1 2 4 o p r a h . c o m { 2 5 Y e a r s }

Dressing Room to Stage

Before “lights, camera, action,” there was always hair, makeup, wardroBe.

GettinG ready in the morning is tricky when you’re the star of the show: The camera catches every flyaway hair; a peach lipcolor can appear fuchsia under stage lights; a bright green dress might clash with a golden set design. Good thing Oprah had Andre Walker (hair-stylist), Ross Burton and Derrick Rutledge (makeup artists), and Kelly Hurliman (wardrobe stylist) to consider these issues—all before 9 a.m., when the first of two daily tapings started. They all felt the pressure, but they also bonded during their 90-minute prep time, perhaps reflecting on an inspirational passage from Mark Nepo’s The Book of Awakening, with Oprah leading the discussion. “It was our morning classroom,” Kelly says. Here’s a typical school-day timeline.

5:30 a.m. oprah hops on the treadmill, usually with ipad in hand to play Scrabble (favorite words: za and qat).

6:30 a.m. andre arrives. he sips his tea as he assembles the tools he’ll need (he washes and blow-dries oprah’s hair every other week).

7 a.m. Time to ready the makeup station: ross (pictured here) or Derrick arranges creams, brushes, lipsticks, mascaras (waterproof only: “She gets emotional,” Derrick notes).

7:30 a.m. oprah’s in the chair. andre sets her hair with rollers—plastic magnetic (the least damaging), Velcro (for lift at the crown and around her face)—and pin curls.

8 a.m. hair is set. on to the face: eyedrops (because hDTV picks up any redness), then moisturizer, foundation, and contouring makeup. here, a dramatic eye—heavily lined with false lashes—is paired with a more subtle lip.

8:45 a.m.Kelly lays out oprah’s outfit.

a rack of about six other options waits in the wings

because there’s never time for fittings in advance. If Kelly

really needs one, she’ll sneak in a “faux fitting”: postshow, while oprah’s changing into

her “after-school” clothes, “I’ll slip a shirt on her without warning. She’ll look at me and

say, ‘What are you doing?’”

8:50 a.m. oprah picks from Kelly’s tray

of jewelry options, usually earrings. “She feels necklaces

can be distracting on camera,” Kelly says. “It’s my job to have people watching her, not what she has on.”

8:54 a.m. outfit goes on; Kelly futzes with a cardigan, hides any

exposed bra straps, secures oprah’s microphone. The guys add final spritzes of hairspray

or dustings of powder.

8:57 a.m. almost ready. oprah says:

“I need my shoo-ooes.”

9 a.m. oprah walks onstage holding

her five-inch Louboutins. Showtime!

Fresh start: As a busy day at Harpo was about to begin, Oprah took a quick soak while Sadie sat tight.

{ Makeovers}