PopularTV has just premiered a teaser of Kiss Off video series with Hayley Williams as a host. A project co-founded by Nylon Magazine premieres on 31st of March and together with the magazine is dedicated to women ages 18 to 25. Click HERE to read more about the idea and click “read more” to read a new interview with Hayley speaking about beauty and this new project.
MTV: So, we gotta know how the “Kiss Off” series came about. Was it your idea?
Hayley Williams: I’ve known Marvin [Jarrett, Editor in Chief of PopularTV.com] for a while and had such a great experience working with him in the past. Last summer, I ran into him while grocery shopping in West Hollywood, and he told me he had this new project he wanted me to consider being a part of, and here we are!
MTV: What do you think is currently missing in the beauty landscape?
Williams: I want beauty, especially for younger people, to feel less like “make yourself socially acceptable” and more like “express yourself bravely and feel beautiful and cool being you.”
MTV: How is your beauty series different from all the other tutorials out there?
Williams: I see so many beauty blogs and sites tweeting headlines about contouring your nose to make it look smaller or how to line your lips to make them bigger. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes we do feel like we wanna fix something, but how much of that is because we keep getting signals that what we have isn’t good enough? Our show is a baby, and we are still learning as we go. I don’t think we have perfected the art of the how-to quite yet, but that’s not the point! We want people to look in unexpected places for inspiration and not be afraid to try things just for the hell of it. You’d be surprised at what makes you feel beautiful and how strong you feel when you break a few rules.
MTV: What kind of tutorials can we look forward to seeing?
Williams: The first episode we shot was inspired by a punk rock movie and the makeup reminded me of some of the looks I did when I first started getting into stage makeup. I didn’t know what I was doing and yeah, sometimes I got weird looks, but oh my stars, did I feel cool on stage like some sort of MySpace generation, yellow-skinny-jeans-wearing Ziggy Stardust. That feeling is what the show is about. We aren’t following every trend, and we aren’t worried about looking perfect. In fact, most of these shows start with me bare faced. I don’t mean “no-makeup makeup,” I mean “zero makeup.” I don’t look perfect. That took courage, and I’m proud of myself for doing it. It’s that kind of a show.
MTV: Where did you shoot the videos?
Williams: We shot the majority of these first few episodes at my place in LA—another testament to how personal we wanted the show to feel. My favorite part was shooting by the pool in front of my Hollywood sign and my two pet dinosaurs, Marie Antoinette and Steve Buscemi.
MTV: What’s your typical approach to makeup? Do you consider yourself an expert?
Williams: Even after this many years of stage makeup, appearances, and fashion-y stuff, I still believe the best approach is no approach. Go with how you feel. I’m definitely not an expert, but I think just being true to yourself is more important.
MTV: What would you change, if anything, about the beauty industry?
Williams: For the sake of an entire society of incredibly unique and beautiful people, I wish the beauty industry was less focused on flaws and more focused on the power of individuality.
MTV: What’s the biggest beauty lesson you’ve learned so far?
Williams: Beauty is a symptom of self-love. It’s not something you create. And even if you do create it in a look, it’s fleeting. You need to get to the bottom of what makes you feel powerful, smart, valued, pretty, blah blah blah. It really does come from the inside.
MTV: So, what’s been your biggest beauty mistake?
Williams: Shaving my hairline under my bangs so I could style my baby bangs just perfectly. It was so good for that one specific style but now I have little tiny tiny hairs that I’m trying to grow out under my regular length bangs. Ah, the baby bangs were so fun.
MTV: Speaking of your hair, it has changed so much throughout the years! How do you decide what color or cut you’re going to do next?
Williams: It usually hits me like a lightening bolt, but usually that bolt is some shade of red, orange or yellow. Those are my favorite hair colors. Although, with my new hair dye line in the works, I may just look like a damn rainbow before too long.
MTV: And finally, is there any beauty trend you’d never try?
Williams: Never say never. (But I will probably not be contouring my own face any time soon.)
