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Only two months in and it's already a fucking challenge keeping this "The Good Year" column going. Kinda hard to lead an "expanded, more varied, and more fulfilled life" when...

...well, y'know.

It is perhaps a beautiful and wonderful testament to the indomitable spirit of Shanghai-ren that we're still finding ways to connect with and be around each other during... sigh... yes, there is no other way to say it... "these difficult times."

This past week I was absolutely delighted to get an online makeup tutorial from two of the finest stars of the Shanghai stage: Beaverhausen and Lady N Gentlemen. Using the somewhat paltry collection of makeup I had readily available, Beaver was able to tutor me into creating this punk-y look that both of my cats were able to appreciate and enjoy. We also chatted about life in general, all of which is transcribed herein.

In addition to hosting and co-hosting the odd online makeup tutorial here and there, Beaverhausen and Lady N Gentlemen host an online party revue event called the "Motion Picture Drag Revue Extraordinaire" which is returning to your computer screen via TenCent Meeting this Tuesday! Scroll down to look at the flyer and get that info.

Offline, and hopefully in the very near future, you can catch them at their monthly drag events "East Meets West" at The Pearl and "Choker" at Specters, as well as events at Roxie, Hunt, and all sorts of wonderful places you should be spending your money at.

[Full context and disclosure: I'm involved with that Specters one.]

A note on the makeup used: I had some pale goth foundation that someone left at the bar, some black eyeliner, which I have for when I'm listening to My Chemical Romance, records, and some gold glitter because I'm only human.

...And that's it.

Let's go!

Welcome to my face!

***

***

SmSh: How are you doing, Beaver?

Beaver: Not so good. Who is doing good though, right? With this situation now...

SmSh: Is your building bad?

Beaver: Ummm... there are four positive cases in my building. So. What else can I say?

Paul: What about you, Morgan? Are you all good or do you still have cases?

SmSh: Well, my building hasn't had a case in almost four weeks. I guess we're in the "precautionary zone" but I haven't been able to go anywhere. They've blocked off all the ways into my street and are not letting people out.

Paul: I guess it doesn't matter at the end of the day, cases or no, it seems.

SmSh: Yeah...

Beaver: Well, you can still get shansong so it's not that bad.

SmSh: Yeah, that's true. You can't get shansong?

Beaver: I don't think I can, no...

SmSh: Yeah, I'm just paying attention in my building's group chat like every 5 minutes waiting for something to happen — hammering on the WeChat Translate trying to figure out what everyone's saying.

This building group chat — it's like having 150 new roommates and we're all trying to split a long-distance phone bill or something.

Paul: [Laughs.]

Beaver: I'm already inviting some of my good neighbors to our next show.

Paul: The next drag show is going to be all the old ayis living with Beaverhausen...

Beaver: No, no, they're mostly my own age. Mostly. So, are we going to start with the interview questions you wanted to ask?

SmSh: I thought we would do the makeup and the interview at the same time. And then I'll write it all down and change it all around to make everyone seem much more eloquent and entertaining.

But yeah, before starting the makeup, maybe you can introduce yourselves. Who are you? Where are you from?

Beaver: My name is Beaverhausen. I have been living in Shanghai for a very long time. It's my twentieth year here, this year. I'm working as a drag performer and I also help organize drag shows in Shanghai. So, that's what I'm doing currently...

SmSh: When did you discover your love for makeup?

Beaver: Wow. Well, that goes back to when I was a child. But I started learning how to do makeup professionally around 6 years ago. At that time, I was still working in an IT company as a project manager — and I would put on a full face of makeup to go to work.

But not that kind of party makeup, more like a full face of "no makeup" makeup. Like that. Just having an even jaw and looking healthy and energetic.

And sometimes, if I didn't have to meet with clients, I'd pop on some colorful eyeshadow and go to work...

SmSh: Oh yeah? How did your colleagues react to that?

Beaver: Oh, they were okay with it. I'm already a kind of flamboyant type so everybody would just say, "Oh! Okay, yeah, that looks good!"

SmSh: How did you learn the art?

Beaver: From YouTube videos...

SmSh: Don't you also do professional makeup jobs as well? Makeup for fashion events?

