How did you come to work on The Color Purple?
My agent submitted me for the project and I had the opportunity to interview with director Blitz Bazawule. We had three meetings where we discussed the characters in detail. In our final meeting, I presented a mood board, set to the music from the stage production, which he loved.
What was the most important aspect of portraying the appearance of these characters in the early 1900s South?
When creating a character through makeup artistry and storytelling, it’s important to give each character a unique appearance. I needed to make them look natural. I have received compliments about how accurately the makeup depicted the skin, and how it did not overpower the film. The makeup was complemented by hair, costumes, and lighting, resulting in an authentic representation of the way black people looked during that era.
What kind of aging makeup or techniques did you use?
Both Blitz and I wanted to see black skin in its natural aging process. Many times, black people are shown on screen with exaggerated aging effects, which is not a true representation of their aging process. I adore Bluebird FX’s aging product. It creates a natural look when layered, and the aging effect is stunning. The Encore palette made by EBA has great colors so we used the colors Chestnut, Espresso and Mud for age spots. As Celie (Fantasia Barrino) ages, I took a lot of the pigment out of her lips, added a little darkness around the side of her nose, and greyed her brows slightly. It was a process of doing little things to make the aging process look authentic and natural.
In addition, I designed the look for the Sofia character (Danielle Brooks), however it was beautifully executed by Ngozin Young who also contributed as cuts were created in her brows. Christina Patterson designed the contact lenses for her which included a bloodshot eye, one for her eye that had started to turn a different color, and lastly, a healed eye when she was in prison which was a little cloudy.
Can you tell me about how you evolved Mister’s look along with the story?
In the beginning, Mister had a handsome ruggedness. I did a really clean skin look on him. Then we go to scenes where he’s drunk, starting to fall on hard times. I applied facial hair – did a day’s growth of hair, and also a week’s growth of hair on him. As we watch him evolve from the rugged Mister to when his dark side comes out, I distressed him under his eyes and made some pockmarks in his skin to feed into what he was doing. As we moved into his middle-aged look, I took some of the color out of his skin, added tiny strokes of grey in his mustache with a paint pen, and aged him with Bluebird under his eyes, nasolabial folds, and created some creases in his forehead. Toward the end of the film, I used the Bluebird to give him some frown lines around his eyes and took some of the color out of his lips.
Did you face any challenges on this film with making the characters period-appropriate?
One of the biggest challenges was dealing with tattoos. We were working in the height of summer in Savannah so I needed a product that would stay on and not come off on the clothes. There were over 200 backgrounds so we had hundreds of tattoos to cover. Fantasia has a full sleeve of tattoos covering her arms, hands, legs, and back. Every day I would airbrush her with Maekup, a product from the UK, to cover her tattoos and prevent them from rubbing off onto her clothes. In one particular scene featuring an African tribe, we needed to ensure that no tattoos were visible, so we airbrushed at high intensity and applied sealer to keep the tattoos from bleeding through in the high heat. We were successful in keeping the tattoos from moving and the product worked perfectly. I had a team for covering background tattoos, and a team for covering piercings. Not to mention having to take it all off before everyone left for the day.
What were your key products for creating the looks for the main female characters?
I used a Dynessa Myricks oil on everyone’s skin to give it the natural glow they had. I used Koh-Gen-Do foundations in 301, 302, 303. We used a lot of Dynessa, By Terry, some NARS, and Dermalogica skincare.
Tell me about the lipstick trio you created inspired by the film?
The film and the stories behind each woman inspired me to create The Evolution of Rouge, a collection of three beautiful red lipsticks. I AM Hope is a true red, similar to what I made for Celie, I AM Resilient is a berry-red for Sofia, and I AM Inspiration is an orange red tone, like the color Shug wears in the film.
What did you enjoy most about working on The Color Purple?
Getting the opportunity to help bring a project to light and telling our story through the makeup artistry side. I love collaborating with the director, costumes, and hair team. It really is a team effort and I always enjoy sitting down with other creatives to create something beautiful together. And working on a historical piece that will live forever makes me feel proud.
Words Shannon Levy
Photos Courtesy of Warner Bros.
