What I'm Thankful For

What I’m Thankful For

Here’s three things that this drag queen is grateful for this year!

By Jeff Skinner a.k.a. Jennifer Lynn Ali

Jennifer Lynn Ali, Miss Southbend 2018.

It’s November and wow, does time fly when you’re having fun! I can’t believe it’s the month where I will be joining others to do No Shave November! That is something I am very excited for. There’s a lot of things this month that are going on! No Shave November, Trans Awareness Month and Thanksgiving.

November is also a month where I like to share things that I am thankful for (and I also like to eat)! Growing up, my favorite thing was to talk to my family about what I was thankful for, so I have picked out three things that I am thankful for as a drag queen. Then I am going to share where you can either get those things or make them yourself! Let’s get started.

The three things I am thankful for are: wigs, makeup and padding! Three very important things for a drag queen.

When you are looking for the perfect wig, sometimes they can’t just be bought from a wig store on Cleveland Avenue. Sometimes you have to buy tracks or ponytail wigs to sew together to make a wig. My favorite type of wigs are ponytail wigs. The wigs are much fuller and you can tease the hair so it has more height. If you’d ask any queen that loves big hair, they’d say, “The bigger the hair the closer to God.” If you don’t believe me, just ask my friend Jada Fenix-Lorez! Personally, I like big hair but I find nothing wrong with short wigs. I think sometimes it’s easier to throw them on and go! I like to call them my little shake and go’s! Shake and go wigs can be found at pretty much any wig store!

My friend Jada Fenix-Lorez loves her big hair.

Next up: makeup. You really want to take your hair color into consideration when you are buying or applying makeup. Eyebrows are important; you don’t want blonde eyebrows with black hair, so here’s a piece of friendly advice — make sure your eyebrows and wigs match. For drag queens the best advice I can give is “CoverGirl does not cover boy!” I think my friend John Sparaco, owner of Midnight Diva Makeup, would agree with me! If you need any type of drag makeup, I highly recommend John! John has been a huge help in my drag career. He always makes sure I am fully stocked on essentials like makeup and eyelashes. (Thanks John!) Makeup is a lot of fun; you only have to remember there’s no wrong way to do it! Makeup tip: Just make sure you BLEND! Blending is super important. You wanna make sure you blend your eyeshadows and contour so it’s not too harsh.

My favorite drag makeup brand.

Lastly, padding! Padding is very important for drag queens! You want to make sure you have that hourglass figure that men usually don’t naturally have. So, you have to add padding. If you’re wondering how we get that perfect figure, keep reading! First is the breasts.

You can go somewhere like Walmart and buy a nice bra, and while you’re there, pick up some pantyhose. Then head over to the pet section and grab some bird seed! Once you get home, take that pair of pantyhose and cut off them off at the knees (or you can just buy knee high tights, but both work). Fill the foot of the pantyhose up with bird seed, tie it up and wrap the excess pantyhose around the bird seed. That’s your boobs! Put them in your bra and you’ve got great breasts!

Reianna Ali has the perfect hair, makeup and body!

The next step to complete your hourglass figure is some hips! My hips are made out of a couch cushion from my mom’s couch, but you can always find foam at JOANN Fabrics! Cut the foam to look like the shape of Africa, and that’ll give you hips and butt! Making hip pads can be tricky, but there are helpful tools that make it easier. You can use scissors, but if you want to go faster, I would recommend using a turkey carver! You should have one of those handy because it is Thanksgiving month, after all.

I know you’re probably shocked that the three things I am thankful for didn’t include rhinestones. Until next time, shine bright, my friends.