Sam Smith Says Lady Gaga Is the Reason They Came to Terms With Gender

With their latest album Love Goes coming out in just a few days, Sam Smith is everywhere. The performer has been doing multiple interviews and appearances, and more than a few fun projects like Vogue's YouTube series "Beauty Secrets." In it, Smith goes through their daily skincare regimen while talking about their relationship with beauty.

In the video, the star spoke of how long they've been using makeup. After coming out around 10, and beginning to question their gender around 14, they started wearing a full face of makeup to school from age 14 to 18. They used it as a much-needed way to express themselves. And though that did go on hiatus at the beginning of their musical career, the practice has returned.

"For me, makeup just became, as I was getting older, it became more of a way to express my gender," Smith said. That love began to reblossom after the star opened up to the world about their gender identity and expression last year. In the wake of the revelation, they began to experiment again with glitter -- which we notably incorporated in our Out100 cover shoot -- and more. But in a section of the video about lip gloss -- Smith prefers Haus Laboratories' -- they revealed the impact Lady Gaga had.

"Gaga is probably the reason why I actually came to terms with my gender," Smith said. "I was 15 when The Fame came out and I was obsessed with Lady Gaga, and for me, she gave me complete permission to be myself and to be proud of my queerness. It was a form of expression but it was also weirdly a form of protection. it was a way of almost saying to the homophobes and the bullies 'Stay away from me a little bit because I'm confident and I'm powerful in my queerness.'" Smith went on to call both Gaga, Rihanna, and their mother beauty icons.

They went on to reveal that they received a hair transplant about two years ago as they were losing hair in the front.

Sam Smith's Love Goes will debut on October 30.

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