When it comes to glow ups, few have been more astounding than Jennifer Hudson’s. In the 14 years since she was an American Idol hopeful, she has transformed into an Oscar, Golden Globe, Emmy and Grammy Award-winning entertainer, bestselling author, and co-host of The Voice—with a lucrative (and very successful) endorsement stint with Weight Watchers in the process.
But at heart, she’s still a gospel-singing prodigy from the South Side of Chicago. A recent beauty tutorial for Vogue shows that the best of Hudson’s down-home personality hasn’t succumbed to Hollywood—even when filming from the bathroom of the Waldorf-Astoria in Beverly Hills, Calif. Demonstrating her everyday makeup look, which consists of a classic but bold cat-eye (which she calls her “swoops”) and a red lip, Hudson talks viewers through the process as if she’s known them for years.
“I want people to actually be able to look at me and say, ‘Oh my God! You’re actually cute in person,” she laughs, explaining why she keeps it simple. “You not gon’ be walking around saying, ‘Jennifer said to do this.’ You not gon’ blame that on me,” she quips soon after, as she buffs out her foundation.
How did she learn her skills? From endless hours in the makeup chair, she says, absorbing information from beauty experts. For instance: don’t go too heavy on the setting powder, “‘cause we don’t want to look like a powdered donut, alright?” she admonishes, before showing us that Ms. Hudson has no “bad side.”
“Bam! There it is,” she says, preening.
But what’s really reassuring is that just like us, Hudson’s not immune to the issues we all run into applying makeup, such as struggling with eyebrow symmetry (note: they’re supposed to be sisters, not twins) and the occasional battle with errant liquid liner.
“Don’t worry, calm down,” she cautions, calmly cleaning up her work.
Of course, in typical Jennifer Hudson fashion, she manages to distract us with a mid-makeover song, coming up with an impromptu ode to her “swoops” on the spot.
Our favorite part? When she admits she doesn’t like having her nose contoured. “I don’t like when they be trying to redo my nose and stuff. Uh uh, Jesus did just fine, thank you.”
In fact, Jennifer is perfectly happy with her God-given features, and in a world full of overdone beauties, it’s refreshing to watch.
“There you have it: your black Barbie supermodel—with curves,” she says.
Go head, girl.