11 Makeup Tips From The Queens Themselves

Although drag was once considered an underground performance art, often hidden away in seedy dive bars or showcased in campy John Waters' movies, drag queens have recently seen an extreme upsurge in popularity among the general population thanks in part to shows like RuPaul's Drag Race . With over the top runway looks, outrageous makeup and hair, and an overall positive message of self love, Drag Race has captured the hearts of many, and left many of us wondering just how they "beat their face" to go from guy to girl without a suggestion of stubble slipping through.

Clearly it requires a lot of skill to accomplish and pull off these drag level looks, but that doesn't mean that there aren't covert makeup tips that we non-drag queens can incorporate into our regular routines. As much as I love Mama Ru and her flawless, always-on-point look, there are other queens out there who are clawing their way into the limelight, leaving a trail of oversized fake lashes and sparkling glitter in their fabulous wake. I spoke to 11 killer queens via email who were considerate enough to share their favorite makeup tips with us mere mortals. Keep scrolling to learn some of their beauty secrets and marvel at their magnificent mugs.

1. Jazlyn Alezae's Best Lipstick Trick

"I know it can be tiring and tedious to continuously reapply your lipstick. Here's a tip for wearing long lasting lipstick. First of all, moisturize your lips with your fave lip bomb or a tiny amount of face lotion just to keep your lips from drying up. Then take your foundation or concealer and apply to the whole lip. After that, apply your setting powder onto your lips. The concealer and powder give you a nice base for your lipstick to stick to [...] Go ahead and apply your desired lipstick. Take the setting powder once again and apply over lipstick. Finally, take your lipstick again and reapply. Your lips now have two layers, which will keep you from having to reapply and reapply."

Follow her on Instagram: @Jazlyn_alezae

2. Miz Jade's Brow Technique

"If you are drawing or filling in your eyebrows, make sure you use a pencil one shade/color lighter than your natural brow. This will create a lighter more natural look and will be easy to blend with your natural brow. Unless you want a severe brow, in that case, do what you want, boo!"

Follow her on Instagram: @mizjade_davon

3. Kashi Golean's Contouring Advice

"The most important tip I can give for makeup would be to invest in a beauty blender! They are the egg shaped sponge that make contouring and highlighting with foundation seem like child's play. If you want to achieve that Kardashian smooth mug, or look painted for the back row, that beauty blender sponge will aid in achieving either look with ease!"

Follow her on Instagram: @itskashigolean

4. Sophiella DaVinci's Primer Prize

"Primer is everything. From face to eyes to even your lips, a good primer will make your makeup really pop. A face primer will allow your foundation and powders to adhere more securely to the skin, and give better coverage. An eyeshadow primer not only keeps your shadows where they belong, but it will allow the colors to pop more; they won't be so translucent on the skin."

Follow her on Instagram: @Sophiella_DaVinci

5. Alotta McGriddles's "More Is More" Tip

"Ladies! When it comes to makeup, more is more! Not as in how much you use, but for all aspects of your face. Give as much attention to your liquid liner as to your blush, foundation, and contouring. Once you are happy with one element, focus your attention to something else so everything comes together as a whole."

Follow her on Instagram: @alottadom

6. Louvel's Natural Beauty Musings

"If you're looking to enhance your natural beauty, take everything you see a drag queen do and crank it down to a quarter of that. Covering the dude underneath requires an entire process of covering up and re-sculpting our man mug to become soft and feminine; this requires heavy-handed makeup techniques that a woman does not need to do. You've already got beautiful feminine features that don't need any more than a soft contour and a light foundation... a little goes a long way!"

Follow her on Instagram: @Thelouvel

7. Carmilla Que Linda's Bold Brows Tip

"From my experience, one of the most crucial and commonly ignored parts of the face would be the brows [...] For a bold, graphic look, try gel brow products from Anastasia Beverly Hills or M.A.C. I hate to gush over Anastasia Beverly Hills products so much, but its #12 brush is easily the best for brows I have ever tried. If a softer look is what you desire, try using a brow pencil to fill in and then blend until you achieve the opacity you’re looking for. M.A.C.'s retractable brow pencils are my favorite and absolutely worth the splurge for any brow aficionado; they are fine tipped for precision and detail, but the formula also coats the hairs and is long wearing."

Follow her on Instagram: @drippinglazers

8. Myling Belle's Lipstick Hack

"Never ever trace the outline of your real lips. Always go bigger [...] I like to use Ben Nye's cream eyeliner pencil to draw the outline of my lips because its colors are so intense and they glide on like silk. Here's my trick: Once you draw the outline, fill in the rest of your lips with the pencil. Since the colors are so intense, it will help to hide the outline of your natural lips. Once you fill it in, go over your lips with lipstick. I prefer M.A.C. lipstick because the colors are bright and they stay on for a long time. You can stop there if you want a matted look but I prefer shiny and intense lips so I'll go over them with an Anastasia of Beverly Hills lip gloss to finish the look. You'll look dazzling."

Follow her on Instagram: @Psayabath

9. Sakura Allure's Powder Advice

"Always use setting powder when using foundation if it is liquid or cream based. Don't worry about looking like a drag queen because you won't and your make up will have a natural skin like finish. And make sure your foundation is a tad bit lighter that your actual skin color."

Follow her on Instagram: @kojiikinns

10. Gemini DaBarbay's Brush Dampening

"One of my favorite makeup tips that I actually recently picked up from YouTube was to dampen your brush a bit when using a shimmering highlighter before application. Basically I take a fan brush, sweep it across the highlighter, and then take a spray bottle with water in it and spritz the brush before taking it onto the high points of my face, the forehead, bridge of the nose, top of the cheeks, and my cupid's bow. Wetting your highlighter beforehand creates a much dewier glow as the final result."

Follow her on Instagram: @yungghunty

11. Monica Blewinsky's Go-To Product

"Listen up cover girls: I primarily use makeup to transform my butch man face into a flawless fembot. This transformation wouldn't be possible without DERMABLEND cover cream to hide the shadow of my facial hair. This claylike gift from the face paint gods will totally camouflage anything from blemishes to scars and tattoos. Use it as a full coverage base, then go full Picasso on top of the blank canvas you've just created!"

Follow her on Instagram: @MonicaBlewinsky

Thanks to these 11 beauties, achieving #QueenStatus just got that much easier.

Images: Courtesy Interviewees