The Bald and the Beautiful with Trixie and Katya - “Home Grown, Home Blown” with Fena Barbitall

Episode Date: October 13, 2020

Fena Barbitall joins Trixie and Katya to talk about her journey from doing drag at night and working at MAC Cosmetics during the day to creating her very own custom wigs. Fena and Katya share stories of doing drag together in Boston, plus the story of when baby Fena's love of Madonna outed her at camp. https://www.instagram.com/fenabarbitall twitter.com/fenabarbitall  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Woo! I'm Khajiit and welcome to another scintillatingly tantalizing episode of The Bald and the Beautiful. Featuring also me, Trixie Mattel, who's in the room. Thank you very much. At the board, at the mothership. I am at the board. And we have sound effects now. Woo! We got college rock. Twixie.

We got... When something creepy happens. And there's plenty of creepy happening because today we have our very first guest on our second episode of our podcast, The Bald and the Beautiful. That's right. Somebody so gorgeous and influential

who knows both of us very personally. Very personally, very deep down. Someone really great. Somebody who's really perfect. A little better than you. She came from China. China. She came from China.

I know a little bit about China. I went to the doctor. I got a virus from China. Took a cream. Cleared it right up. Oh, I hate that. It's really good, but I hate it. It's kind of good, right?

It is really good. I've been working on it. Yeah, I can tell. It's so close. It is gross. It's really good, but I hate it. It's kind of good, right? It is really good. I've been working on it. Yeah. I can tell. It's so close. It is gross. It's sad. It's sad and awful. Yeah.

It's gutted and rotted. 12 more years. Condoleezza, use a skeezer. This is someone who is not bald. Not at all bald, but they are beautiful. Beautiful. I did try the bald during COVID. What are you talking about?

That's right. I shaved my head. Oh, she shaved her during COVID I shaved my head well hold on ladies and gentlemen welcome to the stage of the complex multi-talents of the only dog seizure medication drag queen extraordinary professional oh shit

not me trying to bring you on with laughter instead it was trying to bring you on with laughter Instead it was Trying to bring you on with cheering And then it was laughter I mean What better to Yeah And you were really last minute today

You were out shooting Good Peace Sorry Quail Yeah Quail Dinner

Yeah Speaking of beautiful She was very beautiful In the studio today We're doing headshots And promo looks for Miss Barbara Tall. I was talking to somebody on Grindr, and they were talking about, they said, we're not hunters either. We just go once a year.

And I said, no, that's hunting. Hunting is going hunting. Thank you. Oh, if you go once a year, you're not a hunter. That's apparently me trying to get laid. You like hunting? You have a shoot gun? Who are you hunting on grinder with girl i got

stuff going on i got stuff going on the gays in west hollywood they'll try anything yeah oh yeah dicks in the ass not worth it anymore they want a musket exactly you want a colonial musket what's the thing where they should the they shoot the ski the ski shooting shooting shooting oh they say clay pigeons clay pigeons in my ass. You're from the country. You must know. Uh-huh. Oh, yeah.

Yes. Yes, girl. So, Fina, you're a makeup and beauty professional. I am. Yes. I worked for MAC Cosmetics for 13 years. 13 years. 13 years.

It was a lot. 13 years. 13 years. 13 years. It was a lot. Also, in between, I worked for many other companies, but Mac was the main. You know, I still have that Pout lip brush. Yes.

She gave me a lip brush about 15 years ago. Still got it. Still got it. Pout lip brush. Listen, brushes, it's your own destiny. There's that Sugarpill lip brush that I use for my nose. Oh, yeah. Amy was like, that's a lip brush.

I'm like, no, no, no, no, no. Oh, yeah. One line down the nose. Trace the white line. Yeah. It's a broad stroke. It's funny. A lot of people do white lines under the nose.

You do it right on top. Cocaine, cocaine, cocaine. She's killing it, folks. She's really just letting him have it today. Who wrote that? She said, you live right by the Laugh Factory. You'd think they would rub off on you. It's half a block away.

You could go do a set there. I did a show at the Hall. When I was getting ready for Grown Up, I went and did little gigs. And I was in full drag at these comedy clubs backstage. And there was normal, famous LA comedians being like, So, you're starting out? And it was like normal, normal, famous L.A. comedians being like, so just start now. I'm like, no, I'm touring thousand seat venues starting next week. Are you just starting out?

Yeah. Take that, Mike. There was there was this one show where I walked on stage and everyone was I was like, oh, I'm sure you guys have had a long night because, you know, the straight comedians, hoodies, hoodies, adult straight male comedians. Oh, yeah. Skinny jeans. Hoodies. Dirty jeans. Oh yeah. Dirty jeans, bourbon, dirty jeans. And then the girls are in the beautiful hair and makeup. And then the men are just fucking bottom of the barrel. Big shit. Bottom of the barrel. Yeah. Big shit. Clay

pigeons. Well, this show is called the bald and the beautiful, and I'm excited to have you on because you're a real life beauty professional. Yeah. Will I try? Yeah. Yes. Was that your first cosmetic? Was it your first like beauty industry job it absolutely was i was 18 years old um that's a hard job to get at 18 oh let me tell you that the the bumpiest road to get there i used to like scoff around the counter in like dirty you know black eyeliner and one of the women gave me an application like fill it out bring it back we'll see what happens i did and i got uh hired to be on the freelance team and i don't think that they really liked me at first because i never got booked oh so you have to get booked uh and they

send you out to different counters to freelance as you know but i didn't get booked right away so i had to kind of you know myself. I went to my interview wearing jeans. I interviewed in jeans and like, it was my first job interview in my whole life. And the, I'll never forget Gerard Brule, who was the GM or whatever, sat on the other side of the desk.

