NAOMI SMALLS
Step forward, Naomi Smalls. We catch up with the long-legged beauty and season 8 Drag Race finalist as she launches her very own TV project, The Smalls World Show, and a makeup collection with drag queen bestie Kim Chi
It’s a Smalls world after all
Like her namesake, Ms. Campbell, Naomi Smalls, 26, is much more than just a pretty face with impossibly long legs. After being part of an insanely strong final three in season 8 of RuPaul’s Drag Race, she returned to remind us all of her star power in All Stars 4, slaying more than just runway looks by showing us her comedy chops and lip-syncing prowess, to boot.
The drag artist’s star has continued to rise in the wake of her Drag Race appearance, including a new project, The Smalls World Show, and a makeup collaboration with her bestie, fellow season 8 finale alum, Kim Chi. “I don’t think there’s another makeup artist that really does it like Kim… drag or makeup artist, period,” says Smalls.
The 2 Queens in 1 Desert Collection from KimChi Chic Beauty is the first drag queen makeup collab and came about when Naomi went to Joshua Tree, California, to celebrate Kim Chi’s birthday, and the vivid colours out there inspired them to create a makeup range together. From her family and friends and Drag Race peers to her activism, there’s plenty to talk about with this powerhouse…
Did you know Kim before Drag Race?
We did not know each other. I was definitely a fan of hers before we met on Drag Race. But I was a full-on nobody at that time — I think I had a thousand followers on Instagram — so she had no idea who the hell I was. We have a very similar kind of humour and we like to poke fun at people and see what we can get away with. I do remember the first thing she ever said to me [in the workroom], besides our introduction, was: “What kind of Beyoncé mixes do you perform back home?” I could read between the lines that she was thinking I was just some corny queen — not to say anything bad about Beyoncé mixes. I knew exactly where she was going with that one, and I think it kind of surprised her that I clocked her! You have a similar sense of humour…
Totally. We don’t take those kinds of things seriously. And I’m kind of shocked sometimes with these drag queens who get all in their feelings and get really sensitive about some light-hearted greeting, because I just feel like it’s part of our culture. Do you have a favourite item from the collection?
We have a blush highlighter palette called Sunkissed in June, which is kind of like a rusty blush. It’s a colour that I’m always trying to hunt down and I can’t ever find an exact match, so it was super-fun to create the perfect colour for that. Of course, I named it after my mum. You’re really lucky to have an amazing bond with your mum.
It’s something that I have finally come to terms with, but it’s OK to talk about. Because there is a huge guilt when you hear someone else’s story and it’s not as bright, or they were kicked out of their house when they were 16 years old, you know? I think that the more I can open up people’s brains that your kid can be not the norm and still be a successful, happy individual, [that] inspires families out there to have more of an open mind.
Do you get fans messaging you for advice on issues like that?
I have so many parental fans. I have a pretty young fan base, but their families really appreciate the confidence that I give their children, and I get to be this cool spokesperson for adoption — which I never really saw happening, and I’m super proud of that. Did you find it a lot of pressure or do you just embrace it? Because you went on the show and didn’t know what to expect and now you have a lot of people looking up to you.
It took me a while to figure out the responsibility you have being someone younger people look up to. But that’s something that I was yearning for when I was getting into Drag Race when I was in high school. I was looking for people who could carry themselves with the confidence of knowing that they were different and knowing that they were unique, but not letting it stop them from making their dreams happen. And I love the fact that I can sit here today and inspire anyone to do the exact same thing, because if you can find what makes you confident in the world, everything else is just background noise.
Silly question, really, but who is your favourite supermodel?
I’m obsessed with Naomi Campbell. Really obsessed. I think that there’s so much about Naomi that I just respect. She’s such an amazing woman and the strength that she has to tackle everything she has had to do in this business and change the game for so many models following her. To be the very first black model in Italian or Paris Vogue — she went and pretty much demanded that. It was not something that they were going to give her. And I remember in an interview her saying that she was the only girl of her peers that wasn’t offered [it], so she went up to the director and was like, “Where’s my cover?” I would love to have that sort of confidence in myself. I think that everyone should demand that kind of respect. Naomi Campbell is more than just a supermodel to me; she’s a superhero, a super woman. You’ve been quite vocal about the Black Lives Matter movement. How important is it to you as a black drag queen to use your platform to speak out against racism?
I think that everyone should. Everyone with a brain can realise that racism is so behind us at this point. Unfortunately, it’s not. I think that it would be a disservice to have this amazing platform where >
“IN HIGH SCHOOL, I WAS LOOKING FOR PEOPLE WHO KNEW THEY WERE DIFFERENT, BUT NOT LETTING IT STOP THEM”
I can really speak my mind and I know that I’m not a malicious person. Everything that I say is going to be from a place of love and a place of being genuine.
