, and CNN. He's created the makeup for Victoria Beckham's denim and eyewear look books, and assisted on fashion shows for Dior, Diesel, Marchesa, and Project Runway. Magazines like Marie Claire, Shape, InStyle, Glamour, People, and numerous blogs have interviewed him, and he's appeared on television for Access Hollywood. Andrew leads makeup artistry workshops for the students at The High School of Fashion Industries. See his work at DramaFreeMakeup.com

StylieList.com Interview! Read my Tips for Wearing Makeup with Glasses

Check out this post from StyleList.com. Grace Gold interviewed a few makeup artists including yours truly to find out about great makeup to wear with glasses. I reminded Grace, "Don't forget your brows! Glasses frame your face, and brows frame your eyes. Fill in with a powder pencil for subtle definition."

Plus, "Sweet Individual" lashes by KreAt Beauty are a great way to open up your eyes and add definition. "They have this unique "V" design that makes your eyes look sweet, wide-eyed and are great for an extra boost." I love alternating the different lengths for a lush, but believable look.

To get more tips, click to read the full article:  Makeup for Glasses

Sweet Individuals are available at Wonderland Beauty Parlor in New York City (212-524-2800) and KreAtBeauty.com

Andrew Sotomayor is a celebrity makeup artist in New York who's worked with Juliette Binoche, Kerry Washington, Saffron Burrows, Rose Byrne, Justin Kirk, Jonathan Groff and champion boxer Andre Berto. His clients have appeared on Project Runway, The Today Show, The CBS Early Show, Good Day New York, and CNN. He's created the makeup for Victoria Beckham's denim and eyewear look books, and assisted on fashion shows for Dior, Diesel, Marchesa, Forever 21, and Project Runway. Magazines like Marie Claire, Shape, InStyle, Glamour, People, and numerous blogs have interviewed him, and he's appeared on television for Access Hollywood. Andrew leads makeup artistry workshops for the students at The High School of Fashion Industries. See his work at DramaFreeMakeup.com

Photographer Greg Endries Steals The Artist Spotlight on Advocate.com

Have you ever seen a photo of someone that made you pause, slightly perplexed by their beauty? Where the initial impact of their attractiveness is superseded by fact that he or she becomes endlessly more interesting than you first thought? Where they're more than beautiful because something is slightly off? Perhaps spellbinding? Spellbinding in such a way that you wish you could step in the photo and transfix people with the same cool attitude as possessed by the subject? Greg Endries takes photos like that.

Photographer, and friend, Greg Endries was recently featured in the Artist Spotlight on The Advocate.com, which noted the diversity of his work. In the interview, he describes his work as "Fabulously glamorous while at the same time not taking itself too seriously." The expressions Greg captures are often intense or crafty, and though I know otherwise, I can't help but imagine him with a smirk or a giggle as he snaps away.

Greg has photographed famous faces including Dita Von Teese, Jon Hamm, Jamie Presley, Peter Paige, Vivica A. Fox, Matthew Rhys, Sugar Ray Leonard, and Tim Gunn. He's also shot for German GQ, Elle,  InStyle, US Weekly, and worked on television shows including Project Runway. That said, it's his photos of fringe-type characters which are personally finessed to a slightly heightened reality where color is dense, looks can kill, and I desperately want to live.

See more of Greg's work at gregendries.com

Andrew Sotomayor is a celebrity makeup artist in New York who's worked with Juliette Binoche, Kerry Washington, Saffron Burrows, Rose Byrne, Justin Kirk, Jonathan Groff and champion boxer Andre Berto. His clients have appeared on Project Runway, The Today Show, The CBS Early Show, Good Day New York, and CNN. He's created the makeup for Victoria Beckham's denim and eyewear look books, and assisted on fashion shows for Dior, Diesel, Marchesa, and Project Runway. Magazines like Marie Claire, Shape, InStyle, Glamour, People, numerous blogs have interviewed him, and he's appeared on television for Access Hollywood. Andrew leads makeup artistry workshops for the students at The High School of Fashion Industries. See his work at DramaFreeMakeup.com