When he sat down, he didn't get shorter. And then one of the questions was, he was so tall. he was so big and tall he was a big oh i was like yeah think about it oh the wall is closing in like i don't know why that took me to like a full alice in wonderland like he sat down oh oh oh not screaming so he so he sat down he didn't get any shorter he's a big huge man and he asked me what do you think a professional makeup artist would wear to work and i did not it didn't click in my head that

i wasn't dressed and he was reading you he was reading you read oh my god that is i think that's cruel well i believe the i believe the verbiage they use at that company was image and like being fashion forward. Yeah. It was like a pro way of saying you dress like shit. At that point, it was like, you can wear whatever you want as long as it's black and all your bits are covered. Oh. But I still got the job. You still got the job.

I still got the job. Wow. Lord knows how. Damn. But, you know, from there, it of you know screwballed and screwballed and snow i moved to boston a year later yeah and started working more regularly and um and now i depressingly do drag were you doing drag at the time yes because if you've been doing makeup since you were 18 you've been doing makeup about what? 15 years. I'm 36.

You do the math. Just put those numbers out there for people. I really just grabbed a number. But I also, mind you, I started dressing in drag in high school at 16. Tell them about the hair net or the snood. Oh my God. The snood.

Of course. So I also had long hair shoulder length black platinum platinum hair at the time because my friend i had uh this trans boy who didn't go to my high school but would sometimes come to school with me has that ever happened did that ever happen with you no wait a minute no this is this is companions wait a minute yes wait a minute yes there was just a young man going to school with you and you said this is my young ward hello he would he would dress like kurt cobain and i would dress up like courtney love oh i'm talking a little baby doll dress okay my curly messy blonde hair smudged eyeliner this is when i would get like makeup from like Halloween makeup. Yeah. You had the white foundation.

Yeah. And the black. Your teachers. Oh, I wish. Yeah. I wish. But that was like the beginning of the end.

Well, we didn't really introduce you correctly. You're one of those drag queens. I mean, before you moved to Los Angeles, especially on the East coast, everybody knew you, you booked all the shows,

you booked all the girls. You unfortunately are responsible for the career of this piece of shit to our left. Oh, I can't take responsibility for that. But like when you guys first started doing drag together, did you book her? Were you in the one in charge?

No, it was both. We were, yeah, we were, because she was in the like, what would you call it? You were in like the actual scene. The weekend shows. I worked at all like the the major clubs and bars yes i was i never did that i was in the one little um the one little the hooker bar

and then she did all the nightclubs as well as the hooker bar and then we both worked at jocks yeah but you did um paris striker yeah and then they liked how kooky you were. So they put you on the weekends. I hate that word kooky. Yeah. She's so kooky. Especially by today's standards. We're talking like 10 years ago. Kooky was like you did a song that wasn't top 40.

Oh no, this is like 2006. Yeah, this is 2006. We met in 2005, 2006. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oh yeah. At a Boston market. I was in high school

Yeah Yeah Wow She's 36 I'm 38 Boston's a huge city I mean did you guys feel No it's tiny

It's tiny city It's tiny No it's not It's teeny tiny Very small city Man made Man made Yeah

Boston come on But I mean like You guys are both really famous Even without TV You both were pretty famous in Boston, right? No, she was. So, no. She was.

She was like, if she went out to any gay night, everybody knew her. Nobody knew me. I was a troll. I was a troll. A goon and a goblin. And she was getting free drinks and being the life of the party. And I was just a troll no i swear to god that's true for a while yeah yeah until drag race until drag race until

drag race and then it was a literal i was it was a literal flip nobody knew who i was nobody because i remember when we were on drag race together for the first time you were like the one person that nobody had figured out was on drag on reddit yeah yeah yeah yeah because i was a nobody because me and miss fame were the only like semi social media notable i mean she was next level yeah but i think a lot this was back when people didn't follow drag queens unless they were on drag race and so you could just disappear for by the way just goes to show you how easily a young woman who's a prostitute like you could get murdered yeah you disappeared from social media for a month and no one noticed.

Nobody noticed. There was no social media. You weren't at the gigs and no one noticed. 300 followers. 300 followers. I didn't get Instagram until 2012. Are you serious? I'm dead serious.

I was one of the last ones to the game. That's why everybody else that got on early bought their followers and had that big turn up. I was late to the game and it wasn't until I started posting pictures of you guys' assholes that I started getting more followers. I just reached 13,000, so I'll make sure I tag you guys. 13,000? 13,000. That's a lot. I'm not a single one bought.

Not a single one. 13,000 homegrown. Homegrown. And you homegrown. Homegrown. And you know what? Homegrown. It's good to have 13,000 people who follow you because they want to watch you rather than. Rather than a bunch of Russian bots. Yeah.

Scams and schemes. Scams and schemes. I'm not opposed to that either. So if you are a Russian bot and you're looking to follow someone, I'm scamming and scheming. When you. When you. Oh, sorry. No, no.

