Black In Fashion: Day 6 Reggie Wells

Pictured: Reggie Wells

     Do you know which beauty artist maintained Oprah’s youthfulness for over 30 plus years?
With a little patience and lots of passion and pressed powder, Reggie Wells created the best looks for our favorite TV personality and businesswoman, Oprah Winfrey. Reggie Wells was born on December 2, 1947, in Baltimore, MD. His first experience with cosmetology was when he turned his “10th-grade ugly duckling cousin into a 12th-grade prom queen.” Reggie’s early career started with a campaign with Jordache Jeans but he went on to boast gigs with O Magazine, Glamour Magazine, Time Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, and Essence, where he met Oprah in 1990.

     Before Reggie became a makeup artist, a lot of makeup was too light or unflattering to melanated skin and after becoming Oprah’s full-time makeup artist they made history by advancing what makeup could do for black skin. His blessed brush has touched Hollywood’s best faces: the likes of Whitney Houston, Beyoncé, Halle Berry, Natalie Cole, Aretha Franklin, etc, to name just a very few. Reggie’s contributions did not go in vain, in 1995 he won an Emmy for his work on the Oprah Winfrey Show and was nominated in 2003, 2004, and 2005. In the latter years, Reggie returned to Baltimore to give makeovers to its homeless population, where he was recently laid to rest due to natural causes. RIP Reggie Wells your pioneering contributions to the black makeup industry will be missed.

Pictured: Sun Reggie Wells puts makeup on
Dorothy Lieversin Baltimore in March 2017

Pictured: Reggie Wells and Oprah Golden Globes
Oprah Winfrey, Reggie Wells.