It seems the city of San Diego has a crush on Tootie, manager and performer at Lips San Diego. San Diego’s darling drag queen has done two movies, LA Without a Map with Johnny Depp and Forever Fabulous with Robert Wagner and Jean Smart, three national commercials and writes a regular advice column for Buzz magazine on love, sex, friendship, sex, family, sex, the workplace and sex. … Did you get the emphasis on sex? If that’s not enough superstardom to make your heart flutter, her Hawaiian origins might jumpstart a few things. Growing up as a Mahu has given her a unique and beautiful perspective on the world. Despite, or perhaps because of, what she describes as a hard-knocks life, she’s been in the entertainment biz for 10 years. She comes to you as a Mahu, drag queen, T-girl, vegetarian, spiritualist, luvah and entrepreneur. “Sometimes one at a time when concentration is needed,” she says, “and sometimes all at once.” The Gay & Lesbian Times recently took a lavish email tour through Tootie’s world, and came back with her innermost feelings and secrets about beauty. Aloha, Tootie …

Tootie: One of my favorite things to do is to go to Borders Books, order a mocha and thumb through all the fab fashion mags they have. All my years as a fashion stylist makes it easy to see something, pump up the glam volume and serve it up for my next shows. I love to sew and can whip something up pretty damn fast.

Tootie:Glam is the order of the day at Lips and even in my personal everyday running around. I wear my hair full of Gardenias (courtesy of Carla’s Flowers), a retro dress and the perfect heels to fit the mood. As I mentioned before, I am inspired by Hollywood’s golden era of glam. That combined with the latest trends gives me extra umph! I try to take influences from ’20s flappers and vamps, deco ’30s, the elegant ’40s and ’50s, pop ’60s, and most recently the ’70s and ’80s. The ’80s are fun with all that flash. I have always been my own stylist. I know what is best for me and what works for my audience. I do my own thing and give everyone a little shock when I can. I try not to blend in. I leave that to the real girls. I want to stand out and push the envelope of style.

GLT: Tell us your hair tricks. What are the best ways for achieving different hairstyles?

Tootie: I use wigs all the time for performing. It’s easier to style and I don’t screw up my own hair. It also helps build the illusion of bigger, bigger and bigger hair. My own hair is down to the middle of my back so it’s great for blending and snatching back.

Tootie: I buy my wigs wholesale at Wig America and call it a day.

Tootie: Style? Shake and Bake honey!

Tootie: A lot of my work is character work, so the styles I choose help convey the characters I do, anyone from Cher to J-Lo to Lena Horne or Sade. I am also inspired by retro looks and love golden era glam.

Tootie: Oh those boys at Hillcrest Hair salon are the bomb, baby! They know how to fix me up right. Just recently they straightened my own hair with a new Japanese process … fantastic.

Tootie: Oh honey … I have tried everything and haven’t found something that works yet. I&rsqun;ve painted myself with Japan Drier and Navajo white paint; I’ve Epiladied, lasered, waxed and plucked. Hair removal is a full time job. I do drag on the side.

Tootie: Remember the old drag adage … Cover girl, don’t cover boy. Products like MAC, Dermablend and Cinema Secrets do the job great. Always lashes and earrings or you’re just a boy in a dress. Arch those brows and over draw your lips, you’re a diva, not a Gap queen.

Tootie: Foamies

Tootie: Downtown LA

Tootie: Duct tape, duct tape, duct tape

Tootie: And once again duct tape. I’m doing my part for homoland security. Just when I thought perhaps God didn’t love me anymore they came out with a clear duct tape. Hallelujah, I’m on my knees again giving thanks.

Tootie: I first did drag for Halloween in high school; and for senior year career day I came to school as a cigarette sales girl.

Tootie: It confirmed that I was beautiful on the inside, as well as the outside, and that I was ballsy enough and fun enough to do what I wanted. This has remained my theme and 10 years after high school I paid my bills by owning my own cigarette girl company.

Tootie: When I draw on my eyebrows, I know what kind of a day or night it is going to be. It’s with the frames of the eyes that I take on my persona.

Tootie:Transitioning is a daily thing for me. I am always reinventing myself to meet the requirements and opportunities of the day. I love both parts of me and don’t want to sever one to make the other feel more comfortable. I recently did the Cher “E True Hollywood Story”. One of the doctors interviewed about Cher’s surgeries said, “Cher is teaching us how to grow old creatively.” As time ticks on and I enter my 30s in a couple years, I might have to think about getting plucked, tucked and sucked somewhere along the line. So far so good, and I’m not sure what I’ll opt to do, but I do live with respect to my body so hopefully it will hold out.