When you first started. I hate you. When you first started doing drag, who did you want to look like? Like who was the fantasy? Who was the icon? Who was the goal? The very first,

it was Courtney Love, Madonna. I think those are definitely both good starting places. Courtney Love and Madonna. I mean, if it wasn't for Madonna, I wouldn't be doing drag really absolutely she came to your house she said my earliest are you available for a booking down at the hamburger mary's you have to do the british accent are you available down at the hamburger mary's massachusetts are you available at the

hamburger mary's sandwich massachusetts plymouth we need you to come down to do a number at Marlborough. I know, I know, I know, Plymouth. Come down to Marlborough. Marlborough. Yes. I was, I, my first time ever in drag was a talent show in elementary school where I borrowed this girl's bell-bottom pants

and I did holiday in front of my like fourth grade class did they live did they turn up i don't remember thank god i don't remember later on my mother recalls getting a phone call from my summer camp saying hey your son just came out of the closet to everybody by performing vogue on a picnic table in the middle of a park trailblazer rule rule breaker risk taker i have pictures of it with my sister how old were you so you came out of the you stomped out of the closet and said i'm gay i didn't even know i didn't i didn't know what gay was i knew i wanted to be madonna okay that's gay enough. That. I didn't know what gay was, but I knew I wanted to be Madonna.

That honestly, it's one thing to be like, I had a crush on a boy. Right. That's child's play. Child's play. Did you want to be Madonna or fucking not? I wanted to be Madonna before Lady Gaga wanted to be Madonna. There you go. Well, to be fair to Lady Gaga, a lot of people rightfully want to be Madonna. Yeah, that's true. Yeah. Because Madonna, I mean, getting to be friends with lot of people rightfully want to be Madonna. Yeah, that's true.

Because Madonna, I mean, getting to be friends with you, I learned a lot more about Madonna. She's seizing, she's seizing. I learned a lot more about Madonna than maybe I had ever thought. Cause I explained to you for somebody who's my age, my first memory of Madonna was her walking down that fake robe with the hat on. And I'm like, that's, I mean,

that's cool. Wait, what? Don't you never tell me that's your first memory of Madonna that or die another day. Oh my God. I stayed up. I can remember staying up to watch the justify my love video on mtv

and writhing around so this was a two-parter because it's madonna but it was also carrie fisher in star wars so i would dress i would pretend i was her in the gold bikini this is so good the gold bikini and then i would wrap a towel around my head like it was the ponytail oh yes and then the couch was job of the my head like it was the ponytail. Oh, yes. And then the couch was Jabba the Hutt and I would dance in my living room. The couch was, you cast the couch as Jabba the Hutt? Did you ever fuck the couch? Did you ever get in under the cushions like you're being eaten? Oh my God, tell me you got under the cushions.

Do you guys ever switch roles? Well, we had to now. I can no longer fit the costume. Well, there had to know. I can no longer fit the costume. Well, there was a video. Do you remember you were at my house and we were watching, you were showing me the performance of Madonna Vogue as she's Marie Antoinette. Oh, yeah. And I'd never seen it.

And I was kind of blackout drunk. And I was like, do people know about this? Does everyone know about this? And you're like, everyone knows about this. I'm talking at six years old with a fan, a hand fan in my room, practicing the tossing it in the air and catching it. Wow. Back.

Yeah. I got on to her during the Bedtime Stories era. And I remember watching the behind the scenes, making the music video for Take a Bow and Bedtime Story. And she was so hot. Hot. Bedtime. She was fucking the she was fucking the tv with the bull rider what can i ask can i ask in the room in the room in the room who what is your favorite madonna songs only one madonna song for the rest of your life you can listen to oh god vogue oh i mean yeah it would have to be Vogue. Absolutely. I mean.

Okay. Yeah. I think mine is Beautiful Stranger. I knew that. I knew that was your favorite. Oh, yeah, it is a good song. It's super 60s, which I love. And it's from Austin Powers.

And you could cover that song. Oh, it's so good. She looked beautiful in that era, too. Ray of Light. Right? It was around Ray of Light, but she was, remember when Courtney Love threw the compact up at her? It was that with the light But she was Remember when Courtney Love Threw the compact Up at her

It was that With the blue Blue blouse In the bouffant hair Yes Yes Puparella Oh I love that hair

She looks so hot Beautiful in that hair So beautiful Yeah That's I miss The one thing I miss The most about Madonna

Is Madonna at the VMAs Oh yeah Cause we always knew the VMAs. I looked forward to every year. She always gave it to you at the VMA. She always came through. Brittany and Christina. Yeah.

Kissing them. Yeah. Kissing up on the girls. One of the, one of the, probably the most iconic moments of the VMAs. Well, when I watched the truth or dare documentary,

which I hadn't seen until Fina. Well, when we did, yeah, I hadn't seen it either. So when we did moving parts, the director and, and the producer, they were like,

it'll have elements of truth or dare. You should watch that so you know what it is. And then Fina, I watched it. Do we watch it together? We watched it on tour. Yes.

Because Fina toured with me on moving parts and then she toured with you on Help Me, I'm Dying. And then we watched it on there. We watched it, yeah. And I didn't know at the time how it was even a conversation

for a woman like her to have to explain herself doing numbers that are almost like closer to musical theater. Because she was doing things that I guess maybe women singers hadn't really done. Like the whole conversation about her masturbating on stage and venues asking her not to. Right. I mean, sadly, that probably still could happen today. I mean, sadly, that probably still could happen today. But it never occurred to me that when I saw Britney doing stuff like that when I was a kid, that came from something. Britney saw a Madonna concert once in her life.