Beaver: Sometimes. Also, I have a brother who works very much on the professional side. He does makeup for New York Fashion Week and lots of luxurious brands, so we talk a lot about makeup. He gives me a lot of advice from a professional side, too.

I've also done makeup for some theater shows and photoshoots but it's not the major aspect of my work...

SmSh: And we also have Paul, co-hosting this private workshop.

Paul: My name is Paul. My stage name Is Lady N Gentlemen. I grew up in Pennsylvania, in the U.S., in a small area called Lancaster County. Then I moved a little bit down the east coast before coming to China about five years ago, now.

I originally came to finish a Master's program in tourism management and started performing on the side. And now I have my own business doing arts consulting and team-building workshops. Basically, corporate freelance and performance is probably the easiest way to describe it.

SmSh: Whereabouts do you perform?

Paul: I perform at this little place called Specters...

SmSh: I'm just going to cut that out. Tell me more about your shows at The Pearl. They have that big, beautiful theater space...

Paul: Yep, I perform at The Pearl, Hunt, Roxie. I do sort of speakeasy tours... I've performed at the Comedy Corner, improv shows, and whatever else.

The Foundation

SmSh: Okay, let's get started!

Beaver: Okay, first step. Foundation. Morgan, can you put a bit of your foundation on your hand and rub it in? I want to see the color range. Just on the back of your hand.

SmSh: I think it's pretty close to my actual skin tone. But more pale. I was going for something slightly pale and gothy... and ended up in emo territory.

Beaver: Wow, it's almost like no coverage. It's very pale. That's okay because that can work for the rock look we're going for. It's low coverage. Hmm.

Maybe after we get out of this chaos, I can give you some makeup brands to look for that have better coverage.

SmSh: Fix my life, Beaver.

Beaver: Well, since yours is very pale, I'll mix my foundation to match yours. I'll try a pale face as well...

Paul: Look — she's already making you into her drag daughter. [Laughs.]

SmSh: More like drag great aunt. [Laughs.].

So tell me, what is the makeup aesthetic of Lady N Gentlemen?

Paul: Lady N Gentlemen likes to mix together masculine and feminine looks. Although, Beaver would say the aesthetics are "bad makeup". [Laughs.]

Beaver: Not bad... just lacking polish!

Paul: I would say I'm getting much better...

Beaver: Yes! Yes, much better than when you started...

Paul: I just want to get better and I know that Beaver judging me is the way to do it...

But when I do my makeup, I want to look like Superman if he put on feminine makeup. But he did a bad job disguising that he's still Superman. That's kind of the goal.

SmSh: That's an angle. I can dig it.

Beaver: Okay, I've mixed my foundation so it's a lot lighter than my usual skin tone. I'm not sure if the camera can pick it up. And I see that you don't have a proper foundation brush, so I'll do it with you and we're going to put it on with our fingers.

SmSh: DIY baby.

Beaver: Morgan, have you washed your face and put your moisturizer on?

SmSh: Yup.

Beaver: Now, look in the mirror, get your foundation and start with the place where you have the most discoloration. Usually, that's the center of your face — your nose and under your eyes. The foundation is meant to fill in your pores and make your face seem more smooth.

SmSh: How did you learn to do makeup, Paul?

Paul: I first started by watching a lot of Youtube tutorials. I was watching a lot of videos of RuPaul's Drag Race alumni. They would do these YouTube tutorials for a specific look they did on the show, so you could try to recreate it at home. Or see how they did it.

And as I started to grow and mature I started to do more face paint and animal stuff — I wanted to look like a lion for a little bit. More, like, crazy and colorful stuff.

And from there I started to do more drag and gender-based makeup.

SmSh: Do you have any advice on how to get better?

Paul: The real elevation comes from lots of practice and from getting lots of tips from people. Beaverhausen, Momo. I watched Miss Universe get ready once. Fantasia taught me a couple of tips as well — people who really know what they're talking about.

But the other thing with makeup is that you really need to learn how to work with your face. Because everybody's face is different. The way that somebody does their eye might not work for your face or the way somebody does their contour might not work for your face.

Like, the way Beaver does her eyes, I could never pull off because we have completely different eye shapes.

