If you’re like us, you’ve probably wondered what everyday stuff famous people add to their carts — like hair spray or an electric toothbrush. We asked drag queen and artist Sasha Velour, who stars in this season of HBO’s We’re Here, about the turtlenecks, lip oil, and makeup mirror she can’t live without.
So, I was just on tour, and my photographer friend Mettie Ostrowski wore this every day. I was so obsessed with this oil that she bought me a bottle and now it is my standby. I love oiling up, especially before doing an appearance or being in drag where my skin is out. I want to be glowing. It smells like palo santo and lavender.
I always light a candle right when I start doing my makeup. It’s a little ritual, a smell that takes me out of whatever space I’m in. While shooting We’re Here, we went to this store that is run by lesbians and ended up buying every single one of their candles. So these scents will always remind me of the first three episodes.
Jaida Essence Hall was wearing this Haus Labs lip oil. She was carrying it around and applying it in a commercial while we were filming We’re Here, and I ended up getting some myself. I love that it’s sticky. You want your lip gloss to be sticky with a little tint, but this doesn’t stick your mouth together and it absorbs. It feels healthy, but you still get that glossy teenage-girl fantasy that we turn to our lip glosses for.
I feel like socks are a good place to splurge, particularly if you’re trying to have fun with menswear. They’re a really great way to let people know that you’re still a freak and you have a sense of fun. These socks are made by a Danish designer who’s also a sculptor and an installation artist. He has a store in Soho where I would window-shop, and right before my mom passed away, she bought me a pair of these socks as a gift and I still have them. I try to only wear that pair once a year so it doesn’t get worn out.
When you’ve got a good sock, you have to wear a sandal or something to show them off. The best part is not the ankle, it’s usually on the foot part. I wear four pairs of pantyhose and tight heels often for large parts of the day. So I like my feet to be able to breathe, but I’m not going to subject people to what they look like — so I’m a socks-and-sandals kind of gal. I love that they’re very affordable and comfortable. I do have to replace them every year for the sake of my arches, but they’re a solid sandal.
Plastic dinosaurs are my solution for bringing camp to every depressing space that I enter. I give them drag makeovers and then raffle them off at my NightGowns show to raise money for charity. So these plastic dinosaurs have brought a lot of good into the world, particularly when you put nail polish on them and paint them and give them lipstick — it makes them glamorous.
We have to paint beautiful drag faces in the most unreliable settings, so having a good makeup mirror is essential. This one has a travel case, and it is a lifesaver. I actually have a fleet of these Riki Skinny mirrors that I bring to my NightGowns show that I set up for all the guests to use. And slowly, I feel like people are starting to agree and get their own Riki Skinny mirrors. It’s lightweight, easy to travel with, and the battery lasts a long time.
Every drag idea, every costume that I have come up with in the last six years, I’ve drawn in one of these notebooks. I like a blank notebook; I don’t like lined or gridded. I love a notebook where you can write on a page and it doesn’t bleed through to the next page so that you can use all the sides of the piece of paper. This is my favorite. It has that Memphis Group, ’70s-meets-’90s kind of chaotic, colorful fantasy look.
My grandmother drank scotch, so to me it is very ladylike to have scotch over ice. But I do find it surprises people to see a drag queen asking for scotch. I like a little bit of a disconnect with everything I put out into the world. That is pleasing. I think there’s something decompressing about having a small glass of scotch (or your drink of choice) with your crew after a show.
I’ve been wearing Uniqlo’s turtlenecks exclusively for a long time. Two years ago everyone was saying it was giving Elizabeth Holmes, and before that it was definitely a little Steve Jobs. I need people to just recognize that I’m going for Audrey Hepburn with my black turtlenecks and that this is timeless. This is like Fosse, this is modern dance. This is my beret.
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