For years, Reggie Wells, Oprah's personal makeup artist, has been begging her for one thing. No, it's not to
make him look years younger or to help him
shed 30 pounds . What Reggie
really wanted was the chance to help women across America!
What's the cause that kept him in Oprah's "face" every morning? Well, Reggie says most women—including Oprah—are clueless when it comes to cosmetics! He wanted the chance to teach women, once and for all, the proper way to apply their makeup!
Reggie enrolled Oprah as his first student in Makeup 101. Despite some good-natured teasing about Oprah's makeup-blending abilities and puffy eyelids—Oprah passed!
Now, it's time for Reggie to test his teaching methods on 10 beauty lawbreakers charged with "crimes against cosmetics."
If your face looks like it was cryogenically frozen in the '70s, or you're still waiting for turquoise eyeshadow to make a comeback…watch out! Reggie may be coming after you.
Armed with his brushes and blushes, Reggie hit the streets to bust beauty lawbreakers. He nabbed 10 repeat offenders on makeup misconduct.
The wrap sheet included everything from "wrongful shading" to "illegal use of lipliner" and "failure to camouflage dark circles."
Josephine confessed to being completely clueless when it came to applying makeup.
"I'm so confused," Josephine says. "I'm a mess—I need help."
Reggie sentences each woman to four hours of intense cosmetic class!
What's the first step toward rehabilitating these repeat offenders? Reggie's crash course in concealer!
Reggie tells his class that the proper way to apply concealer is down the center of the nose and underneath the eye. Tap—don't rub—the concealer until it's well blended. Be careful not to apply it too thick—Reggie says that's the worst thing you can do, especially if you have wrinkles!
Lesson number two for Reggie's beauty lawbreakers is the fundamentals of foundation and powder.
What's the key to making foundation look natural? Blending! "It's not surgery," Reggie says. "Don't overwork it."
Then, Reggie says a loose spattering of powder locks in the foundation and keeps the face looking flawless. Be sure to shake or blow on the brush to get rid of excess powder…or else you might end up looking like "the Ghost of Christmas Past."
Whether you like your cheeks rosy red or slightly bronzed, Reggie says there's a right and a wrong way to apply blush.
Stop the sweeping motions and simply make circles on the apples of your cheeks. Smile into the mirror to find the perfect spot to apply a little color. Blush helps create a warmer skin tone, Reggie tells his attentive students.
In lesson number four, Reggie teaches the women how to create maximum drama with eyeshadow.
First, he says to try a dark shade on the eyelid with a lighter color just above it. Don't forget to blend!
Then, the next step is to shake up your liquid eyeliner, and paint a nice line all the way across the eyelid. What's Reggie secret method for mascara? He does a crisscross motion across the eyelashes to create extra-long length.
Perfectly proportioned eyebrows make the look complete. Instead of trying to draw on an eyebrow, Reggie says he'd rather fill in lighter spaces to simulate full brows.
During Oprah's makeup lesson with Reggie, she learned that "you can't have an amazing lip with just one lipcolor." Reggie says it takes at least three shades to attain amazing lips.
First, Reggie says to take the darkest lipstick and trace the line of your lips. Then, use the next darkest color to shade more of the lip—but don't go all the way in! Leave a little lip bare for the lightest color. Apply it through the middle of your lip, and then crown the lightest shade to the top part of the lip, as well.
The final lesson for Reggie's makeup class is the secret of finisher!
Reggie introduces the ladies to Model in a Bottle! All it takes is a light mist of this product on your face, and your makeup will not move, he says. Finisher sets the makeup, so that you can face the elements without fear!
After just four hours, these 10 ladies went from beauty lawbreakers to proud grads of Makeup 101…thanks to Professor Wells! But, can they successfully complete his final cosmetic challenge?
After graduation, Reggie had one last test for his rehabilitated students. All 10 women had to apply their own makeup, without any help from Oprah's pros, before the show. How did they do?
"Girls, you are making me so proud of you!" Reggie says.
Like Oprah, the women passed and were acquitted of all previous charges! Christie, who had been using the same makeup for the past five years, says she got a lot more out of the class than great beauty tips.
"I never used to do anything for myself, and I learned so much more than makeup," Christie says. "I realized that I can put myself first sometimes. … This makeup only took me, 10 or 15 minutes, and I feel great because of it!"
Keep it up ladies…you never know where Reggie will pop up next!
