Kesha on Makeup and Music

of the two and how she marries the two. And I also know her as her pretty out there style from glitter to all things rainbows to color, and I wanted to just really figure out what she thinks about when she's creating this makeup line. Her makeup line called Kesha Rose, which is also her name is um it's new on the market and I think it's very very cool, and so I wanted to hear what went into making it. Hey, Kesha, nice to meet you, So nice to meet you. You're

a legend. Oh my god, that just makes me sound old. No, you're okay, Yeah, iconics a little better. Well, your iconic. You're a legend, you're famous. So you know, it's it's always nice to talk to someone else that you know has has made something and is somewhere, and it seems like you're going a lot of places these days. Oh girl, I'm trying to figure it out like the rest of us. But you know what, you never quite figure it out,

and that's the good news. And once you have figured it out, you just want to do something completely different. So it's I think it's part of the creative process. I you know, I was talking to somebody. I forget who it was, um, maybe myself. But I'm thinking that everyone has the capability of being an artist. It's just whether or not you decide to apply yourself to the creation, because I feel like the hardest step is just trying

to make the thing that you want to make. Yes, I think that certainly everyone has the ability to be creative. Two of the things I do not have the ability to do that I would love to be able to do, and one of them is to be able to sing. Because when I sang in fifth grade, I thought I was doing a great job, and my music teacher asked me to mouth the words, so oh yeah, and you

know what, when I drink tequila, I sing fine. But anyways, so I can't sing, and you know what, I love to dance, and I can't dance well I in my opinion, it's just my humble opinion. I think everybody I sound like else, like um welfare all else. But everybody can sing and everybody can dance. You don't have to do it well to be able to do it. You just got to do it. Okay, Well, if you're really bored one day, you can go on YouTube and google me dancing with flow Ride on stage the one, one moment

I had this opportunity. And trust me, short Jewish women cannot dance, which is why. Yeah, but but it's okay. I enjoyed it. That's all that matters. I think that's the most important part of making art, is like whether it's dancing or cooking, which I can't cook, like I can't boil water, so like, oh you can like an art, it's such an art. But the creation of anything, it's like to enjoy it is the best thing ever. And

that's why I've loved making makeup. And I just got your product, and I love the packaging and I love that I can just tell there's such well intentions behind it. So you're making this beauty product, which, as someone else here is just like I'm in the baby stages, like learning how to also make beauty products. But there's so much thought put into it, and I think it's so fucking awesome. Thank you. That's my creation and that's my art. So I want to talk about your style first of all,

like how would you describe your beauty style? I feel like I like to challenge any said rules that there are. I really like to challenge, and I think that makes me sometimes it challenging, like person to consume or I don't know, so like you either kind of love me or hate me, is what I've gathered from the research I've done. But I think you're wrong. People love you. I never heard anyone not loving you. Well, you're very sweet, but I've checked my Instagram comments one time too many.

But I just think that I like to challenge what like beauty is. I like to challenge what the definition of beauty is and why it is that way, and I think that it really comes back to what we learned or up and what we saw. And then I also am in this process of trying to be more open to like color, like of course, classic black and red lips like those are such classic beauty staples. But I also love I just as I sound like a five year old, But I fucking love rainbows and I

love color and it makes me really happy. And I feel like when I'm walking around, I don't feel like a person. I feel like I'm just like blue Tiger. That's what I kind of like. I would say identify as a blue Tiger. So, well, you're a You're a full on creative being and that's what you do. And so it's almost like I get it, but do you think you got into music first or or beauty first when you were a kid. Always went hand in hand.

It was weird. When I was growing up, I always gravitated towards looking at people like t Rex, like Mark Folan and Iggy Pop specifically Zicky started era like this very gender bending, very sparkly, theatrical and like very cool. But it just so happened that they were also men. So I love the kind of gender bending. And I always loved anything that sparkled, like I'm like a like a I forget what kind of fish it is, like a barracuda or or raccoon, Like anything that sparkles like

I can't help it. I'm just attracted to it. So and were you the kid that wore it to school like in high school? Oh? Yeah, it was it was a train wreck. I was not a train wreck. It was an exploration and I love to see those pictures.

We're still exploring. I think life is one. But it kind of wently under the hand to me because I thought the visual side of things was so cool when you would see this man and then it covered in glitter in a one leg jumpsuit, and I just thought it was the coolest thing ever, especially some of the iconic face painting moments, David Bowie moments, like they're just like burned into my mind as the coolest thing ever, like where he just looks like a creature from space.

