When discussing “boys in makeup”, it seems that people throw around the same handful of names that belong to either famous or white male MUA’s. Most of these gurus are pretty great, but that doesn’t change the fact that white privilege has even filtered its way into the makeup community. Mediocrity and unoriginality are being rewarded while the work of others is placed above POC gurus while their ideas, and even aesthetics, are stolen.

Beyond having to work twice as hard as their non-POC competitors, these boys deal with an unrealistic amount of hate.

“Faggot”, “kill yourself”, “tranny” and “you’re going to hell” are just a few of the comments that riddle their comment sections on a daily basis.

Among these shadowed figures is a 17-year-old eccentric figure by the name of ‘BarbieGutzz‘. Zachary Domingo is an all-out firecracker who ties daring fashion with his sleek makeup style to create dynamic looks that not only reflect his personality, but make a statement on gender roles, and masculinity. I was lucky enough to score an interview with him, and when I asked “Where did the name BarbieGutz come from?”, the answer impressed me.

“So being in 6th grade, I wanted to come up with a name that was both masculine and feminine, and I thought ‘BarbieGutz’ was that! From then it just stuck with me.”

“What does being viewed as a role model mean to you?”

“It’s kinda heart-warming,” he replies. “Having these little boys come up to me or comment on my photos telling me how I’ve inspired them to do makeup, it’s the best feeling ever because just knowing how many people I helped come out their shell and embrace who they are! It’s not always boys who even come up to me, sometimes it’s girls.

Even grown people who are 30+ years old telling me how I’ve inspired them to go out and serve a look and just slay. It’s honestly the best feeling and I wouldn’t give it up for anything as corny as that sounds haha!”

Getting more personal, I asked, “What’s your ethnicity, and where are you from ?”

“I’m a quarter Puerto Rican, and the rest Filipino. I was born and raised in Oahu!“

“How are boys in makeup viewed in your culture ?”

“When I first started doing makeup, there weren’t a lot of boys who wore makeup that I knew of so I can’t really say, but from my perspective, a lot of the people from my culture were pretty supportive“

“When did you first start wearing makeup? What was that experience like, and how did people react?“

He recalls sneaking into his mother’s makeup: “The actual first time I put on makeup had to be when I was around 10 years old. My mom would leave for work, and I’d sneak into her room and her vanity and take all her makeup and try to beat my face.” “A total mess,” he adds. “It wasn’t until around 7th grade I really started to dabble into makeup”. 

“At first I kept it a secret, but after a while I started to post my makeup looks onto Instagram. I remember only doing my left side of my eye just because I’m a lefty and that’s my best side. For several months I only did my left eye and nothing else haha.

When I came out to both my moms that I wanted to pursue this new passion of doing makeup they were really supportive! Some of my family members were a little “eh” about it but have grown to support me considering I’ve grown such a large following!”

With a combination of upwards 353,000 Twitter & Instagram followers, it’s a huge responsibility to maintain your image. Earlier this week, James Charles reminded us with a few ignorant tweets of just how dangerous social media can be, and how easy it is to offend people with your words even when you don’t even know what you’re saying. My question for Zachary was,

When you heard of James Charles becoming the new Coverboy, what were your initial thoughts? How have those changed now?”

“I thought it was pretty cool considering I knew James Charles kinda before his Instagram took off! It kinda inspired me because it showed boys in makeup are starting to break these boundaries. I was still a little taken back because I felt like if Covergirl really did wanna break these boundaries, they should’ve used a person of color!

We have many talented POC out there who are constantly working their asses off! But hey, having the first boy Covergirl is a step whether he’s problematic or not.

While on the topic of other MUA’s I decided to ask Zach his take on the reoccurring issue of white gays and their misogyny, and racism. “Jeffree Star also has a history of being racist, why do you think it is that white gay men feel the need to be this way?“

“I feel like it’s in their nature for white gays to be problematic.”

With Jeffree having his own cosmetic line, and James being the Coverboy, it made me ask “If you were to be the face of a makeup brand, which brand would you choose and why?”

“Anastasia Beverly Hills. Hands down. ABH is one of those brands everyone loves. They have a place in my heart because they gave me the opportunity to work with them when I first started doing makeup and was at like 5k followers which meant a lot to me because it kinda showed me ‘Wow I must be pretty talented if they’re gonna let me work with their brand regardless of my follower count.’”

“How do you use your voice to encourage others and defend the communities you represent?”

“I love using social media to encourage the world! Of course, I can’t meet everyone so social media really helps me. Tweeting or posting photos I feel like kinda encourages people to kinda be confident and go out head high and serve a mother fucking look! OKAAAAY! I feel like everyone’s voice is powerful one way or another and it’s always important to defend something you stand with especially where you’re from.”

“Socially, what do you think is the biggest problem we as a society face today?”

“As a person of color in the makeup community, I definitely feel like a problem we face is not getting the recognition that most of us deserve. There are so many talented makeup enthusiasts out there who aren’t getting the credit they deserve while these problematic white gays are out here getting brand deals for being… white. But that’s just my 2 sense”.

“I’m sure that you’re no fan of Donald Trump. How has his presidency personally affected you?”

“The fact that Donald Trump is now the president is a complete nightmare especially for someone like me who isn’t white and is gay. It’s a really scary thought to think what the future is gonna become especially with him being the president”.

Besides ending the interview with Trump I’d say Zach and I have successfully covered all the bases in both of our first interviews ever! This experience for me has been beyond surreal as Zachary personally was the person who inspired me as a young black male to start wearing makeup! We’re both 17, and I feel a connection with him that you don’t usually get from your typical, social media makeup guru. He’s bold, confident, inspiring and creative and I hope the two of us have done a great enough job to allow the world to see the side of him that myself, and many other fans of his get to see.

*Note: Prior to publishing this article, we were unaware of the ableist language the interviewee has used in the past. We do not condone or support this kind of language.