Beaver: I remember Paul wanted to do a cheekbone highlight like Jaidynn Diore Fierce...

Paul: Yeah, there is this drag queen, she has cheekbones that are up near her eye, so she can put just a little dab of white on them and they look like mountaintops. It's amazing. But it's just never gonna happen for me. With my cheekbones, I can make them appear broader...

Beaver: Morgan, with the foundation, work in small patches and do a thin layer. I can see you went maybe a bit too heavy there. All the time, you need to start small and build and build and build. You don't want to end up with too much foundation on your face. Even though the style is stage makeup, we still want it to look like it's polished.

SmSh: Okay.

Beaver: You need to blend that out. If you put too much on a big area it's harder to blend it out before it sets.

Paul: How are you holding up, like, mentally?

SmSh: Well, I go through periods of extreme, extreme annoyance... because it's all so pointless. But then what can you do. You can't really change the situation, so I try to get over it. Drinking helps.

Paul: Yeah, I find if I'm not thinking about it, it's fine, then as soon as I think about it, it's like... this is REALLY shitty. [Laughs.]

SmSh: Yeah. [Laughs.]

Beaver: Sorry to interrupt, but if you have finished your foundation, take your very fluffy brush to gently tap your face to tap the foundation into your pours. You don't want a cake-face.

This is pushing everything into the texture of your skin. And it helps it to last longer. You don't want your makeup to meltdown halfway through the party...

SmSh: Okay.

Paul: When it comes to bars and restaurants, have they given you any kind of rent forgiveness or anything like that?

SmSh: Yeah, they have. So, it's not too bad. We still have to keep everyone paid, so it's still money going out and nothing coming in, but it's not too bad.

It sucks though because April is the good month, with the weather being great. Everyone wants to go out at night. It's one of the months that you make all your money to offset the other months of the year when business is slow. I had some good events planned too that got canceled. And when you don't know when things will open again, you can't even reschedule them...

Paul: Yeah...

SmSh: Beaver, how would you describe your own makeup aesthetic?

Beaver: Very polished. More on the feminine side but not totally feminine. I do like punk and rock, and I like my makeup to look edgy, but polished-edgy.

Paul: You used to take a lot of influence from an Old Hollywood, femme fatale sort of thing. Are you still doing that?

Beaver: Yeah, I still do. I try to put that with the punk rock style. Still glamorous but with a little bit of edge in it. That's why I love the early Lady Gaga makeup. She does that edgy and glam, both in her look.

SmSh: So, I've noticed you've been doing some makeup online workshops over lockdown?

Paul: Yeah, we've done two. They've been really fun actually. Just some simple makeup techniques.

SmSh: Do you do them outside of lockdown as well? This is in anticipation that such a thing might exist one day.

Beaver: Outside of lockdown we've done a couple of workshops at The Pearl. Free ones as a sort of tribute to the community.

Paul: There is a period of time we tried to do it on a monthly basis, but the amount of effort it requires, on top of the organizing and promoting, it wasn't financially suitable. Before the lockdown there were plans to do a drag king workshop with Dekonstruct [a drag king social platform], leading up to a drag king night at Roxie, but, obviously, it didn't come to fruition...

SmSh: Tough to plan stuff and keep a momentum going when the rug gets pulled out from under you...

Beaver: Here's where we would eliminate your eyebrow with your foundation, but I think your coverage is not enough. We'll just skip that step and keep your eyebrows.

But I will show you how to do it if you want to do it in the future. You want to look for the sample products from — they only cost like 40rmb or something. White face paint. And brush it on your brow so it's not totally eliminated and you still have something to work with.

If we were models backstage, we would use bleach to bleach your eyebrows. It's a better effect but much more painful to your skin...and you have to keep doing it after two weeks or so. My brother did it for like two months, he said the look is great but it's just too painful.

Fantasia did that for a while too. So, the eyebrow always matches the eyeshade. You can have red eye shadow and a red brow — it looks great.

SmSh: You can shave off your eyebrows too, no?

Beaver: Well, I still want to look like normal people when I don't have my makeup on. [Laughs.]

SmSh: How do you buy makeup in Shanghai, Beaver?

