Style

This Game Show Is Like 'Double Dare' Meets Sephora & You're Going To Be Obsessed

by Amanda Richards
Bustle

It's hard to pinpoint what makes Bustle's Race 2 Face, a new beauty competition game show, so uniquely magnificent. It could be the themed episodes, ranging from "Glitter" to "Rainbows & Unicorns" to "Back To The '90s." It also has major old school Double Dare vibes — only Race 2 Face swaps the green slime raining from the sky with pools full of liquid foundation. The host is a drag queen (!) and the judges are beauty editors (!!!) and the entire set is like something out of a fever dream you'd have if you fell ill at CandyLand. In short, the series is a gloriously cheesy, over-the-top celebration of all things beauty — and you can watch Episode 1 on Facebook now.

If you want a bit of background before you watch, here's how the show goes down: Two contestants compete against one another in challenges like beauty trivia, a beauty-themed obstacle course, and a makeup challenge where they can put their skills to the test. The competing pair are guided throughout the episode by prolific New York City drag queen Ruby Roo, and each episode culminates in an ultimate beauty face-off, wherein contestants use products that they scored in challenges throughout the episode.

It's a pretty standard game show formula, but what makes Race 2 Face shine — besides the glorious absurdity of it all — is the fact that literally everything is a nod to the world of beauty. The challenges include sifting through a pool of liquid foundation using only your elbows, searching through a massive dirty hairbrush while shampoo rains down, and rifling through oversized bottles of nail polish to acquire the precious goods within. It's weird, it's wonderful, and it manages to be suspenseful: When it comes to game shows, what more do you need?

Race 2 Face Episode 1 is titled "Animals," and even the trivia section of the competition stays beautifully on theme. Dressed in white jumpsuits for the impending messier challenges, competing makeup artists Jenn Bombardiere and Gabriella Trantino answer prompts like, "This musical's elaborate animal makeup inspires costumes at every Halloween party, making everyone feel the love tonight."

Before the dramatic conclusion, there are a series of obstacles each contest has to conquer, each with the goal of collecting as many beauty products as possible. In Episode 1, Host Ruby Roo instructs Bombardiere and Trantino to swim through a pool of foundation (using only their elbows), dig through a giant hairbrush, and go hands-first into five massive bottles of nail polish. The products they can obtain range in variety and brand, from NYX eyeshadow palettes to Lime Crime lipsticks, all of which will be used in the final challenge to create an animalistic look on their respective models. You'll have to watch the episode to find out if either of the contestants got that one wrong — and to find out who reigns supreme over the "animal" kingdom in the end.

For the final challenge, contestants use the products they found to create a look on their model in just 15 minutes. The judges — Bustle Editor-in-Chief Kate Ward, Bustle Deputy Editor of Fashion & Beauty Kara McGrath, and Bustle Senior Fashion Market Editor Gabby Prescod — are given their chance to weigh in on the final looks before picking a winner, and the animalistic (and surprisingly wearable) results just might make you want to roar with excitement.

Bustle's Race 2 Face is the ultimate competition show for beauty lovers, with new episodes airing on Facebook every Monday. You can watch Race 2 Face Episode 1 now. Ready, set, GLOW!