
Ingrid Grimes-Miles has recently been hired as Michelle Obama's full time makeup artist. She joins "First Hairstylist" Johnny Wright, with preparing the First Lady for her signature and newsworthy looks.
According to stylists who have worked with presidential wives over the past 16 years, Michelle Obama is the nation's first First Lady to add a full-time makeup artist to her traveling entourage.
"No other first ladies have consistently traveled with a makeup artist," said hairdresser Bernard Portelli, who styled Hillary Rodham Clinton's blond mane in 1993 and tracks trends in first-lady style.
"It took Laura Bush four years to finally look good. It's taken Michelle Obama two months. She wears fake eyelashes that are beautiful. She can't do those herself."
Style watchers suspect that Grimes-Miles is behind Obama's most prominent beauty reinvention: Her Eyebrows. After the first lady drew criticism for looking angry, her high-arched eyebrows were reshaped with a softer arc that gave her a friendlier appearance.
Last week, both Ingrid and Johnny webt aboard Air Force One as official guests of the president, during their six-day trip across Europe.
The Obamas privately paid for the travel expenses of the styling team, according to a spokeswoman for the first lady. But the high-profile jobs don't pay much, say former White House stylists.
"You do it because you know you will have some prestige and you will be able to make money later," Portelli said.
[NY Post]