The mystery of Trump's orange face
Makeup, sunscreen, self-tanning spray, genetics? The face of the American president continues to speak
Donald Trump came down from the presidential helicopter on his way back from North Carolina on Saturday and the wind from the blades played tricks on him again. His convoluted hairstyle moved just enough to show the clear line that separates the orange tan from the nuclear white on his face. Once the impeachment presented by the Democratic Party has been overcome, the question that many are asking is: "What is the president of the United States throwing in his face?"
The debate has been going on even longer than the Democratic race to succeed Hillary Clinton as the presidential candidate. It started during the 2016 electoral campaign and, in the face of official silence, theories are increasingly fired. Omarosa Manigault, who served as communication director of the Office of Public Liaison in the Trump administration from 2017 to 2018, published after leaving office a memoir titled Unhinged (Without control) in which she claimed that Donald Trump had moved into the House White with a self-tanning booth. The cabin might even have arrived before Melanie, who was quite reluctant to move into her new home.
She added to give more truth to the matter that the president fired an assistant for mishandling the machine during transport. This theory of presidential love for tanning machines was supported by Trump's friendship with Steve Hilbert, with the same tendency to wear eccentric tans in any season of the year and CEO of New Sunshine, a company that manufactures tanning beds and cosmetic solutions to show off a nice color.
One of her collaborators assured that Donald Trump had moved to the White House with a self-tanning booth
Carlos Primo, editor-in-chief of Fashion and Beauty at ICON, warns that this type of express solution is more complicated than it seems: “UVA ray booths, just like self-tanning lotions and sprays, have an advantage, the speed , but this is also its biggest drawback,” he says. “They can tone the skin, but by the time they have fulfilled their function, it is too late to rectify. And the errors are visible. It's kind of like painting with watercolours: it has to come out right the first time”. Something that, obviously, does not always happen on that powerful canvas that is the face of Donald Trump.
As Carlos Primo points out, the president's tan has become a state secret: "The only explanation from the White House is that it is due to the president's good genetics," he explains. That is why it is not surprising that, after the publication of Manigault's book, the voices of Trump employees in Washington soon appeared to refute such an assertion. All of them claimed never to have seen such a device in the rooms of the 45th president of the most powerful country in the world.
"Express tanners can tone the skin, but by the time they've done their job, it's too late to rectify. And the mistakes are visible"
Carlos Primo, specialist in fashion and beauty
Jason Kelly, who worked as a makeup artist at the 2016 Republican Convention, says he has the answer. “I know exactly what is done: tanning booth and spray tan. He wears goggles to protect his eyes,” Kelly revealed to The New York Times. Carlos Primo believes that it is the most possible: “The white circles under your eyes and the circle around the hairline could reveal that you are using a UVA cabin, because they are the type of traces left by the glasses that are used to protect the eyes. But it is true that the same could be said for spray tanning.” The curious thing is that the cosmetic artist Kelly gave an opinion on the subject in 2017 in Marie Claire magazine, assuring that Trump did not present that orange tone in person. So, he blamed the striking presidential skin tone on "poor lighting."
More theories? The brainy magazine Politico slipped in January 2018 that Trump had a makeup artist on the payroll. However, it seems that he never got to touch her face and that he focused on the image of other members of his cabinet, such as Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Kellyanne Conway. Something that the loquacious Jason Kelly was quick to corroborate. “Donald Trump rarely wore makeup at events leading up to his presidency. However, something has changed since the campaign,” he assured. Follow the orange mystery.
