Watch: Transformations

Hey everyone. Just a head’s up. I got into a car accident yesterday. It’s nothing too serious. The only injury I have is a sprained thumb. It’s really hard to type right now with the thumb/wrist splint combo so the posts are going to be on the short side the next few days.

James St. James is one of the surviving Club Kids (capitals required) from the 80s and 90s. He’s the man that brought us the book Blood at the Disco that became Party Monster, both the documentary and the narrative film. He’s primarily a writer now, though you’ll see him pop up from time to time on TV in some fantastic get-up that steals the show. He’s managed by World of Wonder, which has a fantastic gossip/entertainment blog and one of the coolest YouTube channels going right now. This is the group that produces RuPaul’s Drag Race.

James St. James is the star and host of a really interesting makeup/interview hybrid show called Transformations. In a nutshell, James invites famous makeup artists and drag queens onto the show to do whatever they want to his face. He is their canvas and they wield the paint. The makeup artists answer questions about their background, their work, and their creative process.

The banter is fun and the transformations are strong. The newest episode features Natasha Marcelina, one of the makeup artists on Drag Race. She and James get into this great discussion about body image and identity while doing a Dia de los Muertes-inspired makeup transformation.

Another great episode just for the insanity factor is Fade-Dra Phey. He has a very distinctive style with cut up masks and makeup effects that are different every time. It’s wild.

Transformations is makeup show that plays like a parallel dimension Bob Ross instructional video. It’s very entertaining and you might actually walk away with some new ideas for your own artistic pursuits. I have so many new ways to paint characters for Halloween and vinyl toys from this series it’s ridiculous.

Here’s the playlist of the full series. Share your thoughts below.