You think the Vatican could keep me from rubbing my gash live? I don't think they'd try. Because they need proof that the devil exists to show people that the lot exists. That you're biting his blood. I'm biting his blood. you're biting his blood i'm biting his i'm biting his blood i'm soaked in the solution i'm dipped in the divine how come you think madonna's never done a um i know she has a skincare isn't it surprising she never did like a mac collection or something she did actually so in 1990 her blonde ambition tour they created the color uh russian red for madonna and really and face and body foundation was created for her dancers

wow yeah i love that russian red it's yeah it's a good one and in her, the girly show, she wore Viva Glam 1 and Russian Red. Interesting. Those were her colors. Wow. Oh, yeah. Favorite lipstick? Red and wild. That's a theme.

That's a theme. Favorite lipstick. Favorite lipstick. You can only wear one color lipstick for the rest of your life. I mean, I stopped wearing red so much because it was your thing. It became your thing. She did invent red lipstick. I did invent red so much because it was your thing. It became your thing. She did invent red lipstick. I did invent red lipstick.

I would say Russian red, but I don't know. I feel like... Really? I feel like you're the queen of the nude. Yeah. Now I feel like it's a flesh pot. Flesh pot or bobble. Bobble.

Bobble's hot. We're very proud of it. Sold out. Oh. By the way, I don't know what any of them do, so I'm just picking them. That's the way to do it. Can I ask, when you started doing makeup, when you started doing drag then, so when you saw Madonna and Kourtney, what elements of that were you pulling first?

Like the red lip? I mean, because they both had white, white skin. you pulling first like the red lip the i mean because they both had white white skin so uh back in about 2006 uh a friend of ours worked at shu uemura oh my god yes fancy yeah uh lisa new car lisa new car a great drag name the best yeah just so good lisa new by the way didn't get it when you guys told it to me at first um it's a sleeper hit three years it's a sleep i didn't get it for three years it's incredible lisa new car worked at shuomora which is a makeup company japanese and uh madonna's then makeup artist gina brooke gina bro uh, worked with Shu Uemura. She was their color designer.

And so she, when Madonna was in town, she came in to do a class at the store. So I met Gina Brooke. It was incredible. It's like meeting your idols. Oh my God. And how old were you? Oh God. It was like early twenties.

I mean, you're still young enough that meeting somebody like that can just shake you to your skeleton and you know what i mean it was it was unbelievable it was like it was like being one degree separation from right so meeting her she taught like she did a makeup in front of us and it was beautiful and she was so sweet and um she literally that this is this is what led me to wearing no makeup back then. Oh, yeah. I thought you could not tell me. Were you a no makeup girl?

For six years, you couldn't tell me I wasn't Madonna. She had a pussy. A little background on Fina. Your look is pretty much like, I'd say it's like fish, but showgirl. But because of COVID with the mask, you've been doing the drag eye makeup, sis. Oh, yeah. Because we can't go paint down, I paint up. Yeah.

Right. You know. But she would, I mean I mean when they go low we go high that's what Michelle Obama meant she was talking about eye makeup I thought she was talking about my breasts the nipples are facing down not the nipples are facing down mama east and west east and west oh my god so you were doing the drag shows at night and you were working at the makeup stores during the day which is kind

of like the dream combo it really was and back then this is pre when this is before drag race really got kicking so we were still working and making the money. And like, I think around when 2008 came and like the, you know, the financial crash and I actually lost my job at Mac in 2008. I then started working for a couple of other brands here and there. And, you know, you do what you can.

What did you work for? I actually freelanced, I think twice or two or three times for shuomora it was a dream another time with gina brooke fun um pout cosmetics i was a baby a rep for pout cosmetics inside victoria's secret and sephora oh wow and i was a sprayer for john varvatos. Hey, try this. The Vince Camuto. Try the John Varvatos. We got John Varvatos, Vince Camuto. And if you buy it, you get a free tote. And we do validate.

We do. And my daughter got the Pink Friday. Nicki Minaj. I was a sprayer for the Britney perfume when it first came out. Was it Curious? Yes. Curious was beautiful. I came in the nude, a nude catsuit with the rhinestones.

Wait a minute. No, you didn't. In a Macy's. I'm not joking. You did this? No, it was a Filene's. Yes, it was a Filene's before Filene's went out. Wait a minute.

You were in a nude catsuit at the Macy's? I was much smaller. Remember how skinny I was? She was skinny. She was my size. Were you in drag? Yes. And you were spraying people with perfume? Yes. I was much smaller At the Macy's Remember how skinny I was She was skinny She was my size Were you in drag Yes And you were spraying people

With perfume Yes You should have seen this bitch She would be Like she was skinny mini No makeup Couldn't tell her She didn't have

XX chromosomes Couldn't tell her Why didn't you wear makeup Just a little Like a wing liner A white I wore my real brown Why didn't you wear makeup

Because she had a uterus That was sitting underneath a vulva. That was on top of two nipples facing the ground. She was a woman. Gina told me I didn't have to. Yeah, she was a woman. You have to, we're going to post, I don't know if there's somewhere to post this. We're going to post a picture of you from, I remember there's a flyer where you had your real hair snatched up.

of you from, I remember there's a flyer where you had your real hair snatched up. Speaking of which, she used to do this thing that I was so jealous of because she has this full, thick, lovely blonde head of hair. And I used to look at how she would snatch up the front into this gorgeous blonde wig. Longingly. And I was like, I tried to do it one day. Three hairs. I got a picture. Three hairs.

