A sex worker shares her long-wearing makeup products that stay put
Words By Ferrari St Germain
“When you’re working in a brothel, or just around men in general, it gets messy.”
We expect a lot from our makeup products. First, we want them to do their job – to make us look and feel pretty. Easy enough, right? But we also want them to be kind to our skin, not cost a million bucks and survive whatever the day brings, whether that’s extreme weather, a sweaty night out or a gruelling shift.
And when it comes to jobs that put makeup to the test, sex work might be number one (or at least up there with, like, deep-sea welding). Not only do beauty and confidence play significant roles in the job itself but the makeup products sex workers use are constantly battling the elements, fighting off sweat, friction and God knows what else. In order to get a little insight into the products that best achieve these near-impossible goals, we had to go straight to the source.
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Nina*, who has a background in stage and theatre makeup, has worked at various brothels, strip clubs, massage parlours and privately for the past three years. While her looks range from soft glam to something more intense, she says she typically goes for products that are both long-lasting and affordable.
“I think people assume sex workers would go for all the expensive products but it’s honestly not worth it. Your makeup gets rubbed off constantly. You have to reapply it, you go through a lot of it really quickly. The texture of the product is important, too – you want something that can be reapplied without separating or caking.”
She says Urban Decay setting sprays are popular in the industry and some girls even use hairspray to set their looks. But she’s got a special technique to lock everything in place, starting with one of her holy grail products: the Elf Power Grip Primer.
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“I set my face twice. After I set my base with powder, I set with a setting spray and then once I’ve done highlighter and eye makeup I set it with a spray again. That way I can make sure my base sets well without worrying about it messing up my mascara.”
Her other holy grail is the Duo lash glue. “Somehow it manages to keep my lashes on the whole night,” Nina tells me. “I avoid waterproof mascaras because regardless of how good it is, it will end up smudging under my eyes and it’s much harder to fix up afterwards when I’m having to fight to get it off my face. A good, long-lasting eyeliner is always good though, I like the Stila Stay All Day one.”
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For other beauty products, including lip products and fragrances, she says it’s all about subtlety. For lips, she typically favours glosses over highly-pigmented lipsticks or stains. “You want a lip product that comes off super easy, that basically disappears when you kiss someone. The lipstick can help your look and help you get booked but you don’t actually want anything that’s going to get on their face or skin and leave stains. I like to use tinted glosses but do not, under any circumstances, use the Too Faced Lip Injections Lipgloss because the clients do not like it when you kiss them and their tips tingle,” she laughs.
When it comes to fragrance, it pays to use them in moderation and stay away from anything too cloying. “I try to use more ‘masculine’ or unisex scents, or scents that stay very close to the skin and don’t project as much,” Nina says. “A lot of clients are married or have girlfriends. If you are wearing a strong, sweet fragrance that’s gonna rub off on a client, it’s gonna cause issues for them and a lot of guys find those super sweet smells overpowering. I love Lush Tumeric Latte and Replica By The Fireplace.”
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At the end of a long day, a good quality cleanser is ever-important to wipe the slate clean. “When you’re working in a brothel, or just around men in general, it gets messy. You are dealing with people’s sweat and body fluids, it’s hot and sweaty and oily, and your skin will absolutely suffer if you don’t cleanse it properly after every shift. And you need a good moisturiser – depending on where you are working, the aircon can really dry out your skin.”
In sex work, just like in any career, the way we present ourselves plays a role in how we feel going into the day and how others perceive us. For Nina, doing her makeup is a way to help her get in the zone for work, to help differentiate between her every day life and when she’s on the clock.
“I’ve worked without makeup before, and for me personally, I don’t feel like it makes men book me less, but I definitely prefer to work with it. Clients seeing my bare face feels too intimate almost, like the makeup becomes a mask and is part of the character I play.”
*Name has been changed for privacy.
To read what makeup products a dominatrix uses, head here.
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