Beaver: Yeah, a lot of the brands I use are difficult to find in the Chinese market. So, I do some international online shopping to get that shit. Sometimes I wait months to get a product.

SmSh: Is it expensive?

Beaver: It doesn't have to be. If you do your research to look for nice brands with nice quality at a nice price, you can save a lot. I also have a lot of connections from my brother who gets nice products at a discount for his work. I also have friends that work for makeup companies so they can help me get good quality stuff at a discount. So, I save a lot of money actually.

The number one piece of advice I always give people who want to try getting into makeup is; always buy good quality stuff.

Paul: But never ever buy anything from ...

Beaver: I hate Miniso...

Paul: She does.

Beaver: After it's dry, you can go for a second layer to make the color more opaque.

SmSh: So, you do the East Meet West drag show at The Pearl. Have you got a date for the next one? Do they have any idea on when they might be coming back?

Paul: The last time we spoke with them they were like not sure either. We originally rescheduled for a show in early May, which is not going to happen. But the other thing they're thinking about is that even after things open up again, how long is it going to take for people to come back? How scared are people going to be about grouping together in a space?

Have you heard anything about when Specters can reopen?

SmSh: No.But going by what happened in 2020, bars and live music places are the last to reopen. I guess we're seen as the most non-essential sort of business...

Paul: That's so shitty. Those are the most fun places.

Beaver: April and May are the good months, too. The weather is great. I thought that this year will finally be the year I could make some good money out of drag but oh well.

The Contour

SmSh: How long does it take to get ready for a performance?

Beaver: Two and a half hours, usually. But today we're doing something simpler. We'll get the base foundation and contour down and go from there. We'll try to do a nice graphic eye which will be the main thing.

SmSh: Do you have a certain look that you always do or are you always changing to suit the performance?

Beaver: If it's a special performance and not just a money show I will create a look for that performance. If it's not such a big show, I might just do something I could do with my eyes closed.

So, when we have our foundation done now we can look at the contour. I know you don't have contour color but I know you have the black eyeliner, so we're going to use this. We're going to do a very black contour.

Paul: What are you drinking?

SmSh: Malibu and Pocari Sweat.

Paul: [Laughs.]

SmSh: This is what I've been reduced to.

Beaver: So, take your eyeliner out. Put some on a palate. Use your mixing medium on the eyeliner to make it more liquid-y. After you mix it, take your small brush and dip it in it, and you're going to draw a line just under your cheekbone. We're doing a little bit of a more masculine cheekbone line. Just a straight line that we're going to blend.

You can use a little more color...

SmSh: Okay. I'm just nervous I'm going to fuck it up.

Beaver: ...And then we take our fluffy blending brush. And blend that contour with your foundation. We want to get rid of the harsh edge. Looking at your face from the front, you can see that one side is already more chiseled than the other side.

This is our first layer and then we'll add more — layers and layers — to accentuate the effect. We're looking for a nice gradation and we don't want to see a harsh line.

And with this, we keep the foundation brush handy. If the shape starts turning into something you don't want, we use the foundation brush to reshape the edge.

You can see I've got much more structure on my face now...

SmSh: Mine's a little bit skull-like...

Paul: Well, that's pretty punk. That's on the right path.

Beaver: That's what I said. I said I'll try to design a look that's more suitable for Morgan...

SmSh: [Laughs.]

Paul: Have you been cooking for yourself, Morgan?

SmSh: Every fucking day! Every fucking day. And then doing dishes every fucking day. It's the fucking worst. The fucking dishes. I can't take any more dishes.

Paul: It's the worst!

Beaver: Look at these hands. These hands are not made for washing dishes, okay?

Paul: The amount of housework is literally insane. If I didn't have my boyfriend with me here I would not be eating every meal, just to avoid all the work it requires.

SmSh: And you have to stay on top of it. Like, if you leave the dishes for a day, then they pile up, and then your whole existence is ruined.

Beaver: Yeah, it will affect your mental health.

SmSh: So I'm blending it out and then I put more on and blend that out as well?

Beaver: Yeah, remember, we're trying to create a gradation effect, so it's darker at the top and then lighter as you travel down the face.