She sent me a picture today. Okay, everybody out there bald, you need to ruminate on that and we will be right back. So what's it like to buy your first cryptocurrency on Kraken? Well, let's say I'm at a food truck I've never tried before. Am I going to go all in on the loaded taco? No, sir. I'm keeping it simple, starting small. That's trading on Kraken. Pick from over 190 assets and start with the 10 bucks

in your pocket. Easy. Go to kraken.com and see what crypto can be. Not investment advice. Crypto trading involves risk of loss. See kraken.com slash legal slash ca dash pru dash disclaimer for info on Kraken's undertaking to register in Canada. I'm there for savings, not whatever you think university is for. Get Uber One for Students, a membership to save on Uber and Uber Eats. With deals this good, everyone wants to be a student. Join for just $4.99 a month. Savings may vary. Eligibility and member terms apply. Looking for a path to accelerate your career? Clear direction for next-level success?

In a place that is innovative and practical? A path to stay current and connected to industry, a place where you can be yourself. You will find it at York University School of Continuing Studies, where we offer career programs purpose-built for you. Visit continue.yorku.ca. And we're back with Fina Baratol, Trixie Mattel. I'm Katya. Now tell me about this, the head snatch, the hair snatch. Because she's got a hairline that's in the right place.

Yeah, and lace front technology was not there. It was years away. Because the only girls who had the good hairlines were the ones who grew out their real hair. Yeah. It was flawless. It was taught to me because, uh,

destiny, my roommate, this incredibly gorgeous trans woman who is a performer. Um, she has nice long hair. She would, she showed me Asian. Oh yes.

I think I met her. Yes, definitely. Definitely. She's like more short. Yeah. Oh yeah. She's incredible.

You could not, she was the diva of Boston. When you have a friend that beautiful though in drag, doesn't at least take the pressure off. No one wanted, She's incredible. You could not. She was the diva of Boston. Dancing diva. The goddess. When you have a friend that beautiful, though, in drag, doesn't it at least take the pressure off a little bit? No one wanted to go after her. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. You don't understand.

You don't understand the boiling resentment, the pressure. The clowns we were. The goof clowns that we were. Just goons in gauntlets. You're like, we didn't want to do comedy. We had to. We had to. You were trying to come out and loosen up my buttons.

Yes! Literally. Literally. Yes. On Friday night, so Fina and I never worked together at Jock's, hardly ever. The only time when we were vibing

was when Destiny called out and one of us was replacing her. And then we could really vibe. Fierce. Or we had our own show, Cream of Laughter. Yeah, Cream of Laughter on Wednesday nights. But so if you're on a weekend, Cream of Laughter?

It's a long story Wait a minute Yes That's it The show was called Cream of Laughter The Cream of Laughter Like Souter

Like Cream of Wheat Yeah Yeah I know I get it It's just dumb No I know but listen That's the point

Every drag show though sometimes you inherit those drag shows and you don't think about who named it because that's just the name it's just the name we we know we yeah yeah yeah we come to my party it's called uh it's called like you know uh dancing with the dollies brunch and you're like who yeah name that lovely brunch we had i had one show my one month show where i got to book it and i just always book Shay and Kim and it was called uh what was it called I think it was called Dreamhouse and it was like and then the vibe was always like a dollhouse with because you know back then too the flyer making technology was not what it was so okay and I love jocks but every time I go to Boston some of those flyers they

are relics girl they are relics it is an oil painting yeah of someone yeah and it's 20 fonts yeah 50 different size pictures yeah it's like the pageant the pageant promo yes they never tells you nothing they never advertise because all of their stuff was word of mouth did they ever have a website oh finally i think towards the towards the end it was wait are they closed permanently they're shut down right now. That's not shade. I'm just, you know. No, no, no, no. The gay bars are dropping like flies.

I think their days are numbered. Machine is closed. Oh, for good. Yeah. That's done. Yeah, RIP. But jocks was a destination. We had some times.

Oh, God. After the show, the post-show wiggle. Yeah. Will you really start to like learn how to do drag once it's your bar and you're comfortable to do numbers you know might not work i say wednesday nights i loved because no one would show up nobody we would still have to perform yeah so that's where i really learned to hone in on the the microphone stand and that whole biz i would just stand on the stage with the microphone and the prop mic and the

lips. That's where I learned how to do the concert realness. How have you adapted your look as? Oh, I feel like we've all, you, I just got a baby filter. I just did a baby filter every other week.

I think you wear more makeup nowadays for sure. Well, no, I feel like back in the day, you were the colors. I used to do top and bottom lashes, feather lashes, color contacts, color contacts. Huge. Ghost white skin. Ghost white.

No contour. But we all wore ghost white. Yeah, that's true. Can I ask that? I think I missed that age-wise. How come every drag queen before a certain point just had a white face? I don't know. Well, social media, Instagram.

We didn't have that. We didn't have any of that. We didn't have that stuff. We weren't posting on Instagram. There are no videos or photos of us like way back in the day that can really document how horrible we looked. I looked fucking rotted. At 38 years old, I feel like I'm gorgeous. I'm going to show you a picture a little bit of

me and jujubee from back in western mass when we were like 18 years old that's right because uh you guys did shows with jujubee she she's known her for longer like what 20 years oh yeah since oh god yeah because she was the first like boston famous queen. Yes. She got us all. She got rap. She got the girls rabid. Really? Yeah. Cause you guys saw this girl just be like a superstar overnight and you're like, yeah, fuck.

