In his book About Face, makeup artist Scott Barnes helps women maximize their beauty by featuring everyday ladies as well as celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez and Mariska Hargitay while dispensing tips on everything from hydration to dermatologists. Windy City Times spoke with Barnes about Lopez ( who wrote the book's foreword ) , history and the concept of beauty.
Windy City Times: You were in Chicago recently. What do you think our city?
Scott Barnes: Oh, I love Chicago. I'm from Detroit. I used to come in all the time during the weekends. House music started there so...
WCT: Gotcha. So what inspired you to write this book?
Scott Barnes: Well, I lost my brother to melanoma a couple years ago; he was only 30 years old. It was really quick; he was diagnosed and then was gone within nine months.
In addition, women kept asking me for tips but I realized I needed to do more than say, "Here are some makeup tips." So I started looking at transformations throughout history that have really stuck in people's minds, like Cinderella. Then there's Gigi. These are amazing stories about people who have come from very humble beginnings and then affected people around them. And that's really what I do: I change people's lives, send people out into the public and change how they look at them.
So I looked further for the oldest transformation story—and it was Esther in the Bible. She was born a peasant who [ eventually ] lived with her cousin, Mordecai, in Persia—which was huge at the time and ruled by Xerxes. Xerxes gets rid of his queen and sends out for a new queen. ... Esther ends up being held in the castle. But she decided to make the most of her situation; she eats differently and bathes in different oils. The king falls in love with her and she becomes queen. She ended up saving the Jews because she asked her husband, "I'm Jewish—so why would you kill my people?" She ended up making a huge impact.
The moral for me was the importance of using beauty for purpose as opposed to using it for vanity's sake. Just being beautiful is not enough. How are you going to impact the people around you? Every woman I selected for the book is involved with some sort of foundation or gives back to the community in some way.
WCT: What would you say is the single biggest mistake women make regarding makeup?
Scott Barnes: I think that women are afraid of makeup. People are afraid to experiment with it; they're more likely to experiment with cutting their hair, which [ seems ] way more permanent than lipstick. As for faux pas, brown lip liner is really bad.
WCT: It's interesting that you say how some women are afraid of makeup. Others embrace it head-on.
Scott Barnes: Like they've gone overboard? I call those people either the "walking trend report"—who have the [ latest ] bag with the Louboutin shoes. Then there's the other girl who looks like a drag queen.
WCT: Speaking of drag queens, there are going to be guys who buy the book for the same reason the women will. Generally speaking, should they follow the same tips?
Scott Barnes: Yeah, definitely. I come from a fine-arts background, and one of my closest friends is [ trans actress/entertainer ] Candis Cayne. She was on [ the TV series ] Dirty Sexy Money.
Why not be the best possible version of yourself?
WCT: You mentioned this briefly when talking about [ Esther ] , but diet and exercise are also important.
Scott Barnes: Absolutely. Everything works hand in hand. It's like having a really great ensemble and really crappy shoes; it doesn't work. If your makeup is really tight, your hair might be a little wild and you still look gorgeous. Sometimes you watch awards shows and you can't get past the face.
WCT: If you could pick any person from history to make over, who would you choose?
Scott Barnes: Probably Marie Antoinette—I'd want to reattach her head.
WCT: [ Laughs ] Yes. That would help.
Scott Barnes: That would help. I just thought that she was gorgeous and voluptuous; she just needed to be softened a little bit. And Joan Crawford—I'd love to take the eyebrows down. She was way too much for color TV and over the top.
WCT: You said "over the top," so I'd like to get your opinion on [ talk-show host ] Wendy Williams.
Scott Barnes: I just was on her show. I think she's gorgeous, in the sense that there's the whole package—and I think it's genius. I told her, "Those things you have on your chest? They come in the room before you do." She's a lot of fun, but I was nervous before meeting her and I usually don't get nervous before meeting people. I didn't know where [ the interview ] was going to go.
WCT: Tell me about your relationship with Jennifer Lopez and how she came to write the foreword in your book.
Scott Barnes: Jennifer and I have been together for 10 years. I think that, out of the 25 videos she's done, I've done 23 of them. I did my first full-feature film with her. We've just done a lot together, and we really like each other.
We have a lot in common; we love glamour. She likes the '60s a little bit more—like Valentino. I like '70s disco a bit more. But we both have this affinity for style and retro and modern. From the minute we started talking we were like, "Oh, my God. We were separated at birth." Then she looked at me and asked, "What are you doing this Friday?" I said, "Nothing," even though I was supposed to work with another celebrity. So I ended up doing the cover of [ the album ] J.Lo. And now, she's probably one of the most photographed women in the world.
WCT: So was it your idea or her idea to write the foreword?
Scott Barnes: It was her idea. I invited her to be on the cover. I was like, "Look, you've been my muse for 10 years." She didn't even hesitate. She's an amazing talent and an incredibly giving soul.
WCT: I think it's cool that you have a mix of celebrities and what I call "everyday people." But are you concerned that somebody might pick up this book and compare herself against the celebrities instead of [ maximizing ] her own inner beauty?
Scott Barnes: No, because that's why I took these real women and said, "Look—this is what I do." And these celebrities are real; they just happen to be really talented. Some of them happen to be very beautiful and some of them have problems; they're not the most perfect people in the world. So the message of the book is, "Don't think for a second that you're any less. The common thread is that you're all women—it doesn't matter what your skin color is, it doesn't matter what your background is. You can be amazing." Be confident and embrace yourself—if you have a big ass, love that big ass.
WCT: I'm just curious: Do you have any opinion on plastic surgery?
Scott Barnes: Plastic surgery is definitely something that is very individual. When somebody needs to get it done or they feel that's the only way around a certain situation—like a big nose or a big hump—then fix it. Why would you not take a huge lump off your face?
But the whole reinventing yourself with plastic surgery—that's a little weird. The picture of [ Heidi Montag ] ...it seems like there's a point where you should just stop. It's about moderation; don't go crazy.
WCT: My last question is one that you asked at least one of the women in your book: How would you define beauty?
Scott Barnes: To me, beauty is always two things: grace and humility. Somebody who's average or mediocre looks so beautiful—and without those two things you can be the most beautiful woman in the world but be so ugly when you open your mouth. That's why Jackie Kennedy and Audrey Hepburn are two of the most iconic figures ever—they showed grace and humility.
About Face, which retails for $24.99, is out now.