Paul: A way that helped me out is if you think of them as shadows, right? So, you're doing most of this from the perspective of someone looking at you straight on. So, you want to think about where you want the deepest parts of your face to be. Like, right under your cheekbones to make them stand out. So, it makes sense to add more product to that area and blend out from there.

Beaver: And also again I can help you find some better products for this as well. It's easier if you have better quality stuff. We're looking for alternative ways to use the products you have.

Paul: Morgan, where in The States are you from?

SmSh: I'm from a little place called Ottawa, Ontario, Canada...

Paul: Oh!

Beaver: Even I knew that.

Paul: So you don't have any Covid issues in Canada, right?

SmSh: Well, it's there but people are just living with it, I guess.

Beaver: Also, if you want a deeper color, don't dilute the eyeliner before putting it on.

SmSh: I keep thinking of all the things I should have bought before lockdown. Like, I should have bought like... small dumbbells or something to try to get some exercise.

Paul: The other thing is who would have thought that lockdown would happen and we couldn't get access to Taobao! Fucking bonkers...

Beaver: Okay, I've done both sides of my cheeks and now we're going to move on to the jawline. You have a beard so you don't need to do much with a jawline. Maybe for your contour, you need to use a bit of foundation to bring it up more. So, you can have a little bit more structure. Use the foundation to cut the contour a bit.

SmSh: Okay.

Beaver: And then draw a jawline and blend down under your jaw and into your neck. If we were doing crazy makeup we'd paint all the way into the neck. Very cool makeup that Leigh Bowery used to do... but we'll keep it simple.

The Eyes

SmSh: This is pretty fun though. I've never done makeup before. To this extent.

Beaver: Do you like the results so far?

SmSh: Definitely! I think it's looking not too bad. Well. I keep getting it to look almost not too bad and then screwing it up just a little bit. And then trying to fix it and screw it up more.

Paul: [Laughs.] That's a very relatable thing for anyone that does makeup. I feel that makeup is very meditative, though. You're constantly looking at the same thing over and over again and, doing small things to try to perfect it.

Beaver: Yeah, it's like the process of creating a painting. So, the next step is to powder your face and set everything before we move on to the eyes. And make sure there isn't too much foundation on your eyelids. Before you powder. If there is, blend with your fingers. And check your nose as well. Because after you set it you cannot remove it.

Paul: What foods is everyone missing the most?

Beaver: Shrimp.

Paul: I miss hotpot.

Beaver: White people food...

Paul: That is NOT white people food!

Beaver: White people think they know China they say, "Oh, I like hotpot!"

SmSh: [Laughs.]. Accurate.

Paul: Okay, that is true... [Laughs]. The other thing I miss is kung pow chicken! And dumplings! I miss dumplings!

Beaver: Some dumplings are good but that's just a small fraction of Chinese food. If you knew all Chinese food you would not say hotpot.

Paul: Well, excuse ME, Miss Just Shrimp. I know Chinese food very well thank you very much!

Beaver: Honey, you are talking to *authentic* Chinese people. Remember that!

Paul: [Laughs.]

Beaver: Okay, take out your black eyeliner and that small eyeliner brush. Put a drop of mixing medium to make it more smooth. So, we put the eyeliner into the lash line and we don't want to see a gap. And do this to both eyes... get to the root of your lash.

We're going to do kind of a crazy eyeliner look today. We're looking for a sick line. So, we're drawing past the eye and curving the line up into a wing. And we're drawing the shape of the triangle we want to have and then filling it on. We don't need to use tons of product but we want our lines smooth. Draw the line out to your brow, curve it down, and then up.

Let me see how you're doing.

SmSh: Sort of okay?

Beaver: I think you can make the wing go out a bit more. And make the middle part a bit thicker.

This is the part you want to spend the most time on, out of all the steps — getting the perfect shape you want.

Paul: There's a joke among drag performers. The eyeshadow when you're starting out gets thicker and thicker and bigger and bigger as you make more and more mistakes.

SmSh: Yes, I'm feeling this. This is already starting to happen. Planning for something small, getting something big.

Beaver: Use your Q-tip to use some remover to bring it back a bit if you start going crazy. You want to be crazy but crazy in a good way.