So I got into both at the same time because to me, they go hand in hand. It's like the internal expression and then the external expression of oneself to kind of go with each other. But how did you

get into music? In the beginning, music was just kind of part of the narrative because my mom is a songwriter, and she wrote songs for Johnny Cash and Dolly Parton sang the song, and Merle Haggard just all these classic country icon legend like people that are just you know, next level amazing, And so I was just always around music, so it kind of was like it was, weirdly just part of our lives. Like on Christmas, our family would

just play music together. It sounds so weird because I know that's really different than other people's Christmas experience, but that was our way of bonding and like our communication style almost was making music together. And then when did you put music and makeup together? Like what part of your career? Um? I think I've tried my whole life to kind of put them together, and some have been

more successful attempts than others. But I think that's kind of part of the fun is that I also learned from a really early age like if you're gonna do weird ship, you're gonna have opinions. So just get used to some people liking it and some people not liking it, including myself. Like sometimes I think I look fucking fierce and fabulous, and then I see a picture of it and I'm like, that is not what I thought it looked like. So what what what was your worst makeup

memory where you're like, did I really do that? Oh? There's so many which I don't even think, well, on SNL, I decided to the first time I ever played Saturday Night Live, I it was like, I very much I don't feel like I'm from this planet, so I want to look as much like a space creature as possible. So I wanted to do all day glow makeup, and I believe at the time it was something they've never done before, so it was like a bit of a

challenge to successfully like pull it off. And when I look back at that, I'm like, you know what, good for you, But it's not exactly what I thought it was gonna look like. Sounds so cool. Do you share these pictures on any of your socials, all of these makeup memories? You know what? I should do some more of that, because yeah, I like my TVT Throwback Thursday.

I totally should. There's also a time where I had like a mohawk and blue lipstick on and it was just all stuff that like you're not supposed to do, and I was like, well, I have to do it, And what did you do something on Jimmy Fallon? Did you do makeup on Jimmy Fallon? Or you I did? I made him put on blue lipsticks, So I like, basically bought out the Max Store of this like blue eyeliner, and it's kind of the color I feel like reflects probably what my aura has always looked like, just like

my favorite color of like turquoise blue. And so I put it on as lipstick for like, I don't know, three years, and then I when I went on Jimmy, I do get what it was, I think, and I made Jim put it on. I'm pretty applied it to him or somebody else applied it to him. But good for him for being a good sport. Knows that's so cute. And talk to me about your makeup artist, because I know you have a close relationship with him. Does he always do your makeup? And for how long? Oh? God?

Ideally yes, he always does my makeup because for me, like my makeup style is either I'm pretty all or nothing kind of gal. So if I'm which is why I'm really excited about your makeup. Actually, it's because it seems very much like nothing. No, It's like it just

feels good for your skin, it feels nourishing. It doesn't feel like it's going to Like a lot of times when I do stage makeup, it's like really really intense and thick, and there's a lot of makeup happening, and this is makeup that seems really wearable and seems really healthy for your skin, which it is. It's all clean, it's a clean brand and that was really important to me, and um, I wanted it to feel as good as

it looks. And I, you know, it's funny because I was looking through your Instagram and I stopped at this picture of you with red lipstick and freckles, and I was like, oh my god, how adorable is that picture?

Do you do that? Sometimes on stage we're not really like no makeup and just something, you know what I makeup is a little bit part of like the the superpower that like, well, before I go on stage, there's this whole ritual of putting on, like I do full make up and then I usually have some crazy wig down to my ass and a cape. So it's kind of part of like putting on the putting on the thing. It's like going on stage with all this makeup on, and I enjoy it because it's part of the extremes

of my personality. It's like it's it's like I'm either at home with this beautiful bomb on my face and the Master era or I'm like full face of makeup with stars glued to my forehead and glitter everywhere and turquoise and lashes, and I haven't really done fully. If I'm being totally honest, I've never on like full naked face on stage because that sounds like it's so vulnerable. God, but you look so freaking pretty thin. I just have

to say, I love your freckles, so thank you. Well, it's kind of like you're saying in fifth grade when you were like singing and someone told you to not sing and it traumatized you into thinking you can't sing. I on my very first album cover, I took all the pictures. I thought I looked so cute that all

