RNC paid $900 for a spray-on tan for Sarah Palin, too.
October 24th, 2008 . by Marty
Now I’m not usually one to toot my own horn, especially when it comes to this blogging stuff. But when both the New York Times and Washington Post come out with big scoops about Amy Strozzi, one of Sarah Palin’s makeup artists earning more than Steve Schmidt or Charlie Black, I have to sit back and laugh a little. I’m not sure if they were inspired by, or reported in spite of, the post I made here almost two nights ago suggesting that those inclined to criticize Sarah Palin’s wardrobe expenses might want to take a look at her makeup, too. As I said, one of her “other” makeup artists, Tracy Thorp, owed over $145,000 in back taxes. If the Times and Post want to just sit around and play East Coast elitist gotcha journalism, they may as well do it right. While they’re at it, they should probably have found out just who Ms. Thorp is and why if she’s such a great makeup artist, she doesn’t have any professional credits at all. (unlike Emmy-nominate Amy Strozzi, one of who’s last films was called “Bondage”).
I was a wee bit curious, too, so I talked to a colleague who was in the prep suite in St. Paul with Sarah, and it turns out Tracy was brought in exclusively to apply a spray-on tan to the future Veep. Yup, that’s what Tracy’s specialty is: According to her MySpace page, she runs a company called “tans n lashes by tracy” (that’s Tracy in the picture, and the spray-on tan shot is from her MySpace page, too). Apparently, Sarah had what’s affectionately called an “eskimo tan” when she showed up at the Convention. They needed to brighten her up, and even out her tan for all the new cleavage and leg-baring fashions. And given John’s history with melanoma, he insisted on a spray-on for Sarah. Thorp was paid $900 plus expenses to come into town for the job. How did Tracy get the job? My guess is that she’s pals with Angela Lew, Palin’s hair stylist who lives in Thousand Oaks, California, and works at a salon called The Hair Grove in Westlake Village - all just a few miles or so from where Tracy lives (and literally walking distance from Westlake High School, where according to her MySpace page, Tracy graduated). The Times reports that Cindy McCain gets her hair done at the Hair Grove, too, so maybe Tracy was there to do a touchup on Cindy, too?
In any case, I’ll take dibs on the inevitable puns: Sarah was “Palin’ comparison” before she had the tan.
And while we’re in the makeup department, it’s worth noting that the NYTimes and Wasington Post neglected to notice that Amy Strozzi wasn’t the only one from “Dancing with the Stars” to help Sarah Palin look her best. On the same disclosure Form F that revealed Jeff Larson and Tracy Thorp’s expenditures, you can also see that Heather Cummings charged $3300 for makeup services, too. Who’s Heather Cummings? She shared an Emmy nomination with Amy Strozzi for her work on “Dancing with the Stars.” But no fancy meals for a professional gal on the run like Heather. She needed her pep, and charged the campaign $3.25 for a “meal” from Starbucks.
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I count $310 in expenses. But there is no sign of her air fare other than some baggage charges.
So how does one get an “Eskimo Tan”? Does it come from wearing a one-piece bathing suit with a high front to the tanning salon?
Or is it the kind of tan that come from traipsing around in the midnight sun covered from ankle to neck in seal fur or white folks synthetics?
Just kind of curious as to what’s covered (pun defiantly intended) and not by an “Eskimo Tan”.
Also, too, someone needs to update Urban Dictionary, which has no definition for it.
Yes, I looked. How friggin’ sad is that?
.
An ‘Eskimo tan’ is where the face is tanned, reddened even, but nowhere else.
I’m from Alaska, and can answer that one:
An “Eskimo tan” (obnoxious term with racist overtones btw) is a mushroom-like dank paleness due to the lack of sun in arctic latitudes.
Will this get the same traction as the $400 haircut?
While the $150K for clothes can be clumsily explained away a $900 tan could really do some damage to her image withn folks in “real” america.
I wonder if they scraped off the old tan before applying the new coat. How many coats does it take? I’m Joe the Housepainter and need to know this because there is sure a hellofalot more money applying tans than applying Sherwin-Williams.
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