“Sorry to Bother You” Makeup Artist Kirsten Coleman Shares Detroit’s Beauty Inspiration

Sorry to Bother You is a sharp political satire and a look at capitalism through the lens of blackness. The film has important things to say about the American workplace and each of our places in it. The fact that its main characters move through creator Boots Riley's world with some awe-inspiring makeup looks is just another layer to this story.

Kirsten Coleman, lead makeup artist for the film, talked to HelloGiggles about the process of creating a deeply 2018 beauty look all in the short six weeks it took to shoot the film. Her main focus was on Tessa Thompson, who plays Detroit, an artist and activist with a penchant for face stickers and a statement lip.

"After reading the script, it became clear to me that Detroit was an artist and was passionate about being the opposite of standard or what is expected," Kirsten explains of Tessa's character. They chose Afropunk influences, inspired by the "creative community" that "uses their bodies as canvases to express themselves through fashion and makeup." (Fashion is also not to be ignored here — Detroit's "Call Homeland Security" earrings are even available for sale.)

Detroit is a character who wants to stand out, and Kirsten and Tessa coordinated her makeup to do just that — with glitter lipstick, face gems, and avant-garde eyeshadow. Her looks may be unique for now, but they're also endlessly reproducible. "My goal with Detroit is to inspire women of all kinds, from all backgrounds to get out of their everyday comfort zone, and to take risks. Detroit is an artist and she uses her entire body as a canvas in order to express herself and whatever messages she wants to proclaim," says Kirsten. As she explained to HelloGiggles, she stacked her team with products by Make Up For Ever, Glossier, Lime Crime, and Anastasia Beverly Hills. She also hit up the local Michael's craft store for Detroit's beauty looks, which included stickers and gems.

Kirsten's goal, she says, is for fans to leave the theater inspired to live their own beauty truth — whether that's through tattoos or colorful pigments or glitter. "Across society, as a human race, we are at a crossroads to many changes, and women reclaiming their voice has been gaining traction more and more," she says. "I feel Detroit represents this effort and I want women to use Detroit as inspiration to speak their truth through all forms of expression."

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