Reggie Wells, Oprah’s Trusted Makeup Artist, Passes Away At 76

Celebrity makeup artist Reggie Wells has passed away at the age of 76.

On Jan. 8, Fox Baltimore reporter Keith Daniels confirmed the legendary MUA’s death on X and announced via the beauty icon’s Instagram page. According to Daniels, the Emmy award-winning makeup guru died early Monday morning in his hometown of Baltimore, Maryland. Wells died from a long-term illness, The Baltimore Banner noted.

“He was so loved, so talented,” relatives of the revered artist said, according to Daniels’ post. 

Wells, a Baltimore City College and MICA graduate, “beat the face” of well-known stars across Hollywood and the music world. He applied flawless makeup on celebrity titans like Beyoncé, Halle Berry and the forever first lady Michelle Obama. He was also Oprah’s longtime makeup artist. The veteran MUA, who moved to New York to break into the industry in the mid-1970s, worked with the media maven for 30 years.

How did Reggie Wells break into the makeup industry?

Determined to become a makeup artist, Wells left his teaching job in Baltimore in the mid-70s to make his dreams come true in New York City. There, he mastered his craft by working at makeup counters before catching a fashion editor’s eye and eventually working with Glamour, Life and Harper’s Bazaar magazines. But it was at Essence magazine where he did makeup for models and celebrities on more than 100 covers. At the time, no cosmetic brands catered to the various shades of Black women, so Wells created and customized his makeup to suit the needs of his Black clients. 

His unique makeup concoctions impressed Oprah in the ’80s.

“Oprah never credited makeup companies initially because we had to make it up. Oprah didn’t believe in lying,” he told the Baltimore Sun in 2017. “I had to create all of the makeup. They just didn’t exist.”

Wells, a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, did Oprah’s makeup for her inaugural Essence cover in 1986. “She said, ‘I’ve never looked this good before.’ I told her that I could make her look that good every day.”

Wells’ makeup artistry extended beyond borders, taking him to South Africa, Australia and the Middle East. However, the Baltimore native was just as quickly transforming the faces of senior members in a retirement community in the Park Heights neighborhood of Baltimore.

Tasha Jackson, the esteemed MUA’s niece, described her uncle as “the life of the party.”

“He was the one that, when he walked in the room, everyone was in awe. He could command the room,” Jackson added. “He was a storyteller. You were so drawn into the things he said. It was captivating. It allowed you to think you were there at the story. No one could compare to his ability to captivate you.”

On Jan. 17, a funeral service will honor the makeup pioneer’s life and legacy in Randallstown, Maryland.

Read the full details below.

MadameNoire sends love and light to the Wells family during this difficult time.

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