MUAHS AWARDS GIFTING SUITE

The Make-Up Artists & Hair Stylists Guild (MUAHS) recently hosted their first ever gifting suite, which also served as a preview of their awards show which is coming up in February.

In case you’re not aware of them, I can tell you from personal experience just how important hair and make-up artists are to every production of any kind! Just think of how they enhance, (or un-enhance on purpose, in cases like the movie Monster,) the looks of every actor or actress they work with.

At the end of this article, I’ll share a couple of personal tales of just how much hair and make-up people do for us showbiz folks, but right now, let’s discuss the fabulous discoveries that my co-writer, Marc, and I made at this gifting suite.

First things first, though; the MUAHS Awards Gifting Suite was held at a hip venue I had never even heard of before, so you know I loved it! It’s Room, a private event space on the bottom floor of the Beverly Center. It reminded me of a club I used to promote at from time-to-time back in the day. Maybe it was even the same space! So I enjoyed going there, right off the bat.

There were two rooms in use that day—one for hair products and one for make-up and skincare. And everyone we met—from organizers and publicists to company reps to the hair and make-up industry guests–was lovely!

So here’s the skinny on all the companies we met:

Voloom—After a hair stylist from Utah, (who flew in just for this event,) demonstrated their new hair volumizing tool on my ten thousand pounds of tresses, and I knew I needed it forever after, they held a raffle for it, and guess what? I won!!! That very rarely happens for me. The rest of the guests may not have scored a tool, but they still received generous gift bags which Marc says were filled with “a lightweight dry shampoo containing natural clays, a soft styling mousse containing argan oil and green tea, and a very large paddle brush that molds to the shape of your head,” the last of which he deemed “very smart.” www.voloom.com [Note: The picture at the top of this page is of their new volumizing tool. Photo by Karen Salkin.]

Le Mieux Skincare–In addition to his gig as one of my contributing writers for the past five years, Marc is also a fabulous facialist. And when he saw this company, his face lit up! He could not stop extolling their virtues to me! (It pays to have an expert on my team, right?!) Each guest received a classy little bag of what Marc tells us is their “fantastic popular TGF-B booster serum, which is loaded with hyaluronic acid to super-hydrate your dermis,” along with their Iso-Rose Hydrating Mist to continue the care throughout the day. www.lemieuxcosmetics.com

Ardell Lashes—I’ve known about this very famous false eyelashes company since I was a teen! I believe I even still have a pair or two of theirs from back then. (In the archives of my life, of course, not to still use, so don’t call the make-up police on me, please.) When I was a high school senior, I got up at 4:30 every day just to do my lashes! To make sure it’s easier than that in this millennium, they showed us they have tons of interesting products. Each guest received a bag with a variety of lash styles and a couple of different glues, as well. Marc talked to the reps for a long time, and discovered that “they have both latex and latex-free glue, which is much gentler,” so therefore that one is perfect for people with sensitive eyes. www.ardellshop.com

KVD Make-up—This company was gifting a vegan blush in a choice of two shades, along with a multi-use product called Super Pomade, which Marc explains “can be used to color and enhance lips, cheeks, and eyelids.” He adds, “How cool is that?” Now I just need one of the make-up artists to show me how to apply it! www.kvdveganbeauty.com

Truhair—I have no idea how guests chose just one product out of the quartet on offer. Marc said, “They have very inventive products that either volumize, color, or enhance your own color, in a roll-on stick or a color mousse. And there were many shades to choose from to get your perfect look.” www.truhair.com

Clubman–I remember my father having their aftershave when I was a little girl! That’s how long they’ve been around! Actually, it’s even longer than that—two hundred years!!! But with newer products like beard balm and a shave gel specifically for shaving one’s head, this is not your father’s Clubman! (Although, I wish I had accepted a bottle of their Clubman Pinaud After Shave Lotion just to put in my bathroom to remind me of my childhood. I loved that bottle—one of them was still there when I was cleaning out the house a few years ago!) www.clubman.com

Punky—This aptly-named company was highlighting their hair color in multiple bright vibrant colors, such as Cougar Red and Bengal Blue. Marc said, “They’re great to look edgy, funky, or punky for a day or two, and then you can just shampoo it out!” www.punky.com

Woody’s—This company has always been the experts in the field of men’s skin and shave care, and now those have extended to the hair and body. In addition to their grooming products, which Marc pointed-out “include aftershave balm, beard oil, plus hair gels and pomades,” now they even have tattoo oil!  www.woodysgrooming.com

I’m sure that all the make-up artists and hair stylists in attendance found new products to use on set from now on. I only hope that one day they get to use them on yours truly!

Now here’s the first personal story of what hair and make-up mean to those of us who appear on camera. Back in the day, I was a guest on a very bad talk which featured one-week hosts. Just my luck, I got stuck being a guest on the Friday night of the week that uber-nasty Joy Behar hosted. Mr. X and I had watched her snark at her guests all week, with him warning me that her envious self was going to hate me.

So there I was, sitting in the make-up chair, getting ready for someone to work on me, (meaning I was far from camera-ready yet,) when Joy walked in and said hello. I was nice to her, of course, even though she didn’t deserve it, and my assistant, Beryl, and I were shocked that she was okay to me. So, after she left the area, the hair and make-up artists worked on me, I got dressed, and danced out on to the stage to a lovely reception from the audience. And the first thing that terrible woman said to me, live on air, in her horrible scratchy voice, was, “What a transformation!” And she proceeded to tell the audience how bad I looked when she first saw me backstage. Charming woman.

So then I was out of town for a week, and when I came back, Beryl and I went to lunch. Out of the blue, she said, “You know what it was, Ka? Joy saw you backstage with no make-up and your hair up, so she thought you weren’t going to look good, so she didn’t mind being okay to you. And then when you came out looking so fabulous, her jealousy reared its ugly head!” I laughed because poor Beryl was still thinking about it a week later. And…she was one hundred percent correct about the whole scenario!

But that’s what hair and make-up can do for you. Joy Behar was right about one thing, though–it was quite the transformation that they did on me. I’ve always been aware of what these artists can do for those of us who work or have worked in the business, so I was more than happy to go support them at this event last week.

One shorter story is that I became great friends with Brian, the guy who styled my hair on a crazy movie I did. He came with me to many events after we met, with us always having a wonderful time together.

My last yarn for today is a good one. I had done a part on a TV series with the great Patti Lupone, and somehow got invited to what she called “my pool party.” When Mr. X and I got there, we found-out it was her make-up woman’s house! But there was, indeed, a brand-new built-in pool there! It turned-out that Patti was so grateful to the artist that she… had a pool put in her backyard! I had thought of giving my first born to my first incredible make-up guy to say thanks, but a pool is way better, don’t you think?! [Note: The entire juicy story of that soiree is coming up in one of my YouTube videos, without naming Patti, so those of you who are reading this are the only ones who will have this secret info!]

That’s it for my tales today. And now I can’t wait to see who wins the MUAHs in February. Best of luck to them all!