It’s unfortunate I didn’t realise [this] in the beginning. I was really like, “I don’t think I should have to use my platform to speak on this, because, of course I believe black lives matter. But I didn’t realise how many of the fans in this fan base have no idea and live in the middle of nowhere where they don’t have to deal with these issues. So, if I can do my part and speak up about it, that’s something that’s obviously so important to me, why wouldn’t I do that?
It’s heartbreaking to see people getting attacked for the colour of their skin. I think that’s something that has always been a huge [source of] confusion for me. I grew up in a very multicultural, blended family, and I’m really grateful for that, because I got to realise that people are people based on their actions and to judge them on their actions and their personality more than the colour of their skin. Apart from Kim, are there any queens that you’re still good friends with from your time on your season or All Stars?
Yeah. I’m lucky. I definitely went to RuPaul’s Drag Race wanting a crown both times. I was fully there to get a cheque. But my biggest takeaway is the friendships I made there, and Kim is definitely one of them and Bob the Drag Queen, I’m indebted to those two. I know I wouldn’t be the person I am today without those two on my season. And then Monét X Change from All Stars is a really close friend and I’m super proud of everything she’s done as well. They’re all very vocal about politics, too.
Totally. And I think that I’ve been lucky with the fact that they are more mature than I am, and have experienced more in life, [that] has been a great lesson for me. I don’t think it robbed me of my youth, but it really woke me up at a very young age to a lot of issues that I wasn’t really dealing with.
Tell us about The Smalls World Show — what’s the format?
It’s going to be a digital showcase of amazing cinematic performances. There’s going to be a lot more vulnerable, emotional moments, which comes naturally because I’m telling my own story. It sounds so corny to say out loud, but I’m doing a lot of reflecting during this time. And I believe that I’m the strongest person I know, so there’s definitely some self-love, some self-confidence in there, but it’s also a love letter to family, a love letter to my mum. It feels super cool to have the emotional side finally coming to my drag, because I’ve always been kind of closed-off when I’m on someone else’s production or on television. Why do you think you’ve been closed off? Is it a control thing?
I’m, like, terrified for every single episode. If there’s a Drag Race or All Stars or even this upcoming RuPaul’s Drag Race Vegas Revue, I get really terrified because I am super, super authentic, which means I just say whatever the hell I want. You don’t necessarily have the luxury of sitting in the editing room with these people to, maybe, throw dust on it or sugar-coat a little something. You just have to
sit back and stand by exactly what you said, and I’m going to be watching for the first time, like everybody else. I don’t know if I would say anxiety, but it makes me feel a little stressed. Are you relishing the control? Or is it scary?
I’d be lying if I didn’t say that rejection is probably my biggest fear ever. With The Smalls World Show, though, if it bombs, it’s going to bomb, but I can stand by it and say it’s 100 per cent me. That’s something I’ve never really been able to say before, so, I guess I am relishing the fact that it’s going to be a more personal story and people can look at it and be, like, “Oh wow, this is a product of Naomi Smalls and all Naomi Smalls’ team,” that I couldn’t do this without. Typical Virgo mentality.
Oh my God! You clocked it! Does it help that the queens tour together?
Oh, yeah, we all travel together, normally in a tour bus or hopping from plane to plane and then getting our own hotel rooms. But I love that quote-unquote ‘sister’, because I don’t think we all are sisters, but I love that co-worker bond that we have when we’re on tour. I remember during All Stars, we were in Australia and it was
“IT’S HEARTBREAKING TO SEE PEOPLE GETTING ATTACKED FOR THE COLOUR OF THEIR SKIN”
after the makeover, and I sent home Manila, and there were people who were very, very, very passionate about it. I remember there was a girl who came to the show and she was booing in the audience. And I remember the other girls seeing that and that audience member got kicked out in 35 seconds and I just remember that was so cool — not so cool that she got kicked out, but just so cool that they really had my back in that moment. But I do love that I can make someone feel something — if it’s good or bad. And who’s the wildest on tour?
I would say, Vanjie, for sure. The Tasmanian Devil with a bottle of Patron. She can just go for hours and she knows how to make everyone in the room laugh. And once she gets that little glimpse of your humility, humour, whatever, she will poke it until you’re laughing yourself to sleep. Also, Farrah Moan is a party animal. She can do the same thing and she is the first one to want to do 10 shots during the show, and my poor liver cannot take that. I don’t know how she wakes up and turns into a beautiful goddess every morning after that.