As the first queen to hit the “RuPaul's Drag Race” Main Stage from Asbury Park, NJ, Crystal Envy has set the bar incredibly high.
With an eye for detail and the ability to deliver almost any look seamlessly, Envy was a fan and a judge's favorite this season. This also makes her elimination that much more shocking, departing the competition after a less than stellar Snatch Game and a Lip Sync For Your Life that has the “Drag Race” fandom buzzing. I caught up with one of the globe's favorite Jersey Girls and we dished about her “Drag Race” run, having RuPaul himself see behind the picture perfect performer she is, and she reveled to me the three products that are essential for Envy.
Your elimination from Season 17 of “RuPaul's Drag Race” was shocking as your run was one of the most consistently seamless in recent memory. Was the experience itself everything you thought and more?
Yes and no. I definitely imagined myself going much further in the competition, especially starting off as a front runner and doing really, really well. I think getting a shock elimination can be a good and a bad thing, though. I think the fans don’t get to fully see everything that you have to offer so they’re more excited to see it via social media, in person and at your shows. It’s also bad because it's kind of heartbreaking.
I’m a very self aware person if I am not doing well, I am aware of that. If I was on a bad track record and safe, safe, safe, I would have said, “Okay, maybe I am not really giving my talent,” so I could have understood getting the boot. Snatch Game is hard and the elimination was definitely hard for me. It's not what I thought my fate would be.
You were a front runner for the majority of the time you were in the competition landing either safe or a very commended high placing throughout. From social media to “Drag Race” alumni to the judges, both everything you presented and you as a performer were getting high marks.
Getting praise from the judges is so great, especially from Ru and Michelle [Visage], literally people I have been watching since I was thirteen. Young Chris would be so proud of what I have gotten to accomplish. Leaving the runway – yes I want that win really bad – but leaving the runway and getting that praise, it does make you float and it really makes you want to do better. It makes you want to push further, especially in a competition setting.
In the last Werk Room walk through, Ru specifically said he wanted to see behind that perfectly poised performer and see those crispy edges that we don't typically get to see from a performer like you. Were you shook to get that critique, already knowing it was something you needed to try to do?
As I said, I am very self-aware and I know that that is my flaw. I want to always put on this poised, perfect, and polished self. Sometimes it's hard for me to break that down and crack the barrier. She cracked it right then and there for me.
For you, what emotion was stronger for you, getting cast on "RuPaul’s Drag Race" or being eliminated?
Ooooh…getting on. My positive emotions always will outweigh my negative ones. Getting on “Drag Race” was such a positive thing for me and so validating that it will completely overshadow my elimination.
You are the first “Drag Race” queen from Asbury Park, NJ. What is it like to break that pink hued glass ceiling in that Jersey Shore town that has become nationally known to birth “Drag Race” superstars from places like Paradise? I mean Ru mentioned Asbury Park itself as you sashayed away!
It’s crazy because there have been so many amazing talented drag entertainers coming through Asbury Park. For me to be the first one recognized on a national television show, it is such a blessing and I am very, very grateful for it. I also wanted to use this platform to showcase that Asbury Park and New Jersey in general is such a great mecca of drag and we have so many amazing and talented artists. I hope that me being on this platform is only going to open doors for many more of them.
What are your rose and thorn of your “Drag Race” experience?
My rose for the competition would be getting to have a bond with so many of these girls, that probably is the biggest thing to me. It's hard for me to make friends genuinely; the polished, poised, perfected self maybe looks for friends that don't fully care to see the inner workings of me. These girls have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly. That to me, is how I know that they are going to be around for a while. My thorn is not going to be my elimination, it is going to be not lasting longer because I wanted to spend more time with these girls.
You departing “RuPaul’s Drag Race“ with a forehead prosthetic and not being the picture perfect porcelain aesthetic we have all come to know from you is the definition of irony!
That’s my thorn, girl (laughs)! That definitely is going to be a meme-able moment. That’s “Drag Race” right? But hey, the look was sickening! Not a hair was out of place and that wig did stay on!
Snatch Game is known to be an extremely difficult challenge for so many people. When did you know your Nicole Richie was not working in the way that you wanted it to?
It was kind of throughout it. I also felt like okay, the jokes are not hitting the way that I wanted them to and Ru is not laughing. Okay this isn’t going well. Then I was looking around there were other girls that I thought were doing worse than me. Like Lexi [Love], it was so bad it was funny, which is crazy. Arrietty's Baby Cupid, I just thought that there were a lot of us that it could have been a possibility to be in the bottom.
What you do after "Drag Race” is what many people say is when the race truly starts. What's next for you?
I want to do everything under the sun, I am an overachiever. There are so many ways that want to use this platform to not only do good, but to be able to reach a lot more people. I am super excited to keep pushing my social media content, that is something I really put a lot of my heart and soul into. Beyond that, I want to open up the doors for me being a makeup artist and really push that boundary even further and really create this realm between drag, makeup, clientele and celebrity where it can all become one in a way.
The ultimate goal, I am so into product development, formulas and ingredients, I have been in the makeup world for 15 years now; it is something that I have always had a passion for. I would love to have my own brand one day, curated products, exactly the way that I would want them to be.
What are three products that Crystal Envy cannot live without?
I cannot live without a full coverage foundation (laughs). She cannot live without a fluffy glam eyelash and she cannot live without the classic nude Jersey Shore lip!
Follow Crystal Envy on Instagram @thecrystalenvy