Paul: I disagree. I know I'm not leading this workshop but I disagree...

Beaver: Oh I like the shape, Morgan! It's different from mine but it's a good shape. Watch out for this little gap here. And use the Q-tip to make the line sharper. Actually, it's a good shape. It looks good on you.

SmSh: Well, thank you very much.

Paul: I love this look... for YOU. [Laughs.]. This is so nice.... for YOU.

Beaver: You are beautiful in your own way...

SmSh: [Laughs.]

Beaver: Eyeliner looks really simple but if you want to do it in a certain graphic way it takes a lot of time. The next step is to draw a complementary line at the bottom that travels with the eye and matches the line on the top, making a very graphic eye.

Paul: Now you understand why drag performance works best in a bar where it's dark and people are drunk. You don't want people to really see these little details...

Beaver: I don't mind people seeing the details... I'm giving you perfection here!

The Lips and Gold Finish

Beaver: So, now we're going to paint the lips and use your gold glitter for a nice finish effect. Take your black eyeliner again and use a brush to paint you lips. We want a smooth effect, so start with a small amount of product on the top top and brush out from the center. I'm going to do a pouty lip but with yours you should just make your lip look bigger. So, paint just a little bit outside your natural lip line.

If you plan to do some regular makeup for a show, I have some good quality brushes I can recommend to you. That's the good thing about China. Everything is made here so you can find it. You can find these factories —they work for some big brands and usually they are like 200rmb at the counter but you can find them for 20rmb online.

SmSh: Tell me about the online drag show this Tuesday. It's a revue? The next one is Tuesday?

Paul: So, it's a revue show with different drag performers from the community. A lot of it is pre-recorded videos that the performers have put together. Which is a really fun medium to explore for a lot of us because it's not on stage and you can experiment more with the format, and with editing magic and stuff like that.

And then we do a couple of live things, as well. But it's also a lot more interactive, with games and audience interaction.

SmSh: So, a lot of it is video shorts that people have put together?

Paul: Yeah, at the first one, we did like sock puppet lip syncs. Also, Dai Nasty has a really nice musical set up at her apartment and she's actually sang for us a few times, which has been great. It's worked really, really well.

Beaver: We've also done a talk show...

Paul: Yeah, we've done some sketches too. Like Beaver, Dai, and I did a live report from Shanghai on the stock market value of different vegetables...

SmSh: [Laughs]

Paul: Yeah, Beaver paid, I think, 6 eggs for a bootleg boob job from her downstairs neighbor. We've done it three weeks in a row now. We jumped online really fast actually. Like, the first week of lockdown. It's been good because I think people really need some cheering up...

And then it became really easy because no one has anything else to do. We're all stuck at home. So you might as well tune in. This one is on Monday because it's a holiday weekend. But other than that it's every Saturday night.

But the nice thing about it is it's a really relaxed environment for the audience. You don't have to feel anxious to think about if you're in a queer-friendly space because you're already at home. You can tune in and tune out whenever you like and it's just about enjoying some shows from people in the community.

Beaver: Morgan when you're finished with the lips, you can add the gold glitter in places to accent your black lines. Just a little here under the eye and maybe a little on the center of your lip.

SmSh: I think I‘m done!

Paul: Looks great!

Beaver: Very good — for your first time...

SmSh: I think I'm ready to for a night on the town...

***

Drumroll!

Would You Do It Again?

Of course! By the heavens, I would wear gold glitter daily if it wasn't illegal.

Feel like I can work on making my eyeliner shade a bit stronger too...

But next time, I'm going to invest in some makeup remover. Just so in case I fall asleep after too much Malibu I don't turn up to a Covid test looking like a sullen Egyptian vampire tramp that is coming directly from last night's orgy at Ptolemy's place.

How Can YOU Do This?

Beaverhausen is available for one-on-one tutorial makeup consultancies. Get in touch with her and / or Paul over their Instagrams (@pillowlipbeaverhausen and @ladyngentlemen ) and follow them to find out about upcoming group workshops and events. They're both very lovely and approachable people who love making new friends.

The "Motion Picture Drag Revue" is this Tuesday via TenCent Meeting. The address and password is above.

You should go! Don't stop living your life!