No offense to her. That mall clothes bitch. Yeah. Oh, overnight successful. Were you guys like, Oh my God, it was not overnight because I remember we were doing the,

the, um, the viewing parties at machine and no one would come and then the last night we all a bunch of us girls went to new york city for the finale where they crowned tyra and that was the one night that anybody went to machine for the viewing party think about it this is season two no one cared what year nobody cared 2000 2010, 10. Yeah, I think the show started around 2008 or 9. Wow. Yeah, nobody cared about the show.

We only, even at the first season. That's right. Nobody did care. I didn't care about it. Season one, we had to watch it on the internet. Yeah, on the internet. Nobody had logo. Because I was doing drag like maybe two years before it started.

Maybe a year. I never was in the true wild wild wild west where like no one had seen drag queens on television by the time i was 21 like i could go see bb's harbinate at a club oh really yeah see we were like we had been doing it for years already and like i think i remember being skeptical about it and thinking it was kind of lame when it came out and then i remember diamond dunhill was was nuts about getting a whole campaign because to get on the first season, you had to drum up all this support. Really? It's like you had to bring an audience to you.

A voting system. Yeah, it was very strange and it just seemed very desperate. It seems like the window of opportunity to get on the show in a reasonable way has closed. Really? It seems like now, like I've tried out almost every single year. Yeah. And there's no rhyme or reason. There really,

there really is. And I don't care. And I'm not one of those people that cares. I do. Well, I don't hold a grudge. Some girls hold a grudge. Yeah.

Casting is in many ways amorphous and rhyme and reason lists. Yeah, exactly. So in theater school, at least, they told us like, it's not your job to decide whether or not you're getting it. It's your job to just show up, do a wiggle and leave. And I have a very early, early learned lesson about casting.

My parents sent me to a camp, a summer camp for acting, which was just run by my school, and we put on Charlotte's Web. Now, I know by looking at me, you're like, The spider. Clearly, you were the, but that was the role I wanted.

That's not fair. I thought you were the barn. The true role, the true role that that i wanted what world did you get i was not cast as uh as um what would the animal the pig charlotte charlotte charlotte said you're not even ugly enough to be an animal spider i was not cast as the pig i was cast as the fatter pig at the end of the book. The one who wins the blue ribbon. Who wins the blue ribbon for being the fattest pig. Are you familiar with E.B. White's Charlotte's Web?

I am not. He goes to the fair finally at the end, and the big, big fat pig wins the blue ribbon instead of him. And then Charlotte dies. And that was the role I was given as the bigger. And this little fucking blonde fucking got the role of Wilbur. I don't remember. Government name her.

What was her social? 010-656-42-buttercookie-way. Get her. What was that thing? Docked? Go to Dockster. Yes, Docks her. This bitch has been docked's I've been doc's yeah if you want to know where we record

look it up and come kill me my front door just rang while we were doing this and I was like I don't care what it is can't answer it no murder you're delighted but that experience led me to not feel bitter were you may I ask you a sensitive question?

What? Were you, you were a big kid. I was a big fat kid. Was she a great big fat kid? If you want to hear from great big fat kids, stay with us. We'll be right back. This episode is brought to you by CIBC. From closing that first sale to opening a second store,

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Conditions apply. Visit rbc.com slash student offers. And we're back. Thank you guys so much for joining us. We're here with Fina Barbershall for the blonde, not the blonde, the bold and the huh? The blonde bowl cuts. Well, I am blonde.

You are blonde. I still to this day covet. I covet your full head of thick, luscious, natural hair. I took quite a risk when I shaved it off. Did you really think it just wasn't going to grow back? Sometimes it doesn't. Oh, come on. Give me a break. What are you talking about? What are wasn't going to grow back? Sometimes it doesn't. Give me a break. What are you talking about? For some people, it doesn't.

Not from shaving. It grows back thicker. Thicker. Thicker. Also, I'm going to expose you because you've long maintained, for as long as I've known you, a rigorous, thorough, deep and vicious face care skin routine.

Oh, yeah. She has, her skin is fantastic. She uses one of those roller balls with the pins on it. What kind of skin do you have? I have combination. And what's your favorite type of skin products? Well, I know, uh, I started using skincare when I was 18. Really?

Like serums when I worked, um, at Filene's, i started using serums and creams and all sorts of uh i like trying new things i know every six months your skin changes it gets used to whatever you're using for some of us it gets worse why are you looking at me i'll never forget why are you looking at me the whole time on tour i'm like trying to switch Katya's Dawn out for a real... She's got me on an orange thing that I like. The one that I got you on from Lancome, the orange face cleanser. You like that? No, I use it after the Dawn.

I don't like it either. I use it after the Dawn, but it foams. It's an oil cleanser. I don't like the smell. It foams. It foams. I have such a process. It's a makeup wipe, and then it's a cleanser.

Are you talking about getting out of drag? Yeah, but the skincare every day, I don't feel like I'm fully, I can't leave the house without a shower. Really? Wait, wait, wait. But that's different. Showering is different. Even when we're on tour, though, I never felt like I couldn't.

I feel like when I'm on tour, it's a work. I can't start my work day. Unless you shower. Unless I shower. If I can't work around either of you and I smell like, I'm sorry, but fat people, we have folds. We have runoff. Creases. Not runoff.

