Showgirl Beauty Tip: Removing Leftover Makeup

My show makeup involves a lot of waterproof black eyeliner.

After the shows, I remove it with eye makeup remover, then I wash my face, then I go to sleep, and sometimes I still manage to wake up with faint black smudges under my eyes in the morning.

I don't love rubbing, scrubbing, or pulling at the delicate skin under my eyes and luckily I don't have to because I developed a great little trick.

After I've washed my face the next morning and the black shadows are still there, I apply my face lotion like normal.  Then I a put a tiny dab of the lotion onto a q-tip and gently swipe it under my eyes.  All the leftover black stuff magically ends up on the q-tip, and my face looks fresh as a daisy.

When I'm finished, just to make sure I don't get any extra lotion in my eyes, I use a dry q-tip to re-swipe the under eye area one more time.

It's kind of like using the old fashioned cold cream makeup removal method as a spot cleaner.

Happy makeup erasing!
xoxo
Laura

Showgirl Beauty Tip: Letting Eyelash Glue Dry (a Little)

Eyelash glue is quite slippery when it's first applied to false lashes.

If you immediately try to apply wet lashes to your eyes, the lashes won't stick where they're supposed to.  Instead, they'll slide around on your eyelids and you might end up with glue in your eyes (which hurts).

Not to worry, though, because there's an easy fix.

Just let the glue dry a little bit before you attempt to apply the fake lashes to your eyes. About 60 seconds, to be exact.  That's long enough for the glue to become tacky but not fully dry.

Waiting those 60 seconds will make the lashes go on (and stay on) easily on the first try.

Until next time,
xoxo
Laura

Showgirl Beauty Tip: Tasteful Glitter

I don't know about you, but I love glitter.

Luckily, in my line of work, it's perfectly acceptable to add lots of glitter to your makeup. There are ladies with glittery eyes, glittery hair, and even glittery lips walking around backstage at any given show at any given time.  After all, in the words of Karen Kresge, the great show skater turned producer, "you can never have too much glitter."

But what about glitter for everyday life?

I think it's pretty hard to pull off glitter without looking like a middle schooler, but it can certainly be done.  The key is to pick one single feature to highlight with the glitter and to only apply a teeny, tiny bit.

The best place to apply this teeny, tiny bit is on your upper eyelid, just below your eyebrow, where you normally apply a light eyeshadow as a highlighter.  A tiny dab of glitter right there provides a lovely shimmer in a spot that will brighten up your whole eye without being overwhelming.

Just be sure that your teeny, tiny bit is no bigger than a little dab with your pinky finger.  If you apply too much, the glitter will fall down onto your cheek bones, which is cute in ice shows, but a little over-the-top for everyday life.

Happy sparkling!
xoxo
Laura

Showgirl Beauty Tip: Strawberry Hairspray

Hairspray isn't my favorite thing.

The main reason is that it makes my hair crunchy, which is unpleasant to touch.  Also, if I accidentally spray some on my forehead, it makes my skin feel sticky and tight, and don't get me started on accidentally spraying it in my ear.  Then there's the nearby beverage issue.  If there's a water bottle or coffee cup next to me when I spray my hair, I end up wondering if I'm accidentally drinking tiny hairspray particles, which is gross.  Oh, and I always hold my breath while I'm spraying it because who wants that stuff in their lungs?

So anyway, there's a lot to dislike about hairspray in general, but it keeps my hair in place for shows so I use it faithfully.

I've tried most of the brands over the years and I've never felt a strong attachment to any particular hairspray until recently, when I discovered the yummiest smelling hairspray in the world.  It's Bed Head by TIGI's Masterpiece Massive Shine Hairspray and it smells like strawberries.

So if you want your hair to smell awesome (in addition to looking good), try it out.  I love it.

Happy spraying!

xoxo

Laura

Showgirl Beauty Tip: Lipstick Blotting

We wear tons of pretty costumes in ice shows, and it's our responsibility to make sure we treat them with respect and don't mess them up.  Want to know the easiest way to mess them up? Getting lipstick all over them.  That's why I always blot my lipstick.

It's so ingrained in my head that I thought everyone did it, but at my current show one of our new girls kept getting her lipstick all over the place.  I asked her if she was remembering to blot, and she didn't know what that was!  So that's why today's Showgirl Beauty Tip is about blotting, blotting, blotting.

To blot your lips, all you have to do is fold a tissue in half, place it between your lips, then gently close your mouth onto the tissue.  Don't rub your lips around, just press them against the tissue and then release it, leaving a perfect lip mark on the tissue.

All the extra lipstick that came off on the tissue is the same lipstick that would have ended up on your clothes, on your teeth, or on your coffee cup.  Now you'll be keeping your lipstick to yourself!