my freckles are blazing. And then I got like the picture back from I don't know who did it, to be honest, but I got the picture back and they had blurred out all of my freckles and I was like, oh, okay, so that because that was back then, right and back then. Yeah. I once hired a model with a gap in her teeth and they filled it in. I was like, why, that was like made her so interesting? So they did

the same thing with freckles. Yeah, I think I kind of like have grown to now it's like a badge of honor my freckles, and maybe one day I'll be able to go out fully naked faced. But it sounds a little bit scary. But my makeup artist, what's his name, Vittorio Toreo Missekia, and I have to say, he's like one of my closest friends and has been with me for like years and years, and we've grown so much

together as people and just in the beauty department. It's so much fun because we take risks and it's exciting and it just feels like it's a really safe place. And I trust him with my face, like he knows my face like the back of his hand, and so I could fall asleep or I could be crying hysterically, and I just know that he's going to make sure that the outside looks okay, even if the inside is struggling, like he makes sure the outside looks great. And I

just love having that trust with somebody. I feel like it's really rare. So is the process where you come up with the ideas and you explain what you're thinking and he translates them or do you do it together. It's really collaborative, like they'll be some days where like yesterday he was like, how do you want to look? And I was like, I want to look like the ocean on a beautiful day, Like I want to be

a sparkle ocean lady. And he's got it and so he'll interpret that into a way that makes sense on my face. And then we kind of tweak it together and we take risks together, like it's kind of fun, like it's like, well, wait, should we like tie tye this wig? And I'm like, a slutely, we should. So it's really like it's really nice to have like um yeah, totally, that's just like ready to get weird. But then also can stop you from yourself and be like okay, it's done,

Like you're done. It's good. And how involved is he and your brand? He when in the first round I ran everything by him because I wanted to make sure it's something he would use on my face, anything that I ever put out. I want to make sure I stand behind I will wear it. I'll wear it on stage, I'd wear it off stage. I want to put it on my face. It's not tested on animals. It's clean like your brand, which I so appreciate. Like when brands are clean and not test on animals, it's like that's

a deal breaker for me. So just knowing, like the integrity behind the brand is there and then you can just have fun with the product after you check, like make sure the integrity is there, and then you just you know, do whatever the funk you want and that's the fun part. So he did. I did make sure with him, like everything I did he would use on my face. But I did do the designing, from the

packaging to every single little color. I was such a pain in the ass about it, which I'm kind of curious to you as like a creator of iconic makeup for like years now, how involved are you in it? Like are you super anal about everything? Because I'm like I am I am um. Some people would call me difficult. I tend to call myself brilliant. Okay, there's a fine line between difficult and brilliant. It depends who is actually standing in front of you. And the people that get

me would say I was brilliant. The people that didn't get me would say I was difficult. I wouldn't let them do this. I wouldn't let I'm like, okay, I wouldn't let you do it because you suck at what you do. But that's a whole another, a whole, another podcast. Well, we understand me. You would have to be a pain

in the ass sometimes what you want. Yeah, well, you know, I also have a very you know, strong vision of what I want and my you know, the the hard part is getting people your team around you that shares your vision, understands it and is excited about it and so ready for your pain and the assess because they trust that the thing that will end up being will be worth it all. So why did you want to

start a makeup brand? I think because my name has been so synonymous with like outrageous makeup, like you know, like I've said before, both looks that I think are just like so much fun and I'm so happy I did and some that I'm kind of like, whoa, it wasn't the best, but I was I was having fun, so you know whatever, um, and I just I think it's such a fun way to express how you feel on the inside and accentuate what you feel like makes

you feel confident and what makes you feel beautiful. I'm really into not necessarily like, not perfection for me is not what I'm after. I'm after people just accentuating what makes them feel beautiful and what they want to accentuate. So, if you want to draw on your forehead with my eyeliner, like, I'm so here for that. But I also you can use it as a classic liquid liner. And I just like, I just want people to play. I think having fun with life and makeup and everything, like it shouldn't all

be so serious. I think it's really important to have fun. I think it's important to dance even if you can't dance. I think it's important to saying even if you can't sing, because it's like those are the things that keep you young at heart. And so with my makeup, I wanted it to be really like joy inspiring and like fun and that feeling that I get when I'm about to do something kind of crazy, like glue a star on my forehead, the feeling of like should I do this?

