Alexis Oakley has done makeup for Emma Stone, Paris Hilton, Demi Lovato, and Kris Jenner, but her work has never garnered as much attention as when she "glammed" Gypsy Rose Blanchard two weeks ago.
Oakley, a Springfield native, met with the newfound celebrity May 1, when Blanchard was in Los Angeles for a red carpet event promoting her new Lifetime docuseries, "Gypsy Rose: Life After Lock Up." Oakley met Blanchard in her hotel room, where she did her makeup and the two created social media content together.
Oakley and Blanchard had about two hours to do hair and makeup and one hour to create social media photos and videos. They also stopped in a nearby Sephora for about an hour to shop together. Oakley has posted more than nine videos on her TikTok and Instagram from the collaboration, which have garnered more than 70 million impressions, she said. She also gained more than 250,000 followers on TikTok, almost overnight. As of Wednesday, Oakley has more than 490,600 followers on TikTok.
"I've never gained so many followers from anyone before," Oakley told the News-Leader on Wednesday. "Obviously, I've worked with traditional celebrities ... and a tag can help my career, for sure, but the Gypsy Rose Effect is unlike anything."
Connecting with Gypsy
The collaboration began back in December 2023, a few days after Blanchard was released from the Chillicothe Correctional Center, where she served an eight-year sentence for conspiring to kill her mother Clauddine "Dee Dee" Blanchard" with her then-boyfriend Nick Godejohn in 2015.
Blanchard was released from prison Dec. 28 and on Dec. 30, Oakley posted a TikTok video of her setting up her makeup kit with the caption, "Clearing my schedule in case Gypsy Rose wants glam." The video was a part of a trend where TikTokers made videos of them "clearing their schedules" to do specific activities with Blanchard. As of Wednesday, Oakley's video had more than 454,200 views.
Though the video garnered more engagement than her other content, Oakley said she didn't think much of it. However, she was genuinely interested in doing Blanchard's makeup.
"After that, I saw that she was doing press in New York and getting her hair and makeup done and I was like, 'Okay, she's about to start being a glam girl, how can I get my name in there?'" Oakley recalled. "I DMed (direct messaged) her a million times (on Instagram), but obviously she wasn't seeing anything because I think she got 12 million followers overnight."
Oakley decided to take it a step further and began sifting through the list of accounts Blanchard followed on Instagram, which at the time was about 100.
"I was just looking for someone who was maybe a manager, publicist or friend," Oakley continued. "I ended up finding a few girls who worked on the Lifetime team and DMed them and said, 'Oh my gosh, I saw Gypsy is doing press. How can I glam her? Can you connect me? Who should I reach out to?' and they were like, 'Oh my gosh, we actually saw your TikTok.'" In January, Lifetime aired a six-episode docuseries called "The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard," which chronicled the history of Blanchard's case and some of her life in prison.
After connecting with members of Lifetime, it was about four months before Oakley heard from them again, which she said is typical when working with celebrities. Then out of nowhere Oakley received the call: Are you available? Gypsy is coming to Los Angeles.
Four hours and a lasting friendship
According to Oakley, Blanchard was only in Los Angeles for about 24 hours. Ahead of the Lifetime red carpet event, Blanchard visited Santa Monica Pier — it was her first time seeing the ocean — and did some staple California activities, like trying In-N-Out Burger. Then, Blanchard and Oakley met up for hair and makeup in Blanchard's hotel room.
"We just connected right away," Oakley said of Blanchard. "I filmed the entire process, which I typically try to do with my clients ... She was so sweet, such an easy client and just so excited to learn about makeup and just asking questions the entire time: 'What's this product? How do you apply this? Why are you putting it there? What does this do? Have I been doing this wrong?' (She) was very, very eager to learn, which is so fun for me."
During hair and makeup, Oakley learned that Blanchard had never been to a Sephora, so she asked Blanchard's team if they would have enough time to run by a nearby mall. Fortunately, they were able to work it into her schedule.
The two bought an array of makeup products, including moisturizer, foundation and concealer, blush, mascara, eyebrow pencils and lip liner.
"It was just so sweet and it honestly made me so emotional taking her as she'd never been before, she's 32 years old and doesn't really know how to do her makeup," Oakley said. "Watching her light up when I would tell her about certain products ... was just really, really cool."
Since Blanchard's visit to Los Angeles, Oakley said the two have been texting back and forth daily. And while nothing is confirmed, Oakley said Blanchard told her that she would like for her to do her makeup for her wedding, when that day comes.
More:Gypsy Rose Blanchard announces separation from husband. Here's what we know
Getting started and what's next
Oakley got her start doing prom and bridal makeup in her parent's basem*nt in high school, but she knew she was interested in more sophisticated work.
A few weeks after graduating from New Covenant Academy in 2016, Oakley moved to Los Angeles at the age of 18. Upon arriving, she enrolled at Make-Up Designory, a five-month professional make-up training program.
"Two days before I graduated Make-Up Designory, I landed a job as an assistant for a really huge celebrity makeup artist. That was kind of that moment for me where I was like, 'Okay, I think this is supposed to be what I do." The makeup artist was Rachel Goodwin, who has worked with Emma Stone, Laura Dern, Jennifer Lawrence, Zendaya and countless other A-list celebrities.
Oakley said she spent about four years working as an assistant for various celebrity makeup artists before establishing herself independently. The first two celebrities she worked with on her own were Paris Hilton and Jessica Alba, both in the same week.
More recently, Oakley has enjoyed collaborating with social media content creators including Tanya Mongeau, Trisha Paytas and Brianna LaPaglia.
When it comes to Oakley's relationship with Blanchard, she said she hopes to stay in contact and do her makeup anytime she's in Los Angeles.
As for future clients, Oakley said her dream celebrity that she would like to work with is Hailey Bieber. She also hopes to host more in-person events like meet-and-greets and masterclasses.
Greta Cross is the trending topicsreporter for the SpringfieldNews-Leader. She has more than five years of journalism experience covering everything from Ozarks history to Springfield’s LGBTQIA+ community. Follow her onX and Instagram @gretacrossphoto. Story idea? Email her atgcross@news-leader.com.
