Gwen Stefani says she's 'gotten in a lot of trouble' for how she does her makeup: 'What's underneath there?’
Gwen Stefani gives good face.
The singer and beauty mogul, whose new makeup line GXVE Beauty (pronounced like "give") launched in March, is opening up about her relationship with makeup. While her signature look — platinum blonde hair, red lipstick and thin eyebrows — has been well-admired over the years, she says it hasn't come without criticism.
"Since I was a little girl, I was obsessed with makeup," Stefani, 53, told Dax Shepard on his podcast, Armchair Expert. "I’ve gotten in a lot of trouble for my makeup and I still do, like, 'Why are you wearing a mask? What's underneath there? What are you trying to hide? Oh, you're just going to school pickup, why are you wearing that makeup? That's disgusting, like, who are you?'"
Stefani's affinity to express herself through makeup dates back to her early teenager years.
"I didn't wanna shop at the mall. I wanted to shop at the thrift store because when I would watch old movies, I liked those clothes and I liked that makeup and I liked to look at pictures of my mom from the '60s. That looked cool to me," she explained.
She was also inspired by the girls she saw growing up in Southern California.
"I'd see these girls in Anaheim with this makeup on. It was literally like they airbrushed their face," she said. "They would sit in class and they would have a mirror and they would just be picking their eyelashes apart because they never took their mascara off and I was just fascinated by their beauty, you know? I wanted to be like that, so I became my version of it. I plucked my eyebrows out, and it was a combination of those girls and a combination of watching old movies."
The trendsetter is well aware that her look has inspired generations of makeup enthusiasts. For her, the joys of makeup is about more than self-expression, but rather, creating community.
"I don't put my makeup on and sit and stare at myself all day long," she explains. "I think the beauty community has been so cool in the last 10 years since we’ve had online [platforms]," she said. "The thing that I love most about being creative, and creating something and putting it out there, whether it's music or designing something, is when people get ahold of your identity and they make it their identity."
Creating a makeup line at this point her life, she explained, has been a full circle moment.
"I want people to build the trust with me," she said. "Women and guys wanna feel good and look good and I think they don't know how to sometimes. I want to help them."
Stefani is stepping into her prime in her 50s. The singer recently opened up about how obsessed she is with aging and how it inspires her pursuit toward happiness.
"People talking about my aging is a compliment, I guess. I'm kind of obsessed with how I'm aging," she told Stellar last year. "It's really hard for everyone to age and have to face life. Especially for females and people who have been in the spotlight it can be daunting, but you tackle it by just trying to be the most beautiful version of yourself inside and out."
"I look back on all the things I've done and think, 'Gosh, how did I stumble upon that?'" she continued. "I didn't – I was just being me. The one thing I always knew was that I would always follow my truth and what I liked and who I was."
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