We Spoke to 8 Women in Music About How Beauty and Music Intersect
"Every time I put on makeup it feels like I’m drawing my character’s face."
Beauty has long played an important role in the music industry. Think about the beauty looks of icons like Madonna, David Bowie, TLC, Courtney Love, among countless others. Their signature hair and makeup looks were synonymous with their musical personas. In fact, when you just read their names, you almost certainly pictured Madonna in one of her many eras, Bowie as Ziggy Stardust, TLC with their signature hairdos (have there ever been baby hairs more memorable than Chilli’s?) and Courtney Love’s bleached blonde hair and smeared red lipstick.
And it’s not just the massive stars of the ’80s and ’90s that this applies to. We spoke to eight of today’s brightest women musicians, from Lights to Jade Bird, about what beauty means to them, and how their look influences their music (or vice versa).
Read our interviews below!
Lights
Your new record Skin&Earth is a concept record that runs as both an album and accompanying comic book. Can you explain how you brought your alter-ego, lead character, En, to life?
When I announced the project, I dyed my hair bright red, like hers. I also channel her “apocalyptic streetwear” vibe both on stage and off, and I got her mark (a mark integral to the story, hence the skin portion of the name) tattooed on me.
Do you do your own hair and makeup before you perform?
Yeah I do. Every time I put on makeup it feels like I’m drawing my character’s face. I even use a marker-like liquid eyeliner that feels like I’m inking. It’s funny how one art form contributes to another.
Has having a character influenced a change in your routine?
Strangely, En, the main character in the story, was not only a conduit for singing about things I’d never felt I could sing about before, but she also helped me try out a lot more hairstyles and new makeup looks, like red eyeshadow. The bright hair has actually encouraged me to wear brighter colours.
How do you decide what your makeup look will be each night?
It sounds kind of funny but I do my hair and makeup depending on how I feel. If I’m feeling cheeky before a show I will rock a couple braids or a side braid, or if i’m feeling sexually empowered I’ll do just lose hair and a smokey eye, or if I’m feeling cute, I’ll wear high pigtails and a really long cat eye wing.
What are your key makeup items for performing onstage?
Red eyeshadow mixed with dark brown eyeshadow, black liquid eyeliner, mascara, hairspray. I could get by with just those four things.
What was your relationship with beauty like growing up?
I don’t think I really got in touch with my passion for expression through makeup and hair until I was in my late teens. When I started putting out music just on Myspace I realized you need to have a look, so that’s when I really started exploring those elements of beauty.
Daya
Does your image influence your music or is it the other way around?
I see them as more fluid and interchangeable. I try to keep everything as real to me as possible, so if I’m feeling a change in my look or sound one day then I’m gonna trust that and not worry so much about whether it’s consistent with everything else.
Do you do your own hair and makeup?
I’ll do it if I have to, but given the opportunity I’d much rather have a professional help to truly get the vision across.
How do you decide on your beauty look each night?
If I have someone else doing glam, I’m down to explore lots of different styles and looks. It just depends on what trends or products are most exciting to me at that moment. I’ve been really into coloured eyeliner recently, like bright colours, so I’ve incorporated that into some of my shoots/shows. Also, I die for glitter, so any time that’s an option, I’m 100% on board.
TiKA
Do you do your own hair and makeup before a show?
Doing my own makeup is meditative. Having a stranger do it can give me anxiety because I don’t know what I’m going to look like at the end.
How do you decide on your aesthetic each night?
Sometimes I feel electric so I lean toward more metallics. Other times when I’m feeling androgynous, I lean toward more neutral and nude colours. No matter what, the facial dots always stay!
What are your key beauty items for performing?
I absolutely need lip gloss, a good nail polish for my toes (I perform without shoes), and I love love love press on nails the night of a show. Coconut oil for my skin, hair and lips.
What was your relationship to beauty like growing up?