Happy blotting,
xoxo
Laura

Showgirl Beauty Tip: Christmas Eyelashes

I promise that next time I post a Showgirl Beauty Tip it'll be about something other than eyelashes, but today I just had to tell you one more thing about them...

If you're in the market for a pair of eyelashes, now is the perfect time to find them!  All the women's stores in the mall are selling pretty little stocking-stuffers like lipgloss, hair accessories, and (you guessed it) eyelashes.

The only other time of year that this happens is October because of Halloween.  I like the Christmas lashes better, though, because they tend to be more sparkly and whimsical while the Halloween lashes are a bit more harsh and scary.

I accidentally bought these two sets of lashes for myself while I was out Christmas shopping on Saturday:

The pair on the left is from Francesca's and the pair on the right is from Forever 21.  Both sets cost less than $5.00, and I can't wait to wear them in the show.

Happy Christmas shopping!
xoxo
Laura

Showgirl Beauty Tip: Eyelash Glue

There are just so many things to say about false eyelashes!

Today I want to discuss the glue I prefer to use to keep them on my eyes.

My favorite brand of eyelash glue is Duo because it gets the job done and it doesn't make my eyes itchy like some of the other brands do.  That's a personal preference, though, so if you like another brand better, more power to you!

The real point of all this glue talk, though, is the color of the glue.  Most of the other girls in ice shows use the white eyelash glue that's supposed to turn clear once it dries.  I used to use that color too, but I noticed that the "clear" dried glue always made my eyeliner look lighter and cloudier and simply less black.

Then I ran out of glue one day and used some of my friend's dark toned eyelash glue and (Eureka!) it didn't make my eyeliner look murky.  The glue that's dark when it's wet turns black when it dries and therefore blends in with the rest of my makeup!

So for eyelash glue that doesn't draw attention to itself, go with the dark tone color.  You won't regret it.

Happy gluing!
xoxo
Laura

Showgirl Beauty Tip: Eyebrow Love

For the longest time, when I was a newbie showgirl, I used to always forget about my eyebrows as I was doing my show makeup.  It was easy to do given that various producers and performance directors are always focusing on fake eyelashes or eyeshadow and lipstick color.

But I've come to believe that adding a little color to my eyebrows just might be the easiest and most effective way to punch up my makeup.  After all, eyebrows are like picture frames for your eyes, and if you've just spent a long time working on your eye makeup, wouldn't you want to highlight it with a pretty frame?

So to fill in my eyebrows, all I do is dip a small eyeshadow brush into some brown eyeshadow and sweep it across each eyebrow once or twice.  It makes my eyebrows pop without making them look scary-dark like they would look if I had colored them in with a pencil.

(The brown shadow works great for me because I have brown hair, but if you have red, blond, or black hair you might want to use a slightly different shade of eyeshadow so your brows look natural compared to your hair color.)

Easy, huh?

Happy coloring!
xoxo
Laura

Showgirl Beauty Tip: Looking Cute in Anything

Every once in a while I get to skate in a show where every costume is adorable and glamorous.  When I wear those costumes, it's easy to feel like a million bucks.  But those shows only come around once in a blue moon.

Normally my costumes are a mixed bag, ranging from lovely to crazy and everything in between.

This picture is from the show that I'm currently skating in, where I have the pleasure of dressing up like a boy in an old school powdered wig.  It's not exactly my definition of adorable.

But it actually does turn out to be adorable when it's paired with a sassy attitude.  It's a super upbeat part of the show, and we get to skate to fun music and act like the sneaky tailors who make invisible clothes for the emperor in The Emperor's New Clothes.  I absolutely love it, and as long as I remember to embrace my character and exude confidence, I end up looking cute.

I feel like this concept transfers perfectly into everyday life, don't you?  Just like in ice shows, it doesn't really matter what you wear; what matters is how you wear it. When you accessorize with the right attitude, you can make any outfit look great.

Embrace your aesthetic!
xoxo
Laura

Showgirl Beauty Tip: Trimming Lashes to Fit

Life is suddenly wonderful again.  We're deep into our fifth week on the ship, rehearsals are finally over, and we've made it to the beach at last.

As I sit here at this beachfront cafe, I'd like to share another showgirl beauty tip regarding false eyelashes.

When you first take your lashes out of the box, they will be super long.  Unless you hit the genetic lottery and have extremely large eyes, the strip of lashes is going to be too long.  So before you apply the lashes, hold them up to your eyes to determine how long they should be, then cut off the excess length.  

I usually cut off about two of the little clumps of the lash.

Once you've cut your lashes so they fit your eyes properly, they will be significantly more comfortable.

Happy cutting!
xoxo
Laura

Showgirl Beauty Tip: Taking the Time to Line

During the first five years of my skating career, I used to always skip my lipliner and go straight for the lipstick when I was putting on my show makeup.

