Atlanta’s Purpose Ball on May 14 was filled with the stuff viral moments are made of. There was Mary J. Blige holding up a “chop” sign for one hopeful contestant, Law Roach giving a fiery speech on the mic, and a Beyoncé tribute artist recreating a Renaissance tour moment mere days after the musician herself took the stage. But without a doubt, the night will go down in history as belonging to Simone Tisci.
If you’re unfamiliar, the ballroom scene is a community started by Black and brown queer and trans people over 50 years ago. Members organize themselves into “houses” that serve as surrogate families—but on the competitive ballroom floor, they’re teams in which contestants can earn trophies and top-dollar prizes. Last Sunday, Mary J. Blige’s annual Strength of a Woman Festival closed with The Purpose Ball presented by Pepsico and Gilead. In addition to boasting A-list talent on the judging panel (including Blige and Roach, along with P-Valley star Brandee Evans), the event made history by awarding the largest single-person grand prize in ballroom history: $20,000 for fem queen face, a category that requires impeccable, bone structure, facial symmetry, a perfect smile—and innate charisma.
It was Tisci who walked away with that money, after first coming to prominence years prior as a celebrity makeup artist, then taking center stage as a breakout star on HBO Max’s Legendary season 2. (“My god, my god, Simone’s face!” Roach said while judging that show; Tisci’s mug helped win the House of Tisci the first perfect score of the season.) Below, Tisci discusses her career in beauty, kidnapping the designer of her look for the ball, and the products she used to make her cheekbones look so good on that fateful night.
How did you first get into makeup?
I first got into makeup when I was about ten years old. I was sneaking into my mother’s stuff, just messing around…
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