I wore a red weave for literally years. I was hiding behind my hair when I was feeling insecure. I had bangs and everything. I hated my face, the gap in my teeth etc. I eventually shaved my entire head after experimenting with many different colours and experiencing breakage and damage. I went through a grunge phase, a goth phase, a natural phase. I’ve seen so many different evolutions of style to get to a place where I was satisfied with my overall look. I may not be polished but I have a classic and simple look that I love because it’s reflective of where I currently am in my life.
Danielle McTaggart
Do you enjoy the process of doing your hair and makeup?
I enjoy the process a lot. I feel like it’s another artistic form and a great way to express myself. I’ll extend my eyeliner across my temple, or add a colour to my eyebrows, or do a bright blue or green lip. I want to do something for a show that you wouldn’t see on a normal day out. It makes it fun! I don’t necessarily find it to be a meditative time; more a exploratory. And I don’t necessarily have a plan before I go for it…so that may be why it’s not relaxing.
Who inspires you, beauty-wise?
I love David Bowie, St Vincent and Karen O. Huge fan of how they used makeup and hair to add to a theme or vision they were going for. It’s all part of the story. They embody what they are trying to communicate. I’m inspired by that.
Does your music influence your image or is it the other way around?
Everything comes from the music. It’s important to strip it all away to find the heart of it and what your trying to say. Once that happens, everything else flows. To me it should all be stemming from who you really are. It needs to be authentic. And in the end they go hand in hand.
Zaki Ibrahim
How do you decide on your look every night?
I change it with the theme of my show and type of show. For larger venues or festival shows, I go a bit bolder with colours and for smaller, more intimate shows, I like to keep it “natural.” I love to be expressive with my hair, so it changes like my mood: braids, twists, extensions, natural afro-curls or blown out and ironed straight.
What was your relationship with beauty like growing up?
I studied cosmetology and learned to use it as another form of expression.
Does your image influence your music?
It’s the other way around. I like to become the character the music creates.
Tanika Charles
Do you do your own makeup before a show?
I normally hire a MUA for performances. Since the release of my album, Soul Run, I’ve been on the road quite a bit and i’ve had to do my own makeup! *shudders* I do enjoy trying to perfect my cat-eye! I think if the day of a show goes smoothly and time is on our side, putting on my makeup can definitely be a therapeutic process.
Is the hair and makeup wear to perform different from what you wear every day?
Oh my gosh, YES! I love performing because it gives me the freedom to wear loud, bright clothing and makeup and perhaps show a wilder side of myself! You can be whoever you want to be on stage.
Jessica Upton (of Beliefs)
What was your relationship with beauty like growing up?Do you do your own makeup?
I do. It’s my time to get into character and step into that persona, to get ready for the energy of the stage.
Does your onstage look differ from your look IRL?
Most days I wear nothing. That’s right…. nothing. If it’s a day when I think I need to spice myself up, maybe I’ll wear lipstick or a tinted gloss. I lost my mascara a long time ago and honestly, I didn’t really like it. I also just had fabulous microblading from Vancouver master-blader Adele DeVuyst, so I feel a lot more put together without makeup. But on tour, it’s Nars Limited edition lipstick in “Bleeker,” R+Co Dry Shampoo Paste, The Ordinary foundation, Laura Mercier Primer, Trish McEvoy mini palette, Tarte Birthday Suit matte lip paint, Tarte Energy Noir Lip Gloss (that changes colour every time), Province Apothecary makeup remover and Maison Louis Marie No. 02 Le Long Fond perfume.
Jade Bird
Do you do your own hair and makeup?
I do! It’s good for the tour budget. I have my basics like Bobbi Brown foundation, Smashbox Contour, Urban Decay Naked Palettes are a dream!
Who are your beauty influences?
I loved a lot of the ’60s French style. Bridgette Bardot, Françoise Hardy. I’ve always loved how French fashion can go from casual androgynous to feminine, yet remain sophisticated.