There's this too crazy? Like I want other people to feel that feeling of like should I wear this crazy green sparkly eyeshadow? Is it too crazy? And just try it? And if you don't like it. You know, you live and you learn. Yeah, well, your packaging is really beautiful and it looks very vintage. So where'd you get the inspiration for that? Thank you so much for saying that. I'm like obsessed with packaging. Honestly, it's a mashup of there's gonna be a really weird reference just warning you. Um,

I figured ahead. It's slightly inspired by Stanley Kubrick and like the Shining the floor, the carpeting of the floor of the movie The Shining, the Little Boy is writing his tricycle on that was inspiring to the inside of the fact, like the outside and the inside of the packaging. There's a red velvet and a and a brown like a brown orange almost petrified wood feeling, and I wanted

it to feel really vintage. And the actual physical packaging, I feel like I'm very much a child of the moon, and I wanted it to feel ethereal as it could physically feel. I wanted to feel so with you, really and so special. I wanted to feel something you pulled out of your bag. Your friend would be like, what is that? That is so cool? I want to touch it. And when you are writing music, and thinking about, you know, a new album or working on an album. How much

of the makeup inspiration do you kind of see together? Well, I'm doing this now, and I could do this palette because it reminds me of this. Is that very much part of it? Oh? Absolutely? I think much like albums are snapshots of how you're feeling in a particular time, I think that the makeup packaging, the packaging and the makeup inside is a snapshot of where I'm at in my life and what my mood is and or what

I want my mood to be. Like, I made the palette really brightly colored, and there are parts that are shining, their parts that are velvet. There's a tassel. It's like very extra because I feel like I'm a little bit extra. I don't know he gathered that, but I wanted to just feel like extra different and extra special and just

something I haven't ever seen before. And I think that the next round will look a little bit different and it will be different, but at the heart of it, it's going to be myself, which is always going to be probably just a little bit weird. So and you've been doing makeup on yourself on your YouTube channel. Is that true? Yes, I'm not like great at doing my

own makeup, so I have Victorio, my makeup artist. I haven't kind of walking me through and teaching me how to do makeup because through quarantine, I've been trying to, you know, like the rest of us, figure out what this new lifestyle means. And with your job as an artist, it's it's you know, it's very different. I'm used to being on the road. I was supposed to be on Toril year and this here's obviously not gone the way

we all thought it was going to go. So just trying to figure out how to do things for myself that I've never had to do before, like like a full beat for a music video and then film the music video, and like the music video and at the music video, all these things I'm trying to learn how to do on my own, which is it's been an interesting process. So now your this creator, are you also getting involved in the business. Is that something you love learning or are you happy for other people to deal

with that. I'm really interested in learning how to apply the product to my own face, like I always wanted. I always only want to put out things that I would stand behind. And wear and pretty much since I put out my palate, it's a lot of what I wear, Like I wear it so much. It's not the only thing I wear, but I do wear it a lot, so I can really stand behind it. But I the business side of things and like the promotional side of things,

like I just am not as drawn to. But I do need to get better at that side of things because I do want to keep my makeup affordable and also very special. So to do that, you have to be more involved, which I'm realizing now because I just put out my first my first round of my first line, and as I'm doing it, I'm realizing you don't just get to create it and then like like you don't just get to birth the baby. Then you got to take care of the baby. You've got to feed the

baby exactly exactly. So yeah, I will you have my get you my cell number if you have any questions. I I learned honestly. I I never went to business school, and I learned most things about business and cosmetics actually having a job and working and learning from the people around me. But I also didn't have like this giant singing career, you know, I had nothing else except a family.

You know, kids in a family. So, just because this is a beauty podcast, I ask everyone and I know the answer, but I'm going to ask you anyways, what does beauty mean to you? I'm so curious what you think my answer is going to be, but I'll answer it first, really curious what you think it's going to be.

