With its debut this fall on Style Network, "The Glam Fairy" was heralded as the latest TV series set in the enchanted land of New Jersey, a onetime Dutch colony that has since become a magnet for misanthropic doctors, guidos in Speedos, crime bosses, cake bosses and manic, migraine-inducing hausfraus.
"But we're not like any of those shows," insists makeup artist Jessica Romano of New Milford. Romano's appearances on Style's top-rated reality series "Jerseylicious" led to her co-starring role in "The Glam Fairy."
The "Jerseylicious" spin-off focuses on her employer, Alexa Prisco, the clients of Prisco's Hoboken-based Glam Factory, and the hair stylists, makeup artists and fashion consultants who transform those clients from dreary-drab to drop-dead fab.
Hey, somebody's got to do it.
The women who walk through Prisco's door range from nervous brides and dimpled divorcées to frumpy, rumpled, time-deprived moms and smart (but style-challenged) professionals.
And what do these ladies have in common? Well, they're generally clueless when it comes to their coifs and their clothes. And they couldn't give themselves dark, smoky eyes – a Glam Factory specialty – without setting their ovens on fire.
That's where Prisco's "fairies" come in, descending on each new client like surgeons in some glamour-restoring ER.
It's a job that Romano has been preparing for since she was 5.
Today, at 28, she says she's been obsessed with makeup for as long as she can remember: "I was always girly-girly. I always wanted to wear dresses to school. And I was always fascinated by makeup – the textures, the colors …
"I went to the Sears store in Paramus the other day for something and saw that they have this whole floor now filled with makeup! I couldn't believe it! Sears is where I go for … you know … machines. So I saw all this makeup and I went crazy!"
A partner in Glamorous Cosmetics, a beauty line manufactured in Greece, Romano has access to any products she wants. Still, she says, she can't even walk through a drugstore without buying at least one new beauty product.
"It really is an addiction," she admits. "But you know, there is always something new. Take mascara. Originally, it was just something to darken your lashes. Now there's mascara that colors your lashes. And curls them. And lengthens them. And … how can I not buy something that's good for you and makes you look better?"
Or, makes other girls look better.
Weeks ago, in one of the most memorable episodes of "The Glam Fairy," Romano and her co-worker and BFF Briella Calafiore volunteered to baby-sit the young daughters of another co-worker – the hairstylist known only by her first name, Sharie.
The youngsters, age 3 and 5, came with a long list of things they couldn't do while Sharie and her husband were out. There was no mention of fairy dust, though. So Romano and Calafiore broke out their makeup kits and accessory bags and – voila! – gave the toddlers makeovers.
"We told them, 'We're having a glam party!' and did their makeup, gave them hair extensions … "
When Sharie and her husband returned home to find two pint-sized runway models where their apple-cheeked daughters used to be, they were mortified.
"Sharie is so uptight," Romano says. "But the girls had fun. And I can't even tell you how many tweets I got from moms who wanted a glam-sitting. 'I'd let you baby-sit my kids any day!' "
"The Glam Fairy," which airs Sundays at 8 p.m. (with multiple encore showings during the week) does have a serious side – makeover clients are often moved to tears by their transformations.
But the drama is balanced out by the cartoonish antics of Romano and Calafiore, Alexa's assistant Alexa "A2" Hand, and the Glam Factory's token males Jon Kutlu (client liaison) and his mortal enemy Glamo (wardrobe stylist) who, when he isn't sorting through racks of clothes, skulks around the office, arching his already highly arched eyebrows like a comic book villain — the Green Goblin to Kutlu's Spider-Man.
"The Glam Fairy" began shooting in April and continued production through October. And doing it, Romano insists, is great fun, even if bloggers can be "mean and vicious. Fortunately, though, we have plenty of fans. And whenever I meet them – younger, older, all ages – they always ask about one thing: makeup!"
For the cosmetics-obsessed Romano, who recently posted her first makeup tutorial on YouTube, those conversations are a childhood dream come true. "There's nothing I'd rather talk about," she says. "Plus, I love when people who are smarter than I am ask me for advice."
E-mail: ervolino@northjersey.com