I thought that the only real purpose of lipliner was to prevent my lipstick from creeping off of my lips and into the fine lines around my mouth, and that’s not a problem I’ve ever really had.

Therefore, I skipped the liner because I thought the time I saved outweighed that benefit of putting it on.

What I didn’t learn until recently were the subtle differences that lipliner makes.  

Most importantly, using lipliner creates a slightly crisper line between your lips and your skin than using lipstick alone, and the crisper the line is, the more your lip color pops.

Second, it’s easier to make your lipstick perfectly symmetrical if you line your lips first.

Plus, it turns out that spending a little extra time on lipliner makes the lipstick application easier and quicker, which disproves my old “saving time by skipping the liner” theory.

So that’s why I never skip my lipliner anymore.  Like so many things in life, it’s all about the subtle details.

Happy lining!

xoxo

Laura

Showgirl Beauty Tip: Powdering your Hair

Dry shampoo.  It’s a beautiful thing.  But what if you’re in a pinch and you don’t have any? 

Miscalculations in a hair-washing schedule can happen to anyone.  There are a couple of very reasonable alternatives to dry shampoo lying around in any dressing room, and they’re probably in your bathroom at home as well.

To remove grease from your hair, pour some baby powder into the palm of your hand, rub your hands together, and then run your fingers through your hair.  

The baby powder will soak up the grease.  If you can see white residue in your hair afterward, simply brush your hair and it will disappear.

Don’t have any baby powder?  Foot powder works just as well.  This summer I watched one of my friends rub foot powder into another girl’s hair before the shows and it worked like magic.  Her hair looked clean again.

This tip is obviously not an alternative to washing your hair and practicing good hygiene, but it sure works beautifully for the occasional “I mistakenly thought I could make that blowout last one more day” moment.

Happy powdering!

xoxo

Laura

Showgirl Beauty Tip: Expensive Lashes

Every once in a while, an event comes along that warrants the wearing of fake eyelashes in everyday life.  Those events include your own wedding and a performance in a play.  Those events do not include a night out at the clubs.  (Please don't be that girl.  You really are beautiful just the way you are.)

When a lash-worthy event finally comes along, it makes perfect sense to want to pop into a fancy makeup store like MAC or Sephora to buy an expensive pair of lashes.  That's what almost every rookie showgirl does when she's buying makeup for her first show.  I certainly did.

Much like high heels and ice skates, fake lashes need to be broken in before they feel comfortable.  Expensive lashes are significantly stiffer than the $5 pairs that you can buy at Target or Walmart, so they are much harder to apply to your eyes and much less comfortable the first time you wear them.

So if you're only going to be wearing the lashes for one special evening, do your eyes a favor and buy less expensive lashes.  Once they're out of the package and on your eyes, no one will know the difference anyway.

Wondering if the cheaper ones will hold up?  I like to buy my ice show lashes at Target and I usually wear the same pair every day for months before I trade them out for new ones.  I just try not to take naps with them on; then they'll be toast.  ;-)

Happy lash shopping!
xoxo
Laura

Showgirl Beauty Tip: Crossing your Pins

Today's showgirl beauty tip is a 100% serious rule in ice shows:

Always cross your bobby pins!

What I mean is that every time you put a bobby pin in your hair, you should add a second bobby pin to it so the pins look like an X.  You can see an example of properly crossed pins in this crown braid tutorial.

Crossing your pins keeps them from falling out of your hair, which is pretty helpful in normal life and absolutely essential on the ice.  Skating over a bobby pin will make a skater fall every time, and I'd very much prefer it if that didn't happen when I'm up in a lift like in the pictures above.

Those pictures are from a really fun TV show that I did in Holland two years ago.  It was a "skating with the stars" type of show, and I loved participating in it with all my heart.

Happy pinning!
xoxo
Laura

Showgirl Beauty Tip: Blotting Papers

In the sweaty world of ice shows, powdering your face is a necessity.  I don't love caking on powder, though, because it tends to settle into all the fine lines under my eyes and make them look like full-on wrinkles.

For that reason, when I'm not too sweaty, I try to use blotting papers to soak up any shininess instead of adding more powder.  This leads into today's showgirl beauty tip:

If your face is shiny and you've run out of blotting papers, use one of the toilet seat covers provided in public restrooms.  The super-thin paper works just as well as the blotting papers do.

Happy mattifying!
xoxo
Laura

Showgirl Beauty Tip: Hairspray

I've been a professional ice show skater for the past 7 years and, believe me, I've picked up a beauty trick or two along the way.  Why not share some of them?

So here's today's tip:

If your hairspray isn't keeping its hold and your flyaways are starting to act up, spritz a little water on your hair.  The water will re-activate the hairspray and everything will be under control again in no time.

Happy hairstyling!
xoxo
Laura