Beauty to me? Is we think about that? Such cheesy answer, but it really is how I feel beauty is happiness and confidence and acceptance, and I I really just want to encourage amplifying that with my beauty line and not changing or perfecting or focusing on what makes one insecure. I want to make people feel more beautiful because they feel confident and radiant in what makes them unique. That's a wonderful answer, better than I was gonna say. I was gonna say rainbows and glitter. So no, that's a

really good, really good What is your favorite cocktail? Oh? My favorite cocktail? Well, I know the whole world thinks I brush my teeth with Jack Daniels probably still to this day, but um, I will say that my favorite cocktail is I like a good martini vodka, Urgin vodka. Oh really? Oh no, I'm a vodka drinker. Yeah, I am a vodka drinker. Yes I am. So what's the craziest thing you've ever done? Just for fun, not for work, just for fun, just for fun. Okay, I have a

couple of things. I think I'm an adrenaline junkie. So just for fun my main thing I do just for fun. That's purely just like feed my soul. Is I love to swim with whales. M hm. So I go to like in the middle of nowhere. It takes like three days to get there, and I swim for a week with whales, and um, it's the most beautiful thing in the entire world and also terrifying and exciting and fun and cold and uncomfortable, and it's my favorite thing in

the whole world. Is that why you named the palette? Wt? Wait? What wtf W? So it's fine, it's fine the whales or it's fun the world, whichever one you preferred. And um, I also want to talk about your podcast, yes, so tell me about the podcast. Now, we are both, you know, I heart harders. We are, ye, how well? So I just began my podcast and I don't know how you're finding it, as I'm a. I'm new to it. Yeah, it's my second season. These guys are the best. Heart

is the best. Oh, they're great. I'm speaking more just like when you do something you've never done before. For me, I was a little bit nervous at first, and like technology is not necessarily my strong suit. Um, so I had like the the cameras were falling all over the place and that was going about so I had to work out some kinks. But I am loving talking to

people because I have a podcast. It's called Kesha and the Creepies, and it's really just talking and shooting the ship with anybody who has ever experienced anything kind of unexplainable or people that are skeptics of the unexplainable. It's really kind of a segue for me to get to people's spirituality and what you think is out there and what you can't explain. Because to me, that's what makes life really magical is the stuff that I can't really explain.

So I love just talking to people about the weirdest and creepiest ship they've ever seen. Oh, I cannot wait to listen to it sounds super interesting. But I also last question, I want to ask you, what's next for the makeup Lind, like, what do you you know? Are you have any ideas or new products or new launches that you're thinking about? Yes, I am. I'm currently being as you would call it, brilliant and or difficult and or a clean and snuff Yes. About the next round

of product I'm putting out I have. I don't really know what I'm allowed to talk about, so I'll just tell you, um, because you're fucking Bobby Brown, but I love making clean makeup, as we talked about, and cruelty free. And then on top of it, I just really want to make like the highlighter scent from Hell or Heaven or whatever, just something that is so luxurious and that you just want to wear all over your entire body

and face. So I'm currently working on making that, and I also am working on making some more insane glitter products because I feel like when people think of me, they think of glitter and pumpose I like you are saying earlier, So I've already covered the rainbow categories, so now I'm really pushing myself to the ends of the earth and what glitter can mean and get that to the masses. Very cool, very cool, I'm really excited to

see what's next. I think you're so interesting and unique and wonderful, and you know, one of these days, I'm going to do your makeup if you're if your makeup arts will allow me and just leave the freckles and see where I could put the glitter and the red or something. But I'm so open to all of it, and like he the beautiful part about our relationship is that he would be like sitting and watching and like geeking out and smiling and be so excited to watch

you work because you're the same. Because then I then I could watch him do his thing. I find that interesting. But you know what, in life, you just never know, and you just got to be open because you never know what's gonna, you know, come your way. And I'm looking I am looking forward to seeing what you do next. So just also, where could people they know where to find you? You've got, you know, billions of viewers and listeners, But tell people that are listening that maybe don't know

where the best place to find you. Okay, so my Instagram is not my name. I've decided to make it really complicated for everyone. It's I is who I is, which is a play on my song we Are Who We Are? And when I meet people there like is who is? And I'm like, oh no, no, I is who I is. If you go there, it'll send you to kesher Rose Beauty and that is where you can get all of my makeup and play with it and have fun and explore and feel magical. Oh it's amazing,

good luck with everything. It was a pleasure. I'm making my I'm making my walking playlist only to your music. So um, I might maybe it'll get me dancing, but you girl, you gotta start dancing and singing even if nobody's watching. It's so good. Yeah, oh I do when no one when no one's watching, I absolutely do. But anyways, it's a pleasure to meet you. Thank you, thank you, thank you, big kiss, big hog. You too much. All right,

by bye. Take care. For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.