If you haven’t seen Queer Eye, one of Netflix’s most popular lifestyle makeover series, this is your sign to go watch it. Far from the aged makeover shows we’ve seen in the past, Queer Eye is a reimagined version of not only a home and style makeover but an entire life makeover. The Fab 5; Tan France, fashion expert; Bobby Berk, design expert; Antoni Porowski, food and wine expert; Karamo Brown, culture expert; and Jonathan Van Ness, grooming expert; all use the skills that they have to completely makeover someone’s life within a week.
Besides all of these men being experts in each lifestyle category, they’re all amazing at gaining a personal relationship with each makeover recipient and encouraging them to open up and gain a little more love and confidence for themselves.
Unfortunately, not everyone may be able to become a contestant, but we can all learn some tips, life hacks, and self-care advice from the show. So without further ado, here’s 5 things everyone can learn from Queer Eye.
- “You have to create little pockets of joy in your life to take care of yourself.” – Jonathan Van Ness
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Self Care is essential, and who better to learn that from than Jonathan Van Ness, the queen of all things self care. You may think of self care as somewhat insignificant tasks like applying your moisturizer and putting on a face mask, but Jonathan teaches us that self care is so much more than that. Throughout the episodes, the fab 5 take individuals who need a serious life makeover and are able to give them everything they need to do so from clothing to shoes to a new set of perfectly arranged living room furniture. The contestants often go into the week feeling very hesitant and stand-offish towards the idea that they should be caring for themselves the way that they do for their families and jobs. Johnathan is one of the fab 5 who not only transforms the hairstyles and grooming habits of the lucky makeover recipients, but spends time showing them that it’s ok to care for yourself and make sure you’re okay. We often get so busy with what seems like endless lists of tasks to accomplish throughout the day that it can be easy to forget to create these “little pockets of joy”. Remember to take care of yourself because just like Jonathan Van Ness says, “You are strong. You are a Kelly Clarkson song!”
- “Making an effort means you’re serious about the life that you want.” – Tan France
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Tan France is the style icon who can turn anyone (even if their entire closet consisted of camouflage) into a confident and well dressed fashionista, while topping it all off with a French Tuck. Tan is incredible at seeing the best in everyone that he works with and showing them that they are completely capable of exuding confidence and style if they decide to put in the effort needed. Many of the makeover recipients that Tan works with are often at a place in their lives where they need a jump start into a new chapter, and what better way to do that than by changing how you present yourself? Tan reminds us that by making an effort with how you present yourself to others, you are respecting yourself enough to be serious about the life you’ve envisioned and deserve. Not only does putting an effort into your appearance improve your self-concept but your loved ones will be thanking you for this as well. Yes, you should be loved as you are by your friends/ family/ significant other, but putting in this kind of effort shows them that you care enough to be your best self.
- Antoni Porowski reminds us that food isn’t as scary as we make it out to be!
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We quickly see how much passion Antoni Porowski has for his craft when he implores time and time again that food is not only a means of survival or something that may seem unattainable to you outside of underwhelming frozen dinners. Antoni shows every makeover recipient that they have the means to create something meaningful and special no matter what experience or lack thereof that they may have. For Antoni Perowki, food has strong connotations to emotion and being able to share experiences with loved ones, and he remind us of this when he says, “Food can offer a moment of pure emotional pleasure in an otherwise hard and difficult world.” Food is a means to offer joy, give us energy, and fuel us properly to take on the day, so it’s extremely important that we’re not eating pizza rolls and hamburger helpers every day. Antoni has a debut cookbook out now that is filled with delicious recipes that appeal to cooks of all skill levels called Antoni in the Kitchen. Thank you Antoni for showing us that we can cook food that’s delicious, affordable, and probably covered in cheese or avocados.
- We all need a Karamo Brown in our lives.
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Karamo Brown is extremely insightful and caters to the needs of whoever he is working with apart from their outer appearance. Because at the end of the day, we can wear better clothes and have a nicer haircut but we will never truly be content unless we work on ourselves internally first. We see time and time again that people tend to put up walls around them when they get hurt, and it’s Kamaro’s job to knock them down. Karamo reminds us, “When people build up walls, they end up keeping other people out. But they’re also keeping themselves in.” I have to admit, when I first started watching Queer Eye I wasn’t looking for a revelation of a TV-show to watch. I really just wanted to put something on after a long day and relax like we all do. After watching the first episode, I immediately understood what they meant by “More than a Makeover”. They are giving people the chance to care for themselves who have usually never experienced that before. They are softening the hearts of their contestants, and tearing down walls that have been there for years. At the end of the week, the makeover does make every person look beautiful on the outside, but everyone is glowing, smiling, even sometimes crying at the feelings of joy and self-love that are most likely foreign to them.
- Bobby Berk shows us that having a functional and organized home is a huge factor in our personal happiness.
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We can all learn a thing or two from Bobby Berk, the hardworking, creative, home renovator of the show. While we may not need to know how to refinish wooden furniture or install an open concept closet, Bobby shows us and each makeover recipient the importance of creating a functional space that caters to their needs. Throughout the week we see each contestant going through rigorous physical and emotional transformations, and Bobby teaches them to never underestimate the effect that your home has on you as an individual. He shows each person how to be involved in making their space a functional and welcoming home. Like Bobby says, “When you’re happy at home, it spills out into every other area of your life.”
“Love yourself on three!” – Johnathan Van Ness
Remember to be kind to yourself and recognize all of the gifts you have to offer, and if all else fails just put on an episode of Queer Eye.