Amazing what you find in your own archives, right? Last year I interviewed Mezhgan Hussainy, makeup artist for “American Idol.” This year: She’s engaged to Simon Cowell. To refresh your memory, here’s the story we did with her: LOS ANGELES — If you see “American Idol” contestants who look like a long-lost members of KISS, don’t blame makeup artist Mezhgan Hussainy.
“My goal is to make them feel comfortable,” she says. “If they really want to try something, I don’t want them to leave the show and say, ‘I wish I had done that.’”Wild makeup? “If they have a certain thing they’d like to try and it’s nothing crazy and everybody is going to be OK with it, we do it.
Hussainy, however, has ideas about looks right from the start. She travels with the judges when they go to the finals and starts thinking of ideas. “I get to know their personalities and I try to incorporate makeup in their personalities.”
A celebrity stylist for years, Hussainy has her own makeup line and a list of clients that confirms her expertise. The goal today: Natural looks, she says.
Most “Idol” contestants “come from small towns and have never had any makeup or hair done. Makeovers are a huge part of their look and transformation,” she says.
Last season’s winner, David Cook, was a prime example. “He’s a good-looking guy and a great talent but he didn’t know how to groom himself properly,” Hussainy says. “I taught him how to mess with his hair. Since he had more of a rocker edge from the beginning, I noticed a little bit of eyeliner could distinguish him.” She didn’t add the “extra” touch every night of the show, “just those nights when the songs were rock-oriented.
“The day before the finale we started thinking we could do a little smoky eyes with him. He said, ‘That’s awesome.’ And he looked great.”
Sanjaya, the contestant known for weird hairstyles, didn’t need any direction. Hussainy says. “You just give him guidelines and, occasionally, you say, ‘Maybe we should tone this down.’ If he wants to do it, let him do it. It’s a reality show. And it helped him. It was his comfort zone.”
The right look can add to a performance immensely, Hussainy says. After a long day of rehearsal, the contestants come into the makeup room and, “as soon as I’m done with them they can relax because they look and feel their best.”
Hussainy does the judges’ makeup, too, and says host Ryan Seacrest is great to work with. Simon Cowell, however, is another matter.
“We have an ongoing battle about his hair,” she says. “I say, ‘Let it grow a little longer’ and he says, ‘It’s too curly.’ So, every two weeks he says, ‘I need a haircut.’”
The key to makeup: “Bringing out a personality. Sometimes they think they need five layers of mascara and black eyeliner. My job is to tell them, ‘That’s too much. That’s harsh. Maybe you’ll look better with less.’”