Celebrity Makeup Artist Andrew Velazquez Celebrates Pride with Memoir and New Makeup Release
“Imagine if you could take fear out of the human body, what could you accomplish?” says Andrew Velazquez during our recent interview.
A truly insightful sentiment illustrating the mindset that drives multi-dimensional artist, author, celebrity makeup artist, and educator Andrew Velazquez. The published reality TV personality graciously sat down with OFM earlier this month for a chat about his new makeup palette of colors, memoir, and life lived, growing up as a queer, Mexican American man in East Los Angeles.
During our conversation, Velazquez discussed the importance of inspiring his clients to a greater sense of self-awareness, and the power of hair and makeup. “If you look good, then you feel good. You can really transform someone’s self-esteem with the magic of makeup and hair styling,” says Velazquez. With this philosophy in mind, Velazquez has spent the better part of 20 years building a career in the beauty industry. What started with him doing hair and makeup for his family has culminated with a flourishing career as a celebrity makeup artist who has worked with the Mother of all Drag Mothers, RuPaul herself. Honing his skills through working up the ranks with Aveda Spa, Anastasia Beverly Hills, and MAC Cosmetics, Velazquez’s legacy speaks for itself.
After working and thriving in the fast-paced and sometimes stressful world of celebrity beauty for several years, Velazquez found himself relocating and settling in Orlando, FL, where he now resides with his husband and dogs. Finding himself with extra time on his hands, Velazquez began creating paintings of his favorite loteria cards. Concurrently, he began journaling about his life experience in association with these images until one day he realized that he had a book, and “Love is Art | Art is Love: Amor es Arte | Arte es Amor” was born.
The stories he shares in his memoir bring him back to loteria, a traditional game of chance that is similar to bingo. In loteria, however, instead of using numbered ping-pong balls, moves are determined with a deck of cards. Playing this game with his family growing up, Velazquez was always inspired by the imagery on the cards. This fascination developed into his own artistic interpretation of some of his favorites in the deck, which he also translated into designs for his signature clack fans.
In November 2022, Velazquez released “Love is Art | Art is Love: Amor es Arte | Arte es Amor” which is a perspicacious journey through the darkness and the light: a glimpse into the life and career of this gracious and exuberantly talented beauty industry professional. The book is an illuminating tell-all featuring his loteria art. Growing up in Los Angeles to a hard-working and traditionally macho father and a mother who had her own demons to slay, Velazquez recalls being relied upon to help with his brothers whilst coping with his own challenges coming out young in a community that wasn’t exactly always embracing of his queerness.
“This book is a message of love to the Latinx youth, especially to you the queer, the creatives, the freaks, geeks, and weirdos. Be who you were meant to be and then you will know love. May you find safety in these pages, a roadmap from this weirdo to the light of your star,” reads the dedication on the opening pages of the memoir.
It was in his formative years that Velazquez began to understand that he not only had a sincere passion and talent for art but that he had an uncanny ability to connect with people. As a child, his mother reinforced in him the importance of being careful how he shared his light with the world; that not everyone who is attracted to this light always has good intentions. She was also a huge influence in encouraging him to pursue art professionally. And even though his mother suffered from her own mental illness and addictions, Velazquez says that they remain close into his adulthood with the common denominator being art, culture, and makeup.
View this post on Instagram
The inspiration Velazquez found in the creation of his memoir blossomed into a new shadow palette of nine colors that the artist released under the name Mi Corazon. Reimagining nine of his favorite loteria colors, Velazquez created a purely pigmented, matte finish, cruelty-free, vegan color palette. With Mi Corazon, Velazquez pays tribute to his upbringing with a direct homage to his Latin roots. He graciously provided a couple of these stunning palettes for some local Denver drag performers and entertainers to test and review. Included in this care package, Velazquez also included three clack fans with his custom designed loteria card designs that were released in conjunction with the Mi Corazon launch.
View this post on Instagram
Local talents Venus Victrola, Hysteria Brooks, and Melissa Ivey all took the Mi Corazon palette for a test drive. Overall, the feedback was receptive and glowing. Ivey praised how nice the colors looked against melanated skin, while Hysteria described the colors as “popp’n.” Venus Victrola created two different looks with the palette and wore one of them during her visit to RuPaul’s DragCon in Los Angeles this May. Venus states that this palette is now a “new favorite palette in my makeup case.”
View this post on Instagram
To complement the release of his palette, he also co-produced and released the song “Mi Corazon,” which is an electronic club bop. “Mi Corazon” is available on all major streaming platforms and is available now, just in time to celebrate Pride Month.
Find out more about Andrew Velazquez, his stunning makeup palette of colors, and his gorgeous clack fans, and get your very own copy of “Love is Art | Art is Love: Amor es Arte | Arte es Amor” here.
Featured image Charlotte Piper
What's Your Reaction?