Runoff. Running off where? To places you cannot return from i gotta clean up clean out my gutters so seriously well when i was on tour with fina she got me turned on to the gold bond medicated powder i just and she said she had me put it in my tucking panties for my quote-unquote what's gone sour my what's gone i just told someone someone was handling my wet panties. So often she was like, this has to stop. I had to put it in. I,

yeah, I started using it during the summer at jocks and to, to absorb when you get a bite of the biscuit. I just, I will. I just told someone the story about the flowering your chicken. Oh yeah. I would stand there in my dressing room with the door open.

I'll just make sure everyone could see me. And I would say, I'm going there in my dressing room with the door open just to make sure everyone could see me and I would say I'm gonna flour my chicken now and I would dump it on my long long pubes and just dump it

I thought you were gonna say something else dump so much powder on the dick and just like wiggle it around and like wiggle it around like rubbing it

on my butt naked it's disgusting and Fina and Brandon my opener would be like just stop but then I kind of got over it. I started using bare minerals then.

I would do like a medium beige, bare minerals all over the balls. Just to even things out. But the problem was with the bare minerals, I would get a flashback. So when I was taking my dick pics, it would photograph lighter. Well, that's why you got to go in with the bronze one. All that mica. Mmm. All that mica.

I mean, I think that's the best hand-me-down tip that I... Well, that and I can say that I introduced you to the NYX gel liners. The NYX gel liners. Which have changed your makeup game. Forever. They're the best. Forever. I think they're discontinued right now. They tried to change it into something Forever. I think they're discontinued right now. They tried to change it into something else.

I think it's a mousse now. NYX Cosmetics, if you're listening, if you don't bring that product back, we need to have a discussion. I'm going to kill myself. I'm on my last white jar. Yeah.

And had like 30 last year. So that's how often I go through them. We have a challenge for you, NYX. I have a challenge for you. Yes, we do. Can I ask, as a veteran woman of drag, how many years have you been doing drag?

Like 20. Well, 16, 36 36 20 years mama yeah oh shit 20 years 18 years professionally okay 18 years old i got my first gig at a nightclub is that yes it was divas nightclub which is close but. But I did Jerry Hallowell's Bag It Up. Wow. Bag It Up. Can I ask, what is your tip for the new girls? Yeah, tell us as a drag veteran. Or what could you tell yourself as a baby drag queen?

You know how it's new drag queens? Did you just pull out a picture of her as a child on the runway and just ask her, what's your trauma? Who would you say to little baby Fina? It's a picture of John Candy. Who's that ghost in the background? It's a picture of John Candy now. What would you say to little baby Fina? It's a picture of John Candy. Who's that ghost in the background? It's a picture of John Candy now. What would you say to little Fina? Planes, trains.

Oh my God. Because you know, when you first start doing drag, there's so many things you think you're supposed to be doing. And looking back, you're like, you are an idiot. Yeah. I used to not even brush wigs. I used to wear it until it was gross. And then it became a bottom wig.

And then it became a bump. And that's it. I didn't know how to brush wigs. Yeah. I didn't know even brush wigs. I used to wear it until it was gross and then it became a bottom wig and then it became a bump and that's it. I didn't know how to brush wigs. I didn't know how to do anything. I knew how to safety pin them together. Yeah, well, that was like the big thing back in the day. It was just like putting one on top of the other. Yeah, because that's $80.

$80, that's a lot of money. And those wigs had a short lifespan. Two months. Before they were gross yeah when i went for that time period i thought i was madonna i would come in and they would never have the exact wig so we'd have to get something and that's where i taught myself how to style a wig to be how i wanted it to look like a character so like when she had like the fair faucet i had to try all these wigs and like cut it. And Destiny was a hairstylist. She showed me a lot of like,

so I kind of had to, that's where I started. And then, you know, steamrolled into. Yeah. And then she, the bird's nest.

I don't know if anybody's purchased the book, Trixie and Katya's Guide to Modern Womanhood, but you better believe that all the hairstyles in that book were styled by Fina. Oh yeah. And God, how many episodes of, uh, did you do that for Katya? Most of them.

Probably at least, at least 30. I think whenever, whenever I started coming, I think in 2017 is when I started. Cause you couldn't, it became like Handmaid's Tale backstage on, uh,

cause you would watch for flyaways. You would do most of your wigs on the spot. What happened was when I, when we first moved here and I didn't have like a job or a gig, she just had wigs and I was like, let me play with these. And I just like, you know, teased and styled a bunch of them

and then it kind of turned into a thing. You've gotten really good at it, I think. Yeah, yeah. Don't you think? I heard when you first started. I'd like to think so. All the ones, all the times I've ever looked the best has always been by her.

You know, it's always so fun because, you know, with you, it's, you know, a little bit of an inspiration from you and then it's really creative freedom. Yeah. Yeah. You really let her kind of like go for it. Go for it. Yeah. On tour.

She and I, I mean, like we would be a little bit like it's five pins, not four Dolores. I mean, that's kind of how she would just be smoothing a wig. And I would be like, okay, but I would do it this way. Like this, literally the same thing. Yeah. The same thing. There was one wig that you had on tour that I think we tried fixing every day for like three months. Was it like the main wig?

It was the first wig, the opening wig. And it was like, we tried fixing it like three months. Was it like the main wig? It was the first wig, the opening, the opening wig. And it was like, we tried fixing it like every night. And there was one time you were like yelling at the wig in the mirror. And I was like, I was like, just tell me I did it horribly. Just tell me.

