What RuPaul Can’t Live Without

This is the most incredible thing. You put a drop on your palm and rub your hands together — somehow that goes into your body topically and keeps all illness away. If you have babies, you rub it on the bottom of their feet. If I’m feeling sick, I like to put a drop on my tongue and take a swig of juice. I don’t know how it works, but it keeps illness at bay! My partner Georges heard about it through his trainer. You’ll see it at a lot of smoothie shops — but, honey, obviously it’s easier on Amazon.

A director I was working with had a pair of these sunglasses on. They’re huge, even on a man’s face. They’re like an exaggerated version of a Ray-Ban Wayfarer, but more modern-looking and wider. I love the matte black ones, and I love the tortoiseshell version with the green lens. Plus, they’re inexpensive. I have five or six pairs and wear them everywhere I go.

From time to time, I don’t have eyebrows (it’s a drag thing), so I have to rely on brow pens. Now, the tip of this pen really emulates a feathered hair. It looks like hair growing out of your skin. I’ve shaved my eyebrows for over 30 years now, so I know how to emulate the brows I have; and even once they grow in, this brow pen is fantastic for filling them in. The universal deep color looks so natural, especially in daylight, which is brow pen’s real test. I was lucky enough for Anastasia to be a sponsor on the show, so she gave me the brow pens — she’s the eyebrow queen of Hollywood.

Editor’s Note: RuPaul’s favorite eyebrow pen is no longer available, but there are a couple of other brow pencils from Anastasia Beverly Hills you can buy, including this mechanical one and this brow definer.

I was out shopping, and I happened upon this electric kettle. I like drinking tea when I’m recording music or at home, so I bought it and fell in love with it. It’s so chic and easy to use that I went and got one for my place in New York, and for my office, and one for every studio I work in (which are actually just people’s homes). I work in one studio, and it’s just the guy’s one bedroom. I love, love, love, love coffee, but lately it’s been getting to be too much acid in my stomach, so I do tea more now. Actually, tea will stain your teeth more than coffee will. Raven from season two of Drag Race told me that the secret to whitening your teeth is to take coconut oil and mix it with turmeric and sea salt until it turns into a paste — then you take a separate toothbrush (don’t use your normal one because the turmeric will stain it), and you brush your teeth for two minutes. It really works!

After laughing, music is the most important thing in my life. When I’m on the subway or on the street or at the gym, earbuds block everything, so you don’t have to hear people’s ridiculous conversations. I was turned on to these a few years ago, and they’re by far my favorite because the sound is great, but the way they fit in my ears is perfect, too (there are different size buds you can choose from). I don’t love over-the-ear headphones because they make me feel claustrophobic. If it’s wintertime in New York, something like Beats would keep my ears warm, but otherwise, I feel very claustrophobic. Also, if I’m walking around New York, I don’t want people to think I don’t have my ears. I’m weird that way. I’m a Scorpio, so I want to make sure I’m wide open to people. Also, I would just imagine someone would come up to me and snatch them off my head. The Klipsch buds are discreet.

Editor’s Note: This exact model from Klipsch is no longer available, but here’s a similar (and newer) version.

I was late to the serum party. I was working on a show called Skin Wars, and Rebecca Romijn’s makeup artist told me to get this because we were talking about moisturizers. She looked at me and said, “Nobody is using those anymore!” She got this for me, and I could feel my skin drink the stuff in. You can just intuitively tell it’s working for you. The best thing you can do is put it on after you shower, because your skin is hydrated. If you were to use a moisturizer, that would just sit on your skin, but the serum actually goes inside. Your skin drinks it in. It’s fabulous. You don’t come away looking dewy or shiny. It just leaves you looking how your skin should look. It’s a natural glow.

Oh my god, so Burt and Elvis created this song for the movie Grace of My Heart, and they loved each other so much they made this album. And it’s a masterpiece. I’ve always loved Burt Bacharach, who’s an international treasure. He’s so smart and creates pop music with under chords of jazz. He’s a fucking genius. And with Elvis Costello, I appreciated some of his songs growing up, but his voice is an acquired taste. After years and years, I finally got it. Now, I love Elvis Costello. On this album, the track “This House Is Empty Now” is beyond. I actually ran into Elvis Costello, and he told me they were turning this album into a Broadway musical.

I’ve wanted to do a candle for many years, just because I’ve always used them. This is the perfect candle because the orange-ginger scent is very subtle and easy to live with — that’s really the main criteria for candles to me. I’m actually burning one right now. There’s something ritualistic about it. I’m not practicing, but I do have a Catholic background, so that must explain it.