The makeup artist behind Billy Porter's headline making Sun God look at the Met Gala this year gave me an exclusive interview this week discussing all things beauty! La Sonya Gunter is a makeup artist and former broadway star who works with several celebrity clients but most recently she created the Met Gala red carpet look for style star Billy Porter.
She told me all about what it was like working on the biggest fashion event of the year with Porter and how she came up with the elaborate look. She said, "Billy and I have been working together since Broadway 2012. The way that we work, he will tell me what he's thinking and I'm very visual so I start picturing it. I know him so well its great because we balance each other out."
LaSonya has always loved makeup and told me that she first fell in love with the craft while working on set of a 90s TV show. She told me, "I was a performer on a TV series that aired on ABC in the mid 90s. We were supposed to do a musical. I sat in the chair and the make up artist just transformed me." She went on to say that this was the first time she had truly realized the power of makeup and she loved how the artist had given her the power to be someone else for the musical. She talked about her background saying, "I primarily went to school for fashion design. I loved drawing faces and the art of color. So makeup was a natural progression from there."
She shared her early inspirations with me saying, "I loved old movies, musicals, period pieces. I always paid attention to how everyone should look. I just always felt that connection and that passion for make-up."
The theme for this year's Met Gala was called Camp. It was inspired by Susan Sontag's essay on the meaning of Camp. I spoke to Sonya about how she used this theme to inspire the amazing look she created for Billy Porter and her interpretation of the theme.
She said, "I read Susan's essay so I could get a better understanding of what camp is. The quote by Oscar Wilde "One should either be a work of art or be wearing a work of art." really stood out to me."
She continued saying, "Billy is an embodiment of both those things."
She came up with 3 sketches and then looked at Billy's outfit for the gala. She said, "Once I saw the look the vision started to make more sense."
Once she showed the idea to Billy he loved it and they started playing with the Egyptian influences to come up with the Sun God look.
LaSonya said, "I started with sequins, then glitter, and finally ended up using rhinestones."
She continued saying, "When he first came to me he wanted gold leafing but it evolved into Egypt and he really liked the idea of Cleopatra. We sort of focused on Egypt and over the top from there."
LaSonya truly wanted to create a work of art for Billy and talked about how she interpreted the Camp theme saying, "It doesn't necessarily have to be over the top but it has to be something where you stop and notice it."
The look was definitely something you stopped to notice on the red carpet and was a great representation of the Camp theme.
LaSonya and Billy are already working on their next showstopping look for the Tony Awards coming up and she talked about what's in the works saying, "Billy tends to be very versatile he's very fluid. I feel like he may want avant garde or he may want simple."
Speaking of what is coming up next LaSonya also went on to share her favorite go to looks as well as her top beauty trends and products for summer 2019.
She told me, "I work on Pose it's set in 1987 so the makeup is all the more outrageous. I try to always see what's out there, I work on a lot of TV and film so I'm always looking at what's next."
You can really tell she has a passion for her work when she talks. She described some of the work she's done for her clients saying, "I'm open, I love color. I'm grateful for the clients I have because they let me do what I want. Some of my clients are more mature but they're still very open. I think makeup is very personal for each individual."
Her favorite go to looks include red lipstick and shimmery gold eyes. She told me, "I love red lips, I think they will always be in forever."
She described creating her signature gold shimmery look for the eyes saying, "I do a wash of gold shimmer, a deep crease, strong liquid liner and a turquoise eye liner."
She also recommended keeping contour soft so that it enhances the natural features.
She also listed some of her favorite trending looks of the moment saying, "I like a deep dark lip, I'll do a navy blue lip and I'll get stopped on the street wearing that. Billy was at the Peabody awards last weekend and I gave him a navy blue lip with a light blue center and it came out great!"
Besides her red carpet favorites I also asked LaSonya what we should expect to see this summer for makeup trends.
She said, "For summer, there's going to be a lot of floral shimmery looks. We always go to the bronzey looks for summer people love that but I feel like there will be a surge of rosy tones peaches, corals, and shimmery pinks."
What a fun set of colors to work with! I can't wait to wear my favorite shimmery pink eyeshadows this summer!
She continued saying, "It's more about the eye, and the lips are more subtle. Pat McGrath is everything. To create Billy's met gala look I used dark void by Pat McGrath, the lab 1000 kit, and I put it in the center of his lip. Tarte has a gold chrome pink and you can streak it right across your eye. It's like liquid gold!"
This summer is definitely going to be a dazzling one and I can't wait to see what her next look will be! You can find her work on the Tony Awards red carpet coming up in just a few weeks!
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