Sunday, May 31, 2015

Drinks with Jigs Mayuga


While drinking probably the fanciest gin and tonic that I’ve ever ordered, makeup artist Jigs Mayuga tells me how strong he thinks he is, and why he likes Neil Patrick Harris.

I have a crush on makeup artist Jigs Mayuga, and he knows it. He is probably one of the best looking guys that I’ve ever seen! I would tell him about this before, and always he would look at me with disdain and say “Ano ka ba?! Magtigil ka nga! Kurutin kita dyan e!” He’s one of the most in demand makeup artists in the Metro, making sure that actresses like Jennylyn Mercado, Shaina Magdayao, Maxene Magalona, Bea Alonzo, Cheska Garcia – Kramer, Iza Calzado and more are looking picture perfect. He’s also being flown in to beautiful places by brides to be for their special day. He co-hosted a gay-oriented lifestyle show called Out, as well as the makeover show Fashbook. When it comes to making sure you look and feel beautiful, he is one of the few people to trust.

     I’ve known Jigs for probably more than a decade now, and every photo shoots that we have done, they all turned out amazing. It’s nice to have finally sat down with this fitness and CrossFit junkie (he was currently nursing a hurting shoulder when I met with him but still managed to workout hours before our interview) amidst his grueling schedule. We met at Las Flores in BGC, and together with his boyfriend George and madam Audrey, their super adorable and cute Maltipoo, we drank his drink of choice, Hendricks gin and tonic with rose petals. Don’t let the aesthetics deceive you; this is one strong drink, strong enough that I wasn’t able to finish mine and made Jigs finish it.

How did we meet?
Jigs’ version
We met when you were still in Pulp Magazine. It was a shoot with Pupil. Basta yung nakalashes si Ely. Yung peg ata nun A Clockwork Orange. Hindi ba ikaw yun?! Di ba nag Pulp ka rin?

My version
Good try, Jigs, yes, I was with Pulp Magazine for at least 5 years, but my recollection of our very first meeting was when I was already working in BURN Magazine. We did a cover shoot with 6Cycle Mind, and I booked him as their makeup artist, from there we started working on countless shoots already.

Jigs and I taking a selfie during one of our shoots for UNO Magazine

Here's Jigs getting a bit weirded out in one of our shoots. Di mo kinakaya, auntie? Ha ha ha!

During our UNO cover shoot with Bianca Gonzales. Smile and wave!



When was the last time you ugly cried?
J: I rarely cry but the last time I ugly cried was probably when I watched The Mistress, yung movie ni Bea Alonzo.

D: As in ngal ngal ka?

J: Oo, as in naiyak talaga ako sa movie na yun. Kasi nagalingan talaga ako kay Bea sa movie na yun tsaka tagos talaga yung message nung movie. Tsaka ang galing nung pagkakagawa nung movie talaga. I rarely cry in movies and that was a really good film.

Who would you rather have an argument with, a guy or a girl?
J: I’d rather have an argument with a guy kasi my mom has a very strong personality and I usually butt heads with her, and I would never win. And I’ve been through arguments with guys and they’re actually easier to resolve, not that I’m being sexist or anything pero parang guys can easily talk it out, guys can resolve arguments without being too emotional. My mom can be too emotional kasi also. I’m coming from that place because I’m also very much like my mom kasi so when we do butt heads, hindi talaga kami nagkakasundo. George is like the antithesis of my mom kasi sobra nyang relaxed, so kapag kami yung nagaargue, hindi nya talaga ako pinapatulan. Quiet lang sha, tsaka very cool lang sha talaga, which I think is something that I need. It balances me out. When I’m trying to prove a point kasi I can be very passionate about it.



Who for you is the perfect gay icon?
J: Ang dami! I can’t pinpoint just one person kasi being gay in itself, you can’t really define it so if I pinpoint just one person as a gay icon, it doesn’t really represent the entire gay community. But I guess for me, one person that I can relate to and probably I can call a gay icon is Neil Patrick Harris. For me, yung pagiging gay nya is parang “matter of fact”. He is openly gay, but the way he is living his life, and the way he’s been dealing with his career throughout the years is parang “I’m an actor!” so he still plays mostly straight roles. He’s very effective at it because he’s a really good actor. Unlike in the 90s, where the likes of Rupert Everett came out, na typecast sila sa mga gay roles. Parang nagiba narin how Hollywood views LGBT actors narin in the sense that if you’re gay, you can still actually be an effective actor and you’re not necessarily be typecasted as somebody who can just play a gay character.

What three songs you can’t resist dancing to?
J: That’s hard! Ang dami e! "Rock Your Body" ni Justin Timberlake, "Rude Boy" ni Rihanna, tsaka "Jump" ni Madonna.



How do you cheer yourself up when you’re sad?
J: I workout. Di kailangan matagal, dapat lang intense para talagang distracted ka para machannel mo yung sadness mo or yung aggression mo into something productive.

What food do you wish you can eat everyday that you won’t get fat?
J: Burgers. Ayan talaga madaling sagutin yan. Pwede ako kumain ng burger araw araw kung gusto ko. Kahit anung burger yan, papatulan ko yan, pero kapag sobrang chaka nung burger, sobra akong nadidisappoint. If there’s a new place and there’s a burger, I’d probably order the burger.

How strong are You?
J: Physically? From a scale of 1 to 10? Siguro an 8. I’m not as strong as the more experienced CrossFit athletes but I think in a short span of time, I think I’ve become one of the stronger people in the box. I can press about 195lbs, pero magaang pa yun ha!

Why is Hendricks gin and tonic with rose petals your favorite drink?
J: It’s simple, it’s clean. There’s a hint of floral in it but I usually just like very clean drinks like vodka tonic, gin tonic, light beer, basta anything that’s watery and not too sweet, I like.


Follow Jigs on Instagram and Twitter.

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