And she's like, no, no, I'm mad at the wig. Not you. It's like a good deflection. Yes. I'm cutting her inner thigh.

You know what I feel like all the time in the movie Carrie, the remake, Julianne Moore using a seam ripper, stabbing it to her thigh, crying and going, these are godless times. Was she your assistant before me? Julianne Moore. Yes, she was. Because touring with me is kind of difficult sometimes because I'll admit it. Usually have to make me think something was my idea for me to go along with it. That's the best.

You have to go, Trixie, I like this thing you said. And I go, oh, yes, I did say that. Let's do it. Versus if someone suggested to me, I'm like, I don't know. It's kind of like I would buy things and put them at your makeup counter. I would put them in front of you. That's the trick. I'm so glad I found this. i'm so glad i found this yep

i'm so glad i bought this it's great when brandon would do my records he would be like i love that idea you had for this and i'd be like oh yes that idea let's do it it's like a fucking freak she's the she's like the opposite i'm she's lucky if i come to work Well, she also can't brush that wig. So anything is, you know, any holes a goal. Do you want to be? I mean, did you get a lot of the hair for Netflix? If you watch Queens who like to watch,

there's a few episodes where you step in. You remember the episode where she and I have big hair and you step in and go, they're merging together. Yes. Yes. Literally. God, the Mason Dixon, by the way, I know we're probably running out of yes. Literally. God, the Mason Dixon.

By the way, I know we're probably running out of time. You also are really good at fake eyebrows. Yes. What's the secret? Oh, the secret? What is the secret? She's been getting into the fake eyebrows. You clocked her?

Yeah, yeah. Well, I've been doing it. Not today. Mama, the secret is the finding. I've had to find the right product on the stage at Beverly Hills. They're little tiny brow pencil. And what I do is individual hairs. You just got to find the way practice,

practice, practice, and you can do them. You know, they don't have to be the same. They don't have to, you know, no, because my eyebrows are not even cousins.

Yeah. Like they're totally unrelated to each other. It is about color. Yeah. The color cousins. Yeah. Like they're totally unrelated to each other. It is about color. Yeah. The color matters. Yeah. And also the waxy consistency, powdering.

It's a, it's a process. Yeah. I learned a lot actually from Layla McQueen. Oh, well, her brows are insane. If you guys don't know,

if you don't follow Layla McQueen on Instagram, those brows in or out of drag. Yeah. In up close. Yeah. In real life. Yeah. In the in the sunlight yeah i grabbed her by the neck i was like you're gonna draw those on me yeah they're even when she has because she'll also match her color of her hair to her brows like yeah perfectly yeah it's so good i think she's the best

drag makeup artist living right now i really do i really i'd agree yeah she's doing something we're using her for tricksymetics coming up for something. I'm really excited. She's really amazing. Remember, you dye your hair a lot, too. Do you remember? Okay. So when we were making Moving Parts, the film, and there were certain parts where Fina said

really important things that we couldn't take out of chronology because this whore had different hair colors every two weeks. And no one told me. So Fina would be like, yeah, but we can't use it because suddenly she has pink hair. No one told me. Oh, continuity. use it because suddenly she has pink hair no one told me if they had said snacks oh that was right

that was good oh my god well where do people find you on the internet I'm on Instagram at Fina Barbatal and on Twitter at Fina Barbatal and I Twitter at Fina Barbatal. And I also just started my own Instagram for my wig. Oh, fantastic.

For doing wigs for people. Taking custom orders. Taking custom orders. I take custom orders. Oh, I love New Yorkers wrapped up in custom orders. Are you really? I am. I am so happy about that.

I do not do your typical Marcel finger wave. That's not my judge. Yeah. Go to a shitty birds. You want to upside down building burning. Yeah. How about the Eiffel Tower? Remember the Eiffel Tower?

The tower. Yeah. Do you want that? Remember when you guys did the Christmas one with the. Oh, the nativity scene. You want you like bird. Are you bird fan? You want sparrows,

bird's nests, barn doors? I have like a small handful of celebrity clients. Who else have you done hair for besides us? Oh, God. I did Meatball.

Bun. I've done Marta Beachu. Bun. My girl Miranda back home. Who else? It's so nice when they're in LA because you don't have to mail them or crush them.

Victoria's secret. I did one for her recently. Yeah. Sent that all the way to UK. It took like a thousand months. I just finally got there. There was sort of a magic hour, not to be like,

okay, boomer, but there was sort of a magic hour with drag where none of us were famous and no one cared about any of us and you could do anything. And because you didn't have that much more ambition than Friday, Saturday, Sunday at the gigs. It did get to the point in Boston where I was so popular that if I was on Grindr, everybody knew who I was.

And I would go on a date and someone would say, well, I really like you, but I can't be referred to as Mr. Fiend of Arbital. I'm like, girl, girl, thank God for Craigslist. You're like, I don't go by that name anymore. Goodbye, Charlene. It's candy. Candy.

It's candy. Maybe Biden will bring back Craigslist. What's the hair of Precious? What did you call it, Precious? Promise. Promise. Candy Promise. Candy Promise.

Candy Promise. Well, thank you, Fina Barbatal, for joining us on this day. Absolutely. Everybody follow at Fina Barbatal on every single platform. You are so wonderful and we love you very much. Thank you. And goodbye. And goodbye.

Bye. Bye.